Contrastes - History Lab https://historylab.es Fri, 20 May 2022 15:16:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://historylab.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-icono-historylab-32x32.jpg Contrastes - History Lab https://historylab.es 32 32 Infant mortality in Spain (per thousand children born), 18th century https://historylab.es/infant-mortality-in-spain-per-thousand-children-born-18th-century/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=infant-mortality-in-spain-per-thousand-children-born-18th-century Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:33 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/mortalidad-infantil-en-espana-por-mil-ninos-nacidos-siglo-xviii/ Regional differences in Spanish infant mortality in the 18th century

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]]> In general terms, infant mortality in Ancien Régime Spain obeyed high-pressure demographic dynamics. However, there was a regional variability that can be traced well into the contemporary period. These trends favoured the Spanish periphery to the detriment of the interior: Catalonia, Valencia, Aragon, Galicia, Cantabria, the Balearic Islands, the Basque Country and Navarre were found to have between 209 and 251 deceased children per 1,000 born in the first half of the 18th century, a range of 42, while by the second half of the century this range had decreased to 17. Inland Spain, on the other hand, infant mortality went from 303 to 320, an increase of 17 between the first and second half of the century. The data on the evolution of the Spanish territories also show a contrast between them; while the average for peripheral Spain is 203, the average for inland Spain is 320. What were the possible causes of regional variability? In addition to family trends and socio-economic structure, there were health (epidemics), climatic (bad harvests) and environmental aspects.

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]]> Number and average size of Spanish cities in 1787 (by historical region) https://historylab.es/number-and-average-size-of-spanish-cities-in-1787-by-historical-region/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=number-and-average-size-of-spanish-cities-in-1787-by-historical-region Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:33 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/numero-y-tamano-medio-de-las-ciudades-espanolas-en-1787-por-region-historica/ Regional contrasts in the distribution of urban centres in Spain in 1787

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]]> At the end of the Modern Age, the Spanish urban system benefited from demographic growth. In 1787, there were a total of 191 cities in Spain with more than 5,000 inhabitants. The spatial distribution of cities was especially concentrated in the centre and south of the peninsula: Andalusia, Old Castile, New Castile and Murcia were the territories with the most cities, with 66, 14, 19 and 17 respectively (a total of 116, accounting for more than half of the total). Another important area was the Mediterranean coast: Valencia had 23 and Catalonia 13 cities. The other regions of western and northern Spain, as well as the island territories, were less prolific in the formation of large urban centres. Extremadura, the Balearic Islands, Aragon, the Canary Islands, Galicia, Asturias, the Basque Country and Navarre did not exceed 7 cities. The fundamental element lies in the strength of Castile during the Modern Age, which always had a larger population than the Crown of Aragon. However, despite the fact that the Crown of Aragon had fewer cities, their average size tended to be larger. Thus, Catalan cities were among the largest in Spain with an average size of 17,414 inhabitants, a figure that is only approximated in Castile by Castile la Nueva with 14,669 inhabitants. It is worth mentioning the area of Galicia; although it only had 5 towns, the average size was 12,225 people, a figure similar to that of Valencia (12,817) even though the latter had 23 important nuclei.

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