Cuenca - History Lab

Evolution of the price of a bushel of wheat in Spain 1700-1714

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:41 +0000

Cuenca represented the living image of the crisis of the 17th century in which its population, productive activity and wealth had declined enormously. At the same time, at the end of the century, a slight recovery could be glimpsed among its neighbours and the recovery of Cuenca’s flourishing textile industry of the past. However, the impact of the subsistence crises during the modern period caused by natural phenomena with their consequences on prices, mortality or marriage rates, tried to be attenuated by the interventions of the municipal administration. In October 1709, the lack of wheat became evident, making it necessary to resort to the Cathedral Chapter so that its members could deliver grain for the supply. The Council of Castile revealed how some councillors did not comply with the grain pragmatic order, selling wheat at 38 reales per bushel. In other places, such as Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the price of a bushel of wheat reached 120 reales and bread 47 cuartos, making it impossible for the average worker to buy it on a daily wage of 5 or 6 reales. The rise in the price of wheat hit Cuenca and Murcia particularly hard in 1709, while in towns in the north of Castile such as Burgo de Osma the price rose to a lesser extent. In the southern half of the peninsula, in Jaén, the price began to stabilise around 1708, as from 1709 the maximum price per bushel was set at 28 reales.

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Neighbours of Cuenca 1561-1752

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:41 +0000

The population of Cuenca in 1561 reached 17,000 inhabitants compared to Toledo’s population of around 30,000. If for the whole of Castile a population decrease of 36-42% of the inhabitants of Cuenca is estimated, comparing the data of 1591 and 1712, in the case of Cuenca the decrease is particularly steep, losing 83.6% of its population. At the end of the 17th century it experienced a small demographic recovery, participating in the general increase in Castile as a whole, reaching the levels of 1591, which was cut short by the War of the Spanish Succession. As for the province, a decline of 51% was calculated, as in Valladolid and Extremadura. These reductions translated into a population decline in the region between 1591-1646 of 35%, while in the city of Cuenca itself it reached 61.5%, falling from 3,120 at the end of the 16th century to just 1,200 in 1644. The decline during the first half of the 16th century was largely due to deindustrialisation due to the decline of the textile industry, which brought with it a process of deurbanisation at the end of the century. As part of the model of inland Spain, Cuenca participated in a demographic resurgence during the 17th century, as did Guadalajara, where the population grew modestly throughout the 17th century, with an increase in baptisms of 17.7%, without recovering the highs of the 16th century until 1790.

The post Neighbours of Cuenca 1561-1752 first appeared on History Lab.

Evolution of prices per bushel of wheat (1700-1714)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:31 +0000

The Modern Age was marked by numerous food, economic, climatic, epidemiological and even war crises. In the latter case, the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) left its mark on the price of a bushel of wheat. Between these years, we can see how in Murcia, Cuenca and Jaén the price per bushel of wheat fell at the beginning of the war and increased progressively as the battles reached the territories analysed. Murcia and Cuenca are the main exponents of the graph, with sharp rises between 1708 and 1710, while the north of Castile and Jaén increased to a lesser extent. The price of wheat directly affected bread, a basic product in the Spanish diet. In Cuenca, the corregidor declared an end to the bread shortage in 1714 due to the abundant harvest of that year. During this period, the general increase in prices, together with the military levy and mortality, the demographic structure was affected; fewer baptisms and the accentuation of social imbalances.

The post Evolution of prices per bushel of wheat (1700-1714) first appeared on History Lab.

Evolution of baptism during the War of the Spanish Succession, Albacete and Cuenca (1699-1712)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:31 +0000

The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) caused numerous alterations in the demographic structures due to the crises that went hand in hand with it. An example of this is reflected in the number of baptisms. During the most critical period of the war in Albacete (1706-1707) we see how baptisms (and therefore births) fell considerably due to the battles that took place in the province (such as the Battle of Almansa in 1707). Recruitment, resulting in the absence of men who were at the front or mobilised, led to an absence of pregnancies. The same can be observed for that year in Cuenca, Chinchilla and San Clemente, with an average decrease of 20%. On many occasions, skirmishes caused the loss of harvests; on other occasions, food resources were destined to the maintenance of the troops to the detriment of the market in the towns, with consumption being reduced and family possibilities of reproduction and subsistence diminished. Between 1708 and 1711 there was also a general decline, this time caused by the national crisis of war. The areas of Albacete and Chinchilla were more sensitive than those of Cuenca as they were more affected; the Spanish countryside needed a few years to recover and to be able to provide sufficient food for families.

The post Evolution of baptism during the War of the Spanish Succession, Albacete and Cuenca (1699-1712) first appeared on History Lab.

Disentailed assets sold in Castile-La Mancha (1836-1844)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

In the liquidation of the Ancien Régime system, three major agrarian reforms were carried out by the liberal governments. The three disentailments had a great socio-economic impact, as the primary sector was the hegemonic sector in the Modern Age: the disentailments of Godoy (1798), of Mendizábal and Espartero (1836-1844) and the General Disentailment (1855-1895). But what were the disentailments? They were measures that put assets belonging to the Church, the municipalities and the aristocracy that could not be bought or sold up for auction. The aim was to liberalise the agrarian sector by changing the ownership of land and to increase the Treasury’s accounts with the auctions. The reality was that the auctioned land was bought back by the same people who owned it, without changing the ownership structures. Moreover, the disentailed collective and communal lands became private property. Wage-earning peasants, for their part, saw their traditional rights eroded as the concept of land ownership changed.
In Castile-La Mancha, the disentailment of 1836 particularly affected the province of Toledo, with 10,586 estates affected, which were valued at 66.9 million reales and sold at auction for 159.8 million reales. These figures for Toledo accounted for 5% of the national total. The province that contributed the least was Albacete with 772 estates valued at 6.7 million and sold for 11.9, a lower percentage improvement than the rest of the provinces (Ciudad Real 3,370 estates valued at 21 million and sold for 54.4; Cuenca 1,463 estates valued at 13.5 and auctioned for almost double that: 24.2; and Guadalajara with 10,354, valued at 20.6 and sold for 36.6). In sum, the disentailed Castilian-La Mancha lands were valued at 129 million and sold for almost 287 million, 9% of the national total.

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