Diócesis de Lugo - History Lab https://historylab.es Fri, 20 May 2022 07:50:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://historylab.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-icono-historylab-32x32.jpg Diócesis de Lugo - History Lab https://historylab.es 32 32 Evolution of the proportion of those sponsored by an ecclesiastic in the diocese of Lugo. 16th-19th centuries https://historylab.es/evolution-of-the-proportion-of-those-sponsored-by-an-ecclesiastic-in-the-diocese-of-lugo-16th-19th-centuries/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=evolution-of-the-proportion-of-those-sponsored-by-an-ecclesiastic-in-the-diocese-of-lugo-16th-19th-centuries Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:48 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/evolucion-de-la-proporcion-de-apadrinados-por-un-eclesiastico-en-la-diocesis-de-lugo-siglos-xvi-xix/ Resource showing the levels of patronage by ecclesiastics during the Modern Age in the diocese of Lugo

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]]> Patronage was used as a strategy to create and strengthen the social networks of families. After the Council of Trent, two models of godparenthood were allowed by the Church: individual, or in pairs, the latter consisting of a man and a woman. The Council itself intended to discourage godparents from being clerics; however, there was no rejection of ecclesiastics in the diocese of Lugo; on the contrary, their election increased during the following centuries. The period with the highest percentage was in the transition from the 17th to the 18th century, when ecclesiastics were the godparents of 12% of the total number of the baptised. Subsequently, the levels of spiritual affiliation decreased to 1% at the end of the 19th century. The author argues that, during the peak years of godparenting, parish clergy were seen as equals in the community where two factors converged: they could benefit from mutual agricultural help and religious training. The decline is explained by demographic and sociological factors: first, as the population increased during the 18th century, families had more options to build neighbourly relationships of fidelity, to the detriment of the clergy. Second, the number of ecclesiastics also increased, causing them to be viewed negatively as the number of burdens increased and they were perceived as agents who no longer belonged to their social group.

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