España interior - History Lab

Solitary households in inland Spain in 1753 (%)

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

Headship has always been a subject of attention in social science. It determines family patterns, behaviour and policies. In the Spain of 1753, we can see how, in general, women were the head of the family under the parameters of widowhood. From the age of 50 onwards, there was an increase in single-person households headed by women, an upward trend that continued after the age of 65. With the departure of the children from the family and the death of the husband, the woman found her authority in herself, showing more preference for loneliness than for remarriage as long as she could support herself economically.

The post Solitary households in inland Spain in 1753 (%) first appeared on History Lab.

Life cycle and widowhood in inland Spain in 1753

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

The graph shows the life cycle of widows. It shows that their proportion peaks between the ages of 50 and 60 with 27.2%. This remains stable at around 25.7% in the next decade of their lives, between 60 and 70. This is not the case from the age of 70 onwards, when mortality increases considerably, leading to a downward trend. In comparison, the life cycle of widowers evolves in a similar way, although at later ages we observe how they tended to be more lonely than women, a behaviour that can be explained by the fact that mothers, more than fathers, would go on to live with their children.

The post Life cycle and widowhood in inland Spain in 1753 first appeared on History Lab.

Infant mortality in Spain (per thousand children born), 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:33 +0000

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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The post Infant mortality in Spain (per thousand children born), 18th century first appeared on History Lab.

Distribution of land ownership among households in the mid-18th century

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

In the Ancien Régime, land ownership was concentrated in the hands of a few. The Military Orders, churches and convents were some of the institutions that owned the most, thus benefiting the privileged classes. The existing inequalities are reflected when we analyse the property owned by the heads of different households. If we take as an example some municipalities in inland Spain, we can see that, in the mid-18th century, between a third and half of the households did not own land. Among those who did own land, it was small, not exceeding 1 hectare in most cases. Only 1 to 3 per cent of households owned more than 100 hectares. The unequal distribution translated into worse economic conditions, and these were reflected in family structures: while the average household size was around 3.75-4 persons, privileged families increased the number of members to 6 or 7.

The post Distribution of land ownership among households in the mid-18th century first appeared on History Lab.

Structure of female-headed households in inland Spain in 1753 (%)

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

The structure of female-headed households in inland Spain reveals that the dominant family model was the nuclear one (consisting of parents and children), with 81% of the cases. Those living alone were the second largest group with 10.4% of cases. The rest of the family models did not reach 5%. Among the groups that stand out most, nuclear and solitary, we observe a tendency towards solitude from the residential point of view: the vast majority of widows who headed the household and who lived with their children accounted for 61.3% of the cases, a figure that will decrease as the children grow up and emancipate from the family group.

The post Structure of female-headed households in inland Spain in 1753 (%) first appeared on History Lab.