Estrategias familiares - History Lab

Map of the areas of single heir predominance in Aragon during the Modern Age

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:25 +0000

During the Modern Age, the Kingdom of Aragon had a system of unequal transmission of inheritance, i.e. the testator had free disposal of his goods to bequeath them in any quantity and amount to the parent or parents he wished, obliged only to reserve 5 sueldos in money and 5 in white lands for each of the legitimate children. In effect, for all those with sufficient movable and immovable property to bequeath, a single heir could be chosen almost exclusively, in contrast to the Castilian system of equal distribution of inheritance. The resource shows the distribution in the Kingdom of Aragon of the areas where the family policy of the sole heir predominated; in the north, the Pyrenean valleys and the Cinca valley, and in Lower Aragon, the districts of Matarraña and Guadalope. For these areas, the author observes that the sole heir used to receive real estate on condition that it formed part of his matrimonial capitulation. However, the rest of the kingdom opted for an equal distribution, although there were several variants depending on family affinity or the carrying out of a “quita”: leaving the inheritance to the spouse and the latter, upon testament, distributing it among those children who showed the best behaviour, or reserving assets to be used for the salvation of the soul through the masses of souls, the foundation of chaplaincies, patronages or pious works.

The post Map of the areas of single heir predominance in Aragon during the Modern Age first appeared on History Lab.

Evolution of the proportion of those sponsored by an ecclesiastic in the diocese of Lugo. 16th-19th centuries

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:48 +0000

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.

The post Evolution of the proportion of those sponsored by an ecclesiastic in the diocese of Lugo. 16th-19th centuries first appeared on History Lab.

From outsider to mayor: the network of Don Martín Villaranda García in Bermellar (18th century)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:36 +0000

The resource analyses the social impact of Martín Villaranda García as an example of clientelist, family and social reproduction networks. The author investigates Martín’s trajectory since he settled in the municipality of Bermellar (bishopric of Ciudad Rodrigo). There he married María Bogajo and they had 11 children, 8 of whom survived. Of all of them, María’s socially well-positioned father was the godfather of 5; Martín thus reinforced the ties with his father-in-law as a means of penetration and consolidation within society. With the death of Pedro in 1759, Martín saw his possessions increase as he was one of the main heirs. Six years later, in 1764, his wife died and he remarried Rosenda Sánchez Pastor, with whom he had five more children. Martín’s family networks were part of a larger strategy of social reproduction that also included ties of compadrazgo and spiritual ties that helped to underpin his social status (Martín was godfather to 13 children between 1737 and 1762, obtained hidalguía between 1752 and 1757, and was mayor ordinario in 1762 and 1767)

The post From outsider to mayor: the network of Don Martín Villaranda García in Bermellar (18th century) first appeared on History Lab.

Marriages and Marriage Dispensations in the Kingdom of Murcia, 1773-1832

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:36 +0000

The graph shows the number of marriage dispensations in relation to the total number of marriages between 1773 and 1832 in the Kingdom of Murcia. These dispensations were granted by the Church when the spouses had consanguinity; kinship in different degrees. From 1780, the increase of consanguineous marriages is progressive and, within the social profile of the peasants, they used it as a strategy to consolidate the family by establishing double marriages. At times of change between the Ancien Régime and the liberal state, a decreasing trend of dispensations has been observed; rather, at the beginning of the 19th century, the Church relaxed these necessary dispensations by changing the degrees of prohibition. The authors point out that, while the number of dispensations decreased, the actual number of consanguineous marriages increased due to this greater permissibility.

The post Marriages and Marriage Dispensations in the Kingdom of Murcia, 1773-1832 first appeared on History Lab.

Inheritance systems in Modern Spain

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:13 +0000

According to the authors of the resource, “the inheritance systems sought the joint stability of men and women, mixing collective solidarity and particularised benefits” in search of succession strategies. In contrast to the traditional simplification of inheritance transmission models, the authors show us the more complex reality of the systems in their distribution throughout the national geography. The systems of sole heirs are subdivided according to the testator’s intention to promote a male or without defined priority. Within the former, Catalonia and the north of Aragon stand out, while in the latter, the areas of Navarre and Vizcaya stand out. For the Castilian egalitarian system, two variants have also been identified according to family motivations: favouring one heir with the third of improvement and the fifth of free disposition, leaving 2/3 of the inheritance for the rest destined to the offspring, or relatives in the absence of the former. This ensured the predominance of one heir over the others, but safeguarded a part for the overall distribution. Guipúzcoa, Asturias, the mountains of Santander and the province of Lugo (the latter already in the 18th century) reproduced this system. In the rest of the Crown of Castile, equal distribution between men and women, elders and minors predominated, except in cases where, out of affection or help in the testator’s old age, the testator tended to improve the inheritance of the person who assisted him. However, in order to avoid excessive patrimonial atomisation, wills could establish a patronage, chaplaincy or entailed estate in order to fix the endowed assets and provide the successors with constant assets that could not be alienated; another formula was to use part of the patrimony as a matrimonial dowry to ensure the social and biological reproduction of the family.

The post Inheritance systems in Modern Spain first appeared on History Lab.

Beneficiaries of the wills of the Murcian prebendaries (1743-1820)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:13 +0000

The resource deals with the inheritance strategy of the prebendados of the cathedral of Murcia between 1743 and 1820. Despite what the ecclesiastical literature proposed (that the clergy’s assets should be destined to the Church and the poor), the high clergy of Murcia returned the benefits they obtained to their families. In fact, of the 46 wills studied, 52% (24 cases) had the clergyman’s family as the main beneficiary; 24% (11 cases) the Church; and another 24% the family-Church binomial. Overall, the burden of family obligations was the main motivation for making a will. The possible inheritance received and the patrimony to be ordained clergy subject to celibacy dispersed the family assets among the offspring; the return of the assets to the family meant, once again, the concentration of patrimony. However, the author warns, the tendency to put the family as the main beneficiary decreased by 9% compared to the period from 1591 to 1746.

The post Beneficiaries of the wills of the Murcian prebendaries (1743-1820) first appeared on History Lab.

Typology of testamentary beneficiaries according to the groups of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Murcia (1743-1820)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:13 +0000

All the clergy did not have the same concerns or strategies of social reproduction. The resource shows us the differences in the wills of the cathedral chapter of Murcia between 1743 and 1820. Although there were common tendencies, such as favouring the family lineage through patrimony against the moralistic treatises of the Church, the strength with which these policies of inheritance transmission were perpetuated differed according to the ecclesiastical grade. The most family-conscious group in the chapter was the Dignities. The author identifies the trajectories of each of the members and reveals that, in contrast to the traditional idea of belonging to the nobiliary estate, and thus being imbued with the idea of lineage, the members were made up of families who had recently joined the local oligarchies in a process of social ascent. Their arrival in the upper strata gave rise to the need to consolidate their position there, so that nurturing the family through patrimony was one of their concerns. The rest of the groups, both canons and racioneros, also underwent this process. Many of these family estates led to the entry of another generation into the clerical estate, a fundamental issue within the strategies of social reproduction and perpetuation of the lineage.

The post Typology of testamentary beneficiaries according to the groups of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Murcia (1743-1820) first appeared on History Lab.

Appointment of guardians and curators in wills. Valladolid, 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:07 +0000

During the Modern Age, testamentary mandates emerged as strategies of social reproduction aimed at improving the family lineage. Sometimes, the deceased testator bequeathed to his children, minors, the movable and immovable property that he had in his power and administration. However, these assets were placed under the guardianship of an adult, usually close to the family, to administer them until the offspring reached maturity. The choice of the administrators of the inheritance was not a minor matter, but was a major concern of the testator in view of the possible perversion of the person chosen. In Valladolid, 77.8% of those appointed guardians were the spouses of the deceased, followed at a great distance by other relatives (9.3%), siblings (2.9%), children and parents (both with 2.3%), and “others” (5.4%), a concept which brings together numerous categories of individuals related to the family through neighbourhood or spiritual kinship. The city of Valladolid marked the general trend more sharply; in contrast, the nuances of the rural world attenuated the divergent criteria. Differentiated by sex, women chose other relatives (35.8%) rather than their husbands (21.1%) to be the administrators of their children’s inheritance.

The post Appointment of guardians and curators in wills. Valladolid, 18th century first appeared on History Lab.

Inheritance distribution in the province of León in the 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:07 +0000

The distribution of inheritance was one of the main concerns of the testators. During the 18th century in the province of León there was a direct relationship between the socio-economic structural framework and the choice of the inheritance model. The egalitarian distribution in the agrarian areas of Cea-Campos, the Vega del Esla and the Páramo stands out. However, despite having a similar agrarian model, the mountain area had some differences with respect to the rest of the province of León: there was a tendency towards the improvement of the third and fifth (between 36.5% and 42.8%) and the testamentary mandates (30.5%-38.5%) which favoured a first-born son in contrast to the rest of the offspring. The limited arable land in these territories marked the family strategy aimed at guaranteeing the biological reproduction of at least one member of the family, without social descent. Indeed, the possible disintegration of the patrimony would condition the marital choice to lower strata; a downward social mobility that the families wanted to avoid.

The post Inheritance distribution in the province of León in the 18th century first appeared on History Lab.