Hijos - History Lab

Camila Gonzaga, Countess of San Segundo and her children

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000

Portraits of marriage and family are common in the Modern Age, allowing us to detect forms of relationship between husband and wife and family compositions. This portrait by Parmigianino depicts Camilla Gonzaga, married to the Count of San Secondo, emphasising her role as a mother. The iconography of the work depicts, apparently for the first time in Italy, a woman surrounded by her children in the manner of classical charity. Revealing is the hardness of the mother’s face, with a certain restrained smile, while the children approach the cord around her waist with their hands, considering it an element of security. She gives the impression that with one of them she wants to break the bonds of dependence, with another she seems to warn him of a possible withdrawal and only allows the youngest to cling to her. Her attitude, together with the direction of the children’s gaze, leaves a clear message: age forces a change in mother-child relationships and male life and promotion are associated with going out of the domestic space.

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Evolution of the volume of foundlings and legitimacy in Antequera, Malaga, between 1667 and 1700

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

The parish registers of Antequera, shown in the graph provided by the author, show how the number of foundlings in Antequera at the end of the 17th century only decreased. However, this decrease was directly related to the epidemic crisis of 1679 which altered the demography and life cycles, lowering the nuptiality and, consequently, the birth rate. The research reveals that in the year with the highest number of baptisms, 1676, legitimate children accounted for 89%, while illegitimate children constituted 11%. On the other hand, in the year in which the fewest baptisms took place, 1684, foundlings accounted for 14%, an increase of 3%. Thus, the rate of abandonment was inversely proportional to the number of births. Finally, the fin-de-siècle crisis did not lead to an increase in the abandonment rate as families needed more useful hands to boost their economy.

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Evolution of the volume of foundlings and legitimacy in Antequera, Malaga, between 1701 and 1750

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

The resource shows us the number of abandoned children, foundlings, that took place in Antequera (Malaga) in the first half of the 18th century. The data reveal that the annual average number of foundlings was 60, a figure that remained relatively stable throughout this chronological period. However, the number of abandoned children is inversely related to the number of baptisms: on the one hand, the maximum number of baptisms is found in 1745, when 1,058 children were sacramentalised; in this year, foundlings accounted for 8%. On the other hand, in the year in which the fewest baptisms were recorded, 1738, foundlings accounted for 11%. These dynamics follow the same trends as at the end of the 17th century, unlike the second half of the 18th century when the periods of fewer abandonments coincided with the lowest number of baptisms.

The post Evolution of the volume of foundlings and legitimacy in Antequera, Malaga, between 1701 and 1750 first appeared on History Lab.

Evolution of the volume of foundlings and legitimacy in Antequera, Malaga, between 1751 and 1803

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

The author reflects in the resource the evolution of foundlings throughout the second half of the 18th century. In these 50 years, the number of total baptisms showed a decreasing trend compared to the first half of the century, although the rate of foundlings fell to an annual average of 51. It was in this period at the end of the Ancien Régime when the trends of previous decades were reversed. From the 17th century onwards, it could be seen that the rates of foundlings were inversely related to the number of baptised children; from this time onwards, lower birth rates coincided with a low level of abandonments. Thus, in 1751, the year with the lowest baptismal registers, the number of foundlings was 7%, in contrast with other years of higher birth rates (in 1788 the abandonment rate was 10% and in 1802 it was 8%).

The post Evolution of the volume of foundlings and legitimacy in Antequera, Malaga, between 1751 and 1803 first appeared on History Lab.

Age of children in the household in Albacete (1787)

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

The number of children in the household varies with their age. Unsurprisingly, those under 18 dominate the data with a total of 2,431: 8 out of 10. Between the ages of 18 and 35 the figure drops sharply to 630 (2 out of 10). Finally, those over 35 account for 1% of the total (37 children). The data confirm the age-split structures that are configured with the life cycle of individuals. The greater the economic and legal dependency, the higher the rate of residence in the family home; on the contrary, when a marital bond is created, people leave home to form a new residential nucleus. Within these dynamics, variables can be differentiated according to the sex of the child. Thus, while men leave home more frequently, female guardianship was framed first under paternal parental authority and then with the husband. Consequently, the higher rate of celibacy among women meant that they were slower to leave the family home. If this happens at an advanced age, we find the contrast in the younger age of women, whose marriage age is lower than that of men (in proportion, they married less, but they married earlier), favouring the departure of women from the home.

The post Age of children in the household in Albacete (1787) first appeared on History Lab.

Socio-professional group and sex of the relatives in the jurisdiction of the city of Alcaraz (1753-1787)

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

Within the studies on the family, the analysis based on sex reveals the different characteristics of the household: productive, welfare or ostentatious. The professions set the trends: while among labourers and day labourers the proportion of male relatives living in the household was around 40-45%, merchants, waiters and the liberal professions had the fewest, with 28.6%, 20% and 33.3% respectively. Between 1753 and 1787, the parameters were reversed, with the domestic aggregate among the clergy (from 35.3% to 80.8%), waiters (from 20% to 63.8%) and merchants (28.6% to 65.4%) standing out. In general terms, the presence of men in the household increased by 29.5%, while the number of women fell from 192 (59.6%) to 125 (31.4%). Finally, it is worth noting the importance of servants in the household. By sex, these were determined according to the professions of their employers; in 1753, while among the farm labourers almost 95% of the servants were men, among the members of the liberal professions, women accounted for 40%, a figure which increased over time.

The post Socio-professional group and sex of the relatives in the jurisdiction of the city of Alcaraz (1753-1787) first appeared on History Lab.

Children over 25 years old in the household by socio-professional group (jurisdiction of the city of Alcaraz)

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

The study of household composition leads us to focus on family forces over the age of 25. While women tended to marry early, maids and men who continued to live together in the household did so because of the type of family economy, social status, or various situations such as widowhood or the illness of their parents. Therefore, the professions of the fathers conditioned the future of the sons; the family had political strategies for its reproduction and social maintenance. Therefore, trades such as craftsmen and merchants, where labour was important, tended to be patrimonialised by the family, initiating their descendants into the guild. For their part, labourers, farm labourers and day labourers needed productive labour forces to cultivate the land, although the unequal distribution of land ownership meant that many of these trades depended on specific leases, causing children to seek other alternatives. At the end of the 18th century, these trends only became more pronounced, with women’s percentage growth being particularly noteworthy.

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