Palencia - History Lab

Increase of bakers to prevent a riot in Palencia (1766)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:33:11 +0000

In the second half of the 18th century, the price of bread increased in many Spanish cities. The unrest among the population meant that the authorities tried to take measures to avoid riots. In Palencia, we know that in 1766, the corregidor José Firmat informed the Count of Aranda (president of the Council) of the increase in the number of bakers with ovens paid for by the Town Council in order to avoid riots. The date of the document, 22 April, only foretold the riot that took place a day later in the city, where gangs of young men asked for a reduction in the price of foodstuffs, which was immediately granted by the mayor.

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Distribution of foreign textiles through the port of Bilbao between 1710-1714

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:12 +0000

The resource deals with the distribution of foreign fabrics imported from the port of Bilbao during 1710 and 1714, the years in which the War of the Spanish Succession took place. Fabrics destined for Madrid and Toledo paid customs duties in Valmaseda, Orduña, while those bound for the Cantabrian mountain range did so in Vitoria. Taxes were directly proportional to the quality of the fabric: the higher the quality, the higher the tax. From the port of Bilbao they were distributed to wide areas of the peninsular monarchy: the Upper Ebro Valley, the Duero Valley, the Iberian System, Logroño, Soria and Toledo as its extreme points. Where did most of the textiles come from? In the years prior to the war, Holland and England were the two largest exporters (90% of the linen came from Holland). The Royal Order of 3 December 1710 prohibited the importation of Dutch fabrics, thus favouring the British. In the distribution network, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia and Valladolid were the provinces with the highest import ratio, followed by Ávila, Burgos, Palencia, Soria and Logroño. The authors warn us that, due to the war situation, the distribution could have altered with respect to previous years. The Royal Treasury tried to reduce some costs by suspending the payment of pensions, subsidies and other benefits, or by delaying the payment of bureaucratic salaries; this meant that certain privileged groups saw their incomes reduced. At the same time, in Castilian territory, the tax burden on the population was increased. The high taxes and reduced purchasing power led to a lower demand for foreign fabrics.

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Jurisdiction of Palencia’s vassals in the last third of the 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:25 +0000

The Aranda Census in the last third of the 18th century reveals the great administrative division present in the province of Palencia, which was subject to the jurisdiction of several lords who applied different local rules to each of their territories. Thus, in 1769 the census showed that 73.7% of the inhabitants of Palencia resided under the jurisdiction of a lord who was not the king. The model of realengo, similar to other provinces such as Burgos, was maintained, with settlement in small villages of few inhabitants and separated from each other, which favoured direct government by a lord.
Furthermore, 68.8% of the inhabitants of Palencia were answerable to a lay lord, continuing the downward trend of ecclesiastical lordships since even before the confiscations of the 16th century, so that the disappearance of religious jurisdictions only served to allow another, better established lord to absorb into his domains as many smaller towns.

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Structure of the household stock of consumer goods in Palencia, 1750-1840

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:46 +0000

Between the end of the Ancien Régime and the beginning of the Contemporaneity, there was an increase in household consumption in Castile; an industrial revolution without industrialisation that the author, Fernando Carlos Ramos, observes in the province of Palencia between 1750 and 1840. The resource shows that, although consumption patterns remained unchanged among durable and semi-durable goods, household spending did increase. on which products was the largest amount of disposable income spent? In all the periods shown, textiles took up more than 50% of the value of household stock, reaching 60.41% between 1785 and 1800. Within this group, clothing and footwear gradually decreased its weight in overall expenditure, with bed linen increasing. Household goods, on the other hand, were the second most important group in household expenditure. Books, religious and personal objects did not exceed 1%; and jewellery barely reached 2.5% on average between 1750 and 1840. Thus, the importance of textiles was greater than any other good. In terms of consumption patterns, the author has observed how habits developed in the urban world that were “exported” to the rural world, revealing the city as the driving force behind socio-economic change. The increase in household spending was motivated by the economic recovery that took place between 1815 and 1830, coinciding with the favourable evolution of population growth rates, widening the margins of the market.

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