Regiones españolas - History Lab

The plague in the Kingdom of Cordoba in the 17th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000

The Kingdom of Cordoba was one of the territories involved in the great plague epidemics that devastated the Iberian Peninsula during the 17th century. The resource lists the localities affected, using the 1761 map drawn up by Tomás López. In red are the epidemic outbreaks that occurred in the two-year period 1649-1650. Originating in the ports of Cadiz and the cities of Seville, Malaga, Antequera and Murcia, the epidemic reached the city of Cordoba with virulence and affected the municipalities located in the north of the kingdom and some areas in the south. Years later, and represented in blue dots, another plague epidemic broke out, which had a greater incidence in the south and, once again, in the city of Cordoba itself. How did the kingdom’s authorities deal with the epidemics? Isolation and the closure of communications were the best way to prevent the plague from spreading further; however, the absence of a centralised entity to control and delimit the vast territories resulted in the permeability of municipal borders. At the local level, the Board of Health decreed the measures to be implemented: food stockpiling, closure of trade, limitation of foreign trade and promotion of hygiene were the most widespread formulas.

The post The plague in the Kingdom of Cordoba in the 17th century first appeared on History Lab.

International maritime wax production and trade around 1800

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000

Spanish pastoral beekeeping during the Modern Age was one of the most advanced beekeeping systems in Europe. The seasonal movement of hives became widespread in Spain in the early modern period; other countries such as France had to wait until the end of the 18th century to experience the necessary conditions for the development of the beekeeping sector. As a result, the amount of honey and wax collected increased. The resource shows the production of wax, marked on the map with cross lines, and its distribution throughout Europe and the western Mediterranean. In Spain, the main beekeeping areas were the regions of Galicia, Extremadura, the north and Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, the south and centre of Aragon, the Valencian coast, the north of Majorca, Murcia and parts of La Mancha. Waxes came to the Peninsula from the Netherlands, the Maghreb and the French region of Landes; however, due to the wars of the Revolution and the French Empire, trade channels were affected.

The post International maritime wax production and trade around 1800 first appeared on History Lab.

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.

The post Distribution of foreign textiles through the port of Bilbao between 1710-1714 first appeared on History Lab.

Epidemics of plague in Spain: 16th and 17th centuries

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

The plague epidemic had an early manifestation in Spain. There is evidence of outbreaks of plague along the Mediterranean strip of the peninsula as early as the 6th-8th centuries. During the 14th century, the Black Death appeared in Europe, an epidemic which, interspersed with others such as influenza and typhus, reappeared in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1596 the plague reached the peninsula via Santander, a port area. It spread virulently through the territories of Extremadura and the two Castiles, especially the area around Madrid. The Cantabrian coast and Andalusia were also affected, as well as the area between Alicante and Valencia. It was in the latter city that another plague epidemic broke out years later, in 1647. From Valencia it spread to the northern part of the Crown of Aragon: Catalonia and the Aragonese territories themselves were affected. Andalusia was also hit again, with the city of Seville suffering significant human losses, where it is estimated that 45% of the population died. It was in Seville that another epidemic appeared in 1676. With no time to recover, cities such as Seville, Cordoba, Malaga, Cadiz and Jaen were the protagonists of the horror. They were joined by Cartagena, in the Kingdom of Murcia. These were the last large-scale epidemics to occur in the peninsular territories of the Hispanic Monarchy. Once the epidemic, demographic and food crises of the 17th century were overcome, the 18th century ushered in a period of generalised growth.

The post Epidemics of plague in Spain: 16th and 17th centuries first appeared on History Lab.

Map of the ecclesiastical division of Spain at the end of the 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:59 +0000

During the Modern Age, Spain acquired numerous regional and provincial divisions. The different eras and reigns, especially in the 18th century, modified the jurisdictional divisions of the civil administration. The Enlightenment sought a more rationalised structure of Spain with criteria of convergence of interests. However, there was another division, parallel to the civil division, and equally important. This was the ecclesiastical division into archbishoprics. The Spanish ecclesiastical structure took shape during the Reconquest, with the archbishopric of Toledo being the greatest beneficiary on a territorial level due to its central location. Like the civil structure, it underwent changes, arriving at the end of the 18th century with the structures shown on the map. The archbishopric of Toledo was still the most important in the Peninsula and one of the largest, along with the archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela. These large areas were subdivided into dioceses and bishoprics and these, in turn, into vicariates, archpriestships and parishes. The complicated interweaving of civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions meant that they did not coincide with each other until well into the contemporary period. Even some provinces, such as Albacete, did not have civil-religious concordance until the creation of its diocese in 1949.

The post Map of the ecclesiastical division of Spain at the end of the 18th century first appeared on History Lab.

Evolution of the Havana garrison (Cuba, 1701-1746)

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

During the War of the Spanish Succession, numerous human resources were mobilised in the Indies in favour of the French pretender. But Philip V was aware of the logistical impossibility of transporting large contingents of troops from the Americas to the mainland and maintaining them adequately during the journey. Nevertheless, the military mobilisation in the Indies was large enough to rid the continent of foreign interference during this period. The resource shows the evolution of the Havana garrison, as measured by salaries, between 1701 and 1746. From a first stage of maintenance in numbers, with spending oscillating in a constant range, a new regulation was implemented in 1719 that sought to improve the isolation and permanence of the soldiers in Havana. For 20 years the average number of men was 800, a figure that increased exponentially with the Anglo-Spanish war that began in 1739 in the Caribbean. Known as the War of the Seat, the conflict forced more troops to be garrisoned and, except for the occasional episode of bankruptcy in 1742, the bonds enjoyed good health both because of the aid they received from New Spain (situated) and because of the administration of their own internal coffers. The withdrawal of the English fleet from the Caribbean eased Havana’s financial burden, showing a slight decrease at the end of 1746.

The post Evolution of the Havana garrison (Cuba, 1701-1746) first appeared on History Lab.

Evolution of the garrison of Cartagena de Indias, 1700-1746

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

The evolution of the garrison at Cartagena de Indias, unlike that of Havana, showed a stable trend until the outbreak of British hostilities in the War of the Seat (1739-1748). The garrison numbered around 150-200 men, a tiny figure in relation to the importance and size of the territory to be defended, reflecting the old system of semi-private recruitment. Despite this, the English crown’s maritime superiority was only countered by the effective tactical and defensive work of the Spanish overseas provinces. From 1736 onwards, the garrison’s military expenditure increased, a build-up that lasted until 1740-1741, when Cartagena, the main port of the viceroyalty of New Granada, was attacked and besieged. The Spanish resistance, led by Blas de Lezo, resulted in a defensive victory for the port and the region. A year later, in 1742, Cartagena was able to receive new financial remittances in the form of silver from Santa Fe and Quito, thus ensuring defensive continuity against another possible English attack.

The post Evolution of the garrison of Cartagena de Indias, 1700-1746 first appeared on History Lab.

Estimates of metals and coins transported by bankers in Spain between 1601 and 1675

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

During the Modern Age, the availability of real physical money was of great importance for the Royal Treasury when it came to making payments without the need for another financial instrument such as bills of exchange. The transport of this money was conditioned by the strategies and organisation that the banquerons deployed when offering credits and making investments in America, Spain, Europe and Asia. The resource presented here shows the estimate of metals and coins transported by bankers in Spain between 1601 and 1675. The different coins and their quality were due to the type of currency used in each territory: while in Castile it was the real de vellón, in the Crown of Aragon, such as the cities of Barcelina, Zaragoza and Valencia, the metal used was silver and double silver. The author warns us that the documentary sources used are confined to Madrid, so the results are filtered through the filter of Madrid activity. The sample he has collected totals 8,760,000 ducats, equivalent to the annual expenditure of the Monarchy at the beginning of the 17th century. Of the total, 79% were coined silver reales, 10.8% uncoined silver, 9.4% fleece coins, and 0.8% gold coins. This reflects the large internal trade in metals that the Monarchy had on the peninsula.

The post Estimates of metals and coins transported by bankers in Spain between 1601 and 1675 first appeared on History Lab.

Ordinary revenues of the Peninsula and the Indies for the Spanish Monarchy, 1763-1811

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

During the Modern Age the Hispanic Monarchy was financed by its subjects settled in the Iberian Peninsula and in the imperial provinces overseas. From 1763 to 1811, the territories that contributed most to the General Treasury of Spain showed an inversion: while the peninsular crowns were the main sources of financing in ordinary revenues, the French invasion that triggered the War of Independence caused the contribution of these territories to fall sharply; for their part, revenues from the Americas were maintained and only surpassed the peninsular contribution because of this situation. However, as the author points out, ordinary revenue to the General Treasury from the Americas did not include revenue in kind. Thus, if we add ordinary income to extraordinary income, the aforementioned reversal of contributions occurred in the 1790s, when the transfer of silver from New Spain accounted for 80% of total American remittances.

The post Ordinary revenues of the Peninsula and the Indies for the Spanish Monarchy, 1763-1811 first appeared on History Lab.

The age of marriage of women in 18th century Spain. A regional overview

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

In 18th century Spain, women married on average at the age of 23 and men at the age of 25, as corroborated by the Floridablanca Census of 1787. These ages are lower than in Europe, where it was common for women to marry between 25 and 28 and men between 27 and 30. Even so, however, there was a tendency for first marriages to be later than in previous centuries. This trend, however, was not uniform, but seems to have followed a south/north-northwest upward direction, which confirms the existence of an unequal regional reality that we cannot fail to point out. According to Pérez Moreda (1988), in 1787 the first marriages of women in Extremadura were at 21.9 years of age, those in Andalusia at 22.3; those in Valencia at 22.7; those in Castilla La Nueva at 23.4; Castilla la Vieja, 23.7; León, 24.2; Galicia 25.3 and the Basque Country 26.1. Uneven behaviour for which it is not easy to find unicausal explanations. Rather, it is necessary to take into account a variety of factors that to a greater or lesser extent influence marital behaviour: living conditions, work possibilities, economic opportunities, the existence of complementary activities and levels of pluriactivity, the weight of migratory movements, the form of access to resources -and especially to the exploitation of land-, inheritance law, custom, inheritance practices, cultural aspects linked to the medieval past, the logic of family systems, social differences, marital strategies and other mechanisms of social reproduction.

adfa462e6c99edb28ad1edb834415f701 Download

The post The age of marriage of women in 18th century Spain. A regional overview first appeared on History Lab.