Toledo - History Lab

Migration of locusts in Extremadura, La Mancha and Córdoba, 1776-1783

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

Locust infestations were a major concern in the primary sector during the Modern Age. In an agricultural economy, where the possibilities of growth and development were linked to the production of the harvest, the total or partial loss of the crop caused considerable devastation, or even death by starvation. How were these pests formed and how did they move through the different localities and fields? The author hypothesises that these invertebrates underwent frequent changes in their phenotypes, which led them to change their behaviour, far from their usual solitary behaviour, and to become pests in search of food. The resource shows the advance of the locust in the provinces of La Mancha, Extremadura and Cordoba at the end of the 18th century. Coming from La Mancha, the invertebrate followed its apparent usual south-north direction, passing through Almadén, branching off towards Trujillo and Guadalupe in Extremadura to, on the one hand, head towards Plasencia in 1781, while on the other hand turning towards Talavera de la Reina and Toledo. The plagues began to subside from 1783 onwards and ceased in 1785, when the swarms were dissolved due to climatic and human causes.

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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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Eleanor of Toledo with her son Juan de Medici

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:03 +0000

Portrait by Bronzino, court painter to Cosimo I de Medici and representative of Mannerism. The Duke’s wife and one of his sons are depicted in rich clothes. She was the daughter of the Viceroy of Naples Pedro de Toledo, Marquis of Villafranca. Their marriage sealed the Florentine alliance with the Spanish Monarchy

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View and map of Toledo

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:03 +0000

A work by El Greco, in which he depicts both a view and a plan of the imperial city. In the background are the city walls, the Tagus and the Tavera Hospital. In the sky the imposition of the chasuble on Saint Ildefonso, a recurring theme in Toledan religion. In the foreground, a boy holds the city map

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Certificate of position with unfilled food prices. Toledo, 1760.

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:14 +0000

The Modern Age concept of tariff that we have here refers to the price at which goods are sold, not to the economic levy on them after passing through customs. The “cédulas de postura” were specific templates that sellers used to set the prices of the products they had for sale. This price was “prefixed” with a tariff that guaranteed the stability of the price range over long periods. This example of an unfilled cédula was placed in the shop or trading post in a visible manner. Each type of shop had its own ticket adapted to the goods on offer. It shows fruit products (pears, plums, peaches, etc.), spices (saffron, oregano, coriander, etc.) and products of animal origin and treatment (cheeses). Selling prices could not exceed those marked on the certificate, under penalty of being punished. Were all types of certificates and tariffs like this? Without prejudice to the example shown, there were several different models of documents depending on whether they were general (municipality level) or specific (shop).

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Moderation of prices of all tradable goods… (1680)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:09 +0000

The control of prices in the supply market or shops was determined by the town councils and the government. In the city of Toledo, a printed document was published entitled Moderación de precios de todos géneros comerciables, hecha en virtud de Real Provisión de su Magestad, y señores de su Real Consejo, por la Imperial Ciudad de Toledo. Year 1680, which established the control of non-food manufactured goods. Subsequently, the articulated control system evolved towards more specific positions, such as the so-called “shop tariffs” where each shop had its own stipulated price.

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Wide looms at work in Toledo in 1692

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

During the Modern Age in the city of Toledo, the silk weaving industry stood out. From its great splendour in the 16th century, it began to decline from the last quarter of the century until its disappearance at the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th century. The legislation in force and the guild’s own constrictions, added to the discrimination against artisans from other cities such as Valencia, led them to paralyse their looms in 1737 as a sign of their discontent.
As the author of the article points out, at the end of the 17th century (in 1690) there were 530 looms in operation in Toledo, falling to 500 a year later and decreasing drastically to 285 in 1692, the time of the appeal. According to testimonies of the time, the cause of this decline was the radical increase in the price of silk; for a few months this raw material did not arrive in Toledo, which forced many manufacturers to cease production directly.
Faced with this situation, the overseers of Toledo asked for methodological and technical exemptions so as not to have to adjust to the weight required for their products, alleging inconsistent guidelines such as the fact that thicker silks did not fit together well or that clothes with a smaller amount of weaving could be of higher quality. In the face of their submissions and evidence, the Board of Trade accepted their tolerance of these modifications. A year later, in 1693, the number of looms in operation rose again to 622.

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Wheat prices and wine prices in 17th century Spain (annual averages expressed in index numbers)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:02 +0000

Different considerations have been made about the evolution of the Spanish economy during the 17th century, in which the existence of a generalised and prolonged crisis in the Spain of the misnamed minor Habsburgs was acknowledged. However, during that period the number of active people did not fall, agricultural production had precisely to register a downward trend, where there was a “hidden unemployment” and the decrease in the cultivated area allowed the average quality of the cultivated land to improve and the breeding of livestock to expand. In this sense, it would have to be admitted that in Castilla la Nueva the trend in relative prices not only justified the planting of vines on “bread and butter” land during the first half of the 17th century, but encouraged just the opposite. The Rioja wine price series is much more reliable, as it relates the prices achieved on the market for a homogeneous product. In the period 1618-1628, the behaviour of the terms of trade significantly encouraged the planting of vines at the expense of arable land. In the first half of the 17th century, the movement of prices did not cause a significant change in the composition of the agricultural product, tending to increase the share of wine at the expense of cereals.

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Price of wheat and price of meat in 17th century Spain (annual averages expressed in index numbers)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:02 +0000

Different considerations have been made about the evolution of the Spanish economy during the 17th century, in which the existence of a generalised and prolonged crisis in the Spain of the misnamed minor Habsburgs was acknowledged. However, during that period the number of active people did not fall, agricultural production had precisely to register a downward trend, where there was a “hidden unemployment” and the decrease in the cultivated area allowed the average quality of the cultivated land to improve and the breeding of livestock to expand. The price of meat increased during the first half of the 17th century. Taking the terms of trade of the 1570s as a reference point, the trajectory of the terms of trade is not so favourable for meat producers. The behaviour of relative prices was not a sufficient condition for the emergence of important stimuli to expand cattle breeding, since the growth in operating costs led to a decrease in profits. In this sense, the area of communal pastures, due to ploughing, deforestation, enclosures and vineyard plantations, fell sharply in the second half of the 16th century and, most probably, in the first third of the 18th century. This led, as contemporaries reported, to an intense upward movement in the price of herbs between 1550 and 1630. Given the high percentage of production costs, it is likely that the balance sheets of the herds tended to worsen. The demand for meat plummeted in Old Castile in the first half of the 17th century, due to the decline in population, the deep crisis in the cities and economic difficulties in general, and the rise in the price of meat is a testimony to the depression of the cattle ranching industry.

The post Price of wheat and price of meat in 17th century Spain (annual averages expressed in index numbers) first appeared on History Lab.

Price of wheat and price of barley in 17th century Spain (Annual averages)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:02 +0000

The post Price of wheat and price of barley in 17th century Spain (Annual averages) first appeared on History Lab.