Vecindarios - History Lab

Sectors and professional groups in Zamora (1561)

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

Based on the analysis of the socio-professional structures provided by some modern-day censuses and neighbourhoods, the author attempts to assess the situation in Zamora in the mid-16th century. The traditional division between primary, secondary and tertiary activities is an artificial resource due to the mixed occupations, but it does help to understand the main occupation within the labour activity of the active population.
In the cities, as opposed to the much more ruralised suburbs, where the primary sector takes precedence over the rest, there is usually a central nucleus dedicated to craft and service trades. It is in this urban case where the demographic weight of the city is maintained, and where the author focuses on analysing the professional structure in more detail. The detailed analysis shows that by volume, the secondary sector accounts for more than half of the active population of the urban area, followed by the tertiary sector with 38.10% and the primary sector employing practically a tenth of the population.

The post Sectors and professional groups in Zamora (1561) first appeared on History Lab.

Sectors of activity in Sigüenza (1521-1797)

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

In 1138, Alfonso VII donated the lower part of Sigüenza to the Episcopal power, completing it with its castle in 1146 and uniting it into a single municipality. Thus began an Episcopal Lordship that would last almost seven centuries, until Don Juan Díaz de la Guerra renounced his jurisdiction in 1796 in favour of the Crown.
In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, Sigüenza was a great administrative and economic centre for an extensive territory, which meant that economic activities had a great influence on all the economic activity in the area. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the data on professions obtained from the neighbourhoods are rather scarce, and do not allow us to recreate exactly what the economic model of Sigüenza was like, although they do outline some of the patterns present in that chronology, such as a secondary sector imposing itself on the rest of the occupations.
In the 18th century, the data begin to be much more complete, with a secondary sector that continues to predominate over the rest, but practically on a par with the primary and tertiary sectors.

The post Sectors of activity in Sigüenza (1521-1797) first appeared on History Lab.

Evolution of the population of Siles between 1480 and 1646

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

When analysing the population and society of Siles, which belonged to the Encomienda de Segura (formerly the Kingdom of Murcia and now Jaén), from the end of the 15th century to the mid-17th century, it is a good idea to use unpublished documentary sources in addition to the always useful Relaciones Topográficas de Felipe II, as the author of this article does. Adding those already mentioned above to the books of visits of the Order of Santiago, the Census of Dairy Farmers, the neighbourhood for the service of the Cortes and the list of neighbours of 1649, gives as a sample this table which can be used at the Baccalaureate and University levels, also introducing several of the primary sources available in this territory.
The resulting computation shows that the well-known demographic crisis at the end of the 15th century is quickly overcome, causing a regular growth until the plague epidemic in the middle of the 16th century, which causes an almost constant fall in the population until 1646, culminating in five decades of attraction towards the kingdom of Granada, the strength of the Council of Segura and the pressure on these lands to have more exploitable and less exploited areas in their vicinity.

The post Evolution of the population of Siles between 1480 and 1646 first appeared on History Lab.