Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Most research on inequality in pre-industrial economies has focused on either wealth or income, generating not readily comparable results. In this paper, we use a unique data set of Spain circa 1750 including information on (among other things) wealth and income for the same sample of households. Our findings provide methodological insights showing that a household's position in the income distribution is strongly correlated with its position in the wealth distribution but is also influenced by several other household specific characteristics like human capital of the head of the household and the economic sector of her/his main occupation.

Research on economic inequality in early modern Europe is complicated by the lack of appropriate data for reconstructing income or wealth distributions. This article presents a study of income inequality in mid‐eighteenth‐century Old Castile (Spain) using the Ensenada Cadastre, a census conducted between 1749 and 1759. The article describes the information provided by this census and then discusses its advantages and disadvantages for reconstructing income profiles and calculating income inequality. This is followed by analysis of a dataset derived from the Cadastre that consists of more than 4,000 observations from Palencia (a province in northern Spain) and contains information on sources of household income, each household head's main occupation, residence location, and other household characteristics. Demographic data from this census is used to weight observations in the sample and thereby minimize selection bias. Findings show that inequality in eighteenth‐century Spain was probably substantial despite its relative backwardness; that the relationship between inequality and per capita income was not clear‐cut and was probably influenced by measurement of the higher incomes; and that although income inequality was largely driven by uneven land distribution, labour income also contributed to overall inequality—especially in urban centres.

SummaryPedigree structures of 161 uncle/niece-aunt/nephew and 4420 first cousin consanguineous marriages registered during the 19th and 20th centuries in two large and very different Spanish regions have been analysed and their genetic consequences evaluated. The frequencies of the different pedigree subtypes within each degree of relationship were quite similar in both populations despite significant heterogeneity in inbreeding patterns. The mean X-linked inbreeding coefficient (Fx) for each type of cousin mating was calculated and compared to that expected for autosomal genes (F). The effect of genealogical structure on theFx/Fradio was compared to different cultural populations worldwide. Preferentiality and avoidance of close consanguinity along with specific types of pedigrees are discussed on the basis of premarital migration and sociocultural rules still deeply rooted in certain human groups. By admitting that the observedFxcoefficient is usually higher thanFin most human populations some remarks have been made in terms of population genetic risk.

ABSTRACT: After the War of the Castilian Succession (1475?1479), the Kingdom of Castile underwent major economic and commercial growth. The foreign policy of the Catholic Monarchs focused on strengthening political and trade links with other neighbouring powers such as England, Portugal and Flanders, and this was used by merchants to build up their wealth. However, the historian researching these merchants will discover that they suffered multiple attacks while undertaking their trade in supposedly friendly waters. This study will focus on assessing these attacks, learning what consequences they had for their victims and finding out how they could have been resolved. With this in mind, this paper shall take the example of seafarers from a region in Northern Castile known as Cuatro Villas de la Costa (Four Towns of the Coast) and discuss their experiences (sometimes as aggressors and sometimes as victims) to find out the mechanisms employed in Castile to solve conflicts generated at sea.

The Castilian-Leonese monarchy and the Jews: from Fernando I to Fernando III -- The Jews of the Camino de Santiago -- Enemy of the faith, asset to the Church -- Insolentia judeorum: the Jews and the conciliar legislation -- Tamquam domino proprio: the Bishop and his Jews in medieval Palencia -- The Jews of Castile at the end of the Reconquista (post-1250): cultural and communal life -- Jews, Christians, and royal power in Northern Castile -- Insolent, wicked people: the Cortes and anti-Jewish discourse in Castile

Earl J. Hamilton's multiple theses on the price revolution, the decline of Spain, and the birth of capitalism have all placed American silver (and gold) at the forefront. This essay supports Hamilton's emphasis on the impact of New World treasure on the decline of Castile, but from a different angle. Mining profits rather than the quantity of imports supported the empire. When the profits dwindled, as was inevitable, international superiority was begrudgingly surrendered to the emerging powers of the north.

AbstractThis article shows how public offices in the early modern period became investment assets in Castile (Spain). Moreover, it demonstrates that offices fulfilled all the conditions for being viewed as safe assets. In particular, through the combination of qualitative sources with a novel hand‐collected database, it shows that offices did not suffer from adverse selection, were traded in liquid secondary markets, and increased their value during periods of economic distress. This research is a pioneer in revealing the existence in early modern times of a haven asset, other than coins and public debt, and showing at the same time the private financial uses of offices.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- CONTENTS -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- INTRODUCTION From Heaven to Earth -- CHAPTER ONE A Taste for the New: Commerce, Property, and Language -- CHAPTER TWO The Evidence of Wills -- CHAPTER THREE Property: Wills and the Law in Medieval Castile -- CHAPTER FOUR Itemizing the World: Boundaries, Consolidation of Property, and Rights of Way -- CHAPTER FIVE Family and Property: Lineages and Primogeniture -- CHAPTER SIX Heavenly Concerns: Charity and Salvation -- CHAPTER SEVEN Toward a New Concept of Power: Unsacred Monarchy -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Abstract. The Iberian Peninsula presents the highest number of wildfires in Europe. In the NW of Spain in particular, wildfires are the natural risk with the greatest economic impact in this region. Wildfires caused by lightning are closely related to the triggering of convective phenomena. The prediction of thunderstorms is a very complex task because these weather events have a local character and are highly dependent on mesoscale atmospheric conditions. The development of convective storms is directly linked to the existence of a synoptic environment favoring convection. The aim of this study is to classify the atmospheric patterns that provide favorable environments for the occurrence of wildfires caused by lightning in the region of Castile and Leon, Spain. The database used for the study contains 376 wildfire days from the period 1987–2006. NCEP data reanalysis has been used. The atmospheric fields used to characterise each day were: geopotential heights and temperatures at 500 hPa and 850 hPa, relative humidity and the horizontal wind at 850 hPa. A Principal Component Analysis in T-mode followed by a Cluster Analysis resulted in a classification of wildfire days into five clusters. The characteristics of these clusters were analysed and described, focusing particularly on the study of those wildfire days in which more than one wildfire was detected. In these cases the main feature observed was the intensification of the disturbance typical of the cluster to which the wildfire belongs.

This volume examines the nature of aristocratic society in the Spanish kingdom of León and Castile in the twelfth century. Drawing on an extensive range of original sources, many of them unpublished, it highlights the unrivalled wealth, status and power enjoyed by some members of the aristocracy. It also explores the multifarious roles that lay magnates were expected to fulfil: as family protectors, landlords and judges; as courtiers, diplomats and military commanders; and, not least, as patrons of the church. The nobility of León and Castile experienced a number of important changes during this period. There are signs that a few great families began to develop an embryonic sense of lineage. The struggle for ascendancy with al-Andalus - Muslim Spain - also enabled some magnates to acquire influence far from their traditional centres of power, and the concept of crusade made itself felt in aristocratic circles. The book's Appendices include a unique biographical study of the counts of León and Castile and a selection of genealogical tables