Hacienda and Society in Almería Morisca: the Financial Management

Abstract

Following the approach methodological of the "new fiscal history", the behavior of the social subjects in charge of the management of the municipal, real and ecclesiastic public finance is analyzed. The centre of microhistoric studies is Almería (Granada Kingdom) during the Moorish period. The town, head of a large fiscal party, acting as an important link of the management among the different financiers systems. From the analysis of financial managers, we reach two conclusions: the town got important fiscal profits to the detriment of the rural Moorish area; and the jobs for managing the different fiscal parties were monopolized by a commercial bourgeoisie and used as speculative business for enrichment and at the same time as a mechanism for social promotion.