Family and power in the early modern Castile. Aproach through the study of the local elite of Almansa in 17n century

Abstract

In this work it is going to be analysed through a particular example (the two main families of the village of Almansa in the 17th Century) the means and ways —what has been denominated “strategies” in a generic way— with those that it counts all powerful family of the modern Castile to try to achieve the social reproduction of their members. Marriage and vinculation of goods (entailed estates) demostrate to have a first degree importance in these strategies that constitute the dominant groups, independent on the space in which they impose their dominance: if the marriage allow the formation of family alliances, and it is the only source that offer successors to the kind-group; the vinculation of goods offers to the descendants an economic and symbolic base that, grace to its static nature, facilitates its maintenance in the domain group.