From new settlers to oligarchies: the case of Fondón (Almería)

Abstract

In this article, we try to establish.hypothesis about the origin and formation of a rural oligarchy, after the second repopulation of Granada, in the reign of Philip II. At first it could be considered as the main fact in the origin of the oligarchies, the share of distributed land, we demostrate that there were others more important elements. We contribute some keys about one of the most important phenomenon on the History of the Kingdom of Granada in Early Modem Age: how these oligarchic family groups will take the control over the council, the public granary, the local militia, the parish and brotherhoods, the clerkships,... and definitively, the local institutions of power and representation, and they will dominate their communities, until XXth Century.