Attorney documentation safeguard of the secular corporatism: Statutes of the Royal Society of Farmers and Cattle Breeders of Antequera (1772)

Abstract

The importance of the books of notarial protocols for the historical investigation in the modern age is unquestionable in any one of the fields of susceptible study of analysis, from the economy, the society, the mentality or the culture. especially significant is his contribution to the study of the confraternities. The patronatos and wills in favour of these organisations, the agreements with craftsmen for the building of chapels or artistic works linked with the saint headline or the figths aroused between this type of associations with other similar or with the religious orders in whose church had established his headquarters, are some examples of the rich documentary typology found in these records. However, the data found can be much more valuable, to the point of keeping the writings of foundation and the statutes of internal legislation of a lot of corporations, detailing his functionality, the type of internal and external solidarity, the charges, management of incomes, etc. This is the case of the Society of Farmers of antequera, whose original constitutions was rescued thanks to the copy registered in front of notary public. The transcription and put in value of this document are the aims of the present study.