Two distinctive regimes are distinguished in Spain over half-a-millennium. A first one (1270s-1590s) corresponds to a high land-labour ratio frontier economy, pastoral, trade-oriented, and led by towns. Wages and food consumption were relatively high. Sustained per capita growth occurred from the Reconquest’s end (1264) to the Black Death (1340s) and resumed from the 1390s only broken by late-15th century turmoil. A second regime (1600s-1810s) corresponds to a more agricultural and densely populated low-wage economy which grew along a lower path. Contrary to preindustrial Western Europe, Spain achieved her highest living standards in the 1340s, not by mid-15th century. Although its population toll was lower, the Plague had a more damaging impact on Spain and, far from releasing non-existent demographic pressure, destroyed the equilibrium between scarce population and abundant resources. Pre-1350 per capita income was reached by the late 16th century but only overcome after 1820.

The rise and fall of Spain (1270-1850)

Offers a leading analysis of the expansion of the Iberian empire expansion and the impact of early globalization on the Peninsula. Offers a comparative perspective on the impact of globalization on institutional development, the political economy, and processes of state-building in Europe. Contests a prevalent, excessively-negative image of the Iberian empire, counterpoising the difficult relationship between empires and globalization and opening the debate for comparisons to other imperial formations.

/pdf/iberian-world-empires-and-the-globalization-of-europe-1415-2yf3swl0gl.pdf

Iberian world empires and the globalization of europe 1415–1668

Two distinctive regimes are distinguished in Spain over half a millennium. The first one (1270s–1590s) corresponds to a high land–labour ratio frontier economy, which is pastoral, trade-oriented, and led by towns. Wages and food consumption were relatively high. Sustained per capita growth occurred from the end of the Reconquest (1264) to the Black Death (1340s) and resumed from the 1390s only broken by late fifteenth-century turmoil. A second regime (1600s–1810s) corresponds to a more agricultural and densely populated low-wage economy which, although it grew at a pace similar to that of 1270–1600, remained at a lower level. Contrary to pre-industrial western Europe, Spain achieved its highest living standards in the 1340s, not by mid-fifteenth century. Although its death toll was lower, the plague had a more damaging impact on Spain and, far from releasing non-existent demographic pressure, destroyed the equilibrium between scarce population and abundant resources. Pre-1350 per capita income was reached by the late sixteenth century but only exceeded after 1820.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/ehr656.pdf?abstractid=2191389&mirid=1&type=2

The rise and fall of Spain (1270–1850)†

The present bibliography is a continuation of and a complement to those published in the Urban History Yearbook 1974–91 and Urban History from 1992. The arrangement and format closely follows that of previous years. The list of abbreviations identifies only those periodicals from which articles cited this year have been taken, though many other journals are also checked.

Bibliography of urban history 2015

This paper explores the role of agriculture in Spain's contribution to the little divergence in Europe. On the basis of tithes, long-run trends in agricultural output are drawn. After a long period of relative stability, output suffered a severe contraction during 1570-1620, followed by stagnation to 1650, and steady expansion thereafter. Output per head shifted from a relatively high to a low path that persisted until the nineteenth century. The decline in agricultural output per head and per worker from a relatively high level contributed to Spain falling behind and, hence, to the Little Divergence in Europe. Output per worker moved along labour force in agriculture over the long run, supporting the depiction of Spain as a frontier economy. Institutional factors, in a context of financial and monetary instability and war, along climatic anomalies, provide explanatory hypotheses that deserve further research.

Spanish Agriculture in the Little Divergence

RESUMEN: El examen de las relaciones de rentas compiladas por los ministros de hacienda en momentos de crisis o dificultades financieras ofrece una buena imagen de la estructura y valor de los ingresos de la Corona de Castilla desde finales del siglo XVI y a lo largo del XVII. Gracias a estos documentos es posible medir el aumento de la carga tributaria durante la escalada fiscal del reinado de Felipe IV y la importancia de las medidas de alivio aprobadas en el de Carlos II, asi como el peso de los ingresos estrictamente fiscales respecto a los extraordinarios. El articulo se detiene asimismo en el analisis de la evolucion de la carga tributaria en terminos «reales» planteando algunas de sus repercusiones sobre la economia y la poblacion de Castilla. ABSTRACT: The study of a group of fiscal relations compiled by royal ministers in some moments of the XVIth and XVIIth centuries offers an accurate view of both the amount and the structure of the fiscal revenues collected by the Castilian Crown from 1577 to 1688. These documentary sources have allowed us to measure the increase of the tax burden during the reign of Philip IV and the importance of the measures subsequently adopted during the reign of Charles II to lighten such burden. Simultaneously, our sources have also allowed us to compare the amount and the evolution of the ordinary taxes collected by the Crown to that of the extraordinary incomes. To finish, our paper deals with the evolution of tax burden in real terms and its consequences on the Castilian economy and population.

/pdf/estructura-y-evolucion-de-los-ingresos-de-la-real-hacienda-1pjecac5cg.pdf

Estructura y Evolución de los ingresos de la Real Hacienda de Castilla en el siglo XVII

El texto completo del articulo en el que se han utilizado estos datos se ha publicado en la revista Economic History Review 67.3 (2014): 607-626 y esta disponbile en http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-0289.12047

Prices and real wages in seventeenth-century Madrid

La reforma fiscal de 1683 genero una documentacion de gran interes demografico todavia inedita que este articulo presenta y evalua con el fin de conocer la evolucion de la poblacion de Castilla en una epoca que hasta ahora carecia de datos fidedignos. La verosimilitud del Vecindario de 1683 se comprueba doblemente, primero con el test de las tasas de natalidad y luego comparando el crecimiento de la poblacion con el de los bautismos. El resultado confirma que el declive de 1591-1631 no se habia recuperado todavia en 1683 y que el crecimiento posterior fue mas rapido en 1683-1752 que en 1752-1787.

/pdf/el-vecindario-de-1683-una-fuente-inedita-para-el-estudio-de-1zd3g05da0.pdf

El vecindario de 1683: una fuente inédita para el estudio de la población de la Corona de Castilla*

espanolEl articulo analiza la evolucion de los precios y salarios reales en los oficios de la construccion en una de las principales ciudades manufactureras de la Castilla Moderna, Segovia, entre 1571 y 1807. La segunda parte analiza los salarios nominales obtenidos por los oficiales y peones de albanil de la ciudad, mientras que la tercera presenta al indice de precios de Segovia entre 1571 y 1807. Por ultimo, la cuarta parte analiza la evolucion de los salarios reales en los oficios de la construccion de la ciudad. Estos evolucionaron en linea con la economia local: despues de culminar en el primer cuarto del siglo XVII experimentaron un declive continuado, de forma que en 1807 los salarios reales de los oficiales y peones de albanil segovianos apenas llegaban a un 50 por cien de los salarios reales del primer cuarto del siglo XVII. EnglishThis paper deals with the evolution of wages in the construction offices of Segovia, one of the most important Castilian and Spanish manufacturing towns, between 1571 and 1807. Part two deals with the nominal wages earned by the building officials and labourers of the city and part three presents the Segovian prices index between 1571 and 1807. Finally, part four analyses the evolution of the real wages earned in the construction offices of the town. Segovian real wages evolved in line with the local economy; after peaking in the first quarter of the 17th century, they experienced a continuous decline, so in 1807 the real wages of Segovian building officials and labourers were 50 per cent of those of the first quarter of the 17th century.

Prices and wages in Segovia, 1571–1807

On the basis of a new quantitative data set which is varied, accurate and representative, today it is possible to correct previous shortcomings in order to obtain a solid historical picture of the Atlantic trade passing through the port of Bilbao in the mid-sixteenth century. In this paper we aim to explore both the macroeconomic and microeconomic aspects of Spanish-French trade, analysing, on the one hand, the volume, composition and «balance of trade» and, on the other, the scope and nature of trading enterprises of merchants operating in Bilbao, measurable by the size of their business, the concentration of trade and the amount of business carried out by traders on their own account, in association with other merchants or on behalf of these. We also highlight, once again, the enormous value of judicial sources in the study of trade in the Modern Age.

/pdf/entre-castilla-y-francia-comercio-y-comerciantes-en-bilbao-a-1qvhd90pi2.pdf

Ramón Lanza García

Papers

Estructura y Evolución de los ingresos de la Real Hacienda de Castilla en el siglo XVII

Prices and real wages in seventeenth-century Madrid

El vecindario de 1683: una fuente inédita para el estudio de la población de la Corona de Castilla*

Prices and wages in Segovia, 1571–1807

Entre castilla y francia: comercio y comerciantes en bilbao a mediados del siglo xvi*