Abundant and opulent: Cistercian monasteries in Galicia from the Reformation to their dissolution
Saavedra, Pegerto
Abundant and opulent: Cistercian monasteries in Galicia from the Reformation to their dissolution - 2017.
99
The Cistercian Order played an extraordinarily important role in Galicia. Thirteen monasteries for males and one for females were founded by the order or affiliated with it. From the Lower Middle Ages onward, they sought to benefit from their vast landholdings by ceding the land to peasants through a kind of time-limited emphyteutic lease known as a foro. Almost from the outset, the White Monks were land-leasing institutions; their holdings were never appraised according to their size but rather on the basis of the in-kind income they generated. The detailed and abundant accounting records found in Cistercian archives make it possible to understand the composition, distribution and end use of the income collected. The analysis of these records reveals very diverse situations according to local agrarian dynamics. Greater or lesser organic ties existed between income and production depending on whether rents were established on fixed rates – the dominant system – or were proportional to the harvest. Independently of changes in rent volume and composition, or of the social importance of various cereals, an analysis focused on in-kind income and expenses indicates that economically, Galician monasteries were remarkably stable and strong right up to the time of their dissolution in 1835.
Abundant and opulent: Cistercian monasteries in Galicia from the Reformation to their dissolution - 2017.
99
The Cistercian Order played an extraordinarily important role in Galicia. Thirteen monasteries for males and one for females were founded by the order or affiliated with it. From the Lower Middle Ages onward, they sought to benefit from their vast landholdings by ceding the land to peasants through a kind of time-limited emphyteutic lease known as a foro. Almost from the outset, the White Monks were land-leasing institutions; their holdings were never appraised according to their size but rather on the basis of the in-kind income they generated. The detailed and abundant accounting records found in Cistercian archives make it possible to understand the composition, distribution and end use of the income collected. The analysis of these records reveals very diverse situations according to local agrarian dynamics. Greater or lesser organic ties existed between income and production depending on whether rents were established on fixed rates – the dominant system – or were proportional to the harvest. Independently of changes in rent volume and composition, or of the social importance of various cereals, an analysis focused on in-kind income and expenses indicates that economically, Galician monasteries were remarkably stable and strong right up to the time of their dissolution in 1835.
Réseaux sociaux