Aquesta tesi ha estat defensada dins del Programa Interuniversitari de Doctorat d'Història de les Ciències (UAB-UB), coordinat pel CEHIC.Vegeu mbaresum1de1.pdf

Aquesta tesi doctoral té com a finalitat mostrar la panoràmica global de la situació i l'evolució del monestir de Santa Maria de Vallbona durant el segle XVIII. El tema central de la tesi és la comunitat de Vallbona. A part de donar a conèixer la vida monàstica de les monges de cor des del seu ingrés fins a la seva mort, s'han analitzat els temes del dot, la pensió anual vitalícia i la informació personal i familiar extreta de les exploracions de la voluntat. Gràcies a aquestes fonts, es conclou que les monges del període estudiat provenien de la baixa noblesa; que el radi de captació geogràfica era limitat i que les nissagues es perpetuaren pel fet que la majoria entraven de petites i quedaven a càrrec d'una familiar. Les monges del segle XVIII vivien en cases particulars dins de la clausura, de les quals es conserven vestigis, així com també dels béns mobles i dels llibres que conformaven les seves biblioteques, factor que demostra la seva cultura. Algunes d'aquestes monges formaren part de l'organigrama intern exercint correctament el càrrec assignat, al temps que participaren en els diversos òrgans de govern en els que l'abadessa es recolzava a l'hora de prendre decisions. Dins del monestir també hi vivia el servei domèstic, fet que de nou mostra la condició social elevada de la pròpia comunitat.Donat el gran poder de l'abadessa dins de la comunitat, s'ha estudiat l'abaciologi del monestir, exposant les generalitats de la figura abacial, les biografies, els càrrecs previs que exerciren, les eleccions, els fets més importants dels abadiats i les morts d'aquestes dames de gran vàlua que arribaren a ser abadesses de Vallbona: Maria de Borrell (1683 i 1701); Maria Roger de Llúria (1701); Anna Maria de Castellví (1701-1711); Manuela de Cortiada (1716-1747); Caterina de Borràs (1747-1748); Agnès de Cortit (1748-1767) i Maria Teresa de Riquer (1767-1802), així com també la seu vacant de 1711-1716. A més, s'ha ressaltat la seva faceta com a escriptores (d'obres formals; de llibres de notes i cort o de cartes familiars, fet que mostra la completa alfabetització i l'escriptura usual de les monges vallbonines); les mesures econòmiques dutes a terme; la seva faceta com a senyores jurisdiccionals; la seva vessant reformadora i la seva defensa aferrissada dels drets del monestir en uns plets llargs i freqüents en el temps. A més, l'abadessa de Riquer és responsable de la gran fita historiogràfica del segle i una obra cabdal de la historiografia vallbonina: el Llibre Verd, la primera història del monestir, escrita per Jaume Pasqual. L'interès també s'ha focalitzat en les figures eclesiàstiques masculines més properes a la comunitat, com els confessors, majoritàriament monjos de Santes Creus i els beneficiats del monestir i els rectors de les parròquies de la Baronia, sobre els quals l'abadessa exercia el dret de patronat. Endemés, el monestir fou freqüentment visitat pel comissari de l'abat general de l'orde cistercenc, visites de les quals es conserven diversos testimonis, com les cartes de visita que aquells escrigueren i que constitueixen una bona font d'informació sobre la situació de Vallbona en diversos moments del període estudiat. Amb aquestes visites, l'orde controlava el monestir femení, al temps que les cartes de visita són un excepcional testimoni d'aquesta relació i de la correcta evolució de la vida monàstica vallbonina. Altres temes tractats han estat la jurisdicció del monestir sobre una Baronia i sobre les forasteries (indrets allunyats del nucli monàstic); la favorable evolució econòmica i les bases sobre les que s'assentava l'economia monàstica; la importància de la clausura en la vida monàstica vallbonina; la relació epistolar amb l'exterior i els serveis monopolitzats pel monestir a través d'arrendataris, com l'apotecaria, l'hospital, els molins o el forn com a més destacats.Finalment, s'ha analitzat la relació d'un monestir d'afiliació austriacista amb la nova dinastia borbònica. Vallbona sofrí els estralls de la guerra i, a més, la postguerra provocà altres problemes a la comunitat, tot i que aquesta no patí greus represàlies, com l'entrada del jutge Salvador Prats amb agutzils a la clausura per detenir Francesc de Castellví, nebot de l'abadessa de Castellví; l'empresonament al monestir de Manuela de Desvalls durant un parell d'anys i la retenció de les rendes anuals vitalícies que diverses monges rebien de les seves famílies com a conseqüència del segrest dels béns de les mateixes, pel que dites monges pledejaren per aconseguir el retorn d'aquelles. Però després la comunitat s'inserí sense problemes dins del nou marc legal imposat per la monarquia, però no tant a les mesures econòmiques, especialment a una nova tributació basada en el pagament d'impostos per part de l'Església com a mesura normalitzada.D'aquesta manera, s'ofereix una àmplia i completa visió de l'evolució d'aquest important monestir cistercenc femení català en el transcurs de la divuitena centúria. / This doctoral thesis has the purpose of showing the global panoramic view of the situation and the evolution of the monastery of Santa Maria de Vallbona during the 18th century.The central subject of the thesis is the community of Vallbona. Apart from introducing the monastic life of the nuns from their income until their death, the subjects of the dowry, the annual life pension and the personal and family information extracted from the explorations of the will have been analyzed. Thanks to these sources, it is concluded that the nuns of this period came from the low nobility; that the radium of geographical catchment was limited and that the sagas were perpetuated by the fact that the majority of the nuns entered of small and they remained in charge of family one. The nuns of the 18th century lived in particular houses in the closure, of which vestiges are preserved, like also pieces of forniture and books that shaped their libraries, factor that demonstrates their culture. Some of these nuns were part of the internal flow chart exercising correctly the assigned charge, at the time that they took part in the government organs in what the abbess leaned when taking decisions. In the monastery also lived the domestic service, fact that again shows the high social condition of the community itself.Because of the great power of the abbess in the community, the abbesses of the monastery has been studied, setting forth the generalities of the abbatial figure, the biographies, the previous charges exercised, the elections, the most important facts of the abbacies and the deaths of these ladies of great value that managed to be abbesses of Vallbona: Maria de Borrell (1683 i 1701); Maria Roger de Llúria (1701); Anna Maria de Castellví (1701-1711); Manuela de Cortiada (1716-1747); Caterina de Borràs (1747-1748); Agnès de Cortit (1748-1767) and Maria Teresa de Riquer (1767-1802), and also the vacant of 1711-1716. Moreover, has been stood out their facet as writers (of formal works; of books of notes and court or of family letters, fact that shows the complete literacy and the usual writing of these nuns); the economical measures carried out; their facet as jurisdictional ladies; their constructing and reparing aspect and their defense of the rights of the monastery in some long and frequent judgements. Moreover, the abbess of Riquer is the responsible for the big historiografical milestone of the century and a principal work of the historiography of Vallbona: el Llibre Verd, the first history of the monastery, written by Jaume Pasqual.The interest has also been focused in the masculine ecclesiastical figures more next to the community, like the confessors, many of them monks of Santes Creus, and the beneficiaries of the monastery and also the rectors of the parishes of the Barony, about whom the abbess exercised the right of patronage. Furthermore, the monastery was frequently visited by the commissioner of the general abbot of the Cistercian order, visits of which several witnesses are preserved, as the letters of visit that those wrote and that constitute a good information source about the situation of Vallbona in several moments of this period. With these visits, the order controlled the feminine monastery, at the time that the letters of visit are an exceptional witness of this relationship and of the correct evolution of the monastic life in Vallbona.Other treated subjects have been the jurisdiction from the monastery about a Barony and about the "forasteries" (far places of the monastic site); the favorable economic evolution and the bases of monastic economy; the importance of the closure in this monastic life; the epistolary relationship with the exterior and the services monopolized for the monastery through lessees, like the pharmacy, the hospital, the mills or the oven as more outstanding.Finally, the relationship of a monastery membership of the Austracist party with the new borbonical dynasty has been analyzed. Vallbona suffered the damages of the War of the Spanish Succession and, moreover, the postwar period provoked other problems to the community, even though this did not suffer severe reprisals, as the entry of the judge Prats with bailiffs to the closure to arrest Francesc de Castellví, nephew of the abbess of Castellví; the imprisonment in the monastery of Manuela de Desvalls during a pair of years and the retention of the annual life rents that several nuns received of their families as a consequence of the kidnapping of the goods of the same ones, for what these nuns pleaded to achieve the return of those. But afterwards the community was inserted without problems in the new legal ambit imposed by the monarchy and accepted the economical measures resignedly, especially the payment of taxes on the part of the Church as a normalized measure.In this way, one extense and complete vision of the evolution of this important feminine Catalan Cistercian monastery in the course of the Eighteenth century is offered.

En el segle XVIII Reus participa de forma activa amb el creixement demogràfic, econòmic i urbanístic de Catalunya, i esdevé la segona ciutat del Principat, quan passa d'uns 4.000 a més de 16.000 habitants el 1802. Expansió iniciada el segle anterior, amb el desenvolupament de les activitats manufactureres de la indústria de la llana, de la pell, de l'espart i la terrissa; i en el XVIII amb una aposta decisiva per la seda (que pren el lloc a la llana) i l'aiguardent, el comerç català del qual té com a port exportador el de Salou.Reus esdevé la capital comercial i econòmica del sud de Catalunya, amb un hinterland que abarca bona part del Camp de Tarragona, el Priorat, la Conca de Barberà, i s'allarga cap a la Ribera d'Ebre, Urgell i les Garrigues. És un centre generador de riquesa, que permet a un conjunt de comerciants acumular capitals i esdevenir nobles, i és focus d'atracció de l'excedent de mà d'obra rural.La classe dirigent local és també la més poderosa econòmicament i té un objectiu clar: fer la ciutat gran i moderna, i a la vegada beneficiar-se'n. Una de les vies d'assolir-ho, serà invertint en obra pública; un altre, exercint un control de les competències pròpies (tot el que afecta el sòl públic); i la que ens ha ocupat, afavorir la construcció d'habitatge, perquè els nouvinguts puguin sumar les xifres de veïns de Reus. Hem estudiat l'accés a l'habitatge a través de tres fonts documentals: la notarial (compravendes), la municipal (llibres d'acords, cadastres) i la parroquial (llibretes de combregants, sagramentals), sense descuidar els fons patrimonials.L'oferta de vivendes arriba de la mà de la iniciativa privada, previ permís o trabes governamentals. Reus creix horitzontalment, ampliant abastament l'ocupació de l'espai urbà, i de forma radial, a l'entorn del centre neuràlgic, la plaça del Mercadal, on el dilluns arriben milers de persones del rerepaís per a comprar i vendre. Es posa sòl a disposició de la construcció mitjançant la creació de censals sobre el seu preu, amb una mena d'establiment.Des de principis de segle el creixement és evident, seguint una dinàmica iniciada en el segle anterior, que s'accelera a partir del 1750, i que continuarà en el posterior. La particularitat és l'oferta, que respon a la demanda d'habitatge popular, cases unifamiliars, d'uns 40 metres quadrats de planta, amb façanes de 3 o 4 metres, que reparteixen l'espai en alçada, amb tres o quatre pisos. Espai reduït, però aprofitat i desitjat pels reusencs, que aspiren a accedir a la plena propietat de la seva llar. L'interès del censal, al 3% des del 1750, en serà una de les claus. La forma de pagament de les cases a finals de segle es formalitza davant de notari en un 50% en censal, un 25% en debitori i un 25% en metàl·lic. La segona forma d'accedir a l'habitatge és l'arrendament, que només afecta a un 30% dels immobles, que permet una gran mobilitat individual i presenta una estabilitat al llarg del segle, tant d'oferta com de preus, en no haver-hi pressió de demanda, excepte en les cases-botiga del Mercadal i carrers adjacents.Les expectatives del creixement de l'activitat constructora fan atractives les inversions i que aquesta vagi agafant una autonomia. En el negoci de la construcció podem parlar de tres agents: els urbanitzadors, els promotors i els intermediaris. Entre els primers distingim els antics propietaris dels horts, els especuladors i les institucions. Els qui tenen gairebé l'exclusivitat són els segons, molts d'ells pertanyents a l'elit governant. N'estudiem un exemple, els Freixa. Els promotors són els qui construeixen el pati per a vendre'l: alguns mestres de cases actuen d'empresaris, però no són menys els particulars (comerciants i mestres artesans) que fan de la promoció una forma d'inversió. Finalment, els intermediaris o agents immobiliaris són els qui n'obtenen més guanys, amb comissions de l'ordre del 33,33%.A principis del segle següent, el mercat es professionalitza més i s'aprecien petits canvis: una lenta concentració de la propietat, un increment dels arrendaments urbans i l'aparició de les cases de pisos. / In the 18th century, Reus played an active role in Catalonia's demographic, economic and urban growth, becoming the Principality's second city, growing from some 4,000 to 16,000 inhabitants by 1802. The expansion began in the previous century, with the development of industrial manufacturing activities for wool, leather, esparto and pottery; and in the 18th century with a decisive switch to silk (which took the place of wool) and spirits, Catalan trade that used Salou as its port for exports.Reus became the commercial and economic capital of southern Catalonia, with a hinterland that included a good part of Camp de Tarragona, Priorat and Conca de Barberà areas and reached as far as Ribera d'Ebre, Urgell and Garrigues areas. It was a wealth-generating centre, which allowed a group of tradesmen to accumulate capital and become nobility, and it was a magnet for the surplus rural workforce.The local governing class was also the most powerful economically and had one clear objective: to make the city bigger and more modern, whilst also benefiting themselves. One of the ways to achieve this was to invest in public works; another was to control the areas they were responsible for (all that affecting public land), and that which we have looked at here, encouraging the construction of housing, so that the newcomers could add to Reus's population statistics. We have studied the access to housing via three documentary sources: notary (purchases), municipal (agreement ledgers, cadastres) and parish (records of church-goers), alongside records of assets.The housing put on sale came from private initiatives, following governmental paperwork or permits. Reus grew horizontally, with an important spread of occupation of urban land, and radially, around the nerve centre, Mercadal Square, where thousands of people from the surrounding area came each Monday to buy and sell. Land was made available for construction with the creation of annuities on the price, with a form of taxation.The growth was obvious from the start of the century, following on from the trend set in the previous century, and accelerating from 1750 onwards and continuing on into the next century. A unique factor was the supply, which responded to the demand for affordable housing; family homes, with 40 square metres per floor, facades 3 or 4 metres across, spreading the space on different levels, over three or four stories. Small spaces, but spaces that the people wanted and made the most of. They represented the homes that they wanted to own. Annuity interest, 3% from 1750, played an important part. The method of payment for these houses at the end of the century was formalised before a notary with 50% as an annuity, 25% as a loan and 25% in cash. The second way of accessing housing was via a lease, only the case for 30% of properties, which allowed for a high level of individual mobility. It remained stable throughout the century, both in terms of the supply and the prices, as there was no pressure in terms of the demand, apart from the house-shops on Mercadal Square and the nearby streets.The growth forecasts for construction activities meant that investments were attractive and that they could achieve a degree of independence. There were three agents in the construction business: urban developers, property developers and intermediaries. In the first group, we can distinguish between former owners of farmland, speculators and the institutions. Those who had an almost exclusive hold on matters were the second, many of whom belonged to the governing elite. We shall study one example, the Freixa family. The property developers were those who prepared the land to then sell: some of the developers were businesspeople, but there was an equal number of private individuals (tradesmen and craftsmen) who developed land as a form of investment. Finally, the intermediaries or property agents were those who made the most profit, with commissions of around 33.33%.At the start of the following century, the market became more professional and small changes became noticeable: a slow concentration of the property, an increase in urban leases and the appearance of apartment buildings.

The discovery of America was followed by a flow of precious metals to Spain and Portugal, and from there throughout the world. Historiography has reconstructed the quantities of gold and silver transferred from the New World to the Old World in the Early Modern period, but what was the reason for the bullion outflows? This dissertation answers this question. In particular, it examines the logic of silver outflows from Cadiz to London in the first half of the 18th century.Castile enacted bullionist laws during more than four centuries, from the Late Middle Ages to mid-19th century. The laws fixed prices and placed bans on export. But these measures did not prevent the export of silver and instead caused a great deal of smuggling. This dissertation aims at understanding the logic of silver outflows focusing on the smugglers' point of view: arbitrage. In this regard, the archive of the merchant house Roux (Marseille), probably the best preserved 18th century commercial archive in Europe, has made possible the reconstruction of the specie-point mechanism for silver - the Old Mexican pieces of eight - between Cadiz and London as exactly practiced by contemporary merchants. The discovery of half-monthly data on silver black market in Cadiz for the period 1729-1741 has been a milestone in order to understand the logic of silver outflows.Empirical result from these data for arbitrage equation presents a puzzle for our understanding of the specie-point mechanism: from 1729 to 1737 there was a systematic bias between the implicit spot exchange rate and the arbitrated parity, which made arbitrage systematically profitable. On the contrary, from 1737 to 1741 the bias was corrected because the Spanish government reacted to illegal bullion outflows with a devaluation, which equalized the exchange rates and the arbitrated parity.This research explores both theoretically and empirically the reasons for the apparent mispricing for the first period and the effect of the devaluation on silver prices for the second period. The outcome is that bullionist regulations configured an oligopsony structure in Cadiz that had the power to drive down silver prices below the international price (i.e., London price). Oligopsony agents were the most important foreign merchants in Cadiz, organized in family and partnership networks which were rice-makers; their structure was maintained because the long-run international networks created entry barriers in the business of illegal export of bullion. Secrecy was reserved because both sides of the market cheated the Spanish government: importers from the Spanish American colonies saved the high import tax and exporters to the ain European bullion markets ignored the ban against exports.Nevertheless, oligopsony power had a floor, which was the Official Parity (i.e., the number of units of account per coin). Below the Official Parity, the pieces of eight were used as money and went out from the commodity market. The devaluation of 1737 should be understood as an increment of the Official Parity for eliminating oligopsony power.Some main lessons emerge from this dissertation. First, understanding the reasons of the specie flows in the Early Modern period demands comprehension of the specie-point mechanism. Second, the construction of the silver-points requires the location, collection and manipulation of the right data: market prices, exchange rates and costs of arbitrage. And third, the interpretation of the arbitrage results needs to focus on the special microeconomic features of the bullion market structure. This is an original approach which will provide a lot of insight into the workings of commodity money.The first chapter describes the Castilian stagnated legislation and immobile institutions established with the aim of avoiding bullion outflows: fixed prices and bans on export. The second chapter analyses the specie-point mechanism in the institutional setting of bullion controls: the case of silver Pieces of Eight between Cadiz and London during the period 1729-1741. Arbitrage equation shows a systematic bias between the spot exchange rate and the arbitrated parity corrected by the 1737 devaluation. The third chapter analyses the specie-point mechanism in the institutional setting of free bullion movement: the case of gold and silver bars between London and Amsterdam during the period 1734-1758. London-Amsterdam bullion market was integrated, and arbitrage equation shows only few and non persistent breaks. The fourth chapter tells the story of the agents involved in the illegal exchanges of silver in Cadiz, and demonstrates that the smugglers were the French merchants who obtained the highest income of all merchants in Cadiz. The fifth chapter examines the contemporary Castilian reports against smuggling in order to describe how the illegal exchange took place. Smuggling was reserved to foreign merchants because they had achieved privileges which prevented them to be prosecuted. The sixth chapter demonstrates that the smugglers were organized in long-run networks which conferred them the market power to drive down bullion prices below the international price, and the international connections to illegally extract and distribute the bullion from Cadiz. The seventh chapter develops a static model of partial equilibrium for commodity-money in order to understand the workings of the oligopsonistic silver-commodity market and the effect of devaluation on the bullionist goal of treasuring silver. We will end offering some conclusions. Appendices explain the construction of the specie-point mechanism.

La present tesi doctoral analitza la confrontació que va tenir lloc al llarg del segle XVIII entre el naturalista francès Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, iniciador de la teoria de la degeneració i la inferioritat americanes, i el principal redactor de la Declaració d’Independència dels Estats Units, Thomas Jefferson, qui va realitzar la desarticulació de la mateixa. S’ha dut a terme un buidatge en profunditat de les obres d’aquests dos autors que ha permès establir els paràmetres principals de les posicions corresponents, i s’hi han afegit també les d’altres autors secundaris que van participar en la polèmica de manera significativa per tal d’obtenir una millor perspectiva. L’objectiu primordial ha estat establir la importància d’aquest debat en la creació del discurs identitari de la jove nació nord-americana a través de l’estudi comparatiu de la influència en aquest sentit de les temàtiques més tractades. / This doctoral thesis analyses the confrontation that took place throughout the 18th century between the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, initiator of the American degeneracy theory, and the main writer of the United States’ Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, who dismantled it. The works of these two authors have been thoroughly examined in order to establish the main parameters of their corresponding positions. Also, the works of secondary authors who participated in the polemic in a significant way have been added in order to obtain a better perspective. The main goal has been to establish the importance of this debate in the creation of the identity speech of the young North American nation by using a comparative study of the influence, in this sense, of each one of the topics treated.

La xarxa catalana a Madrid en el segle XVIII. Un estudi sobre els homes de negocis catalans i el comerç és una aproximació a la situació mercantil de totes aquelles persones que, procedents del Principat, van partir rumb la capital espanyola després de la Guerra de Successió. Si durant el segle anterior les activitats econòmiques catalanes es caracteritzaven per l'exportació a Europa de vins i aiguardents, el nou marc polític inaugurat arran de la guerra oferia diferents opcions. L'annexió de la Corona catalano-aragonesa amb la integració aranzelària tancava la porta del comerç exterior, però n'obria d'altres: el comerç interior i el comerç americà. Entendre per què els catalans triaven una d'aquestes possibilitats, vendre a la Península o deixar-se seduir per l'aventura colonial, serà l'objectiu de la tesi. / The Catalan network in Madrid the 18th century. An study about businessmen and trade is an approach to the mercantile situation of all those persons from the Principality that split direction the Spanish capital after the War of Succession. If during the former century the export to Europe of wines and eaux de vie characterized the Catalan economic activities, the new political frame opened as a result of the war offered different options. The annexation of the Catalan-Aragonese Crown with the costumes integration closed the door of the foreign trade, but it opened other ones: the inner trade and American trade. Understanding why the Catalans chose one of these possibilities, to sell at the Peninsula or to tend to the colonial adventure, will be the goal of the thesis.