In search of the ideal husband: Could inequality in the pre-industrial era be measured through dowries? North-eastern Catalonia, 1750-1825

Abstract

This paper explores the possibilities that dowries may offer to study inequality in the pre-industrial era. We argue that, mostly, in rural societies with impartible inheritance, families competed to join the heir of an estate that would allow them to maintain or even improve their socio-economic status by means of paying the best possible dowry. Hence, dowries may be an indicator of family wealth and, therefore, disparities in dowry amounts could be informing about economic inequality. Then, we show the results of a case study based on a rural region in north-eastern Catalonia from 1750 to 1825, which suggest that over the last decades of the 18th century and the first quarter of the 19th century, inequality increased significantly. As it was a period of belli-cosity and inflation, our results suggest that political instability tended to increase inequality in pre-industrial societies, as it has been previously stated by some authors

En este artículo exploramos las posibilidades que ofrecen las dotes para el estudio de la desigualdad durante la era preindustrial. Argumentamos que, especialmente, en las sociedades rural de herencia indivisa las familias competían, a través del pago de la mejor dote posible, para unirse al heredero de un patrimonio que les permitiese mantener o incluso mejorar su estatus socioeconómico. En consecuencia, las dotes serían un indicativo de la riqueza familiar, de modo que las disparidades en su distribución podrían informar sobre la desigualdad económica. Mostramos los resultados de un estudio de caso basado en una región rural del nordeste catalán entre 1750 y 1825, los cuales sugieren que durante la última década del siglo xviii y el primer cuarto del xix la desigualdad aumentó considerablemente. Dado que fue un periodo de belicosidad e inflación, nuestros resultados parecen coherentes con las tesis que consideran que la inestabilidad política era un elemento generador de desigualdad en las sociedades preindustriales