Peasant fraud and manorial pressure in Catalonia. The case of the Vall d’en Bas (16th century)

Abstract

The strength of feudal exaction contrasts with a structural weakness: control of production is in the hands of the peasants. It takes a microhistorical analysis to understand the mechanisms of fraud and concealment of peasants (individual or collective strategies, social level) and assess the lordly response (pressure through their officers or landlords, repression, updating or invention of rights), in a context where the rural community crumbles (indebtedness, access to land) and where lordly pressure has internal leaks (intermediaries) and opposes the interests of other neighboring lords. This article approaches this conflict in the Vall d’en Bas during the 16th century, cross-referencing notarial and curial data to understand the various strategies and interests of the main figures.