Economy and Society in Alentejo at the end of the Ancien Regime. The Phenomenon of Estates Eviction (1771-1832)

Teresa Fonseca

This work seeks, through the phenomenon of the eviction of farmers/tenants from Alentejo estates by their landlords, to make a contribution to the knowledge of the economy and rural society of this Portuguese province in the last six decades of the Ancien Regime (1771-1832). It analyzes the social groups and institutions that owned large estates, and interprets the reasons given for eviction petitions. It studies the different types of displaced tenants, as well as those holding new leases. And it seeks to explain the involvement of political agents in this phenomenon, at central and peripheral levels. It interprets the behavior of all parties involved in the light of the centralizing legislation of the Absolute Monarchy, the significant transformations in the way land was exploited and the growing conflict between landlords and tenants, in a troubled time that paved the way and helps to explain the structural changes that occurred in the agrarian world throughout the second half of the 1800s.

Note: Due to publishing rights, only the first pages of the work are available. The book is available at CEPESE's Library.