Economic changes and political attitudes during the transition to a capitalist society : the evolution of the agrarian structures in the valley of Aro (North Catalonia) from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries

The chronological continuity of the documentation in the valley of Aro has enabled us to study the evolution of the peasantry, their changing social conditions, and the differences created within them as a social group. In the cases where this subject has been studied it has been confirmed that the new rural society of the sixteenth century presented a solidly established peasantry, with significant social differences existing amongst the peasants themselves. However, these works relate to a period some decades after 1486 (when peace was signed between lords and peasants), and furthermore did not take into account the economic situation of the peasantry previous to 1486, nor the differences in conditions of srevile subjection under which they existed. Consequently,a deeper knowledge of the medieval origins of the peasantry and their subsequent evolution has been instrumental in giving a better explanation of the political postures that they adopted during the wars of the fifteenth century.