The Decline of Indivisible Inheritance in Catalonia

Abstract

This article studies the decline of the traditional primogeniture-based Catalan inheritance system. The analysis of marriage contracts and testaments from two towns and their hinterland between 1780 and 1860 shows the variation in the succession practices among different sociooccupational groups. The study reveals that the decline of the indivisible inheritance started in the towns, whose inhabitants were mainly artisans, merchants, or sailors, a lot earlier than in the rural world. These transformations of traditional succession practices were fuelled by structural changes of the crafts and by the increasing emigration to America.