Society in Portugal (15th-18th centuries)

Objectives

After the successful completion of the course, students should:
a) be able to use a set of concepts that allow the analysis of Portuguese society between the 15th and 18th centuries;
b) to know and critically appreciate the main theses and historiographical contributions on the development of Portuguese society;
c) be able to identify the main lines of differentiation and structuring of society, the major principles and forms of social classification and distinction, and contemporary representations of society;
d) be able to identify the common characteristics and singularities of Portuguese society in the context of European societies of the time;
e) to know the processes of formation and reproduction of the main social groups;
f) recognize the continuities and the trends and agents of social change and its rhythms and conjunctures;
g) know the main sources of Portuguese social history of the early-modern period

General characterization

Code

722051267

Credits

10.0

Responsible teacher

Jorge Miguel de Melo Viana Pedreira

Hours

Weekly - 3

Total - 280

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

Available soon

Bibliography

História de Portugal, dir. José Mattoso, Lisboa: Círculo de Leitores, 1993, vol. III, No Alvorecer da Modernidade, coord. Joaquim Romero Magalhães e vol. IV, O Antigo Regime, coord. António Manuel Hespanha.
Ramos (Rui), Sousa (Bernardo Vasconcelos) e Monteiro (Nuno G.), História de Portugal, Lisboa: Esfera dos Livros, 2009.
História Económica de Portugal 1700-2000, org. Pedro Lains e Álvaro Ferreira da Silva, Vol. I - O século XVIII, Lisboa: Imprensa de Ciências Sociais, 2005
Godinho (Vitorino Magalhães), Estrutura da Antiga Sociedade Portuguesa, 3ª ed., Lisboa: Arcádia, 1977
Optima Pars – Elites Ibero-Americanas do Antigo Regime, ed. Nuno G. Monteiro, Pedro Cardim, Mafalda Soares da Cunha, Lisboa: Imprensa de Ciências Sociais, 2005

Teaching method

The concepts used in the the syllabus' approach are consistent with the objective of providing students with fundamental analytical tools for understanding the structure of Portuguese society, in the context of European societies, starting from a critical appreciation of historiographical contributions and identification of the sources that they use.
The selection of contents was determined by the intended learning outcomes themselves. Following a theoretical and conceptual introduction, the program will focus on a structural approach, from ecological and demographic constraints to the construction of the social order and its incorporation. Then, the processes of formation and reproduction of the main social groups, rural and urban, elites and popular classes will be studied. Finally, attention will be drawn to the alternative between continuity and change and to social dynamics and agents of change. Thus fulfilling, as far as the syllabus is concerned, the learning outcomes.

Evaluation method

Evaluation methods - Participation and animation of discussions and debates(15%), Performing an individual final synthesis essay(60%), Presentation in the working session of a text or set of texts or organization and orientation of the discussion of one of the sessions(25%)

Subject matter

Theory and Conceptualization.
Territory and ecological conditions. Population and settlement. Structure of the Old Portuguese Society. The construction of the social order, its incorporation and its structural constraints. Social structure and ethnic discrimination. The great divisions of society and their borders. The subtleties of social stratification.
The elites - the center and the periphery. The nobility and the court aristocracy. The aristocratic way of life. The province nobility. The local elites: noble people of local governance. The church and the clergy. The army. The royal bureaucracy: magistrates and officers. Merchants and businessmen. Rural societies and communities. The landlord and the landlords.
Farmers, peasants and rural workers.
The urban societies. Artisans and shopkeepers. The people of the cities.
Reforms and social change. \"Arbitristas\" and \"estrangeirados\". The state and social change.