From the territory to the chandelier. The transformation of Catalonia: 1550-1714

Abstract

This text is a synthesis of a larger research about the transformation of Catalan Society in the period 1550-1714, from all possible scales and through an exhaustive analysis of the structural basis of the country: economy, territorial and urban space, and other aspects of cultural and daily life. Some methodological approaches should be noticed: the importance of the analysis of spatial variables, the use of a macro and micro historical dimension, the use of the maximum number of particular cases, and the use of diverse sources of information. The final and fundamental findings of this research are to disagree with the false idea that Catalan Society was decadent in the period 1550-1714.

Keywords: Catalonia, Barcelona, economy, territory, city, daily life.