The Case of La Vega in Gran Canaria

THE CASE OF LA VEGA IN GRAN CANARIA This study is an approach to the socio-economic reality of the Canary Islands during the Ancien Régime through the analysis of one of the most important social episodes of the period: illegitimacy. To this end, a study has been carried out of the various sources used to assess the significance of the phenomenon of the illegitimate in the heart of Canarian society from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. But before continuing to point out the importance of the phenomenon and drawing the outline of the social reality of the Canary Islands during the Ancien Régime, we must point out the sources used and the methodology followed in the preparation of this study. In the first place, it is necessary to point out the relevance of the parish documentation, highlighting in the case at hand the various baptism books of La Vega.1 Other types of sources have also been used, such as the various censuses and population counts of the period2 and, of course, notarial documentation. In the first case, it should be noted that the parish registers offer a rich and varied sample of baptism indexes in which a very extensive casuistry is reflected. Although, as we shall see later, the size of the illegitimate compared to the total population – and even other minorities; That is, slaves, for example – may seem insignificant to us, the truth is that the data provided by the parish registers have an undeniable qualitative component. In this way, in the documentation of baptisms, for example, not only is explicit reference made to the newborn who is conceived outside the religious canons, but also the status of the newborn is expressed, if one of its parents is known (their name is indicated), the social origin and occupation of the same, etc. To all this we must add the fact that on many occasions the parish priest has much more information than what is reflected in the documentation, for example, the identity of the other parent and, above all, the significance of the different value judgments that he makes about the newborn and his parents, which gives us a sample of what his contemporaries thought about illegitimacy. In addition to the baptism books, the use of other types of sources such as marriage books and wills is essential for the study of illegitimate baptisms. In the former, reference is often made to the existence by the contracting parties of children of an illegitimate nature, who will later be sheltered by the matrimonial union. In some cases, it is pointed out that the illegitimate child was the result of a previous relationship between the two spouses, and that they are now trying to correct the error. The censuses and records carried out throughout the period of analysis are crucial for our study as they allow us to measure the demographic evolution of the community in question. This enables us to establish the volume of illegitimate persons in relation to the total of the society in which they are inserted and to weigh the quantitative significance of the phenomenon. In addition, linking the data on demographic dynamics and the volume of illegitimates at a specific time allows us to establish patterns of illegitimacy behavior, being able to analyze the seasonality of the conceptions of illegitimate and try to establish the causes to which these births obey. However, and despite the use of the documentation and sources indicated for the study of illegitimacy, it should be pointed out that there are numerous gaps, and that the priest or the notary, depending on the case, does not always indicate in the baptismal documentation all the information we would like. Thus, sometimes we witness stories in which the descriptive sparsity is such that it does not allow us to draw any kind of conclusion about it, except for the cold and quantitative data. To this we must add the fact of the concealment of illegitimate children, a phenomenon that must have been significant if we take into account the conditions of life and the social consideration that this type of relationship had: as an element that contributed to diminishing the social esteem of the individual within his community and in order to avoid the dishonor implied by public knowledge of conception outside the sacred bond of marriage, I would try to be avoided as much as possible. Finally, in the case of the books of wills, and as with the documentation consulted in the parish registers, the testator, in the case of being the father of an illegitimate child, usually indicates this or hints at it in some type of clause or explicit testamentary provision for it. We'll dig deeper into this idea later. With regard to illegitimacy, we must say that although it is true that it only affects a minority if we compare it with the rest of the contemporary population, knowledge of it seems to us transcendental in any attempt to assess the socio-economic reality throughout the proposed period, in addition to the ideological dimension that the phenomenon contains. Thus, the panorama of the births of children conceived outside the religious orthodoxy of the time is shown to us as a fundamental element when analyzing the ethicalmoral reality of the time. Their knowledge makes it easier for us to understand those dogmas and moral guidelines that had become examples for the community to follow, and of everything that was outside of orthodoxy and that was treated with the consideration that such transgression deserved. Illegitimacy is a phenomenon that has been repeated inexorably throughout the Ancient Regime in the Canary Islands. Since the arrival and settlement of the Europeans, the existence of this type of relationship has been confirmed in the archipelago, motivated by the arrival of eminently male population contingents who sought female companionship among the island's aborigines. Because many of them had left their wives on the mainland, they have extramarital relations with the Canary Islands. Subsequently, it will be an appreciable fact in a fairly extensive social range, being located both among the most modest classes and those that enjoyed greater preponderance. The young man also played an important role, which would serve to enable all those men of low moral stature to give free rein to their worldly desires. In addition, as José Deleito points out, when public brothels were banned by Philip IV, clandestine brothels emerged.3 All this caused the phenomenon of illegitimacy to remain in the archipelago during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To this we must add the increase in extramarital relations motivated by a progressive climate of relaxation of the ethical-religious behaviors of the time and the increase in population in rural and urban centers, in addition to the location of times of famine that are generally shown to us as incentive elements for the increase of illegitimate ones – although this will not be the case of La Vega. as we'll see. At the time of analysis, we must point out the importance that illegitimacy acquires in the configuration of the social system in the Canary Islands, especially among the various minorities inserted in it. First of all, we must highlight the existence of other marginalized social groups, such as slaves or foundlings. Both have enjoyed great significance throughout the centuries on which this study is focused, although they are very different in nature. Thus, the former had their own legal status and differentiated from the rest of the population that excluded them from most socio-economic activities. Its origin is located in the births of children of slaves, horseback riding, debts, etc. However, foundlings, and in this they have a great similarity with illegitimate foundlings, are people discriminated against because of the circumstances of their birth. Their legal status is the same as that of the rest of the free population, although in practice after parental abandonment the foundling swells the ranks of marginalized and disadvantaged groups. In both cases, both slaves and abandoned children will suffer great needs from the moment they are incorporated into Canarian society due to their negative social consideration and their precarious economic situation. The latter are defined as children without a future due to the social stigma of abandonment after birth and growth in the best of cases in the nursery, to which must be added the difficulties to be part of the world of work, which if and when achieved would be with fewer guarantees than the rest. These are precisely the aspects that perhaps most characterize them, although it will be the factor of their economic situation and social protection that most differentiates them from the illegitimate. On their arrival at the nursery, they tried to provide them with a nursery for their food and care, but in a time of so much economic hardship the guarantees of success were scarce and life in the hospice seemed ruthlessly short. 4 Thus, despite the fact that the foundlings are supported by a welfare system that had been oriented from private charity to social assistance,5 in most cases the efforts of those in charge of the nursery are shown to be sterile in keeping the little ones alive. The deaths of the infants followed one another with unusual rapidity and the few who survived were faced with a world that was practically inaccessible. In the case of children conceived out of wedlock, it must be said that although they may belong to the lowest social stratum, it is not only their economic situation that defines them, since, as we will see, they are not always children of humble families, but those who are "children of sin". Its origin is located in illicit relationships that are totally opposed to the moral guidelines of the time, which leads to a situation of social rejection, given the consideration that honor held during the Ancien Régime. It should be borne in mind that during the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the totality of male-female relations had to pass through the sieve of the moral directives of the time, which made a severe distinction in the consideration of them according to whether it was the man or the woman who broke orthodoxy. In this sense, as in other areas of daily life, the system was governed by totally androgynous norms of behavior, which constantly violated the role of women in society. Thus, we are witnessing episodes of manifest inequality both on the part of religious authorities, traditionally hostile towards women, and on the part of the Civil Justice, also focused from the perspective of men. If we analyse the case of illegitimacy, we can clearly observe this dichotomy between men and women when it comes to applying the corresponding punishments for attacks on honour. As Professor Hernández González points out, male adultery is "socially less ignominious", while female adultery is an "attack on the honour of the family, personified in the man".6 Thus, the honour of the man is the one to which the greatest importance is given and depends on his wife, so he will try to avoid at all times being a cuckold before his neighbours since it means that he is incapable of fulfilling his duties with their marital obligations. It is also true that a woman who engages in adultery is branded as a person of bad life, while a man is judged more benevolently. Let us see the consideration given to the phenomenon within the juridical instances of the time through the Ninth Collection: It is contained in the Jurisdiction of the Laws, that if the woman who is betrothed commits adultery with anyone, that both of them be put into the power of the husband, so that they are his servants, but that he cannot kill them: and because this is an example and manner for many of them to do wickedness, and to bring occasion and shame to those who are betrothed to them, because they cannot house them during their lifetime; Wherefore we think it good, in order to excuse this error, that it should henceforth pass in this manner: that every woman who is betrothed by words of present to a man who is fourteen years old, and she who is twelve years old, and commits adultery, if the husband finds them in one, that he may kill them, if he wishes, both to two, so that he cannot kill the one and leave the other, both of them being able to kill two; and if he accuses them both, or either of them, let him against whom he be judged, let him be brought into his power, and let him do with him and his goods as he pleases; and that the wife cannot excuse herself from answering to the accusation of the husband, or husband, because he says that he wants to prove that the husband or husband committed adultery.7 As we can see, the differentiation between the two sexes is quite relevant, especially if we take into account that it is not the case that it is the woman who denounces the husband for adultery. Honour does not depend so much on the moral integrity of the individual, but during the Ancien Régime greater relevance was given to the social consideration that the community had for each person and the opinion that they deserved.8 The situation of the illegitimate, although we must study it within the group of the marginalized since the rest of the population has its particular rejection in store for them, It has some peculiarities. Both foundlings and illegitimate foundlings generally appear in times of hardship and generally in poorer families, although there are cases in which illegitimacy contains a component of concealment of the identity of the father due to the fact that he is someone known or prominent within the community. Thus, their economic status is not as uncertain as that of the two groups mentioned above, since the illegitimate one keeps one of his parents in his care. Thus, one of the two parents takes care of the child, usually the mother, who is in charge of baptizing, raising and educating the child. The child, having the protection of one of his parents, is not as helpless as the foundling, especially until 1647, the year in which the cradle was created in the Hospital de San Martín. Thanks to this type of social welfare measures, the situation of the foundlings improved ostensibly, in fact among the population of Las Palmas the number of illegitimate people began to decline from the middle of the seventeenth century. 9 This indicates that it is now less traumatic to dispose of an unwanted child or child resulting from an extramarital affair, since there is an institution responsible for the reception of abandoned children. The aim is to get rid of a child who can be a heavy burden for the battered family economy, although there is also a paternal interest in preventing the offspring from having to go through the same sufferings that the parents have suffered. In this regard, let us recall the case of slaves who, by exposing their son, prevent the child from inheriting the same socio-economic status as his parents. As we can see, the situation of foundlings appears to be covered with an aura of enormous hardness, which is why many other mothers prefer to face the care of their children and raise their offspring themselves with great courage. Another fact that notoriously differentiates the illegitimate from the foundling is that sometimes they also have the support of a father in anonymity, in addition to being in charge of a mother. In many cases, testamentary documents describe clauses in favour of children who are the result of illicit relationships to whom part of the inheritance is left. It is a way of acknowledging a child after having been anonymous all his life, as an exercise in relief and discharge of conscience. In the same vein, we must point out that the illegitimate are less exposed to the harshness of marginal life during the Ancien Régime due to the fact that they sometimes witness legitimation processes by their parents during their lifetime. Thus, there are marriages in which the couples who join legitimize the paternity of a previously conceived child. The process of legitimation of the child is usually carried out when he or she is already an adult, mainly due to the improvement in the economic situation, which as we indicated is one of the main causes of illegitimacy and exposure during the Ancien Régime. When both parents consider that the family economy is sufficiently robust to meet the needs of life together, it is decided to consecrate the marriage bond. On other occasions we witness episodes of legitimation of different kinds, producing the process of recognition more quickly, if justice allows it, since there are cases of lawsuits filed by the mother of the child motivated by the abandonment of her partner. The same is true of cases of incest and force, in which it is generally chosen, as long as the man's guilt has been proven, to force him to marry the woman. Let us take a look at some examples that appear in this regard in the agreements of the Royal Court of the Canary Islands: On the said day (March 24, 1583) another transaction was determined between Diego Rodríguez and Juana Gutiérrez, concerning the statutory rape of which the aforementioned is accused by her. A sentence was given in which he was sentenced to marry the aforesaid within twenty days by words of present, or within twenty days to give him 100 doubloons for his marriage. And not doing the one or the other, he was sentenced to 100 lashes and four years in the galleys at the oar as a galley slave; without salary.10 This case follows the model of the woman abandoned by her partner after having given him a word of marriage (words of the present tense), which at that time was considered an ad hoc marriage request.11 Although it is true that sometimes the application of the marriage petition was used to avoid the "delay of the bridegroom in contracting marriage, the fear of losing them at the possibility of seeing them married to others, the attendance of two or even three women in the same lawsuit, or the impossibility of marrying by other means",12 there are many cases in which it is appreciated that the man has taken advantage of a favorable situation. It should be borne in mind that the use of words of present or marriage sometimes amounted to the formalization of the relationship between the couple, which sometimes entailed the approval by the family of sexual relations between the two, before the groom left his partner.13 [...] Another deal was determined between Juana Sanchez and Juan de Quevedo, against Luis Maldonado, on a force. And the decision of the ordinary of this island was confirmed, with the fact that in two months' time Luis Maldonado will choose whether he wants to marry Juana Sánchez or endow her in the amount of the said sentence. And neither the one nor the other having done so, he was condemned to four years' imprisonment in the galleys, which he did not break on pain of being doubled.14 It should be noted that the example now with which we are concerned presents a great similarity to the former, since the court imposes the same penalty. That is to say, it treats with the same consideration the forcing suffered by the woman in this second example as the abandonment of the partner after having promised her marriage in the first. It should also be borne in mind the enormous punishment that both transgressions entail, since in both cases, after the corresponding period for marrying the aforementioned, both culprits choose not to do so and face sentences of four years. So far, we have tried to make a general approach to the subject in question, always from a general perspective, which we will now try to delimit, sticking to the documentation consulted in reference to La Vega. Therefore, and as far as the subject of study is concerned, let us begin by pointing out the particularities of the population of La Vega in order to obtain a global vision of society that will serve as a starting point for the analysis of the illegitimate conceptions of which it was the receptacle.