Why the Management of The Ecclesiastic Estates In The Lands in the Lleida Area Hindered Agrarian Development In Western Catalonia? Natural Environment, Property, Politics and Social Conflict (1780-1960)

Abstract

In contrast with what was habitual in Catalonia, on the western plain around Lleida, there were large seigniorial, mainly ecclesiastical, estates that were not split up and awarded to smallholders and landless peasants in the liberal agrarian reform. The aim of this study is to analyse the management of these large properties at two historic moments: the final phase of the seigniorial regime (1780-1850) and the stage of the development of capitalist social relations (1850-1960) to attempt to understand why the management in this latter phase was insufficient to guarantee economic growth that would undoubtedly have benefited not only the property, but also the peasantry who worked it and western Catalonia as a whole.