KINSHIP STRUCTURES OF THE GALICIAN NOBILITY IN 1350-1600: A FIRST VALUATION

The study of the Galician nobility's relationship structures between 1350 and 1600 is a subject, which has not often been discussed within the Galician historiographic ambit although it has been partially tackled in some researches about the noble class. However, those structures played an important part in the nobility's biological and social reproduction. What we try along this paper is to prepare a first approach to its study, resting on the genealogical reconstructions of three outstanding Galician noble houses in the late Middle Ages: Lemos, Ribadavia and Montaos, We assess the demographic keys that determine and interact in the generation replacement (mean) of descendants, family composition, rate of infant mortality...). Then we revise the social reproduction pattern of this elitist group, a model closely connected with the primogeniture, and the part played by every family member in order that the household could achieve its desired perpetuation.