Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T17:29:03.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bourbon Social Engineering: Women and Conditions of Marriage in Eighteenth-Century Venezuela*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Gary M. Miller
Gary M. Miller*
Affiliation:
College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Historians have long debated the relationship between the Spanish Crown and its colonial subjects. The issue has taken on an additional dimension as our knowledge of the lives of women expands. Recently published works describe the statutes promulgated by royal authorities to regulate the institution of marriage. But what was the actual result of these laws once they crossed the Atlantic Ocean? Were they followed to the letter, partially enforced, or ignored? Did they apply to some groups and not to others? In order to answer these and other questions it seemed appropriate to focus upon the laws governing marriage and the effect of their implementation on a specific group of women—the wives of regular army officers who served in Venezuela during the last half of the eighteenth century.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , January 1990 , pp. 261 - 290
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

I would like to acknowledge the support of the American Philosophical Society, the Bush Foundation, and the Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana for funding some of the research in Spain and Venezuela.

References

1 Lavrin, Asunción, “Women in Spanish American Colonial Society,” in Bethell, Leslie, ed., The Cambridge History of Latin America, 5 vols. (Cambridge, 1984-), 2:325.Google Scholar Also see Lavrin, , “In Search of the Colonial Woman in Mexico: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,” in Lavrin, Asunción, ed., Latin American Women: Historical Perspectives (Wesport, Conn., 1978), 30–31.Google Scholar

2 See Miller, Gary M., “Status and Loyalty of Regular Army Officers in Late Colonial Venezuela,” Hispanic American Historical Review 66:4 (November 1986), especially pages 672–676 and 685–690.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3 Ibid

4 Muñiz, Evangelino Díez, “El matrimonio de miltares en España; Legislación y problemática canónica en el siglo XVIII a la luz de documentos ineditos,” Revista de Historia Militar 27 (1969), 57 and 86–87 Google Scholar; and Suárez, Santiago Gerardo, Jurisdicción eclesiastica y capellana castrenses; el matrimonio militar (Caracas, 1972), 39–41.Google Scholar

5 Muñiz, Díez, “El matrimonio” 86–87.Google Scholar

6 Colón, Felíx y de Embun, Larriategui Ximenez, Juzgados Militares de España y sus Indias, 2nd ed., 4 vols. (Madrid, 1786–96), 1:328–30.Google Scholar

7 Ibid., 1:330.

8 Ibid., 1:336 and 338.

9 Ibid., and Juan Carlos Agüero et al to Julián Arriaga, Caracas, November 29, 1775, Archivo General de Indias, Audiencia de Caracas (hereafter AGI CAR), leg. 83.

10 Juan Guillelmi to Antonio Valdés, Caracas, October 18, 1789, AGI CAR, leg. 113; and Suárez, , Jurisdicción, 52.Google Scholar

11 Royal Decree, Madrid, July 17, 1803, AGI CAR, leg. 395.

12 Royal Decree, Aranjuez, May 27, 1805, AGI CAR, leg. 395.

13 Colón, y Larriategui, , Juzgados, 1:357 Google Scholar; Manuel Gonzalez to José de Gálvez, Caracas, July 21, 1783, AGI CAR, leg. 86; and Memorial of Salvador Muñoz, Maracaibo, August 27, 1797, Archivo General de Simancas, Guerra Moderna (hereafter AGS GM), leg. 7230.

14 Suárez, , Jurisdicción, 65–67.Google Scholar

15 Memorial of Eusebio de Dios, Caracas, March 1, 1752, AGI CAR, leg. 864; and Felipe Ricardos to Marqués de Ensenada, Caracas, October 20, 1752, AGI CAR, leg. 864.

16 See Memorial of Juan Burguillos, in Agüero to Arriaga, Caracas, June 15, 1774, AGI CAR, leg. 82.

17 “Memorial y documentos que le ha presentado el subteniente don Pedro de Roo para la solicitud de Real Licencia para casarse,” Caracas, July 23, 1774, AGI CAR, leg. 82; and Agüero to Arriaga, Caracas, April 20, 1775, AGI CAR, leg. 83.

18 Memoriales of Pedro Manrique, Bernardo Junguera Tello, Salvador Muñoz, Bruno Pasqual de Moragrega, Salvador Escurpi, and Antonio Negrete, in Ricardos to Arriaga, Caracas, July 3, 1776, AGI CAR, leg. 864; Guillelmi to Conde de Alange, Caracas, September 29, 1790, AGI CAR, leg. 92; and Guillelmi to Alange, Caracas, April 19, 1787, AGI CAR, leg. 93.

19 Francisco de Santa Cruz to Gálvez, Maracaíbo, March 28, 1778, AGI CAR, leg. 146; and Luis de Unzaga to Gálvez, Caracas, September 14, 1778, AGI CAR, leg 84.

20 Ricardos to Arriaga, Caracas, July 3, 1756, AGI CAR, leg. 864; Memorial of Antonio Negrete, La Guaira, December 10, 1756, AGI CAR, leg. 864; Ricardos to Arriaga, Caracas, April 2, 1757, AGI CAR, leg. 864; Antonio Guill to Arriaga, Zaragoza, May 31, 1757, AGI CAR, leg. 864; and Matrimonios y velaciones de espanoles y criollos blancos celebrados en la catedral de Caracas desde 1615 hasta 1831 (Caracas, 1974), 684–85.

21 Guillelmi to Gálvez, Caracas, June 23, 1787, AGI CAR, leg. 90; and Memorial of José de la Concha, Puerto Rico, November 15, 1788, AGS GM, leg. 7224.

22 Felipe Ramírez to Arriaga, Caracas, December 1, 1757, AGI CAR, leg. 864; Ibid., July 21, 1758, AGI CAR, leg. 864; and Royal Order, Madrid, October 28, 1758, AGI CAR, leg. 863-B.

23 Guillelmi to Valdés, Caracas, October 20, 1788, AGI CAR, leg. 112; Ibid., August 24, 1789, AGI CAR, leg. 113; Ibid., June 29, 1790, AGS GM, leg. 7224; and Memorial of José Pavía, Caracas, November 6, 1790, AGI CAR, leg. 92.

24 Juan Ramo, Bishop of Mérida, to Gálvez, Mérida, November 19, 1786, AGI CAR, leg. 882; Memorial of Jaime Moreno, Maracaibo, December 26, 1786, AGI CAR, leg. 882; Memorial of María Muñoz, Maracaibo, March 22, 1787, AGI CAR, leg. 882; and Pedro Carbonell to Juan Alvarez, Caracas, January 24, 1797, AGS GM, leg. 7229.

25 Instancia and Supporting Documents, in Guillelmi to Valdés, Caracas, June 10, 1788, AGI CAR, leg. 112.

26 Testamento of Antonio Ayala, Puerto Caballo, May 4, 1798, Archivo Arquidiocesano, Caracas, Testamentos, vol. 132; and Service Record of Antonio Ayala, Caracas, January 18, 1798, AGI CAR, leg. 843.

27 Agüero to Arriaga, Caracas, April 21, 1775, AGI CAR, leg. 83; Guillelmi to Valdés, Caracas, October 18, 1789, AGI CAR, leg. 113; and Memorial of Francisco Marmol, Margarita Island, October 10, 1799, AGI CAR, leg. 97.

28 Lavrin, Asunción and Couturier, Edith, “Dowries and Wills: A View of Women’s Socio-economic Role in Colonial Guadalajara and Puebla, 1640–1790,” Hispanic American Historical Review (hereafter HAHR) 59 (May 1979), 283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

29 Memorial of Juan Burguillos, in Agüero to Arriaga, Caracas, June 15, 1774, AGI CAR, leg. 82.

30 “Receipt of Goods,” Maracaibo, September 13, 1800, in Carlo, Agustín Millares, comp., Archivo de Registro Principal de Maracaibo; Protocolos de los Antiguos Escribanos (1790–1836), Indice y Extractos (Maracaibo, 1964), 102–103.Google Scholar

31 Joaquín Primo de Rivera to Valdés, Maracaibo, June 12 and July 14, 1788, AGI CAR, leg. 147; Memorial of Félix de Carrasquera, Maracaibo, June 24, 1790, AGI CAR, leg. 92; and Guillelmi to Alange, Caracas, September 29, 1790, AGI CAR, leg. 93.

32 Testamento of Juan Rodríguez, Guayana, July 15, 1806, AGI CAR, leg. 105.

33 “Acuerdo del patronato de la Obra Pía de Chuao sobre asignación de dote,” Caracas, September 17, 1774, in Obra pía de Chuao (Caracas, 1974), 401; and Memorial of Rosalia Aguado in Unzaga to Gálvez, Caracas, January 26, 1778, AGI CAR, leg. 84.

34 Memorial of María de Mercedes Suárez de Urbina, Caracas, August 26, 1795, AGS GM, leg. 7229; and Matrimonios y velaciones, 807.

35 Guillelmi to Valdés, Caracas, August 24, 1789, AGI CAR, leg. 113.

36 Service Record of Manuel Aldao, Caracas, December 1783, AGI CAR, leg. 850; and Order of the Consejo de Guerra, Madrid, July 11, 1785, AGI CAR, leg. 282.

37 Memorial of Manuel Beamud, Maracay, April 8, 1802, AGI CAR, leg. 100; and Memorial of María Ana, Ana María, María Josefa, and María de Rosario Beamud, Maracay, May 8, 1808, AGI CAR, leg. 414.

38 Miller, Gary M., “Status and Loyalty in Colonial Spanish America: A Social History of Regular Army Officers in Venezuela, 1750–1810” (Ph.D. diss., University of Florida, 1985), 143 and 251.Google Scholar

39 Miller, Gary M., “Status and Loyalty of Regular Army Officers in Late Colonial Venezuela,” HAHR 66 (November 1986), 690–96.Google Scholar

40 Ibid., 683–90; McKinley, P. Michael, Pre-revolutionary Caracas: Politics, Economy, and Society, 1777–1811 (Cambridge, 1985), 26, 78, 88, and 93–96Google Scholar; and Lucena, Manuel, Visperas de la independencia americana: Caracas (Madrid, 1986), 71, 196, 209, and 213.Google Scholar

41 Fernández, Juan Marchena, “El ejército de America: El componente humana,” Revista de Historia Militar (1981), 137–38 and 146–52.Google Scholar

42 Service Record of Salvador Escurpi, Caracas, January 1767, AGI CAR, leg. 866; Testamento of Salvador Escurpi, Caracas, October 30, 1776, Registro Principal del Distrito Federal (Caracas) (hereafter RPDF-C), Escribanías, 1776.

43 Testamento of Juan Burguillos, Caracas, September 26, 1789, RPDF-C, Escribanías, 1789; Memorial of Juan Burguillos, Caracas, June 7, 1774, AGI CAR, leg. 82; Service Record of Juan Burguillos, Caracas, December 1780, AGI CAR, leg. 850; and Matrimonios y velaciones, 689.

44 “Acuerdo del patonato de la Obra Pía de Chuao sobre asignacion de dote,” Caracas, September 17, 1774, Obra pía de Chuao, 401; and Memorial of Rosalia Aguado, in Unzaga to Gálvez, Caracas, January 26, 1778, AGI CAR, leg. 84.

45 Waldron, Kathleen, “A Social History of a Primate City: The Case of Caracas, 1750–1810,” (Ph.D., diss., Indiana University, 1977), 50–51.Google Scholar

46 “Padrón del vezindario de la Ciudad de Guaiana,” Guayana, January 1, 1769, AGI CAR, leg. 136.

47 Ibid.; Antonio de Pereda and Andrés de Oleaga to Gálvez, Guayana, March 5, 1778, Archivo General de Indias, Indiferente General, leg. 1823; and Hojas militares, 3 vols. (Caracas, 1930–1950), 1:400–401.

48 Nuñez, Enrique Bernardo, La ciudad de los techos rojos. Calles y esquinas de Caracas (Caracas, 1947–48), 137.Google Scholar

49 Keyse, Donna and Rudolph, G. A., Historical Dictionary of Venezuela (Metuchen, 1971), 23.Google Scholar

50 “Cuentas de division, y partición…de los bienes que quedaron por el fallecimiento del Capitán de Milicias don Manuel José de Aispurua,” Maracaibo, December 16, 1779, AGI CAR, leg. 87.

51 “Testimonio de las diligencias practicadas a pedimiento de doña Rosa Antonia Ramírez de Espinoza sobre clarificar la existencia de su dote,” Cumaná, March 10, 1786, AGI CAR, leg. 89.

52 Depons, Francois, Travels in Parts of South America During the Years 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804 (London, 1806), 37–38.Google Scholar

53 Royal Decree, Aranjuez, April 10, 1803, AGI CAR, leg. 395.

54 Mateo Gual to Arriaga, La Guaira, October 6, 1768, AGI CAR, leg. 121.

55 de Sangroniz, José Antonio y Castro, , Familias coloniales de Venezuela (Caracas, 1943), 127–28Google Scholar; and Guillen, Carlos Iturriza, Algunas Familias Caraquenas, 2 vols. (Caracas 1967), 2:844–46.Google Scholar

56 Testamento of Martín de Tovar Bañez, Caracas, May 29, 1783, RPDF-C, Escribanias, 1783.

57 Reglamento de la fundación y establecimiento del Monte de Piedad, Madrid, 1761, folios 6 and 7.

58 Real Declaración de su Magistad de 17 de Junio de 1773; sobre el método, y observación uniforme conque debe cumplirse en los Dominos de America lo dispuesto en el Reglamento del Monte Pío Militar expedido por su Magistad en 20 de Abril de 1761, Madrid, 1773, folios 1–3.

59 Reglamento (1761), fol. 8.

60 Ibid., fols. 12–35.

61 Ibid., fols. 72–126.

62 Ibid.; and Montepío Account Records, Guayana, 1781, AGI CAR, leg. 476.

63 Conde de O’Reilly to Unzaga, Puerto Santa María, June 15, 1777, in Suárez, Santiago Gerardo, Las fuerzas armadas en la Colonia (Caracas, 1974), 239.Google Scholar

64 Reglamento (1761), fols. 72–126.

65 Ibid., fols. 127–48.

66 Ibid., fols. 149–80.

67 Montepío Account Records, Guayana, 1801, AGI CAR, leg. 139.

68 Montepío Account Records, Caracas, 1783, AGI CAR, leg. 484.

69 Service Record of Manuel Ayala, Caracas, April 30, 1755, AGI CAR, leg. 850; Memorial of Manuel Ayala, in Ricardos to Arriaga, Caracas, July 31, 1756, AGI CAR, leg. 864; and Memorial of Juana Soriano, Caracas, June 25, 1784, AGI CAR, leg. 872.

70 Guillelmi to Alange, Caracas, September 29, 1790, AGI CAR, leg. 92; and Reyes, José Sucre, La capitanía general de Venezuela (Barcelona, 1969), 258.Google Scholar

71 Memorial of Josefa Serrano, Caracas, October 10, 1788, AGI CAR, leg. 112; Guillelmi to Valdés, Caracas, June 14, 1789, AGI CAR, leg. 114; and Memorial of María del Carmen and Francisca Antonia Burguillos, Caracas, August ?, 1809, AGI CAR, leg. 465.

72 Memorial of Gregorio Ponce, La Guaira, April 8, 1786, AGI CAR, leg. 89.

73 Guillelmi to Gálvez, Caracas, December 26, 1786, AGI CAR, leg. 89.

74 Antonio López Quintana to Diego de Gardoqui, Caracas, March 31, 1795, AGI CAR, leg. 465; and Carbonell to Eugenio Llaguno, Caracas, June 30, 1795, AGI CAR, leg. 94.

75 Ricardos to Arriaga, Caracas, July 25, 1755, AGI CAR, leg. 864.

76 Ricardos to Arriaga, Caracas, July 3, 1756, AGI CAR, leg. 864.

77 Pedro Cevallos to Secretario del Despacho de Hacienda, Madrid, July 28, 1805, AGI CAR, leg. 864.

78 Service Records of Diego and Simón Carrasquera, Maracaibo, June 1778, AGI CAR, leg. 880; Gonzalez to Gálvez, Caracas, June 21, 1783, AGI CAR, leg. 86; Francisco de Saavedra to Gálvez, Caracas, July 9, 1785, AGI CAR, leg. 479; and Memorial of Pedro Carrasquera, Maracaibo, July 16, 1779, AGI CAR, leg. 49.

79 Manuel de Guevara Vasconcelos to Minister of War, Caracas, September 22, 1801, AGI CAR, leg. 98; and Guevara to Secretario de Estado, Guatemala, December 18, 1807, AGI CAR, leg. 473.

80 Testamento of María Magdalena de Mérida, Caracas, April 15, 1803, RPDF-C, Escribanías, 1803; and Service Record of José Serrano, Caracas, December 1777, AGI CAR, leg. 869.

81 Montepío Account Records, Caracas, September 29, 1784, AGI CAR, leg. 476.

82 “Testimonio de la Cuenta, Division, Partición y adjudicación de los bienes que por su fallecimiento dejo dońa Juan Jacinta Martínez de Gordon y Lugo, dentro de sus lexitimos hijos,” Cumaná, October 5, 1776, AGI CAR, leg. 129.

83 Miguel Marmion to Gálvez, Cumaná, May 20, 1783, AGI IG, leg. 1825.

84 Depons, , Travels in Parts of South America, 140–41.Google Scholar

85 Memorial of Francisca Moreno de Mendoza, Maracaibo, November 17, 1800, AGI CAR, leg. 99.

86 Testamento of Juana María Garavan, Caracas, June 30, 1788, AGI CAR, leg. 111.

87 Waldron, , “Primate City,” 156 Google Scholar; and Depons, , Travels, 140–41.Google Scholar

88 Royal Decree, Madrid, December 7, 1773, AGI IG, leg. 1822.

89 Service Record of Juan Pablo Ayala, Caracas, December 1799, Hojas militares, I:113–114; Service Record of Manuel Ayala, Caracas, December 1808, Hojas, I:114–116; Service Records of Ramón, Juan Pablo, and Mauricio Ayala, Caracas, December 1808, Hojas, I:111–114; and Memorial of Juana Soriano, Caracas, June 25, 1784, AGI CAR, leg. 872.

90 Memorial of Pietola Roso, Cumaná, October 16, 1784, AGI CAR, leg. 479; and Guillelmi to Alange, Caracas, September 29, 1790, AGI CAR, leg. 92.

91 Memorial of Ana María González, Caracas, June 30, 1802, AGI CAR, leg. 100; and Memorial of Matías Letamendi, Caracas, October 5, 1803, AGI CAR, leg. 102.

92 Memorial of Josefa Moreno de Mendoza, Valencia (Venezuela), May 15, 1791, AGI CAR, leg. 93; and Real Cédula, El Pardo, March 6, 1785, AGI CAR, leg. 873.

93 See for example Arrom, Silvia Marina, The Women of Mexico City, 1790–1857 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985), p. 148.Google Scholar