The income of the aristocracy during the crisis of the Old Regime

Abstract

The persistence of the aristocracy in the 19^th century liberal societies has been a popular topic in recent bibliography. Taken to its extreme, it has been used as a basic argument for a new overall interpretation of European social and political history of the period ending in the early 20^th century. As part of the history of the Spanish monarchy, this subject has recently figured in important studies in which the capacity for survival of many of the houses of the titled aristocracy after the liberal revolution is of some importance. This text uses the Spanish case as a basis for comparison to help understand the characteristics of Portugal's case. The author suggests that the structure and composition of the income of the Portuguese titled nobility at the end of the Old Regime was detrimental to their capacity for survival in the future.