Social classes in Beira Interior in the middle of the 19th century

Abstract

On the beirão plateau, a region confined by the Lapa mountain and the Mondego river, the distribution of the population by social classes was not homogeneous in the middle of the 19th century. There were localities where the peasant category was the most representative, in counterpoint to localities where the farmer categories turned out to be the most expressive. In parishes where property was allocated to a small number of individuals, liberal laws does not seem to have contributed to the proliferation of landowners; in these localities, the increase was visible in other social categories.