The economic crisis in Penafiel at the beginning of the 19th century through the books of the décimas of 1800, 1813 and 1821

Abstract

At the beginning of the 19^th century, Penafiel went through a period of economic crisis, aggravated by the conjuncture of the Peninsular War and the instability that followed, until the Liberal Revolution. We intend to analyse the impact of this crisis in Penafiel, throughout the city’s tax books of décimas (royal tithe), from 1800, 1813 and 1821. With this objective in mind, this investigation presents three main axes of analysis: the study of the décima do maneio (professions), as an indicator of economic activity; the analysis of the décima dos juros (interests) and the evolution of credit market; and the measurement of inequality in the income of Penafiel’s population, through the Gini coefficient. The data analysis will have a comparative component with other Portuguese locations.