Internal
- 8 November 2024
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Antonino Varde,UNICATT
08 Nov, 12:15 - 13:30-
Title: Inheritance Laws and Ecclesiastical Career: a Study of Italian Nobility
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Abstract:
This study uses genealogical data on Italian nobility from the 15th to 17th centuries to explore the impact of a legislative reform on feudal succession, enacted by Philip II in 1570 for the Kingdom of Naples. The findings reveal that the reform decisively increased the pursuit of ecclesiastical careers among cadet members of noble families.Following the Italian Wars, the Spanish monarchy allowed the transmission of fiefs through collateral lines in Naples, formalized in a Prammatica of 1570. Prior to this reform, noble families were compelled to arrange marriages for all their children in order to retain feudal concessions, despite the risk of estate fragmentation. However, the Prammatica enabled the consolidation of inheritances in the hands of eldest sons, encouraging younger sons (cadets) to pursue ecclesiastical careers, such as joining the clergy or monastic-military orders, to renounce their inheritance and avoid producing heirs.
The identification strategy is based on a canonical difference-in-differences (TWFE) approach. The dependent variable is binary, indicating an individual’s membership in the clergy. The treatment group consists of Neapolitan feudal families, while Sicilian families serve as the control group, selected due to their similar economic, social, and cultural contexts. Fixed effects are incorporated for both time (decade of birth) and family lineage. The dataset comprises approximately 3,600 individuals born between 1500 and 1640 from 42 noble lineages.
Data were sourced from secondary historical and genealogical studies, as well as primary sources, including family archives held in the state archives of Palermo, Naples, and Messina, alongside treatises on 16th- and 17th-century feudal dynasties.
4o
Location: R42.2.110Nov
08-
Title: Inheritance Laws and Ecclesiastical Career: a Study of Italian Nobility
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Abstract:
This study uses genealogical data on Italian nobility from the 15th to 17th centuries to explore the impact of a legislative reform on feudal succession, enacted by Philip II in 1570 for the Kingdom of Naples. The findings reveal that the reform decisively increased the pursuit of ecclesiastical careers among cadet members of noble families.Following the Italian Wars, the Spanish monarchy allowed the transmission of fiefs through collateral lines in Naples, formalized in a Prammatica of 1570. Prior to this reform, noble families were compelled to arrange marriages for all their children in order to retain feudal concessions, despite the risk of estate fragmentation. However, the Prammatica enabled the consolidation of inheritances in the hands of eldest sons, encouraging younger sons (cadets) to pursue ecclesiastical careers, such as joining the clergy or monastic-military orders, to renounce their inheritance and avoid producing heirs.
The identification strategy is based on a canonical difference-in-differences (TWFE) approach. The dependent variable is binary, indicating an individual’s membership in the clergy. The treatment group consists of Neapolitan feudal families, while Sicilian families serve as the control group, selected due to their similar economic, social, and cultural contexts. Fixed effects are incorporated for both time (decade of birth) and family lineage. The dataset comprises approximately 3,600 individuals born between 1500 and 1640 from 42 noble lineages.
Data were sourced from secondary historical and genealogical studies, as well as primary sources, including family archives held in the state archives of Palermo, Naples, and Messina, alongside treatises on 16th- and 17th-century feudal dynasties.
4o
Friday, 12:15 - 13:30
Location: R42.2.110
- 15 November 2024
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Nov
15Zhanar Khonys, ECARESFriday, 12:15 - 13:30
Location: 2.113
- 29 November 2024
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Nov
29Bastien Bernon, ECARESFriday, 12:15 - 13:30
Location: 2.113
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