Infancia y padrinazgolegítimos, naturales y expósitos en la diócesis de Lugo en el Antiguo Régimen
ISSN: 2696-4325
Year of publication: 2020
Volume: 38
Issue: 1
Pages: 59-77
Type: Article
More publications in: Revista de Demografía Histórica-Journal of Iberoamerican Population Studies
Abstract
The baptismal sponsorship constituted the first social network in which a newborn participated and, in theory, was equal for all Christians. However, the context of the baptized conditioned the selection of godparents, as much in number as in the social quality of them. Through the systematic consultation of baptism registries between the sixteenth and nineteenth century, we made a quantitative analysis of two factors of the selection of godparents: godparenthood model and social position. We compare the results for three sectors: legitimate, natural and founding children. The results show that both factors were adapted to the condition of the newborn and ended up configuring specific models for each one of them.