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specular book

Date
1767
Archive
National Archive of Catalonia
Document type
Textual
Reference code
ANC1-168-T-9
Link to the online document
Description

The Specular Book of 1767 is a paradigmatic example of the documentation generated by family estates during the Ancien Regime. This type of book, which collects in an orderly manner the assets, rights and obligations of a family or house, was essential to manage the heritage and guarantee its transmission between generations. We are dealing with a legal and economic instrument that reflects the social structure and documentary culture of an era in which the family was the nucleus of power and continuity. Through these books, we can reconstruct the property networks, marriage alliances and patrimonial consolidation strategies that connected Catalonia with other regions of Europe. The specular book is, therefore, a window into the private and institutional life of a continent that was also built from family archives.