Succession strategies in the Pyrenees in the 19th century: The Basque case

Abstract

Basque customs in the Old Regime dictated the traditional succession rules of aînesse intégrale, which entitled the first-born male or female child to inherit all family assets (house and land) upon marriage. He or she was then to cohabit with the parents as a stem family, thus securing the transition and continuity of the house. With the implementation of the Civil Code in the 19th century, these ancient succession practices were abolished, forcing families to partition their assets equally among their children. Family reconstitution, succession records, and land registers of the 19th century indicate that, despite the new law, Basque families circumvented the law to transmit their property to one child, thus avoiding partitioning and securing continuity of the house. To perpetuate their ancient succession practices, families elaborated new strategies, showing flexibility toward traditional practices (especially aînesse intégrale) and making concessions to the heir or heiress, spouse, and siblings. They adapted the customs to the new law while maintaining the most essential prerogatives of ancient family traditions (single inheritance) for the survival of the bhouse systemQ. D

Central European household and family systems, and the ‘Hajnal–Mitterauer’ line: The parish of Bujakow (18th–19th centuries)

“…The others focused on the investigation of localized economic, cultural and institutional settings in which particular family forms have been embodied, with a strong emphasis on the role of kinship relations beyond households (Plakans, 1977;Kertzer, Hogan, & Karweit, 1992;Kaser, 2002), inheritance practices (e.g. Berkner, 1976;Smith, 1984;Wetherell & Plakans, 1998;Arrizabalaga, 2005;Dribe & Lundh, 2005;Fauve-Chamoux, 2005), changes in the land distribution and other specificities of local economy (Wall, 1986;Mitterauer, 1992;Moring, 1999), environmental factors (e.g. Viazzo, 1989), the elements of folklore (Mitterauer, 1996;Warpula, 2002) and various forms of socio-demographic change (Egerbladh, 1989;Moring, 1993;Fauve-Chamoux, 1995).…”

The social-ecological landscape of herding on the high mountain commons of Larrau in the western Pyrenees (France)

“…Basque stem family inheritance rules are primogeniture and impartibility of the estate (Arrizabalaga, 2005): the eldest male or female child inherits the entire estate and the right to form a family. Törbel households were simple or single-family production units adhering to the western Alpine tradition of partible inheritance (Netting, 1981).…”

Contingency and Agency in the Mountain Landscapes of the Western Pyrenees: A Place-Based Approach to the Long Anthropocene

“…This means that normatively, an etxe can be abandoned while the family continues, or a family bloodline can die out while the etxe continues to bring in a new inheritor [63]. Etxe inheritance norms include ambilineal primogeniture and impartibility of the estate of land and buildings [26,90], i.e., the eldest male or female child inherits the entire estate and the right to form a family. The inheritor's younger siblings stay on as productive yet celibate members of the etxe household, who are beholden to the decisions of the inheritor [63].…”