The Evolution of Consanguineous Marriages in the Archdiocese of
                    Granada, Spain (1900–1979)

Gamella, Juan F.; Núñez-Negrillo, Ana María

doi:10.13110/humanbiology.90.2.02

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…The highest levels of consanguinity were found in the 1920s, when over 7% of all marriages were consanguineous and about 2.4% were among first cousins. Consanguineous marriages, however, decreased rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s, as in most Spanish regions, and since then they have become the exception (Núñez-Negrillo, 2015;Gamella & Núñez-Negrillo, 2018). In sum, consanguineous marriages were relatively high in the non-Gitano population of this region as well, but over five .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Thus, the prevalence of consanguineous marriages in the Diocese of Granada, where a large part of the study area was located, has been investigated by the research team. The rest of the localities belong to the Diocese of Guadix, where most ecclesiastical records have been destroyed or lost (Gamella & Núñez-Negrillo, 2018). Based on ecclesiastical records of over 15,400 marriage dispensations, Gamella and Núñez-Negrillo (2018) found a rate of consanguineous marriages up to second cousins of 5.5% in the period from 1900 to 1979.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rest of the localities belong to the Diocese of Guadix, where most ecclesiastical records have been destroyed or lost (Gamella & Núñez-Negrillo, 2018). Based on ecclesiastical records of over 15,400 marriage dispensations, Gamella and Núñez-Negrillo (2018) found a rate of consanguineous marriages up to second cousins of 5.5% in the period from 1900 to 1979. These rates of consanguinity resulted in values of α 3 = 2.044 × 10 −3 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This applied even to those decades when Roman Catholic marriages became most common in this minority. For instance, in the period from 1925 to 1993, the ecclesiastical records of the Diocese of Granada (Núñez-Negrillo, 2015;Gamella & Núñez-Negrillo, 2018) included 127 Gitano consanguineous marriages in which at least one of the partners was born in one of the towns of the study area that belonged to this diocese. The genealogical reconstitution correctly identified 87% of these cases.…”

Section: Study Limitations and Strengthsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These rates remained high up to the early 1960s and then fell rapidly. In the following decades, the marriage of persons closely related by birth became rare (Fuster & Colantonio, 2003Calderón et al, 2009;Gamella & Núñez Negrillo, 2018). Given the availability and quality of ecclesiastical records, consanguinity and inbreeding have been studied in Spain more than in any other European country, save Italy (Calderón et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Consanguineous marriages among AndalusianGitanos/Calé: a genealogical analysis (1925–2006)

Gamella

2019

J. Biosoc. Sci.

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Using data from the family and genealogical reconstitutions of the Gitano population of 22 contiguous localities in eastern Andalusia, Spain, this study analysed the intensity, structure and historical evolution of consanguinity in 3056 couples formed from 1925 to 2006. Of these unions, 54.8% were consanguineous, and 28.7% involved relatives up to and including second cousins, resulting in a mean coefficient of inbreeding up to the third degree α3 = 12.4 × 10−3. The rest of the consanguineous unions (26.1% of all) involved more-distant relatives, such as third cousins, fourth cousins and so forth. When all consanguinity degrees found in the genealogical reconstitution were considered, the total mean coefficient of inbreeding was αt = 14.8 × 10−3. The merging of families and pedigrees generated a complex genealogical network with many inbreeding loops and important founder effects. This network revealed a high rate (62%) of Multiple Consanguineous Marriages (MCMs) in which second and subsequent consanguineous ties increased inbreeding levels by a fifth (20.5%). The accumulation of multiple degrees of distant relatedness, many of which had little social or biological importance, has contributed to a significant increase in inbreeding rates. Among Gitano people, intra-family marriages have remained common in the last decades, in sharp contrast to other Spanish populations. Hence the highest rates of close consanguinity (34%) and inbreeding (α3 = 14.6 × 10−3) were found in the 1960s, the decade that saw the onset of Spain’s socioeconomic modernization, internationalization and massive migration. These are among the highest rates of inbreeding found in any European population, including the most endogamous Spanish isolates. They reveal marriage strategies not constrained primarily by geographical barriers, but by ethnocultural separation. Interestingly, in recent decades mixed marriages have been increasing rapidly in this minority, although they are compatible with high rates of consanguinity. Gitano secular endogamy is breaking up, but not uniformly.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%