The Cordobese Families across the centuries FROM XVIII th CENTURY TO 1931

DEMOGRAPHY (y)‏ DURING THE XVIII th CENTURY AND THE FIRST HALF OF THE XIX th. The birth and death rates are very similar and the growth of population was slow if we compare it with other European cities. Many deaths were due to diseases such as the flu and wars (Independence or Carlist wars ). There was a scarcity of doctors. In Cordoba there were two hospitals although most of people with serious diseases assisted died.

DEMOGRAPHY (y2)‏ A child was considered a man at 14. Average life expectancy for men was 45, whereas for women it was 35. Many of them died at childbirth.They had 12 children on average. There was not a compulsory education but every people learnt to sign and count from zero to a hundred..

DEMOGRAPHY(y3)‏ The population of Cordoba lived on vegetables, a bit of meat, bread, and wine and they only ate fish from the river and salted codfish at Easter. The church was one of the most important authorities and they ordered costumes to the population

DEMOGRAPHY (y4)‏ Most men were employed in the Primary Sector at the production of handmade soaps, leather, clothes, silver jewelry and in small factories of metal. Children started working at the age of 8.

DEMOGRAPHY(y5)‏ 1.From 1865 to 1931 A period of relative peace allowed Cordoba to grow. It transformed the city and its population. The arriving of the trains changed the diet and the city began a period of relative growth. Although low classes had the same problems, the city grew and It got better medical assistance and hygienic measures reached the population. The mortality rate went down but the catastrophical diseases continued causing many deaths (spanish flu on ) The Town Hall ordered in 1892 the compulsory education for children between 6 to 9 years old. Although in the middle of XX th century the literacy rate only reached 20% of the whole population.

DEMOGRAPHY (y6)‏

THE FAMILIES Families were supported by the working men. The mother worked at home, ahe raised children, she got the water from village fountains, collected wood or coal for the fireplace, and occasionally they worked in middle or high class houses like cookers or domestic servants. If they weren't able to get money enough to feed their children, they went to the charity convents or to the Church. The main laws passed were about robberies of food or street violence. There were three kind of houses in Cordoba:

The High Class livings

The Medium classes houses

The Popular livings

The families (y2)‏ Characteristics and members –At homes, three or four generations of the same family co-existed. Sons, parents, grandparents and older generations live together. –Many girls got pregnant when they were 12, and they got married at an even earlier age.

The families (y3)‏ Most of the people lived in tenement houses, in which the quarters ( two or three bedrooms ) gathered around a patio. The neighbours shared facilities such as the kitchen or the toilet. 8 a 12 members of the family slept in the same house and sometimes there was no room for some of them that had to move to nearby relatives' houses.

Costumes of Cordoban families The separation among the women and the men was total. In fact, the women could study a few years more than the men because they were taught by religious orders, while men began to work younger than women. They learnt to cook, read, count, sew, embroider; it was the girls became ready for the weddings, although in middle and high classes they could learn to play an instrument and even art or poetry. The typical Cordobese woman from the beginning of the XX th century was painted by Julio Romero de Torres.

Costumes of Cordoban families Agriculture was one of the most important jobs in Cordoba at the beginning of the XX th century and peasants worked using traditional ploughs pulled by horses to plough the fields.

Costumes of Cordoban families Most of the tenement houses were trimmed with flowers blossoming in the month of May, when Córdoba celebrates its most important festivity. The presence of the water wells improved the health of the population of Cordoba. The holidays were very important and they established the rythm of the life of the city.

Costumes of Cordoban families The Cattle holidays or nowadays “La feria” was a important time and along these dates the population of low class could enjoy. The last spring and the summer in Cordoba is very hot (temperatures >40º C in july and august) and it´s a tradition feed with cold soups or creams as the Gazpacho or Salmorejo which used the hard bread of last days with tomatoes and oil. After the lunch, and Knowing the trouble with the Sun, all the streets of Cordoba were emptying by the “siesta” In autum and winter the food costumes were more

TRADITIONAL FOODS SUMMER

TRADICIONAL FOOD WINTER

CONCLUSIONS The population of Cordoba suffered a hard conditions of living along two centuries and improvement was slow. The conditions of the low class were worser than middle and high classes. There were not a economic evolution indeed the population who came from the fields had the same conditions or worse when they arrived and lived in towns. The Secondary education or University was only reserved to the medium and high class, and the illiteracy was along this time almost 90 %.