THE PLANES, 1550-1700, A HISTORICAL SOCIAL STUDY OF A LINEAGE OF MERCHANTES AND CITIZENS OF VALENCIA

Abstract

This article analyzes the strategies of social mobility that the Planes family, with origins in Mallorca, used to cosolidate their role on the elite of the modern Valencian society, achieving the status of citizens. We study three generations of this family represented by Gaspar, his nephew Bartomeu (both merchants) and the son of Bartomeu, Vicent, a citizen of Valencia who continued with his father’s profession as a merchant. 

This work hopes to contribute to the understanding of the social mobility that characterized western societies from the modern age, and delve even more on the stratgies of social mobility of the Planes in an effort to define the key behaviors of these elites when seeking to improve their social position - such as diversification of sources of wealth, social preeminence, and other cultural elements.