Resumen de Las mujeres de las colonias de extranjeros y su participación en la economía urbana a fines de la Edad Media: el Caso de Jerez de la Frontera
Silvia María Pérez González, José Antonio Mingorance Ruiz
At the end of the Middle Ages the most important cities of Castile had a large group of people originating from Italy, England, Flanders, France and Aragon. There are an important number of studies about men belonging to these communities. But we cańt find any research about foreign women. This is the aim of this work, the involvement of foreign women in the urban economy of one of the most important cities of Castile in this period, Jerez de la Frontera, specifically their activities in the property market, loans, trade of animals, wooden casks, grape, wine, grain, and their participation in the labour market as maids. The main source of incomes that allowed them to develop these businesses was their dowries and inheritances, and a lot of time they had to fight to control them and to be paid them. Also they had to manage their properties in the cities they were from. The documentation discloses how these women broke the traditional role as wives and were able to be prominent agents in the economy and society of the city. The work is based on notaries’ protocols from 1491 to 1550
