Presentation

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In this project we will be studying the house in the 15th and 16th centuries from a new methodological perspective. Although private, everyday life in Spain has been analysed by contemporary historians, this has generally been done in a partial, fragmented way in both thematic and chronological terms, which explains the importance and the timeliness of studying this question from a completely new perspective based on an all-encompassing integrated approach.

We will be focusing above all on the indoor spaces of domestic architecture. We aim to investigate the interior layout of the house and the functions of each room on the basis of archive documentation and material evidence (essentially architectural remains and household contents). Although previous research has been conducted in this field, in general the investigators have not associated the physical spaces in the house with their various functions and social aspects; the joint study of these aspects will allow us to find out more about the relations between the different genders and age groups and how they were organized physically within the confines of the house. It will also enable us to discover the emotions locked within the walls, some of which can be observed in household objects, to cite some of the key aspects of this project.

The project is framed within the geographical and historical context of Spain and its territories during the 15th and 16th centuries. Although 1492 was a year of great political importance for Spain (end of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada and the conquest of America), in our particular field this did not lead to any immediate break with the past. We contend that certain ways of arranging and fitting out the inside of the house remained unchanged from the Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern era. During the 15th and 16th centuries there were continuities and similarities that were unaffected by political changes, cultural differences or even geographical distance, but there were also a number of changes and new features. We will be making comparisons between cases from different geographical and historical contexts and within a single house, which will enable us to analyse to what extent these changes took place. These comparisons will be based on case studies in both urban and rural contexts, over a period that covers the last years of al-Andalus and includes examples from the Mudejar (Muslims living in areas ruled by Christians) and Morisco (Muslims who converted to Christianity) communities. We will also be covering a wide geographical area, studying cases from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon in the 15th Century and from the Kingdoms of Aragón, Granada, Sevilla and Jaén in the 16th Century, as well as some houses built by Spaniards in overseas territories in what are today Italy and Latin America.

Once we have analysed all the documentation, we will begin working closely with a team of architects to visualize hypothetical interiors using architectural plans, drawings and infographics. For this purpose various experts in this field will be joining our research and work teams. We will be using software designed to visualize the spatial, social and symbolic information we gather about the houses (distribution of spaces, frequent locations according to age and gender, the way the different spaces were linked…).

So far only limited research has been conducted in this field and more thorough, detailed investigation is required. Hence the need and the justification for a project of this kind. This project will also be taking research forward by combining the efforts of various investigators that have hitherto been working independently on this line of research and are now coming together in this team, enabling us to pool our efforts for the first time. We have also included various aspects that will give us a better knowledge of the interior of the house, a means of ensuring their future conservation and maintenance. In short, an ambitious topic with great perspectives for future research with a team and methodology that guarantee success.

Objetives

As a GENERAL OBJECTIVE in this project we propose the detailed study of the interior spaces of Spanish houses (or houses inhabited by Spanish people) during the 15th and 16th centuries. To this end we will be analysing the distribution of the rooms focusing firstly on the different specific functions that may have been attributed to each one, secondly on questions of gender and age, for which we will be looking at household items and their detailed location inside the house; and thirdly on the different political and cultural realities within Spain at that time (the end of al-Andalus and Mudejar, Morisco and Old Christian communities). We will also be analysing the effects of the conquest of America, the Spanish presence in Italy, mediaeval traditions and new architectural ideas, and the influence of Italian designs.

Here is a list of the SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES of the project:

1. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
• 1.1. Define the concepts of privacy, domesticity and intimacy in the 15th and 16th Centuries
• 1.2. Define the concepts of house, home, dwelling and abode on the basis of the documentation we have analysed.
• 1.3. Establish a framework for the conceptual analysis of the domestic group that inhabit a house introducing analytical tools such as gender and age.
2. ORGANIZATION OF THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSE
• 2.1. Parts of a house according to their different functions
• 2.2. Types of rooms
3. DISTRIBUTION OF SPACES
• 3.1. Distribution of spaces according to gender
• 3.2. Distribution of spaces according to age
• 3.3. Notable differences and similarities in distribution
4. FITTING OUT THE HOUSE
• 4.1. Objects used for organizing space: estrados (platforms), folding screens, curtains
• 4.2. Objects and their location in the house
• 4.3. Fixed and folding objects, containers
• 4.4. Household contents and social hierarchy
5. VISUALIZATION OF SOME OF THE INTERIORS OF HOUSES, ARCHITECTURAL PLANS AND INFOGRAPHICS (see the specific cases in greater detail in the chronogram)