Explaining the transformations experienced by Spanish society between 1740 and 1830 through the changes that took place in the most influential families of the time was the aim of the symposium goal "Las Ejecutorias de hidalguía en el final del Antiguo Régimen" (Executions of nobility at the end of the Ancient Regime), organized by the University of Navarra.organized by the University of Navarra. It took place on October 23 and 24, in the academic center and in the valley of Baztán.

The meeting, framed in the project "Generaciones inciertas. The families of influential Spaniards in times of transformation (1740-1830)", financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, was attended by more than ten specialists from Spain and Argentina. The sessions addressed the way in which the behaviors and actions of influential individuals and families of this period explain the transformations that took place during the 18th and 19th centuries. Specifically, the changes that took place in regions of Spain such as Murcia, Oviedo, Catalonia, Aragon and Navarre were discussed.

The rise of executions in Navarre

"With this symposium we have tried to explain why at a time close to the end of the Ancien Régime there were families interested in obtaining recognition of their nobility, an apparently obsolete condition. The generation was taken as a concept core topic: in the space of those ninety years three generations succeeded each other that would contemplate the crumbling of the Ancien Régime and would need to adapt to the new status", explains Ana Zabalza, professor of the School of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Navarra and coordinator of the symposium together with professor Naiara Ardanaz. These two researchers offered a session on "The rise of the "Ejecutorias de hidalguía" in Navarre at the end of the Ancient Regime".

The second part of the workshop was held at the Jauregia Palace (Irurita, Baztan Valley), where two specialists led a workshop on "Ejecutorias de hidalguía", the document by which a lineage is recognized as such.

The participants in the Symposium during their visit to visit to the Jauregia Palace (Irurita, Baztan Valley). PHOTO: Courtesy