Propietarios, agregados y "pobres de Jesucristo". Tierra y sociedad en Los LLanos riojanos en el siglo XVIII

This paper explores the social structure of Los Llanos of La Rioja (Río de la Plata) in the late colonial period through the analysis of a series of land lawsuits and, to a lesser extent, of a census and an ecclesiastical report. These sources will be used to discuss the process of Spanish settlements (and the «migration» of the aboriginal population) in this region and the first stages of land appropriation that followed. Likewise, with the lawsuits participants as examples, this paper will discuss the social profile of the early protagonists of the colonization of Los Llanos (humble soldiers, often «mestizos») and that of the late arrivals, when the region had become a prosperous stock breeding area. Finally, the last part of this paper discusses conflicts over land. During these conflicts small landowners and landless peasants backed one of the «great men» from Los Llanos, don Nicolás Peñaloza, to challenge the claims of another powerful family, the Mercado Reynoso, and resist the questioning of their titles and rights. In addition to this analysis, this paper will study the social universe of «agregados», that reveals the capacity of the poor peasantry to accumulate workforce and clients. This phenomenon somehow forces a nuanced revision of the social polarization, suggested by an initial reading of the land lawsuits.