La crisis de los concejos abiertos de las villas vizcaínas a fines del Antiguo Régimen

Abstract

The local government of the Biscayan municipalities in the Ancien Régime rested on two institutions: the local assembly -Concejo abierto- and the Regimiento. However, little is known about the functions, way of performing and evolution of the Concejo abierto. Because of this, the present work analyzes, firstly, which was the actual influence of this institution on the Biscayan towns during the XVIIIth century. Secondly, it's studied the evolution of the Concejo abierto during the Ancien Régime crisis. From all that it is concluded that the local assembly, which had existed with different strenght in the Biscayan towns during the Ancien Régime, was abolished in the most important towns from the last third of the XVIIIth century. The local gentry decided to eliminate this institution because of the growing social conflicts in the country at that time. All this shows the crisis of the traditional local political system during the last stage of the Ancien Régime