Architectural patronage and property development in the Kingdom of Seville from a gender perspective 
(Therese Martín, Ana Aranda Bernal)
In general, research into architecture in Andalusia has tended to neglect the role played by clients or patrons and their influence on the design and the execution of the building works. And as might be expected in such circumstances, the role played by women in this field has also been largely overlooked. We know that in the Kingdom of Seville there were women that were actively involved in artistic and architectural patronage in their position as widows, wealthy ladies or members of religious communities. However we still require a systematic investigation that enables us to draw up a more complete list, and analyse the social, economic and ideological circumstances that allowed them to embark on projects that took them beyond the threshold of the private domain. Within this context, one of the essential parts of this study relates to the social and economic elites, of which we will be exploring two important aspects. Firstly the development of the infantazgo system in the Kingdom of Castile, whereby unmarried daughters of the nobility received substantial inheritances, and its effects on architecture in the 13 th and 14 th centuries, and secondly noble patronage from a gender perspective given that the great houses and the urban nobility understood building development as a means of maintaining their status and that of their lineages. We will then discuss whether the women from this group had the same reasons, requirements and resources to carry out these tasks as their male relatives. |
