Chapter 6 - Exploring Inventories Quantitatively

Summary

In this chapter, the chronological and geographical distribution of the probate inventories under examination are addressed, and they are classified as to key variables, like the occupation of the deceased, their gender, and the reason for production of the inventory. Some of this information – particularly the reason for the making of the lists – will be used to assess the existence of biases of wealth and age. The argument of this chapter is that Valencian inventories overcome most of the problems that have been identified for their quantitative use in other countries. As far as the late medieval period is concerned, Valencian lists of goods provide, in terms of their abundance, exhaustiveness, and precision, some of the best sets of inventories for Europe as a whole.