ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

Type a location (e.g. Barcelona), or a year (e.g. 1638) or a category of event (e.g. uprising) to filter the corresponding results.

Rural workers strike in Betanzos 1591

Synopsis
In January 1590, the municipal council of Betanzos decided to set the salaries of day laborers who worked in the vineyards at a maximum of 24 maravedis per day. A year later, in January 1591, the ordinance was proclaimed again, and a case was filed against those who disobeyed. This caused the reaction of almost 100 workers who went on strike, refusing to work unless they were paid one real per day (that is, 34 maravedis) plus food and drink. The repressive measures taken by the local authorities, which imprisoned more than 20 day laborers, motivated their appeal to the Real Audiencia de Galicia, whose intervention, along with possible negotiations, ended up solving or reducing a conflict that could be measured both by the effective resistance of the day laborers as well as by their rebellious rhetoric or verbal rebellion. We also know that this outbreak took place after two years of bad harvests that caused prices to remain low, which explains the attitude of the municipal council, composed mostly of noble landowners, as an attempt to pass on to the workers the consequences of declining profits and rising production costs.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 2 months. Name in sources: Unknown, none specific name. Location: Betanzos Country (current): Spain. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Peasants, Workers. Number of participants: 50-100. Main reasons & motivations: Economic, Labour. Leadership: Unknown. Relevance: low.

Further reading
GONZÁLEZ LÓPEZ, Antonio (2023). "La huelga de los cavadores de viñas de Betanzos en 1591", in O. Rey Castelao (coord). Conflictos y resistencias en la Edad Moderna: de los hechos a las palabras. Santiago de Compostela: Alvarellos Editora, pp. 191-229. NÚÑEZ-VARELA Y LENDOIRO, José Raimundo (2000). “Grande escándalo y alarma social en Betanzos a finales del siglo XVI”, in Betanzos en festas. San Roque 2000. Betanzos: Concello de Betanzos.
Cite this entry

González López, Antonio (2023). "Rural workers strike in Betanzos 1591", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. http://atlas.cidehusdigital.uevora.pt/revolt/rural-workers-strike-in-betanzos-1591/ (accessed on 03 August 2025).