Arts i barques. L’activitat pesquera i els seus actors a la selva dels segles XV i XVI

ENG- This doctoral thesis analyses the fishing activity developed in the historical region of la Selva marítima during the 15th and 16th centuries, as well as the fisher families which participated in it. It is mainly focused on the social and economic aspects of such activity departing from four theme blocks which pretend to obtain an overview of the fishing sector. Firstly, the seigneurial control over the coastal space and the juridic status of the fis-hing resource are analysed, together with the exactions levied. After that, it proceeds to an study of the fishing activity itself. A review of fishing techniques is done, fo-cused mainly in those of new introduction, and the evolution of the fishery throughout the year and during the period studied is also examined. In third place, a socioecono-mic analysis of the fisher collective is also carried out, with a special interest in strati-fication and inequality amongst it. Finally, it proceeds to a study of three processes which manifest the growing and importance of the fishing collective in the studied period: the creation of collective management institutions, the foundation of confra-ternities and the fight against seigneurial rent. The obtained results show how the fishing activity experimented a moment of great dynamism and growth, especially in the 16th century, which will affect the later auge of Catalan fisheries. Moreover, this growth is also understood by the dynamics of technical renewal, conditioned in in turn by the difference in economic levels and the weight inside the community of certain fisher families. Furthermore, this stratification is manifested in the defence of interests and in the genesis of commons institutions for the management of the fishing resources, led by well-positioned net owners, which also had its origin in this period