Sibling relations in Spanish emigration to Latin America, 1560-1620

Abstract

Women and family groups participated significantly in early-modern Spanish emigration to Latin America between 1560 and 1620. Through an analysis of the personal correspondence contained in travel licences (Archivo General de Indias), in this paper the author studies the role of sibling relations in emigration. The relationship between brothers and sisters was a key factor in the different stages of emigration. Firstly, it sustained the transatlantic ties developed by the family groups that were divided. Secondly, the sibling tie was often behind the invitation of the wider family to emigrate from Spain. Finally, the relations between brothers and sisters were crucial in the creation of travel groups. The analysis of some case studies also shows how women made use of their direct siblings, and their siblings-in-law, in order to travel to America. The relationship between siblings thus appears as one of the fundamental mechanisms behind the high rate of female emigration at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries.