Abstract:

This paper investigates the determinants of new town foundations in Early Modern Sicily (16th–18th centuries), focusing on the licentia populandi — the royal privilege sold by the Spanish Crown to feudal lords granting the right to build new rural settlements. To finance rising war expenditures, Spain intensified the sale of these privileges, often bundled with judicial powers (merum et mixtum imperium), especially during the 17th century. Using two newly constructed datasets — a GIS database of 112 founded towns and parliamentary membership rolls of the Sicilian Braccio Militare — the authors examine whether town foundations were driven by economic incentives (demographic pressure, wheat suitability, market access) or by political ambition (gaining parliamentary representation and aristocratic prestige). Our tentative findings suggest that founded towns were located in less economically attractive, interior areas, yet experienced remarkable population growth by the 18th–19th centuries. Crucially, the price of the licentia populandi appears disconnected from geographic characteristics, potentially pointing to political motivations — particularly the pursuit of a seat in the Sicilian Parliament — as a primary driver of feudal town-building.