Abstract
Between the 16th and the 19th centuries, intermediate groups affirmed themselves little by little among Castilian and Portuguese urban areas, thus acquiring an important role in the processes of social transformation. This evolution lacks precise spatial or chronological limits. Nevertheless, we will try to understand it better by looking at the public display of these groups’ material day-to-day culture, and by putting into relation ownership and the cultural values of certain goods, and their disruptive or modernizing uses (or of aristocratic imitation - trickle-down).
Keywords
Middle class; consumption; appearances