Adam Smith reported that this was how the law worked in the Spanish territories in the Americas, in order to ensure the continued existence of a wealthy and powerful landed aristocracy and so maintain social stability. He theorized that this policy was the reason that the Spanish territories were so much poorer than the English territories, even though the former had extensive gold deposits and the latter did not.
Yeah I did some more research, apparently they were called “fee tails” or “entails”. They were designed to keep large estates “in the family”, even if that ended up being a burden to the future generations.
Adam Smith reported that this was how the law worked in the Spanish territories in the Americas, in order to ensure the continued existence of a wealthy and powerful landed aristocracy and so maintain social stability. He theorized that this policy was the reason that the Spanish territories were so much poorer than the English territories, even though the former had extensive gold deposits and the latter did not.
Yeah I did some more research, apparently they were called “fee tails” or “entails”. They were designed to keep large estates “in the family”, even if that ended up being a burden to the future generations.