Spain

E3

b

Loss of European Possessions

The war stripped Spain of its last European possessions. Under the settlement reached in the Peace of Utrecht, Spain lost Gibraltar, Milan, Naples, Sardinia, Sicily, Minorca, and the last of its territories in the Spanish Netherlands. However, Spain’s American empire passed intact to Philip, who became the first Bourbon ruler of Spain.

E

4

The Early Spanish Bourbons

Spain’s early Bourbon kings—Philip V (1700-1746), Ferdinand VI (1746-1759), and Charles III (1759-1788)—ruled more effectively than their Habsburg predecessors. Under Bourbon rule, government administration became more centralized and efficient and the economy gradually expanded. The Bourbon kings also defended the empire both in Europe and overseas. They successfully prevented further territorial losses and restored Spanish influence in southern Italy.

E4

a

Administrative and Economic Reforms

Administrative reforms carried out by the early Bourbons made government more effective and reduced the privileges of the church and the nobility. Many of these reforms were modeled on the French system of government. Philip, schooled in the absolutism of Louis XIV, brought the regions of Catalonia and Aragón under central control. In medieval times these regions were independent states and they had retained a degree of autonomy.

The Bourbon rulers also lowered taxes, made efforts to balance the budget, and built roads and other public works. They removed obstacles to trade, reorganized commercial law, and gave financial incentives to industry and agriculture. In addition, Spain’s navy was rebuilt and expanded, local administration of the American colonies was reorganized, and Spain’s commercial ties with the colonies were improved. Partly as a result of these policies, the economy and population began to grow and the volume of Spanish-American trade greatly increased.

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E4

b

International Relations

In foreign affairs, the early Bourbons regained some of Spain’s former greatness. The Bourbon kings were generally allied with France and hostile to Great Britain, Spain’s chief naval and colonial rival. Spain joined France against Austria in the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735) and the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748). In 1762 Charles III—convinced that Britain was the major threat to Spain’s American empire—entered an alliance with France against Britain in the Seven Years’ War. When Britain won, Spain lost Florida. However, in a secret treaty France transferred the vast Louisiana Purchase in North America to Spain as compensation for its support in the war. Spain and France allied again in 1779 to support the American Revolution against Great Britain, and in the 1783 Treaty of Paris Spain recovered Florida. The Spanish presence now extended over much of the North American continent.

E4

c

The Enlightenment

An abiding faith in the power of human reason and a deep respect for humanity lay at the center of the 18th-century intellectual movement known as the Age of Enlightenment. Spain was an active participant in the Enlightenment, but the movement’s ideas were applied selectively. The Enlightenment’s emphasis on the value of scientific learning, rational economic organization, and free markets was well received. However, many religiously devout Spaniards resisted anticlerical sentiments expressed in Enlightenment thought. In addition, few Spaniards were concerned about Enlightenment political principles—a belief in elections, parliamentary government, and popular sovereignty—before the 19th century, when these liberal ideas began to take hold in Spain.

During the 18th century the Spanish crown promoted educational reforms and scientific inquiry. Spain’s government sponsored scientific expeditions and constructed new museums and schools. Scientific and medical societies were founded, including the Royal Observatory and the Royal Botanical Garden. At the same time, modern ideas about urban planning became widespread, and Spanish cities began to acquire the boulevards common elsewhere in Europe.

Spain’s contributions to Enlightenment-era art were significant. In opera the renowned Neapolitan castrato singer Farinelli achieved his greatest success in Madrid. The Italian harpsichordist and composer Domenico Scarlatti spent much of his life at the Spanish court, and Spain produced such noted classical composers as Antoni Soler, Carlos Baguer, and Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga. The first Bourbon kings favored French and Italian court painters, but after 1750 Spanish painting came into its own. The Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1752, was unique in its time for admitting women artists. Spanish painter Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a dominant influence in this era. A court painter to Charles III and Charles IV, Goya produced remarkable images of Spanish society, historical figures, and the inhumanity of war.

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