CHARLES III: The Enlightment Depotism

Historical setting The eighteenth century also called the Age of Enlightenment, comprises the years 17011800, inclusive. It arose during the intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment. After the political and military chaos lived in the seventeenth century, the eighteenth century, not without conflict, will see a remarkable development in the European arts and sciences, the old social structures based on feudalism and serfdom, will be questioned and ultimately eliminated, while, especially in England, started the Industrial Revolution and Europe's economic takeoff. In the eighteenth century witnessed the final phase of the Baroque and Classicism inherited from the seventeenth century and the emergence of the Rococo: Evolution of the Baroque, in which arise new forms of great originality that deviate completely from Renaissance classical canon. It is characterized by profuse decoration, with plenty of curved lines. Are also other movements such as Neoclassicism and Preromanticism. In music, composers as Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, who return to a simpler music style gallant. In the literature there is a more rationalist movement: Voltaire and other Enlightenment literature advocate a useful, instructive and rational, contrary to the fantasies and a firm basis in the facts or true. His ideas spread throughout the continent. The French Revolution (1789) brings about changes in society, confidence in reason and the idea of progress, the abolition of class differences and proclaims the equality of the men. The bourgeoisie reaches social primacy and strengthens its power . All this leads to a political weakening of the Catholic Church as practices of regalismo or the separation of church and state and the discrediting of the Inquisition. The society of the XVIII century The society of the XVIII century was divided in three statements. These statements were fixed so people could not move from one to another. The first statement was the nobility; they owned the majority of the land and had reserved the top positions in the Church, Army, Navy, Politics The second state was the clergy, they owned the 40% of the land and their aim in society was the spiritual care and the education. The third state was composed by the rest of the population and can be subdivided in two groups: the people who lived in the countryside as the farmers and the one who lived in the cities as the bourgeoisie. The cities of the XVIII century were not paved and were poorly lit, there lived the king, in the palace and around him the royal court and the nobility. In the poor neighborhoods of the outside lived the craftsmen and the workers. The economy of the XVIII century was not very developed and depended primarily on agriculture and livestock. The agriculture until the middle of the century was not very developed because of the wars, diseases and the bad techniques to cultivate. It was with the reforms introduced by Charles III when the agriculture started to grow.

The livestock was also very important to the Spanish economy, not only because of the large number of cattle that existed but because of the importance the wool had for the commerce. It was of a very extraordinary quality and was exported out of Spain mainly to Flandes. Other economic sectors were the crafts workshops; they clustered in association called gremios according to their specialty for example the shoemakers or the tailors. The commerce was not very developed because there was not enough money to buy and the transports were not very good. The exchanges were made practically through local markets and the comarcal fairs that were held. Life of Charles III BIRTH On January 20, 1716 , Charles III was born in the old and huge lcazar, fruit of the marriage of Philip V with his second wife, Elizabeth Farnese a woman with a strong personality and her own political opinion CHILHOOD His childhood was spent based on the rules established by the Spanish royal family for the education of young children. Until the age of seven years was entrusted to the care of women, Maria Antonia of Salcedo. Charles III would receive a proper education to become a good leader in a future. An education based on the religion, art, languages, military, also it was combined with the courtly dance, music and riding to forge the personality of a Young educated in the the values of the Catholic supremacy On July 3, 1735 in Palermo with only nineteen years old Charles III was proclaimed King of the Two Sicilies. He lived in Naples for a quarter century, there, he began a reform policy in a complicated country dominated by the privileged clases. In Naples he formed his large family, with his beloved wife Maria Amalia de Sajonia During his reign in Naples, Charles set definitely his character and reign model, always helped by his personal adviser Bernardo Tanucci and always protected by their parents from Madrid The reign In general terms he learned to be a moderate King in the action of government, a sovereign who knew how to animate a reformist policy, he got that the kingdom was increasingly more Italian and had some consideration in the international situation. Charles III was a very pious king, with a sense of life certainly providential accused. Their thinking, their language and their actions were always imbued with the Catholic religion Charles had always kept the helm of the Spanish ship and always he was who set his course, Esquilache, Campomanes, Aranda and Florida Blanca, among others were able to see that. The Age of the Enlightment This age is situated in the XVIIIs. Moreover, it received the nomenclature of Illustration. This concept means an intellectual movement of renewal in which makes a critical review of the main important ideas and values that governed before this age.

This was because they wanted to forget the darkness, all beliefs with rational basis, the politic and religious privileges, etc. Focusing on King Charles III, who was the best Spanish Enlightenment king par excellence, served his royal learning as king of Naples. At this time, the Enlightened was a period in charge of changing the whole society through the application of the reason (the main idea) in the political, economical and social problems. Not with standing, Charles had to carry out the economical changes but the Enlightened had serious problems to penetrate in his kingdom and the population offered a resistance. The church was financing public charities when the government decreed that those actions were antisocial just with the reason of that the public charities were to discourage initiative. Because of that, they were after abolished. For this reason, there were many problems with the Jesuits because they were who participated in the superior education and because of that, which one had to disappear. However, not all were negative aspects, Charles III had one of the best governments in the history. The economic recovery increases, but he couldnt improve everything, for example, the land use or the agrarian reform. He also wanted to create the media class but it was impossible because the population was closed to the bourgeois vision. After losing Great Britain in the Seven Years War and having allied with France, Spain with Charles III recovered many lands lost in previous events. But that conquest he came in a waking when his son Charles IV acceded to the throne. During the Enlightenment, many artists of whole fields had their main splendor as Francisco Jos Goya, a painter whose technique was frescoes, the brush and many others. There were many other highlight personalities in other fields. For example, in literature was important Fray Benito Jernimo Feijoo, Ignacio Lujn, Francisco de Isla, Torres Villarroel In philosophy stood out Descartes, Hume, Rousseau, Kant between others and there were also important the creation of the encyclopedia by Diderot and DAlembert and the ideas of Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire. The Enlightened Despotism The enlightened despotism was a form of government was trying to reconcile the absolutism with new ideas of the Enlightenment, trying to do to combine the interests of the monarchy to the welfare of the governed. It was developed during the second half of the eighteenth century. Esquilache riot During the easter of 1766 in Madrid and in other areas of Spain. The discontent of the common people because of the bad situation of the Spanish agriculture; the discontent of the soldiers because of the bad situation of the army and the navy; and the discontent of the clergy and the upper classes because the government attempted to establish new land reforms to help the poor. This widespread discontent was pointing at the government in general, and at the Marquis of Esquilache in particular.

The riot caused, among other consequences, king Charles escape to Aranjuez, the prompt dismissal of the Marquis of Esquilache and the search of the real culprits of the riot. After the return of the king to Madrid The financial field In the financial field, established the Banco de San Carlos, the forerunner of the future Bank of Spain. During this period, it appears the peseta, though not the official currency until 1868. It was intended that the capital was subscribed by individuals, but investors were reluctant. Therefore, it is forced to buy shares various officials and institutions Economic Societies of Friends of the Country The Sociedades Econmicas de Amigos del Pas (Economic Societies of Friends of the Country) were private associations established in various cities throughout Enlightenment Spain, and to a lesser degree in some of her colonies (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guatemala, Chile, Venezuela,the Philippines and elsewhere). In both Spain and the colonies, the Sociedades Econmicas were incubators for modern forms of socialization, in which people (mostly men) gathered publicly to discuss the issues of the day. This represents a departure from the French Enlightenment's salon, which was a private gathering in someone's home. The Sociedades generally organized themselves formally, maintaining minutes of meetings, and having a set structure of officials to discharge various organziational duties. The Suppression of the Society of Jesus because of its Resistance to Political Absolutism The Society of Jesus had been founded during the Renaissance era, when social mores were in considerable disorder. The Jesuits wanted to raise the moral level of the ordinary people. This meant that the members of the ruling classes, namely, emperors, kings, regional rulers, and members of the noble families would all have to reform their lives and stop seeking for only their own benefits. The king demanded that the Jesuit superior general put a stop to such sermons against the mores of the times. In the following century, the Jesuits were expelled from one country after another: Spain, Portugal, and France, because they were opposed to political absolutism and to the Enlightenment. Finally, the Bourbon rulers in France and the Hapsburg rulers in Austria and Spain pressured Pope Clement XIV to suppress the Society of Jesus. The city reform And finally the cities reform, their new distribution and the creation of roads that could communicate the different areas of Spain, this reform is the one that have most influenced in our lives because based on this net of roads, we have create step by step the net of roads that we have nowadays, that not just communicate the whole Spain, also Spain with different countries