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| See also: | Other events of 1776 List of years in Spain | ||||
The year 1776 was a period of enlightenment and change for Spain, a nation then under the rule of King Charles III, one of the most progressive Bourbon monarchs. This era, part of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, saw Spain grapple with internal reforms and external challenges that would shape its trajectory towards modernization.
1726 (MDCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1726th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 726th year of the 2nd millennium, the 26th year of the 18th century, and the 7th year of the 1720s decade. As of the start of 1726, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
The House of Bourbon is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. A branch descended from the French Bourbons came to rule Spain in the 18th century and is the current Spanish royal family. Further branches, descended from the Spanish Bourbons, held thrones in Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Today, Spain and Luxembourg have monarchs of the House of Bourbon. The royal Bourbons originated in 1272, when Robert, the youngest son of King Louis IX of France, married the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon. The house continued for three centuries as a cadet branch, serving as nobles under the direct Capetian and Valois kings.
Philip V was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign is the longest in the history of the Monarchy of Spain, surpassing Philip IV. Philip V instigated many important reforms in Spain, most especially the centralization of power of the monarchy and the suppression of regional privileges, via the Nueva Planta decrees, and restructuring of the administration of the Spanish Empire on the Iberian Peninsula and its overseas regions.
Charles IV was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808.
Charles III was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (1735–1759). He was the fourth son of Philip V of Spain and the eldest son of Philip's second wife, Elisabeth Farnese. He was a proponent of enlightened absolutism and regalism.
Enlightened absolutism, also called enlightened despotism, refers to the conduct and policies of European absolute monarchs during the 18th and early 19th centuries who were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, espousing them to enhance their power. The concept originated during the Enlightenment period in the 18th and into the early 19th centuries. An enlightened absolutist is a non-democratic or authoritarian leader who exercises their political power based upon the principles of the Enlightenment. Enlightened monarchs distinguished themselves from ordinary rulers by claiming to rule for their subjects' well-being. John Stuart Mill stated that despotism is a legitimate mode of government in dealing with barbarians, provided the end be their improvement.
The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment came to Spain in the 18th century with the new Bourbon dynasty, following the death of the last Habsburg monarch, Charles II, in 1700. The period of reform and 'enlightened despotism' under the eighteenth-century Bourbons focused on centralizing and modernizing the Spanish government, and improvement of infrastructure, beginning with the rule of King Charles III and the work of his minister, José Moñino, count of Floridablanca. In the political and economic sphere, the crown implemented a series of changes, collectively known as the Bourbon reforms, which were aimed at making the overseas empire more prosperous to the benefit of Spain.
Zenón de Somodevilla y Bengoechea, 1st Marquess of Ensenada, commonly known as the Marquess of Ensenada, was a Spanish statesman. He played a key role in crafting and enforcing the Great Gypsy Round-up, officially known as the General Imprisonment of the Gypsies, which was an attempt to exterminate the Roma living in Spain, leading to the death of 12,000 Romani People.
The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from the High Middle Ages to 1848 during its dissolution. It was also an early colonial power, with colonies in Asia and Africa, and the largest being New France in North America centred around the Great Lakes.
The Bourbon Reforms consisted of political and economic changes promulgated by the Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon, mainly in the 18th century. The beginning of the new Crown's power with clear lines of authority to officials contrasted to the complex system of government that evolved under the Habsburg monarchs. For example, the crown pursued state predominance over the Catholic Church, pushed economic reforms, and placed power solely into the hands of civil officials, paving the way for the Enlightenment in Spain.
The Pacte de Famille is one of three separate, but similar alliances between the Bourbon kings of France and Spain. As part of the settlement of the War of the Spanish Succession that brought the House of Bourbon of France to the throne of Spain, Spain and France made a series of agreements that did not unite the two thrones, but did lead to cooperation on a defined basis.
The Esquilache Riots occurred in March 1766 during the rule of Charles III of Spain.
Leopoldo de Gregorio, 1st Marquess of Esquilache, OWE, known in Spanish as Marqués de Esquilache and in Italian as Marchese di Squilliace, was a Sicilian-born Spanish statesman who was Minister of Finance of Spain between 1759 and 1766.
Afrancesado refers to the Spanish and Portuguese partisan of Enlightenment ideas, Liberalism, or the French Revolution, that supported Napoleon's occupation as a mean to implant these ideas in Spain.
Pablo Jerónimo Grimaldi y Pallavicini, 1st Duke of Grimaldi, GE was a Spanish diplomat and politician. After extensive experience as an Ambassador, Grimaldi served as Chief Minister of Spain between 1763 and 1778 helping to rebuild Spanish power following its defeat during the Seven Years' War. For his services as Secretary of State, he was granted the title of Duke of Grimaldi by King Charles III of Spain. Grimaldi was of Genoese descent, and a member of the House of Grimaldi.
Léon Guillaume (du) Tillot was a French politician infused with liberal ideals of the Enlightenment, who from 1759 was the minister of the Duchy of Parma under Philip, Duke of Parma and his wife Princess Louise-Élisabeth of France. At a time when both Bourbon France and Bourbon Spain thought of Parma as a strategic point of interest, Tillot favoured French policies abroad and wide-ranging reforms within the Duchy of Parma. He was made marchese di Felino.
Mariano Ricafort Palacín y Abarca (1776–1846) was Governor of Cuba, Intendant of La Paz, part of Rio de la Plata, and the 61st Governor-General of the Philippines. He was an able administrator and a governor of judgment and energy.
The Kingdom of Spain entered a new era with the death of Charles II, the last Spanish Habsburg monarch, who died childless in 1700. The War of the Spanish Succession was fought between proponents of a Bourbon prince, Philip of Anjou, and the Austrian Habsburg claimant, Archduke Charles. After the wars were ended with the Peace of Utrecht, Philip V's rule began in 1715, although he had to renounce his place in the succession of the French throne.
Regalism is the idea that the monarch has supremacy over the Church as an institution, often specifically referring to the Spanish monarchy and the Catholic Church in the Spanish Empire. Regalists sought reforms that "were intended to redefine the clergy as a professional class of spiritual specialists with fewer judicial and administrative responsibilities and less independence than in Habsburg times."
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