Abstract
From the 1670s until its near-collapse in 1808, the Spanish old-regime monarchy, in an empire stretching from the western Mediterranean and North Africa across the Atlantic and most of the Americas to the Philippines, was subjected to a series of reforms. These aimed to recover Spain’s military power and diplomatic position, to achieve economic growth, and to ensure domestic stability, and reached their peak during the reign of Charles III (1759–88). The late Habsburg and Bourbon reformers left almost no institutions or practices untouched, from industrial technology and the seigneurial system to book censorship and public health. Almost all were reformed, or at least subjected to critical scrutiny. Yet despite their energetic determination and talent, the reformers were rarely entirely successful. The age of what Spanish historians refer to as enlightened despotism — despotismo ilustrado — ended with many typical old regime abuses largely intact and with economic and political resurgence still elusive. Thus, not even Charles III, the most successful of the Bourbon kings, and his ministers were able to prevent the worst of all disasters, the eventual loss of almost all Spain’s overseas empire after 1808.
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Notes and References
Stanley J. Stein and Barbara H. Stein, The Colonial Heritage of Latin America. Essays on economic dependence in perspective (New York, 1970) pp. 10–21, 49–51.
N. T. Phillipson, ‘Culture and society in the 18th century province. The case of Edinburgh and the Scottish Enlightenment’, in L. Stone (ed.) The University in Society (Princeton, 1974), II, pp. 407–10, presents a brief but illuminating analysis of provincial society.
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© 1990 Charles C. Noel
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Noel, C.C. (1990). Charles III of Spain. In: Scott, H.M. (eds) Enlightened Absolutism. Problems in Focus Series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20592-9_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20592-9_5
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