1836 Spanish Disentailment Decree: A Key Moment in Liberal Reform
Article 2: Exceptions to the Disentailment Decree of 1836
Government buildings used for public service, preservation of art monuments, or honoring national prowess are excluded from public sale. The government will publish a list of these buildings. (Decree of February 19, 1836).
Analysis of the Decree
1. Context and Main Ideas
This legal decree, issued by the Spanish government under Prime Minister Juan Alvarez Mendizabal in February 1836, addresses the public sale of confiscated properties from suppressed religious corporations. This text is crucial for understanding the development of Spanish liberalism and land ownership. The government’s primary objective was to accelerate the transition to liberalism in Spain during a period marked by the Carlist War and institutional conflicts between moderate and progressive factions.
The core idea is the sale of previously expropriated church properties. Mendizabal justified this measure to Regent María Cristina by emphasizing the reduction of public debt, the creation of a landowning class loyal to the liberal regime, and the stimulation of the economy by putting frozen assets into circulation. Payment could be made with cash or debt securities.
2. Disentailment: Process and Impact
Definition: Disentailment involved the state’s seizure (with compensation) of real estate (primarily church-owned) and its subsequent sale at public auction. Amortized assets were properties legally restricted from market entry due to church ownership, noble primogeniture, or municipal control.
Objectives of Disentailment:
- Address the large proportion of inalienable property, which hindered market competitiveness and agricultural productivity.
- Increase productivity by introducing these assets into the market.
- Reduce public debt (although this distorted the original goals).
Phases of Disentailment:
- Charles IV (1798-1808)
- Joseph Bonaparte’s Reign: Targeted clergy and nobles opposing French rule.
- Cortes of Cadiz (1813): General Confiscation Decree (not implemented due to absolutist restoration).
- Trienio Liberal: Affected regular clergy, accepting debt vouchers.
- Mendizabal’s Ecclesiastical Disentailment (1836): Dissolved religious orders (except educational and hospital ones), seizing and selling their properties to fund the Carlist War, reorganize finances, and create a landowning class.
- Madoz’s General Disentailment Law (1855): Affected state and municipal assets.
Between 1836 and the end of the century, assets worth 2.825 billion pesetas were sold.
3. Consequences of Disentailment
Impact on Property Structure: Disentailment reinforced the existing landowning structure as sales primarily benefited wealthy individuals, not small farmers.
Economic Consequences: Large tracts of land were brought into cultivation, supporting a growing population.
Social Consequences: Benefited the upper classes and aristocracy while harming the Church, municipalities, and the rural poor, leading to revolts and civil wars.
Political Consequences: Partially addressed the Treasury’s chronic deficit and aimed to create a landowning class loyal to the liberal regime, countering Carlist support.
4. The Disentailment within the Broader Political Context
The decree coincided with the transition from absolutism to liberalism, marked by the Carlist War and conflicts between moderate and progressive liberals. Mendizabal’s disentailment advanced the progressive agenda of accelerated liberal reforms.
Conclusion
This 1836 decree is a pivotal document in Spanish history, reflecting the liberal reforms in land ownership and highlighting a persistent land issue that continued into the following century.
he following century.