Spanish Confiscations: Mendizabal and Madoz (1836-1924)

Posted on Jan 16, 2025 in Law

Confiscation During the Liberal Revolution in the Reign of Elizabeth II

D) New annulment of the measures of the Absolutist Decade (1823-1833).

Mendizabal’s Confiscation (1836)

  • Affected the goods of the clergy.
  • Resulted in the elimination of numerous religious orders.
  • Objective: Raising funds for the expenses of the First Carlist War and public debt.

1837 Estates Law

  • Pretended to convert the property linked to the Ancien Régime into free property that could circulate in the market.

1841 (During Regency of Espartero)

  • Mendizabal was finance minister.
  • Confiscation of Church property.

1845

  • Act to restrict the sale of national assets during the Moderate Decade.

1851

  • Concordat with the Holy See: the Church accepted the legality of the confiscations, but in return, it asked for a budget for worship and the clergy.

1855

  • Civil and ecclesiastical confiscation carried out by Pascual Madoz (Two Progressive).

1856

  • Adjournment of Madoz’s confiscation by the Moderate Government of Narváez.

1858

  • Resumption of municipal assets under the government of O’Donnell.

1860

  • Resumption of sales of goods disentailed from the Church during the reign of O’Donnell.

Mendizabal’s Confiscation (1836-1851)

Took place in a problematic context because of:

  • The need to strengthen Isabel II.
  • Objective: secure funding for the First Carlist War and debt.
  • It was carried out through decrees and laws for the sale of goods of the regular clergy (monasteries, convents, etc.) and the sale of assets from the secular clergy (priests, bishops, etc.).
  • Benefited the nobility and the bourgeoisie.

It aimed to:

  • Win the Carlist War.
  • Remove the Public Debt.
  • Privatize agricultural land.
  • Attract new supporters to liberalism.
  • Weaken the economic power of the Church.

Payment could be made in convenient installments:

  • 1st: 20% was paid at the time of purchase.
  • The remaining 80% could be paid in 16 years, paying an interest rate of 5%.
  • It could also be paid in vouchers of State (Public Debt).
  • The time limit was 8 years at an interest rate of 10%.

Sales reached an average price of 223% of the appraised value.

The performance was at a good pace until 1844, when the new moderate power suspended it in 1851 as a result of the Concordat.

Relations between church and state went through critical moments until Narváez (Moderate Decade) signed the Concordat of 1851 with the Vatican. The church accepted the confiscation, and the state committed to paying the Church’s education expenses.

Madoz’s General Confiscation (1855-1924)

Took place in a problematic context because it created a financial and rail crisis.

Benefited the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy (landowners).

Its objectives were:

  • Provide funding to local councils.
  • Promote industrialization and the expansion of the railway.

It was held by the general law of depreciation (1855) and affected church property and municipal assets. The consequences were:

  • It removed the economic power of the Church, but the state budget was committed to funding the costs of the clergy and worship.
  • Vatican tension became very strong due to Madoz’s measures that violated the agreements of the Concordat of 1851.