Spanish History: From Succession to Enlightenment
The Decreasing Power of the Spanish Monarchy
After the death of Charles II without descendants, a problem of succession arose. This led to the War of Succession, where the two pretenders to the throne, Philip of Anjou and the Archduke Charles, faced each other. They were supported by various European powers, as the conflict became internationalized. The supposed triumph of Felipe V, following the French model, led to a reorganization of the State, involving political and administrative centralization. The Decrees of *Nueva Planta* eliminated the political institutions of the various provincial areas (*Cortes*, Provincial Councils, Justice), with the exception of the Basque Country and Navarra. Only the civil jurisdictions in some regions, such as Aragon, survived. The Bourbons established a centralized and uniform political-administrative structure throughout the country, based on the model of Castile, which favored absolute monarchy.
Christian Repopulation
The advancement of the Christian armies on Muslim territory was accompanied by a movement of colonization, which meant a new social, political, and administrative order. In some areas, Muslims (*Mudejars*) remained, thanks to generous surrender capitulations. Part of the land was given to the nobles who participated in the conquest, military orders, or large councils responsible for their recruitment. In certain frontier lands, population charters and privileges were granted. These granted benefits and facilities to those who were to populate the borderlands. They usually set the limits of the terms, conditions of access to land, franchises, and basic rules on municipal life. The jurisdictions—sometimes including an early population charter—are legal instruments issued by monarchs governing local life. In Aragon, from 1247, there was a statutory process of unification that resulted in the “*Fueros* of Aragon”, legal norms issued by the King with the *Cortes*. Speaking of stocking, the response may focus solely on Aragon, but it extended to the whole of Spain.
The End of the Hegemony of the Spanish Monarchy
During the reigns of Charles I and Philip II, the hegemony of Spain in Europe and the Mediterranean was firmly established. The reign of Philip III seemed peaceful, but in that of Philip IV, the decline in Europe became a fact. Inside Spain, he faced rebellions in Catalonia and Portugal. Outside, the failures in the Thirty Years’ War (the struggle for political dominance in Europe, religious and political divisions in Germany) marked the end of the hegemony of the Habsburgs. The Netherlands, Denmark, England, Sweden, and later France, became the rivals of Spain and the German Empire. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) recognized the right of the German princes to choose the religion of their states and the independence of the Netherlands, as well as territorial advantages for Sweden. In the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659), an end to the war with France, Spain ceded Roussillon, Cerdanya, and some places in the Netherlands. This marked the end of Spanish hegemony on the continent, which passed into the hands of France. The domain of the seas was exercised by the Dutch and English.
The Enlightenment in Spain
The introduction of enlightened ideas in Spain was slow and late, no doubt due to the lack of a thriving middle class and the resistance of ecclesiastical and aristocratic sectors. The picture was of a small group of intellectuals (Feijoo, Campomanes, Jovellanos, Aranda, Olavide, Floridablanca, and others) who analyzed the problems of the nation and proposed reforms in order to overcome the backwardness of the country. Out of their heart, after an evolution, liberal thought emerged and succeeded in the 19th century. They were critics of the Church but desired a more rigorous religious practice and defended the king’s ability to intervene in church affairs (*regalism*). On the other hand, they relied on the reform momentum of the monarchy.
Among the concerns of the *Enlightenment* was education, as only culture could pull the country out of backwardness. In this area, they faced the Church, which controlled education, and defended the need for useful and practical teaching, open to new science and new talent from abroad. They were also concerned about economic backwardness and censored the strong dominance of aristocratic and ecclesiastical property, excessive state control of economic activities, and the lack of new technical developments that were known in Europe. The *Enlightenment* criticized the privileges of the nobility and the large number of clergy and defended the dignity of the mechanical trades (legal disgrace to work).