The Enlightenment in Spain: Education and Reform

Posted on Mar 1, 2025 in Social sciences

The Spanish Enlightenment: Education and Societal Reform

Historical Context

The Enlightenment was an intellectual, cultural, and ideological movement that developed in Europe between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. In Spain, it emerged because of the death of Charles II and the subsequent War of Succession. This century is also known as the Century of Lights. The Enlightenment marked the end of the Old Regime and its thoughts and beliefs, and the beginning of an era where the use of reason was paramount. The Enlightenment saw the rise of the middle class, or bourgeoisie, who began to take part in political life, spurred by the French Revolution.

The principal objective of the Enlightenment was to educate citizens in research and the breaking of dogmas. It was based on rationalism and humanism.

Charles III is the most important representative of enlightened despotism in Spain. He surrounded himself with an active and enlightened minority of government officials, including Campomanes, Aranda, and Florida Blanca.

The majority of the population was illiterate. Mass schooling did not begin until the 19th century. The 19th century brought great change for education. Previously, education was not intended to create a good citizen but a good Christian, believing that through knowledge one could reach happiness and create national wealth.

The Jesuits were expelled in order to control education. Universities were traditional spaces contrary to new discoveries.

There are four stages in the introduction of these ideas in education in Spain:

  • Primary
  • Secondary
  • Feijoo
  • Friendly Economic Societies of the Country

During the Enlightenment, a new vision of the universe developed due to scientific discoveries. These discoveries were based on empirical observation, and not on the interpretation of classical authors (a relevant change).

Scientists did not try to find the sense of things, but rather wanted to discover how they worked. They had a questioning posture towards faith (God was no longer the ultimate explanation).

It opened up a new era in Western European education.

Education was a sine qua non condition for the progress of human beings.

Antecedents

  • Francis Bacon and Empiricism:

    The basis of Empiricism is that our knowledge comes from experience (our sensorial perception). It does not come from the principles and dogmas of authorities (classical authors, the Holy Bible, etc.).

    Bacon wrote The New Atlantis, a utopia about the practice of the new science of the House of Salomon.

  • René Descartes and Rationalism:

    Born in France, he passed away in Sweden.

    Cogito, ergo sum – “I think, therefore I am.” The “mind” or “reason” was the main source of truth. Only facts that are clear to the mind are true (rationalism).

    As a result, “rational ethic” appeared.

  • Isaac Newton:

    He was English as well.

    He formulated the Universal Law of Gravitation, published in 1687.

    This changed the conception of the Universe. The world can be explained through mechanical laws, leading to the concept of “natural religion.”

    The basis of mechanical laws is based on experience and attention.

  • John Locke and his Empiricism: The State of Nature:

    In the state of nature, people lived with total freedom, without laws or authority. The origin of society is the social contract.

    The Social Contract, a book written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and published in 1762, is an agreement made within a group by its members, such as that acquired in a State in relation to its rights and duties and those of its citizens.

    Man is born with a naked mind (tabula rasa). He does not have innate principles which convert him into a virtuous or a bad being. The mind is moldable through education; 90% of a human being is due to education, and from their experience, humans learn from sensitive perception.

    Locke was influenced by the empiricism of Francis Bacon. Sensitive perception is the source of all knowledge.

    He extended the ideas of Newton to education:

    • Concerning Human Understanding, published in 1690.
    • Some Thoughts Concerning Education, published in 1693.

Spain during the Enlightenment

The difference between the Enlightenment in Spain and in France is that the ideas came from the people in France, and in Spain, they came from the government of the moment. Charles III was the one who introduced the ideas of the Enlightenment in Spain.

Educational Reform

Charles III tried to diminish (reduce) the control of the Church over education.

  • Educational reforms at all levels.
  • Expulsion of the Jesuits (1767), who were somehow replaced by the “State.”
  • Stimulation of the construction of schools of “first letters.”
  • Development of secondary education, without the control of religious orders.
  • Reform of universities with new curricula and handbooks; secularization and centralization.
  • The reforms were not always successful, especially because of the opposition of the Church:
  • More efforts at the secondary education level (substitution of the Jesuit schools).
  • Limited reforms of the universities, as they were places of tradition opposed to the “new sciences” and conception of education.
  • Nevertheless, progress was made in the foundation of schools of “first letters.”
  • The foundation of technical schools was a success.

Alternative Institutions: Sociedades Económicas de Amigos del País

(Friendly Economic Societies of the Country)

  • They were centers of public debate where the ways in which Spain could be developed were discussed, always related to practical matters (applied to real life).
    • Agriculture and fishing
    • Science and Arts (Chemistry, Physics, Sailing/Nautical, Medicine, etc.)
    • Industry
    • Trading
  • New perception of forests and natural resources.
  • Why did they focus on practical things? They created the basis of national wealth.
  • In the First Letters schools, they taught sewing and knitting, religious instruction, and provided a first contact with writing and reading.

During the reign of Charles III, when enlightened ideals were changing the order of the Old Regime, prominent figures in Spanish society gave an impulse to the modernization of society, promoting the creation of societies that would contribute to economic and social development.

The first Friendly Economic Society of the Country was the Vascongada Friendly Economic Society of the Country, founded by the Count of Peñaflorida in 1765. Ten years later, Campomanes established the Real Friendly Economic Society of the Country. At the beginning of the century, there were already 63 constituted societies.

Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes

  • He was the author of the “Discurso sobre la educación popular de los artesanos” (1775).
  • He was an important minister and advisor of Charles III.
  • He proposed to reduce the influence of the Church to “religious” matters; education was committed to the State.
  • He trimmed down the privileges of the Mesta and of the guilds (gremios). They had to convert themselves into bodies for popular education and the fostering of domestic industry.

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos

  • Born in 1744 in Asturias.
  • He came into contact with “ilustrados” at Oviedo’s University (Benito Feijoo).
  • Seville 1767-1778: Pablo de Olavide and Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País.
  • Concerned with social and educational questions.
  • Madrid, working together with Campomanes and Florida Blanca.
  • In 1790, he was expelled from Madrid and moved to Asturias.
  • Jovellanos founded the Real Instituto Asturiano in 1794. In 1801, he was arrested and remained in prison until 1808.
  • Memoria sobre la educación pública (1802); Bases para la formación de un plan general de instrucción pública (1809).
  • For him, education had to be public, free, and universal, which means national, mandatory, and civic. It was the State’s commitment to run education, not the Church’s.
  • Man was a perfectible being who, through the development of his skills, could become a happy being who could contribute to the public wellness.

Enlightenment and Rousseau

Enlightenment

  • 18th century
  • 85 percent illiteracy rate
  • REALES SOCIEDADES AMIGOS DEL PAÍS: Associations that emerged in the second half of the 18th century in Spain whose purpose was to spread the new ideas and scientific and technical knowledge of the Enlightenment.
  • Political transformation (Independence of the United States, French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars)
  • Economic ‘revolution’ or transformation (Industrialization)
  • Social development (Ascendancy of the bourgeoisie)
  • Before it, everything was about religion.
  • Reason is used to justify different forms of government – not everyone agreed on what was the best.
    • Voltaire – Monarchy, Rousseau – Democracy
  • The main philosophers: Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

  • The Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed in individual freedom.
  • Rousseau believed that people are naturally good, but power corrupts them; free people form a social contract and government based on the common good.
  • Rousseau argued for a direct democracy that is guided by the general will of the majority of citizens.

Society and Corruption according to Rousseau: Society is a camouflage for social inequality.

It is necessary to break with the political system, which is justified through good manners and refined culture. He went against the French Monarchy and the Church.

Man is, in essence, a kind being.

Man in the State of Nature: Man in the state of nature was not a fully rational or social being.

He used to live alone and was a sensitive being. He was characterized by innocence.

The corruption of men started with society, characterized by envy, competition, and fighting. The role of education is to avoid such inequalities.

Education according to Rousseau: He expressed his idea of Education in Émile, which was published in 1762. Society must be classless; as everybody is equal, then everybody deserves education.

He supported the idea of dividing education into four stages, paying attention to the sentiments and feelings of the offspring. Children must develop in a natural manner, through their experiences, developing their senses.

They must not be obligated to read until they are teenagers. There were differences between the education of men and women: Women are delicate, passive, and weak beings, so they had to dedicate themselves to knitting and sewing. Men, on the contrary, are active and strong.