King Charles III of Spain ruled during the Enlightenment period in the late 18th century. He implemented reforms based on rationalism and reason. As King of Naples, he gained experience instituting reforms. As King of Spain, he faced resistance but established economic and educational reforms, founded the Banco de San Carlos bank, and created the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country to promote industry and agriculture. However, he faced issues like the Esquilache Riots over proposed land and tax reforms. Overall, Charles III worked to modernize Spain and institute enlightened despotism, but met obstacles to fully transforming Spanish society.

1. CHARLES
III: The Enlightment
Depotism
Patricia Baños Avila
Elisa María del álamo García
Paula Salamanca Hernando
Sofía Gil Martínez
Sara Gutiérrez Gutiérrez
Jose Luis Rioboo Rubio

2. Historical setting
The eighteenth century also called the Age
of Enlightenment, comprises the years 1701-
1800, inclusive. It arose during the
intellectual movement known as the
Enlightenment.
After the political and military chaos lived in
the seventeenth century, the eighteenth
century, not without conflict, will see a
remarkable development in the European
arts and sciences, the old social structures
based on feudalism and serfdom, will be
questioned and ultimately eliminated, while,
especially in England, started the Industrial
Revolution and Europe's economic takeoff.

3. In the eighteenth century witnessed the final phase
of the Baroque and Classicism inherited from the
seventeenth century and the emergence of the
Rococo: Evolution of the Baroque, in which arise
new forms of great originality that deviate
completely from Renaissance classical canon. It
is characterized by profuse decoration, with plenty
of curved lines. Are also other movements such
as Neoclassicism and Preromanticism.
In music, composers as
Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and
Beethoven, who return to a simpler music style
gallant.
In the literature there is a more rationalist
movement: Voltaire and other Enlightenment
literature advocate a useful, instructive and
rational, contrary to the fantasies and a firm basis
in the facts or true. His ideas spread throughout
the continent.

4. The French Revolution (1789) brings
about changes in society, confidence in
reason and the idea of
progress, the ​abolition of class differences
and proclaims the equality of the men.
The bourgeoisie reaches social primacy
and strengthens its power . All this leads
to a political weakening of the Catholic
Church as practices of “regalismo” or the
separation of church and state and the
discrediting of the Inquisition.

5. The society of the XVIII century
The society of the XVIII century
was divided in three statements.
These statements were fixed so
people could not move from one to
another.
 The first statement was the
nobility; they owned the majority of
the land and had reserved the top
positions in the
Church, Army, Navy, Politics…
 The second state was the
clergy, they owned the 40% of the
land and their aim in society was
the spiritual care and the
education.
 The third state was composed by
the rest of the population and can
be subdivided in two groups: the

6.  The cities of the XVIII century were not paved
and were poorly lit, there lived the king, in the
palace and around him the royal court and the
nobility. In the poor neighborhoods of the outside
lived the craftsmen and the workers.
 The economy of the XVIII century was not very
developed and depended primarily on agriculture
and livestock.
 The agriculture until the
middle of the century was
not very developed because
of the wars, diseases and the
bad techniques to cultivate.
It was with the reforms
introduced by Charles III
when the agriculture started to grow.

7.  The livestock was also very important to the
Spanish economy, not only because of the
large number of cattle that existed but
because of the importance the wool had for
the commerce. It was of a very extraordinary
quality and was exported out of Spain mainly
to Flandes.
 Other economic sectors were the crafts
workshops; they clustered in association
called “gremios” according to their specialty
for example the shoemakers or the tailors.
 The commerce was not very developed
because there was not enough money to buy
and the transports were not very good. The
exchanges were made practically through

8. Life of Charles III
BIRTH
On January 20, 1716 , Charles III was
born in the old and huge Álcazar, fruit of
the marriage of Philip V with his second
wife, Elizabeth Farnese a woman with a
strong personality and her own political
opinión

9. CHILHOOD
His childhood was spent based on the rules
established by the Spanish royal family for
the education of young children. Until the
age of seven years was entrusted to the care
of women, Maria Antonia of Salcedo. Charles
III would receive a proper education to
become a good leader in a future. An
education based on the
religion, art, languages, military, also it was
combined with the courtly dance, music and
riding to forge the personality of a Young
educated in the the values of the Catholic
supremacy

10. On July 3, 1735 in Palermo with only
nineteen years old Charles III was
proclaimed King of the Two Sicilies. He lived
in Naples for a quarter century, there, he
began a reform policy in a complicated
country dominated by the privileged clases.
In Naples he formed his large family, with
his beloved wife Maria Amalia de Sajonia
During his reign in Naples, Charles set
definitely his character and reign model,
always helped by his personal adviser
Bernardo Tanucci and always protected by
their parents from Madrid.

11. The reign
In general terms he learned to be a
moderate King in the action of
government, a sovereign who knew how
to animate a reformist policy, he got that
the kingdom was increasingly more Italian
and had some consideration in the
international situation.
Charles III was a very pious king, with a
sense of life certainly providential
accused. Their thinking, their language
and their actions were always imbued with
the Catholic religion

12. Charles had always kept the helm
of the Spanish ship and always he
was who set his course,
Esquilache, Campomanes, Aranda
and Florida Blanca, among others
were able to see that.

13. The Age of the Enlightment
This age is situated in the XVIIIs. Moreover, it received
the nomenclature of Illustration. This concept means
an intellectual movement of renewal in which makes a
critical review of the main important ideas and values
that governed before this age. This was because they
wanted to forget the darkness, all beliefs with rational
basis, the politic and religious privileges, etc.
Focusing on King Charles III, who was the best
Spanish Enlightenment king par excellence, served
his royal learning as king of Naples. At this time, the
Enlightened was a period in charge of changing the
whole society through the application of the reason
(the main idea) in the political, economical and social
problems.
Not with standing, Charles had to carry out the
economical changes but the Enlightened had serious
problems to penetrate in his kingdom and the
population offered a resistance.

14. The church was financing public
charities when the government decreed
that those actions were antisocial just
with the reason of that the public
charities were to discourage initiative.
Because of that, they were after
abolished. For this reason, there were
many problems with the Jesuits because
they were who
participated in the
superior education
and because of that,
which one had to disappear.

15. However, not all were negative aspects,
Charles III had one of the best governments
in the history. The economic recovery
increases, but he couldn´t improve
everything, for example, the land use or the
agrarian reform. He also wanted to create the
media class but it was impossible because
the population was closed to the bourgeois
vision.
After losing Great Britain in the Seven Year´s
War and having allied with France, Spain with
Charles III recovered many lands lost in
previous events. But that conquest he came
in a waking when his son Charles IV acceded
to the throne.

16. During the Enlightenment,
many artists of whole fields had
their main splendor as Francisco
José Goya, a painter whose
technique was frescoes, the brush
and many others.
There were many other highlight
personalities in other fields. For
example, in literature was
important Fray Benito Jerónimo Feijoo, Ignacio
Luján, Francisco de Isla, Torres Villarroel… In
philosophy stood out
Descartes, Hume, Rousseau, Kant between others
and there were also important the creation of the
encyclopedia by Diderot and D´Alembert and the
ideas of Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire.

17. The Enlightened Despotism
The enlightened despotism was a form of
government was trying to reconcile the
absolutism with new ideas of the
Enlightenment, trying to do to combine the
interests of the monarchy to the welfare of
the governed. It was developed during the
second half of the eighteenth century.

18. The Esquilache Riot
- During the easter of 1766 in Madrid and in other
areas of Spain. The discontent of the common
people because of the bad situation of the Spanish
agriculture; the discontent of the soldiers because
of the bad situation of the army and the navy; and
the discontent of the clergy
and the upper classes
because the government
attempted to establish
new land reforms to help
the poor. This widespread
discontent was pointing at the government in
general, and at the Marquis of Esquilache in

19. The riot caused, among other
consequences, king Charles’ escape to
Aranjuez, the prompt dismissal of the
Marquis of Esquilache and the search of
the real culprits of the riot. After the
return of the king to Madrid

20. The financial field
In the financial field, established the
Banco de San Carlos, the forerunner of
the future Bank of Spain. During this
period, it appears the peseta, though not
the official currency until 1868. It was
intended that the capital was subscribed
by individuals, but investors were
reluctant. Therefore, it is forced to buy
shares various officials and institutions

21. Economic Societies of Friends of
the Country
The Sociedades Económicas de Amigos del País
(Economic Societies of Friends of the Country) were
private associations established in various cities
throughout Enlightenment Spain, and to a lesser degree
in some of her colonies (Puerto
Rico, Cuba, Guatemala, Chile, Venezuela,the Philippines
and elsewhere).
In both Spain and the colonies, the Sociedades
Económicas were incubators for modern forms of
socialization, in which people (mostly men) gathered
publicly to discuss the issues of the day. This represents
a departure from the French Enlightenment's
salon, which was a private gathering in someone's home.
The Sociedades generally organized themselves
formally, maintaining minutes of meetings, and having a
set structure of officials to discharge various
organziational duties.

22. The Suppression of the Society
of Jesus because of its
Resistance to Political
Absolutism
The Society of Jesus had been founded
during the Renaissance era, when social
mores were in considerable disorder.
The Jesuits wanted to raise the moral
level of the ordinary people. This meant
that the members of the ruling
classes, namely, emperors, kings, region
al rulers, and members of the noble
families would all have to reform their
lives and stop seeking for only their own
benefits.

23. The king demanded that the Jesuit superior
general put a stop to such sermons against
the mores of the times. In the following
century, the Jesuits were expelled from one
country after another: Spain, Portugal, and
France, because they were opposed to
political absolutism and to the Enlightenment.
Finally,
the Bourbon rulers in
France and the
Hapsburg rulers in Austria
and Spain pressured Pope
Clement XIV to suppress
the Society of Jesus.

24. The city reform
And finally the cities reform, their new
distribution and the creation of roads that
could communicate the different areas of
Spain, this reform is the one that have
most influenced in our lives because based
on this net of roads, we have create
step by step the net of roads
that we have nowadays, that
not just communicate the
whole Spain, also Spain with different