Ferdinand VI continued the reform programs of his predecessors as King of Spain from 1746-1759. He appointed effective ministers who promoted naval construction, tax reform, and currency unification. Ferdinand pursued a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs and signed a concordat that increased royal control over the Spanish Church. He did not have any children with his wife, so his stepbrother Charles III became the next King of Spain.

2. SPANISH KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF BOURBON
IN THE 18th CENTURY

3. FERDINAND VI’S REIGN (1746-1759)
• Ferdinand VI continued his
fathers’ reform program.
• He married Bárbara de
Braganza, persuaded by her
stepmother, Isabel de
Farnesio. In spite of
Bárbara’s ugliness,
Ferdinand fell in love deeply
with her.
FERNANDO VI

4. FERDINAND VI’S REIGN
• He named very effective
Spanish ministers: el Marqués
de la Ensenada, he was
appointed in several
Secretaries (Ministeries); José
de Carvajal as Secretary of
State (Interior Minister, now); or
the Jesuist Francisco Rávago,
as royal confessor.
• All of them continued with an
intense reform program.

5. FERDINAND VI’S REIGN
• In interior politics, he (and his minister Patiño) promoted
the naval construction for the Navy, creating shipyards in
El Ferrol, Cartagena and Cádiz.
• After that, Spain had a modern and equipped Navy.
• His minister, el Marqués de la Ensenada, tried to unify and
rationalize the tax system. He carried out the “Catastro de
Ensenada” in 1749. This Catastro is a census or a list of all
the properties of the kingdom.
• They tried to perform an unification in the currency,
establishing the “Real de a dos” as official coin in Spain.

6. FERDINAND VI’S FOREING POLICY
• With Ferdinand VI (1746-1759), the main characteristic of his
foreing policy was NEUTRALITY, he didn’t want to be an ally
nor of England neither of France.
• During his reign we didn’t sign any Pacto de Familia and we
didn’t participate in any war.

7. FERDINAND VI’S FOREING POLICY
• With the Church, he signed the Concordato de 1753, (de carácter regalista).
This deal was beneficial for the Crown as the king could control quite a lot the
Spanish Church, because the king of Spain had the universal patronate
(patronato universal – he could appoint directly Bishops, without depending on
the Rome’s Pope).
• REGALISMO: Es la política de control del gobierno del rey sobre la Iglesia,
imponiéndole las regalías o supuestos derechos absolutos del rey o del Estado
a mandar en la Iglesia como en todos los demás asuntos y personas de sus
dominios.

8. REINADO DE FERNANDO VI
• Florecimiento cultural con la creación en su reinado de:
 La Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

9. REINADO DE FERNANDO VI
• El Jardín Botánico o el Observatorio Astronómico.

10. REINADO DE FERNANDO VI
• El convento de las Salesas

11. FERDINAND VI’S REIGN
• The marriage between
Ferdinand VI and Bárbara
de Braganza, didn’t have
any children.
• Ferdinand’s stepbrother,
Carlos III would be the
new king of Spain when
Ferdinand died in 1759.
BÁRBARA DE BRAGANZA

12. BORBONES ESPAÑOLES DEL SIGLO XVIII

13. CHARLES III’S REIGN (1759-1788)
• Before being king of
Spain, he had been the
king of Naples and Sicily.
• His reigned was
characterised for the
implementation of the
enlightened despotism. CARLOS III

14. CHARLES III’s FOREIGN POLICY
• He signed the Third Pacto de
Familia (1761) with France.
• That’s why Spain had to
intervene in the Seven Years’
War (1756-1763).
• The British victory finished with
the Treaty of París (1763)  We
had to cede Florida to England
and Sacramento to Portugal.
• France gave us Luisiana to
compensate our loses. CARLOS III

15. CHARLES III’s FOREIGN POLICY
• Again in América, Spain
supported the
Northamerican rebels
against England in their
Independence.
• The British defeat finished
with the Treaty de Versalles
(1783) and Spain got back
Sacramento and Menorca.
CARLOS III

16. INTERIOR POLICY
• Following the Enlightened
Despotism, Charles III made
important changes, but without
changing the social, politic and
economic structure.
• He was helped by several illustrated
ministers and collaborators, such
as the Marqués de Esquilache,
Aranda, Cammpomanes,
Floridablanca, Wall and Grimaldi.
CARLOS III

22. INTERIOR POLICY
.
• The 18th century was a period
of economic recovery, higher in
the periphery than in the center
of the Peninsula.
• CENSO DE ARANDA Y
FLORIDABLANCA. In this
context of economic growth,
the Conde de Aranda (1769) and
Floridablanca (1787) carried out
the first census in order to
know the population’s
economic and fiscal potential.
CARLOS III

23. INTERIOR POLICY
• Measures such as the distribution of communal lands in
Extremadura or the resettlement of Sierra Morena under the rule of
Olavide, reducing the rights of the Mesta and some irrigation works
(Channel Imperial of Aragon, Castilla Canal ...) were taken.
• The enlightened ministers approved measures to promote the
development of the industry. The monopoly of the unions broke;
New Royal Factories (Reales Fábricas) were established with the
State support (weapons, shipbuilding, glass, tapestry, carpets ...).

25. INTERIOR POLICY
• Regarding trade measures for improving
communication pathways: the abolition
of internal customs were adopted. A
decree of 1778 established the
liberalization of trade with America,
finishing with the secular monopoly of
the House of Trade.
Carlos III firma el Decreto de libre comercio
con América en 1778, por Pedro Pablo
Montaña (siglo XVIII)

26. INTERIOR POLICY
• In the financial field, the Bank of San Carlos, future Bank of
Spain was established. In this period, the peseta appears,
although it won’t be the official currency of the country until
1868.

27. INTERIOR POLICY
• 1759-1766  Governments of Esquilache and Grimaldi
(Italian). Attempts to introduce reforms found a strong reaction that
culminated in the Esquilache Mutiny in 1766. This revolt that
erupted against the decree that forced to change capes’ lengths
(capas) and hats.
• We can speak of a "nationalist" popular uprising against the Italian
minister, managed by the clergy (Jesuits) and the nobility to stop
the reforms. The Jesuits, accused of fomenting the riots, were
expelled in 1767.

28. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4OYtSEZVhw

30. INTERIOR POLICY
• 1766-1788  Governments of the Conde de Aranda,
Floridablanca and Campomanes. This period is dominated by
the great enlightened ministers who tested various economic
reforms, many were not carried out by the opposition of the clergy
and nobility.

31. REINADO DE CARLOS IIIPOLÍTICA INTERIOR
• La expulsión de los jesuitas se quiso aprovechar para
realizar una reforma de la enseñanza que debía
fundamentarse en las disciplinas científicas y en la
investigación. Sometió las universidades al patronazgo real .
Creó las Escuelas de Artes y Oficios. Las propiedades de los
jesuitas sirvieron para crear nuevos centros de enseñanza y
residencias universitarias. Sus riquezas, para beneficiar a
los sectores más necesitados, se destinaron a la creación de
hospitales y hospicios.
• Decretó honestas todas las profesiones en 1783.
• Limitó los privilegios de la Mesta y liberalizó los precios del
trigo.
• Fue llamado el “rey alcalde”  alumbrado público, eje
Cibeles-Prado, Puerta de Alcalá, fuentes de Cibeles y
Neptuno.