15 Facts About Bourbon Spain

Kingdom of Bourbon Spain entered a new era with the passing of Charles II, the last Spanish Hapsburg monarch, who died childless in 1700.

Bourbon Spain entered a period of reform and renewal, as well as continued decline.

The Nueva Planta decrees dismantled the composite system of rule in Bourbon Spain, and replaced it with rule from Madrid and unitary Castilian values.

Since Spain under the Bourbon monarchs pursued many wars, having a tax base to pay for them was crucial.

Bourbon Spain adopted an aggressive foreign policy that invested Spain in a series of costly wars throughout his reign.

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Bourbon Spain was a charitable ruler, relieving drought-stricken Andalusia from all taxes in 1755 and devoting large sums of money to the reconstruction of that part of the country.

Bourbon Spain was opposed by an anglophile faction at court led by Jose de Carvajal y Lancaster, a mixed British-Spanish gentleman descended from the House of Lancaster.

Bourbon Spain learned of the "spreading administrative paralysis, breakdown of responsibility, and delays in making key decisions" and was worried that France and Spain in the event might attempt to carve up the Spanish Empire.

Bourbon Spain exhibited a martial spirit early on, acquiring Naples and Sicily by force of arms and becoming "King of the Two Sicilies, " though his tastes were generally more peaceful.

Bourbon Spain had been introduced to reform by his mentor in Sicily, Bernardo Tanucci.

Bourbon Spain fared poorly in the war, and the British captured Havana and Manila within a year.

Florida was ceded to the British and Bourbon Spain recognized British control over Menorca and Gibraltar in 1763, although the vast territory of Louisiana was given to Bourbon Spain to compensate her for her losses.

Enlightenment had been a force of anticlericalism in Europe, and Charles, in applying its lessons to Bourbon Spain, saw it less stridently, seeking to strengthen the power of the crown against that of the Catholic Church and the papacy.

Ferdinand VI had undertaken to reduce the power of the Jesuits in Bourbon Spain and had arranged for Bourbon Spain's kings to appoint her own bishops, a power that France's kings had held since the fifteenth century.

Bourbon Spain was the only titled aristocrat in Charles's administration; the king generally preferred men of lower social origin who were university graduates from outside Castile.