334 



SPAIN. 



1665), and Charles II. (died 1700), the abuses in 

 the administration increased. An incurable wound 

 was inflicted upon the country by the expulsion of 

 600,000 Moriscoes in 1609. On the whole, the 

 persecutions of the Arabians cost Spain about 

 2,000,000 of souls, and the expulsion of the Jews 

 about 800,000. The southern coasts, likewise, 

 were depopulated by the continual incursions of 

 the pirates of Northern Africa. Favourites, such 

 as Lerma and the count Olivarez, wasted the 

 resources of the kingdom. Olivarez wished to em- 

 ploy harsh measures ; insurrections were excited ; 

 and Mazarin compelled Spain to acknowledge the 

 superiority of France, in the peace of the Pyrenees 

 (1659;. By the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1668, 

 by that of Nimeguen, in 1678, and by the reunions 

 of Louis XIV., Spain lost many places in the 

 Netherlands and Franche Comte. But after the 

 death of Charles II. (1700), the monarchy sunk 

 entirely from its ancient elevation, in consequence 

 of the wars respecting the Spanish succession; and 

 the population, which, in 1688, amounted to about 

 1 1 ,000,000, had diminished, in the first fourteen years 

 of the eighteenth century, to about 8,000,000. 



From 1700 to 1808. Charles II., the last Spanish 

 sovereign of the race of Hapsburg, in his second 

 will, made Philip of Anjou, a grandson of his sister, 

 the consort of Louis XIV., and second son of the 

 dauphin, sole heir of his dominions, in order to 

 prevent the division of the Spanish monarchy, 

 which had been resolved on in a treaty between 

 England, Holland, and France. Louis XIV. ac- 

 knowledged his grandson king, according to the 

 testament. The emperor Leopold I., of the race 

 of Hapsburg, laid claim to the throne, whilst 

 William III., king of England and stadtholder of 

 Holland, was in favour of a division of the 

 monarchy, for the sake of preserving the balance 

 of power in Europe. The measures of Louis XIV. 

 at length brought on a war with England. Thus 

 began the war of the Spanish succession (see 

 Eugene, Marlborough, Utrecht, Peace of), in which 

 the Bourbon, Philip V., after many changes of 

 fortune, by the victories of Berwick and Vendome, 

 maintained himself on the Spanish throne in opposi- 

 tion to Charles of Austria (afterwards the emperor 

 Charles VI). But by the peace of Utrecht, in 

 1713, he was obliged to resign the Spanish depen- 

 dencies in Europe Naples, Sardinia, Parma, Milan, 

 and the Netherlands to Austria, and Sicily to 

 Savoy. England likewise retained Gibraltar and 

 Minorca. Under the Bourbons, the nation lost its 

 last constitutional rights; for Arragon, Catalonia, 

 and Valencia were treated by Philip as conquered 

 countries. The last diet held in Castile was in 

 1713, and in Saragossa in 1720. Biscay and Na- 

 varre alone retained some of their privileges. The 

 ambition of cardinal Alberoni, in 1717 et seq., 

 involved Europe for a short time in confusion. 

 Spain, in 1735, again obtained possession of the 

 Two Sicilies, for the Infant Carlos, and, in 1748, 

 of Parma, for the Infant Philip. Naples and Sicily 

 were ceded to a Spanish Bourbon. Under the 

 reign of Charles III., 1759 88, the Bourbon family 

 compact of 1761, involved Spain, to its injury, in 

 the war between the French and British. The 

 expeditions against Algiers likewise miscarried; 

 as did the siege of Gibraltar, in the war of 1779 

 83. Yet this did not disturb the course of the 

 internal administration, to the improvement of 

 which, men like Aranda, Campomanes, Olavides, 

 and Florida Blanca, devoted themselves. They 



provided particularly for the advancement of agri- 

 culture, the useful arts, and commerce. The popu- 

 lation consequently increased. According to the 

 census of 1768, it amounted to 9,300,000, and in 

 1798, to 10,061,000 men. The power of the 

 inquisition was restricted, and the secret opposition 

 of the Jesuits annihilated at a blow, by the prag- 

 matic sanction of April 2, 1767, which banished 

 them from all the Spanish dominions, and confis- 

 cated their property. But the imagination of the 

 nation was employed upon the mystery of the im- 

 maculate conception, and the sinless purity of the 

 virgin Mary. The pope, at the desire of Charles 

 III., declared the whole Spanish monarchy, together 

 with the colonies, under the protecting influence of 

 the immaculate conception. The king established 

 some orders with the device of a female figure 

 dressed in white and blue, in allusion to this doc- 

 trine; and every Spaniard, who wished to receive a 

 degree from a university, or to belong to a corpora- 

 tion, and even mechanics, on joining the associations 

 of their trades, were obliged to take an oath of 

 their firm belief in the immaculate conception. 

 The progress in improvement, even during the 

 reign of Charles IV., 17881808, was obvious; so 

 that Florida Blanca was able to quiet the wish of 

 the people for the reassembling of the ancient 

 cortes. But he was superseded, in 1792, by 

 Godoy, whose administration was as void of plan 

 as it was injurious to the state, and greatly exas- 

 perated the nation; so that the fall of the most 

 fortunate and proudest favourite of modern times, 

 was immediately followed by that of the royal 

 house. Spain, at first, entered with zeal into the 

 war against the French republic (the voluntary 

 contributions of the nation to the expenses of the 

 war amounted to 73,000,000 francs); but the 

 favourite, who wished to conduct the war from his 

 palace, ruined all, and hastened to conclude the dis- 

 creditable peace of Basle, by which Spain resigned 

 half of St Domingo; on which occasion Godoy re- 

 ceived the title of " prince of peace." He then 

 concluded with the republic, the leaders of which 

 deluded him with the prospect of placing a Spanish 

 prince on the throne of France, the important 

 offensive and defensive alliance of St Ildefonso, in 

 1796, and declared war against Britain ; but being 

 defeated at sea, Spain lost Trinidad, by the peace 

 of Amiens, in 1802. In consequence of the entire 

 interruption of the colonial trade, taxes and debts 

 increased, whilst the credit of the nation sunk. 

 The prince withdrew from the conduct of affairs, 

 but his relation Cevallos (q. v.), after the banish- 

 ment of the able Urquijo, became prime minister in 



1800. The prince retained his influence, and rose 

 to high dignities. He leaned to the politics of 

 Napoleon, and commenced military operations, in 



1801, against Portugal, which was obliged to cede 

 Olivenfa to Spain, at the peace of Badajoz; whilst 

 France took possession of Parma, and made its duke 

 king of Etruria in 1801; in consequence of which, 

 Spain ceded Louisiana to Napoleon, who, in 1803, 

 sold it to the United States. Charles IV., in the 

 war between Britain and France, in 1803, having 

 purchased permission to remain neutral, by a 

 monthly tribute of 1,000,000 piasters to Napoleon, 

 the British seized the Spanish frigates, which were 

 carrying the products of the American mines to 

 Cadiz (October, 1804); and Spain, though suffering 

 under great exhaustion, famine, and the yellow 

 fever, was compelled to declare war against Bri- 

 tain. The victory of the British at Trafalgar, 



