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35-550: The Enlightenment in Spain sought the expansion of scientific knowledge, which had been urged by Benedictine monk Benito Feijóo . From 1777 to 1816, the Spanish crown funded scientific expeditions to gather information about the potential botanical wealth of the empire. When Prussian scientist Alexander von Humboldt proposed a self-funded scientific expedition to Spanish America, the Spanish crown accorded him not only permission, but

70-618: A huge number of detailed botanical drawings and specimens destined for the Royal Botanical Garden and the Royal Natural History Cabinet in Madrid. The Malaspina Expedition was an important scientific expedition headed by Spanish naval commander Alejandro Malaspina over five years (1789–94), with naturalists and botanical illustrators gathering information for the Spanish crown. The illustrators on

105-478: A mind, the malady is almost incurable" and that "the only remedy for this epidemic malady is the philosophical spirit". Enlightenment writers did not necessarily oppose organized religion, but they strenuously objected to religious intolerance. They believed that a society based around reason instead of religious fanaticism would improve the way people think and culminate in a more critical, scientific outlook on social issues and problems. The philosophes believed that

140-586: A monument should be erected to Feijóo, at the foot of which all his works should be burned. He was not a great genius, nor a writer of transcendent merit; his name is connected with no important discovery, but his literary style is clear and not without distinction. He tried to uproot many popular errors, awakened an interest in scientific methods , and is justly regarded as the initiator of educational reform in Spain. His two famous works, Teatro crítico universal (1726–1739) and Cartas eruditas y curiosas (1742–1760), are multi-volume collections of essays that cover

175-624: A number of buildings constructed in neoclassic style; Charles III's architect, Juan de Villanueva , designed a neoclassical building in 1785 to hold the Natural History Cabinet, but which became the Prado Museum to display paintings and sculpture. Benito Jer%C3%B3nimo Feij%C3%B3o y Montenegro Friar Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro ( Spanish pronunciation: [beˈnito xeˈɾonimo fejˈxo(o) j monteˈneɣɾo] ; 8 October 1676 – 26 September 1764)

210-470: A place of historical and literary interest. A small portion of his works were translated into English by Captain John Brett (3 vols., 1777-1780). Philosophes The philosophes ( French for ' philosophers ') were the intellectuals of the 18th-century European Enlightenment . Few were primarily philosophers; rather, philosophes were public intellectuals who applied reason to

245-443: A political tract, a treatise on education, constitutions for Poland and Corsica, an analysis of the effects of the theater on public morals, a best-selling novel, an opera, and a highly influential autobiography. The philosophes wrote for a broadly educated public of readers who snatched up every Enlightenment book they could find at their local booksellers, even when rulers or churches tried to forbid such works. Between 1740 and 1789,

280-567: A professorship in theology. He was appalled by the superstition and ignorance of his time, and his works aimed at combating the situation. His fame spread quickly throughout Europe. His revelations excited considerable opposition in certain quarters in Spain, for example from Salvador José Mañer and others; but the opposition was futile, and Feijóo's services to the cause of education and knowledge were universally recognized long before his death in Oviedo . A century later Alberto Lista said that

315-600: A range of subjects, from natural history and the then known sciences, education, history, religion, literature, philology, philosophy and medicine, down to superstitions, wonders and salient points of contemporary journalistic interest. In the edition of 1777 they occupy nine and five volumes respectively, to which three supplementary volumes must be added. A reprint occurs in volume 56 of the Biblioteca de autores españoles , with an introduction by Vicente de la Fuente. As learning advanced, his writings were relatively relegated to

350-694: The French Revolution reached a violent stage in 1793. Philosophe is the French word for "philosopher," and was a word that the French Enlightenment thinkers usually applied to themselves. The philosophes, like many ancient philosophers, were public intellectuals dedicated to solving the real problems of the world. They wrote on subjects ranging from current affairs to art criticism, and they wrote in every conceivable format. The Swiss philosophe Jean-Jacques Rousseau , for example, wrote

385-633: The War of the Spanish Succession , the Bourbon dynasty was to rule the Spanish crown, on the concession to their enemies that the Spanish and French crowns were never merged, and the cession of Spanish possessions elsewhere in Europe. Once they consolidated rule in Spain, the Bourbon monarchs embarked upon a series of reforms to revitalize the Spanish empire, which had significantly declined in power in

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420-504: The 1770s the conservatives had launched a counterattack and used censorship and the Inquisition to suppress Enlightenment ideas, but the "French Encyclopédie ... was nonetheless available to readers who wanted it." The writings of Montesquieu , Rousseau , Adam Smith , Condillac , Raynal , Buffon , and Linnaeus were in circulation among intellectual elites in Spain. The 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami that destroyed much of

455-532: The Enlightenment acquired its name and, despite heated conflicts between the philosophes and state and religious authorities, gained support in the highest reaches of government. Although philosophe is a French word, the Enlightenment was distinctly cosmopolitan; philosophes could be found from Philadelphia to Saint Petersburg . The philosophes considered themselves part of a grand "republic of letters" that transcended national political boundaries. In 1784,

490-489: The German philosopher Immanuel Kant summed up the program of the Enlightenment in two Latin words: sapere aude , "dare to know", meaning, have the courage to think for yourself. The philosophes used reason to attack superstition, bigotry, and religious fanaticism, which they considered the chief obstacles to free thought and social reform. Voltaire took religious fanaticism as his chief target: "Once fanaticism has corrupted

525-655: The Indies was established in Seville in 1785 to bring together documents pertaining to Spain's overseas empire. The Palacio de Minería in Mexico City was designed in the neoclassical style by Spanish architect Manuel Tolsá . The Spanish crown had mandated that "all new churches and other public buildings should be constructed in the neo-classic style, their design first approved by the Academy of San Fernando." Madrid had

560-644: The Malaspina Expedition augmented the collection. In Mexico, the crown established the School of Mines (1792), based on the Basque institute at Vergara, headed by scientist Fausto Elhuyar , to increase scientific knowledge about mining Spain's most valuable commodity, silver. As part of the attempt to revitalize the historiography of Spain and Charles III's general centralizing policies, the Archive of

595-554: The Museo de Historia Natural. The crown also funded the Balmis Expedition in 1804 to vaccinate colonial populations against smallpox. Much of the scientific research done under the auspices of the Spanish government in the eighteenth century was never published or otherwise disseminated, in part due to budgetary constraints on the crown. Starting in the late twentieth century, research on the history of science in Spain and

630-505: The Napoleonic period in Spain, wars of independence broke out, so that by the time Bourbon Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne in 1814, much of Spanish America had achieved independence and established constitutional republics. New Spain (Mexico) and Peru were the exceptions, becoming independent in 1821 (Mexico) and 1824 (Peru). Mexico briefly had a monarchy under royalist military officer turned insurgent Agustín de Iturbide , who

665-641: The Portuguese capital was felt on the entire Iberian peninsula and beyond. Intellectuals and others debated whether the earthquake was divine retribution or a natural phenomenon. The crown sponsored a series of scientific expeditions of its own and authorized foreign scientists, such as La Condamine and Alexander von Humboldt , to its overseas empire, usually closed to foreigners. There were extended Royal Botanical Expeditions to Chile and Peru (1777–88) , New Granada (1783–1816) , and New Spain (1787–1803) , which scholars are now examining afresh. which produced

700-610: The Roman Catholic Church, modernize administration and promote economic measures for greater prosperity, and gain power in the international sphere. In Spain, the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment reached Spain in attenuated form about 1750, and emphasized there reforms that would increase Spain's prosperity and return it to its former position as a major power. Attention focused on medicine and physics, with some philosophy. French and Italian visitors were influential but there

735-417: The Spanish empire has blossomed, with primary sources being published in scholarly editions or reissued, as well the publication of a considerable number of important scholarly studies. An exception was Alexander von Humboldt , who published at his own expense his scientific findings and observations during his self-funded expedition to Spanish America 1799–1804. Even at the beginning of the Bourbon era, Spain

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770-631: The accumulation of land by aristocrats and the Church, which kept most Spaniards landless. A solution, also urged by Campomanes, was the sale of all Church lands. Historian Jonathan Israel argues that King Charles III cared little for the Enlightenment and his ministers paid little attention to the Enlightenment ideas influential elsewhere on the Continent. Israel says, "Only a few ministers and officials were seriously committed to enlightened aims. Most were first and foremost absolutists and their objective

805-547: The dissemination of knowledge would encourage reform in every aspect of life, from the grain trade to the penal system. Chief among their desired reforms was intellectual freedom—the freedom to use one's own reason and to publish the results. The philosophes wanted freedom of the press and freedom of religion, which they considered "natural rights" guaranteed by " natural law ." In their view, progress depended on these freedoms. The word "philosophe" has been used in English since

840-465: The instructions to crown officials to aid him. Spanish scholars sought to understand the decline of the Spanish empire from its earlier glory days, with the aim of reclaiming its former prestige. In Spanish America, the Enlightenment also had an impact in the intellectual and scientific sphere, with elite American-born Spanish men involved in these projects. The Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian peninsula

875-510: The late Habsburg era. The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment had a strong impact in Spain and a ripple effect in Spanish American Enlightenment in Spain's overseas empire. Despite the general anticlerical tendencies of the Enlightenment, Spain and Spanish America held Roman Catholicism as a core identity. When French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the Iberian peninsula and placed Napoleon's brother Joseph on

910-602: The study of many areas of learning, including philosophy, history, science, politics, economics and social issues. They had a critical eye and looked for weaknesses and failures that needed improvement. They promoted a " Republic of Letters " that crossed national boundaries and allowed intellectuals to freely exchange books and ideas. Most philosophes were men, but some were women. They strongly endorsed progress and tolerance , as they distrusted organized religion (most were deists ) and feudal institutions . Many contributed to Diderot 's Encyclopédie . They faded away after

945-588: The throne of Spain, there was a crisis of legitimacy in both Spain and its overseas empire. The Cortes of Cádiz , which served as a democratic Regency after Ferdinand VII was deposed, ratified a liberal constitution in 1812, limiting the power of the monarchy constitutionally as well as the power of the Catholic Church. Ferdinand VII claimed he supported the liberal constitutions, but once restored to power in 1814, he renounced it and reverted to unfettered absolutist rule. In most parts of Spanish America during

980-541: The voyage included José de Pozo, trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, and, with other artists on the voyage, produced a plethora of botanical images as well as coastal views, ethnographic images, views of the expedition's ships, Descubierta and Atrevida , and a self-portrait in Patagonia. In Mexico, the Malaspina Expedition helped spur the founding of a botanical garden in Mexico City, as well as

1015-479: Was Benito Feijóo (1676–1764) a Benedictine monk and professor. He was a successful popularizer noted for encouraging scientific and empirical thought in an effort to debunk myths and superstition. His Teatro crítico universal (1726–39) bemoaned that "physics, and mathematics are almost foreigners in Spain." The eighteenth century was an era with increasing absolutism in Europe, with centralization of power of monarchies, which sought to undermine rival powers, such as

1050-581: Was a Spanish monk and scholar who led the Age of Enlightenment in Spain. He was an energetic popularizer noted for encouraging scientific and empirical thought in an effort to debunk myths and superstitions. He joined the Benedictine order at the age of 12, and had taken classes in Galicia, León , and Salamanca . He later taught theology and philosophy at the University , where he earned

1085-559: Was already creating institutions to systematize and promote intellectual research in the early eighteenth century with the founding of the National Library (1711), Royal Spanish Academy (1713), and the Royal Academy of History (1738). Institutions founded in the later eighteenth century were designed to promote scientific knowledge, such as the Royal Botanical Gardens (1755) in Madrid, where specimens from

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1120-400: Was always to reinforce monarchy, empire, aristocracy...and ecclesiastical control and authority over education." The Enlightenment emphasized scientific inquiry and approaches to the world, which could be in conflict with religious world views. The Spanish Inquisition had the power to censor books and suppress unorthodox thought, increasingly ideas of the Enlightenment circulated in Spain. By

1155-543: Was enormously destabilizing for Spain and the Spanish overseas empire. The ideas of the Hispanic Enlightenment have been seen as a major contributor to the Spanish American wars of independence , although the situation is more complex. The French Bourbons had a strong claim on the Spanish throne following the death of the last Habsburg monarch, Charles II, who died without an heir in 1700. After

1190-629: Was little challenge to Catholicism or the Church such as characterized the French philosophes . In Spain, one of the leading intellectuals was Minister of Justice Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos , who in an address to the Royal Academy of History, called on "patriots" to study legal history, particularly of the deep past of the Visigothic era, and faulted Spain for its failure "to conserve the constitution in its primitive purity." In his Informe en el expediente de ley agraria (1795), he deplored

1225-586: Was overthrown in favor of a federated republic under the Constitution of 1824 . The ideas of the Enlightenment in France came to Spain following the establishment of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain in 1715, with the end of the War of the Spanish Succession . In Spain, as elsewhere in much of Europe, there was no consistent pattern of the Enlightenment on the monarchy, which continued to follow existing frameworks of authority and hierarchy. A leading Spanish figure

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