Bourbon Reforms

The Bourbon Reforms (in Castilian: Reformas Borbónicas) were a set of economic and political legislation promulgated by the Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon mainly in the 18th century. The strengthening of the crown's power with clear lines of authority to officials contrasted to the complex system of government that evolved under the Hapsburg monarchs. In particular, the crown pursued state supremacy over the Catholic Church, resulting in the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1767 as well as the attempt to abolish ecclesiastical privilege (fuero eclesiástico).

The reforms resulted in significant restructuring of the administrative structure and the composition of its personnel. The reforms were intended to stimulate manufacturing and technology to modernize Spain. In Spanish America, the reforms were designed to make the administration more efficient and to promote its economic, commercial, and fiscal development. The crown did so, hoping that it would have a positive effect on the economy of Spain. Furthermore, the Bourbon Reforms were intended to limit the power of Creoles and re-establish Spanish supremacy over the colonies.

The reforms achieved mixed results administratively but succeeded in alienating the local elites of the Americas (which called themselves Creoles) and eventually led to the demise of all overseas dominions of the Spanish crown.

At the end of the 17th century, Spain was an ailing empire, facing declining revenues and the loss of military power, ruled by a weak king, Charles II of Spain, who left no successor. Even before his death in 1700, the European powers were already positioning themselves to see the noble house that would succeed in placing its candidate on the Spanish throne and gain its vast empire. Louis XIV of France asked for and received the Pope's consent for his grandson, Philip of Anjou, a great-nephew of Charles, to ascend the throne. On his deathbed, Charles willed the crown to the French-born successor, but an international conflict ensued, the War of the Spanish Succession.

After the war, Spain had to surrender some of its European territories and grant the monopoly of the valuable African slave trade with the Americas to England.Philip V of Spain, the first king of the House of Bourbon, took measures intended to counter the decline of Spanish power. Even before the war, the state of the empire was precarious. When Charles II died, the military was practically nonexistent, consisting of only one division; the treasury was bankrupt; and there was no state promotion of commerce or industry. Philip V and his ministers needed to act quickly to reconstruct the empire.

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