The Campomanes letter: A SCHEME TO SETTLE SCOTS IN SPAIN IN 1783

Foreign archives can sometimes hold interesting primary material for the history of Scotland, material which might not be available in Scotland itself. An interesting example of this is the document (or documents) reproduced below from the Archivo Campomanes which forms part of the Fundacion Universitaria Espanola in Madrid.

The 18th century was a remarkable era in Spanish history, associated with the advent of the Bourbons (following the death of the last Habsburg, Carlos II, in 1700) and their reinvigoration of Spanish state and society. In many respects, the first half of the century, above all the long reign of the first Bourbon, Felipe V (1700-46), was most remarkable. However, the second half of the century was equally fertile in efforts at reform, associated above all with the reign of Carlos III (1758-89), usually regarded as one of the so-called ‘enlightened despots’. Although not all of the plans for reform were eventually executed and although not all of those reforms which were introduced were either as radical or as successful as might have been hoped or expected, the reign was nevertheless one characterised by reform. Royal authority was asserted over the Church in Spain, the Jesuits were expelled, efforts were made to stimulate Spain’s domestic economy (including the freeing of the grain trade and improvements to the road network), and to widen access (within Spain itself) to Spain’s still extensive (ending the monopoly of Cadiz). Steps were also taken to reduce the stranglehold on government and the upper echelons of the administration of the conservatively inclined privileged graduates of the so-called colegios mayores (‘Oxbridge’ type colleges).

Pedro Rodriguez Campomanes

A leading figure in this reform was the recipient of the proposal reproduced below, Pedro Rodriguez Campomanes (1723-1802), 1st count (1780) of (untitled noble) from the small, mountainous province of Asturias in northern Spain. After studying law, Campomanes moved to Madrid where he practised as a lawyer and made useful contacts in the capital and at court. This was the start of a rise to ministerial power which culminated in Campomanes’ appointment in 1762 as fiscal, or legal adviser to the council of Castile, the body responsible for domestic policy throughout most of Spain. Campomanes held this post for the next 20 years, until his appointment as (and later official) head of the council of Castile in 1783. The fiscales had to give legal opinions on all sorts of cases which came before the council of Castile, opinions which both sought to address general issues and established precedents for the future. Since the reforms of Carlos III’s reign inevitably provided more occasions for the giving of such opinions, Campomanes’ position on the council of Castile was clearly an important one. Campomanes did play a vital role in the reform programme of Carlos III’s reign. He was a leading figure in the regalist policies aimed at restricting papal and ecclesiastical power, and in the attack on the Jesuits (expelled from Spain in 1767) and on the privileged (Campomanes himself had not attended one of these institutions).