The expulsion of the Jesuits in Spain took on major political and economic dimensions. As for the former, the Jesuits were accused of questionable loyalty to the crown. Their links with Rome clashed with an era when royalism was reclaiming the prerogatives of the temporal power of kings in the territories under their jurisdiction. Specifically, in Spain, the outbreak of the Esquilache mutiny was attributed to the Jesuits, which was used as a reason to decree their expulsion. As for economic reasons, new currents were beginning to spread, such as physiocracy, which understood the wealth of kingdoms as a function of agriculture. The existence of extensive amounts of land in dead hands (i.e. in the hands of the church) was combated by figures such as Campomanes, whose proposal to limit the church’s access to land failed in 1766, arousing great opposition among the clergy (Carlos A. Martínez Tornero). The new unfavourable situation towards the Jesuits was used by the politician to draw up new reports in which he accused the company of having been enriching itself and, consequently, of having impoverished the monarch’s territories with the aim of enriching Rome.

Collection: Texts

Chronology: XVIII

Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University

Link: https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/28463/1/RHM_26.pdf

Resource type: Historical source

Source: RODRÍGUEZ DE CAMPOMANES, Pedro, Dictamen fiscal de la expulsión de los jesuitas de España (1766-1767). Edición, Introducción y notas de Jorge Cejudo y Teófanes Egido, Madrid, 1977, pág. 138.

Language: Spanish

Date: 1766-1767

Owner: Djebril Bouzidi (Modernalia)

Identifier: RODRÍGUEZ DE CAMPOMANES, Pedro, Dictamen fiscal de la expulsión de los jesuitas de España (1766-1767). Edición, Introducción y notas de Jorge Cejudo y Teófanes Egido, Madrid, 1977, pág. 138.

Abstract: Fragment of text contained in the Fiscal Opinion drawn up by Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes on the illegitimate forms of enrichment of the Society of Jesus

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