Fernando VI

Ferdinand VI (; 23 September 1713 – 10 August 1759), called the Learned (''el Prudente'') and the Just (''el Justo''), was King of Spain from 9 July 1746 until his death in 1759. He was the third ruler of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty. He was the son of King Philip V and Queen Maria Luisa.

Ferdinand succeeded his father upon the latter's death in 1746. His reign proved peaceful, as he avoided involving Spain in any European conflicts. Moderate changes to Spain were initiated under the king, including reforms of taxation, advance commerce, and the Spanish navy, as well as a ban on freemasonry. However, the last years of Ferdinand's reign were marked by mental instability, much like his direct predecessor Philip V. Upon his death, Ferdinand was succeeded by his younger half-brother, Charles III.

Early life

Born at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, Ferdinand was the last of the four sons that Philip V had in his first marriage to Maria Luisa of Savoy. The young ''infante'' endured a sad and lonely childhood. When he was just five months old, his mother died from tuberculosis, and seven months later, his father remarried the ambitious and domineering Elisabeth Farnese, who had no affection except for her own children, and looked upon Ferdinand and her other stepsons as an obstacle to their fortunes. The hypochondria of his father left Elisabeth mistress of the palace.

Philip, the second oldest of his three brothers, only lived for two weeks, dying before Ferdinand was born, while Philip Peter died at the age of 7, when Ferdinand was six years old. At the age of 10, Ferdinand became Prince of Asturias after his oldest brother, Louis, died of smallpox at the age of 17, after only seven months as King following the abdication of their father. But on Elizabeth's insistence, Philip returned to the throne. However, due to Philip V's declined mental condition, Elizabeth was the more proactive of the two.

Ferdinand, along with his brothers, the infantes, was tutored by the noble Giovanni Antonio Medrano. Ferdinand was by temperament melancholic, shy and distrustful of his own abilities. When complimented on his shooting, he replied, "It would be hard if there were not something I could do." Shooting and music were his only pleasures, and he was the generous patron of the famous singer Farinelli, whose voice soothed his melancholy.

Marriage

Ferdinand was married on January 20, 1729, to Infanta Barbara of Portugal, daughter of John V of Portugal and Maria Anna of Austria. He was sixteen and she was eighteen. The couple had no children.

Reign

When Ferdinand came to the throne in 1746, Spain was embroiled in the War of the Austrian Succession, which ended with little benefit for Spain. He started his reign by eliminating the influence of his stepmother and her group of Italian courtiers. As king he followed a steady policy of neutrality in the conflict between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Great Britain. He refused to be tempted by the offers of either kingdom into declaring war on the other.

Prominent figures during his reign were Marquis of Ensenada, a Francophile; and José de Carvajal y Lancáster, a supporter of the alliance with Great Britain. The fight between both ended in 1754 with the death of Carvajal and the fall of Ensenada, after which Ricardo Wall became the most powerful advisor to the monarch.

Reforms

The most important tasks during the reign of Ferdinand VI were carried out by the Marquis of Ensenada, the Secretary of the Treasury, Navy and Indies. He suggested that the state help modernize the country. To him, this was necessary to maintain a position of exterior strength so that France and Great Britain would consider Spain as an ally without supposing Spain's renunciation of its claim to Gibraltar.

A new model of the Treasury was suggested by Ensenada in 1749. He proposed substitution of the traditional taxes with a special tax, the cadastre, that weighed the economic capacity of each contributor based on their property holdings. He also proposed a reduction of subsidies by the state to the Cortes and the army. The opposition by the nobility caused the abandonment of the project.

In 1752, the bank Giro Real was created. It favored the transfer of public and private funds outside of Spain keeping all of the foreign exchanges in the hands of the Royal Treasury, enriching the State. It is considered the predecessor to the Bank of San Carlos, introduced during the reign of Charles III. Commerce was stimulated in the Americas, in an attempt to end the monopoly in the Indies and eliminate the injustices of colonial commerce. Ferdinand leaned toward registered ships rather than fleets of ships. The new system consisted of the substitution of the fleets and galleons so that a Spanish ship, previously authorized, could conduct trade freely in the Americas. This increased revenues and decreased fraud. Even so, this system provoked many protests among merchants in the private sector.

According to Ensenada, a powerful navy was fundamental to power of an overseas empire and aspirations of being respected by France and Great Britain. He increased the navy's budget and expanded the capacity of the shipyards of Cádiz, Ferrol, Cartagena and Havana

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