Jean Orry (4 September 1652 – 29 September 1719) was a French economist.

Life

Early career

Jean Orry was born in Paris on 4 September 1652 to Charles Orry, a merchant, and Madelaine le Cosquyno. Orry studied law and entered Royal service as a lawyer, becoming a munitioneer for the army of Italy between 1690 and 1698, where he was able to demonstrate his skill at planning and organisation. In 1701, at the start of the

Spanish War of Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish ...

, Orry purchased his nobility and became an adviser to

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

Work in Spain

Orry was sent to Spain by King Louis in 1701. There, Orry joined the self-styled Princesse des Ursins as the ''de facto'' rulers of Spain. Towards the end of his term there, by a royal decree composed by Orry on 23 December 1713, traditional local governments (the ''

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

'') were centralized by the creation of twenty-one provinces. These ''Consejos Territoriales'' were superseded by an

intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

directly responsible to Orry. Some of the local councils, such as the ''

Council of Castile The Council of Castile (), known earlier as the Royal Council (), was a ruling body and key part of the domestic government of the Crown of Castile, second only to the monarch himself. It was established under Isabella I in 1480 as the chi ...

'' retained influence through less direct channels.

Dismissal from Spain

Orry was dismissed through pressures brought to bear by the Parmesan contingent round the new queen,

Elisabetta Farnese Elisabeth Farnese (Italian: ''Elisabetta Farnese'', Spanish: ''Isabel de Farnesio''; 25 October 169211 July 1766) was Queen of Spain by marriage to King Philip V. She was the '' de facto'' ruler of Spain from 1714 until 1746, since she managed ...

, and

Giulio Alberoni Giulio Alberoni (21 May 1664 OS – 26 June NS 1752) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal and statesman in the service of Philip V of Spain. Early years He was born near Piacenza on May 21, 1664, probably at the village of Fiorenzuola ...

. Orry was ordered from Spain on 7 February 1715. The King signed the ''Decreto de Nueva Planta'' later that year, revoking most of the historical rights and privileges of the different kingdoms that conformed the Spanish Crown, unifying them under the laws of Castile, where the

regained some of its power.

Legacy

, the cardinal who succeeded him in power, continued the main lines of his financial reorganization and his repression of the power of the royal councils in favour of a bureaucracy wholly dependent upon the central power. Orry's creation of secretaries of state and intendants continued as a significant element in Spanish governmental administration.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orry, Jean 1652 births 1719 deaths French economists 17th-century French people 18th-century French people 18th century in Spain