José Moñino y Redondo, 1st Count of Floridablanca (October 21, 1728 – December 30, 1808) was a Spanish statesman. He was the

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

chief minister of King

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

, and also served briefly under Charles IV. He was arguably Spain's most effective statesman in the eighteenth century. In Spain, he is simply known as ''Conde de Floridablanca''.

Early life

He was born at

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

in 1728 as the son of a retired army officer. He studied in Murcia and

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, and later law at the

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and was an esteemed advocate in the Spanish courts. He became a criminal

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

in Castile in 1766. He was given the task of investigating the Esquilache Riots that same year and acquired a reputation as a supporter of the king's reformist policies. He defended the expulsion of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in 1767. The chief minister at the time, the Marquis of Esquilache, recognized his ability and made Moñino Spanish ambassador to

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV (; ; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in September 1774. At the time of his elec ...

in 1772. He was rewarded with the title "Count of Floridablanca" in 1773 for succeeding in obtaining the support of the Pope in suppressing the Jesuits.

Chief minister

Floridablanca was named chief minister in 1777. He embarked on a thorough reform of the Spanish bureaucracy, establishing a true cabinet in 1787 (the Supreme Council of State). He established commercial freedom in the American colonies in 1778, founded the National Bank of San Carlos in 1782. He involved himself in university reform (Spain's universities had become increasingly lax since the 16th century) and improved press liberties. After the expulsion of the

, Spain's higher education system was left woefully understaffed; Floridablanca worked to hire new teachers and administrators and to modernize

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

methods. He also established new schools throughout Spain. During his tenure, Madrid was rebuilt; a great deal of the city dates from this period. Floridablanca regulated the Madrid police and encouraged public works in the city.

American War of Independence

As master of Spain's foreign policy, Floridablanca sought prominently to restore the economic well-being of Spain. He concluded trade agreements with

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and believed that good relations with

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were key to Spain's growth. In spite of this, he was drawn reluctantly into the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

on the side of France and the American rebels. The war generally went well for Spain and Floridablanca succeeded in restoring much of Spain's prestige during the conflict and in 1782 Britain returned the island of

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, in the Baleares, and Florida to Spain. However attempts to capture Gibraltar,

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and invade Britain met with failure. During the war Spain negotiated for a separate peace with Britain, in spite of its alliance with France. Talks were held between Richard Cumberland and Thomas Hussey. These discussions ultimately fell through, and Spain was a signatory of the Peace of Paris in 1783. Long-standing disputes with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

over the American colonies were resolved under Floridablanca's ministry and in the process Fernando Pó,

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, and

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(modern

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) were acquired from Portugal. Floridablanca strove to carve out an independent foreign policy for Spain, distancing the country from France which Spain had been a virtual satellite of since the

War of the Spanish 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 E ...

French Revolution

With the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 the liberal movement in Spain, which, in his own way, Floridablanca personified, was shocked to a halt. Floridablanca was forced to react to the situation and supported the

First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succeeded it. They were only loosely allied ...

against revolutionary France. The events in France discredited the reformers at court and contributed to their downfall in the following years.

Later life

His centralist policies brought him into conflict with regional interests, and he was often at odds with the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese faction at court, which enjoyed many traditional liberties from the central government. The Aragonese faction, supported by the queen's lover Manuel de Godoy and the Count of Aranda, finally succeeded in ousting Floridablanca from power in 1792 on charges of

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

. Floridablanca was imprisoned at the castle of

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for three years and released only after the intervention of his brother. He was acquitted in 1795 although the ordeal weighed heavily upon him, and he retired to seclusion on his estates. When

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

marched against Spain in 1808, there was a public outcry for Floridablanca to lead the country in resistance. He accepted the call and became the

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of the Supreme Central and Governmental Junta, but at the age of 80, his strength failed him, and he died at

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on November 20 that year. Although an avid statesman, he left few writings, and only a few short treatises by his hand on jurisprudence were published during his lifetime. The plant genus Monnina was named after him.

References