If Enlightenment involves effecting a change in mentality, the achievements in eighteenth-century Spain are undeniable, though limited. The empiricism of the novatores was increasingly incorporated into scientific thinking as the century advanced, though some institutions were unwilling to accept the decline of authoritative truth. The parallel habit of critical thought, incorporating epistemological skepticism, established the centrality of reason and logical argument in public discourse. State initiatives to reform agriculture provide an example. Government administrators gathered information nationwide and the resulting dossier was passed to the Madrid Economic Society for consultation before Jovellanos’ final Informe (“Report,” 1795) was published. The fact that changed political circumstances impeded its implementation glaringly revealed the strength and nature of anti-Enlightenment forces at that moment.16
In the area of religion growing secularization was evident. In the period of the novatores the acceptance of “probabilism” as a way of allowing the discussion of heretical beliefs as hypotheses, while notionally admitting their falsity, was a sign of intellectual tolerance.17 The constant appeal to reform indicated the abandonment of the fatalistic notion that the status quo was enshrined by God. Whereas the survival of the Inquisition bore witness to the hegemony of anti-Enlightenment forces, the fact that its usefulness was questioned, its powers reduced, and its existence finally abolished (1834) was an overdue victory for Enlightenment. Though the Church defended the Holy Office, its practical effects undeniably lessened. Severe punishments, which could include execution, reached minimal levels by the reign of Carlos IV (reigned 1788-1808), though milder ones
16 Antonio Elorza, La ideologia liberal en la Ilustracion espanola (Madrid: Tecnos, 1970).
17 Olga M. Quiroz-Mart´ınez, ha introduction de la ftlosofia moderna en Espaiia. El eclec-
Ticismo de los siglos XVII y XVIII (Mexico: El Colegio de Mexico, 1949).
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
304 The Enlightenment and Neoclassicism
Remained. Government useofthe Holy Office after 1791 to protect against politically subversive writings resembled a desperate attempt to salvage the political structures of the old regime. Francisco de Goya’s evocation of Inquisitorial ceremonies and abuses mostly alluded to the past, notwithstanding the fact that his apparent criticism of ecclesiastical practices led to the withdrawal from sale of his Caprichos (“Caprices”) in 1799. Writers were harassed into the nineteenth century, while some powerful figures accused the Inquisition of operating against the common good. Though still large, the Church’s overall presence in civil society diminished. The Jesuit order was expelled with minimal commotion in 1767; poor relief became increasingly secularized; Church possessions and economic prerogatives declined as the state closed unviable institutions. Confiscation of Church property, begun in 1798, initiated the disentailment process finally completed in the 1860s.
In the area of political and socio-economic privileges advance was less perceptible. Reform signified the increased efficiency of institutions rather than a questioning of their existence. Reports of debates in the London parliament contained in the Gaceta de Madrid (“Madrid Gazette”) informed Spaniards of representational party politics, but this brought about no lessening of royal prerogatives. The attack on noble privilege, echoing Renaissance concerns, was loud, but change minimal, and, paradoxically, some Spanish nobles were at the vanguard of enlightened discussion, many being active in the Economic Societies.
The debate on women is symptomatic of the age. When Feijoo published his defense of women in 1726 many opponents continued to deny women’s intellectual equality. The same arguments for and against were rehearsed as the century advanced. Periodicals of Carlos III’s reign indirectly reveal the presence of women as unpublicized participants in the debate, and their effective input to discussion can be gauged from a variety of texts. The debate on entry into the Madrid Economic Society in the 1780s revealed at worst a tolerance of women and at best an eloquent advocacy of their rights. The fact that the Aragonese Society admitted Josefa Amar y Borbo´n (1749–1833) without controversy demonstrates the insignificance of the issue for some. The Memorial literario (“Literary Record”) gave publicity to Amar’s persuasive advocacy. The intellectual argument seemed incontrovertible, yet tradition weighed heavily against change. The decision, finally taken by the monarch, resulted in women’s admission as a separate grouping, devoted to issues thought appropriate for their sex. At the same time the Inquisition was no longer having women burned for witchcraft, suggesting that reason and humanity were prevailing. Goya depicted witches as part of the world of nightmare, as fictions which no enlightened person could endorse. Light was illuminating the obscurity to permit new ways of seeing.
Buy custom Literature essay, Literature term paper, Literature research paper.
