Who should rule? : men of arms, the republic of letters, and the fall of the Spanish Empire / Mónica Ricketts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ricketts, Mónica, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political culture.

History.

Elite (Social sciences).

Colonies.

Administration.

Spain--History--Bourbons, 1700-.

Spain.

Spain--Politics and government--18th century.

Politics and government.

Spain--Politics and government--19th century.

Spain--Colonies--America--Administration--History--18th century.

Spain--Colonies--America--Administration--History--19th century.

Elite (Social sciences)--Spain--History--18th century.

Elite (Social sciences)--Spain--History--19th century.

Political culture--Spain--History--18th century.

Political culture--Spain--History--19th century.

Management.

Spanish colonies.

America.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 314 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2017]

Summary:

"When Philip V prevailed over his rival Archduke Charles of Austria in 1713, the Spanish Bourbon dynasty attempted to create a new power elite, based on a more professionalized, modern, and educated military officer corps. At the same time, the Bourbons wanted to govern by relying on 'men of letters, ' who were well educated in a modern, enlightened curriculum. Both the military and the men of letters were often drawn from the provincial elite, not the traditional aristocracy, and they would form the core of the centralized Bourbon state, replacing the 'composite monarchy.' These groups emerged first in Spain and later the empire to defend and govern the Spanish Atlantic world. In the years after the French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, a struggle in Spain and America developed over who would rule. Writers and lawyers produced new legislation to radically transform the Spanish world. Military officers would defend the monarchy in this new era of imperial competition. Additionally, they would govern. From the start, the rise of these political actors in the Spanish world was an uneven process. Military officers came to being as a new and somewhat solid corps. In contrast, the rise of men of letters confronted constant opposition. Rooted elites in both Spain and Peru resisted any attempts to curtail their power and prerogatives and undermined reform. As a consequence, men of letters found limited spaces in which to exercise their new authority, but they aimed for more, paving the way for decades of unrest. Monica Ricketts emphasizes the continuities and connections between the Spanish worlds on both sides of the Atlantic and the ways in which liberal men of letters failed to create a new institutional order in which the military would be subjected to civilian rule"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Imperial reform: contentious consequences, 1760-1808

Towards a new imperial elite

Merit and its subversive new roles

The king's most loyal subjects

From men of letters to political actors

Imperial turmoil: conflicts old and new, 1805-1830

Liberalism and war, 1805-1814

Abascal and the problem of letters in Peru, 1806-1816

Pens, politics, and swords: a path to pervasive unrest, 1820-1830.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Ricketts, Mónica. Who should rule?

ISBN:

9780190494889

0190494883

OCLC:

979534062