Manuel Joaquín Álvarez de Toledo He was born into one of the best positioned Castilian noble families, the Álvarez de Toledo, as the only son of Duarte Fernando Álvarez de Toledo Monroy y Ayala, who held different important positions during the reign of Felipe IV, married to his cousin Ana Mónica of Córdoba Pimentel and Zúñiga. Both shared lineage with the Braganza family, kings of Portugal, which had a decisive influence on the development of the political career of the Count of Oropesa.
Before beginning his political career, the Count of Oropesa began a marriage policy that linked his lineage with that of the most important noble families of the peninsula, kinship with houses of the stature of the Braganza , the Medinaceli and the Ucedas . This fact is revealing to us since it allows us to see how power and politics were conceived within the peninsular nobility, where the proximity or distance from the great noble lineages determined the political and social positioning of individuals.
Along with this vast family network that the count wove to ensure support and social stability, we must add another extensive client network and of personal loyalties with personalities of the court and world of the nobility and the Church. This shows us that, in the Hispanic politics of the 17th century, contacts were as important as marriage alliances, since these consisted of the main support within the court system once the administration was accessed. Among the numerous social and political clientele that Manuel Joaquín Álvarez de Toledo forged over the years, the figure of Fernando Joaquín Fajardo (Marquis de los Vélez) and that of Manuel Francisco de Lira y Castillo should be highlighted. The Marquis de los Vélez was a fundamental piece in the first government of Oropesa, since, when he was appointed Superintendent of the Treasury, he carried the weight of many of the tax reforms that made his period of support famous. Q>
In the context of Spain in the 17th century , the court was an institution divided into groups of power that competed for royal attention and, therefore, for the appreciated positions in the administration and royal favors that this entails. For this reason, the Count of Oropesa also forged a formidable network of adversaries, who carried out separate campaigns of attacks that undermined the Count's authority throughout his career (getting him deposed at different times). It is worth noting, among his enemies, the Duke of Arcos and Luis de Salazar y Castro, a leading figure in the world of genealogy. The latter dedicated a few words regarding the use that the Count of Oropesa gave to his closest associates:
If we want to understand Oropesa's management in the clearest possible way and how he acted throughout it, we have to see it at three different levels:the nobility, the politician and the diplomat.
At the noble level, Oropesa acted under the principles of the auxilium et consilium towards the king and fidelity towards his house. It is important to point out that, although the Middle Ages are far away, the nobility principles are still in force and any court member who belonged to a lineage had to ensure both their fidelity to the king (since they were subject to him), and that of his own family. For this reason, the royal mercedes and the positions in the administration had a fundamental role within the political mentality of the court, since they endowed the family with prestige and, above all, with economic power, although this was overshadowed due to the underlying cost. of maintaining the army of servants, as well as the payments that had to be made to the king. This dynamic known as do ut es , was also very important in the dynamics of power relations between the king and his nobles (the king gave and received).
This context of personal relationships, The Count of Oropesa, managed to establish a great friendship with Carlos II after being appointed gentleman of the chamber in 1674. This excerpt from a letter sent by Carlos II reflects how good that relationship was:
The cordiality and affection present in this fragment contrasts with the relationship that the Count of Oropesa maintained with the king's wives. He was in conflict with both María Luisa de Orleans (first wife of the king) as with Mariana de Neoburgo (second wife), whose enmity cost him the resignation of his first government in 1690. This is another example of how important personal relationships were in the politics of the Old Regime.
On a political level, Oropesa held the main administrative positions of the Hispanic Monarchy, configured under a polisinodial system of Councils. From 1680, the count was part of the Councils of State and War , a body made up of members of the Hispanic aristocracy, whose function was to manage state affairs both internally and externally. Likewise, in 1684 he was appointed president of the Council of Castile (he would also become president of Italy), having the capacity to act on the territories of the Crown of Castile. This appointment was given to him under the support of the Duke of Medinaceli, whom he replaced in office after his resignation. He lasted in his position until 1690, when the pressure exerted against him, as a result of the conspiracies orchestrated by Mariana de Neoburgo and the Duke of Arcos, forced him to resign. Years later, the same queen would call him to create a new interim government in 1698, but he had to resign again due to a new conspiracy organized, this time, by Cardinal Portocarrero and the Marquis of Leganés.
The two governments headed by the Count of Oropesa, with the effective assistance of Manuel de Lira and the Marquis of los Vélez, focused on putting into practice reforms aimed at the monetary system, agriculture and industry, the treasury, the bureaucracy and the Church. The fact that he focused on these points is explained by the context of economic suffocation that the Monarchy was experiencing, as a result of bad harvests and the constant state of war.
The first attempts at reform were focused on the regularization and standardization of the currency, in order to improve the country's monetary reality by giving the economy more liquidity. Following this reform of the monetary system, it was followed by a start-up of the productive system of the Monarchy, through the Royal and General Board of Trade, which sought to mobilize existing resources to expand and strengthen Hispanic industry. The Provincial Boards (Granada, Seville, Valencia, Barcelona) also helped, revitalizing the industrial fabric, which translated into a diversification of production and a substantial improvement in the price index.
The other great block ofreforms was focused on the rationalization of income and expenses of the Monarchy. He reassigned and modified taxes (such as the "millions") and cut spending and allocations as a way to relieve the royal treasury. In the same way, he intervened in the speculation of positions, cutting and eliminating many positions in the administration.
All this had the objective of exerting greater fiscal pressure on the upper classes, reducing that of the common people. This, along with the enmity of the queen, led him to be the victim of different attacks that, in the end, led him to resign from his position in 1691.
In the diplomatic aspect, the Count of Oropesa also had a very significant role. From 1675 to 1691, he became one of the most important figures within Iberism , diplomatic doctrine that sought reunification with the Kingdom of Portugal. As it happened with a good part of his measures, this desire was confronted with palace intrigues, carried out by the Austrian side and the Bourbon side. He managed different tricks to achieve this goal, but all were hampered by the tricks of French diplomats, who maneuvered to ensure the Bourbon succession. With his return to power, being aware of the critical situation that was taking place in the European political scene, where the different chancelleries were dividing up the territories of the Monarchy, the count gave his support to the Bavarian side, ratifying in November 1698 the will of Carlos II, who bequeathed the crown to the prince-elector of Bavaria, José Fernando Maximiliano. Oropesa not only faced the failure of the Bavarian alternative (José Fernando died prematurely) but was also the victim of a coup led by Cardinal Portocarrero and the Marquis of Leganés (as well as Francisco de Ronquillo and Luis de Salazar y Castro). happened in April 1699.
This coup d'état was carried out as a result of a popular uprising in Madrid called "the Mutiny of the Cats" where the people of Madrid rose up violently, as a result of food shortages and disenchantment with the political situation at the time, against the authorities. Oropesa was forced to leave the Court in May of that year.
Despite the great political defeat suffered in 1699, the Count of Oropesa was not yet out of the political scene. With the arrival of the Bourbons to the throne, he promised fidelity to the new king Felipe V in an attempt to preserve his position. He was forgotten until, in 1706, he put himself at the service of the Austrian pretender to the throne, Carlos III, who made him Prime Minister again to rebuild the Hispanic Monarchy. This assignment did not last long since he died on December 23, 1707 in Barcelona.
As we have seen, the career of the Count of Oropesa was marked by continuous attacks against his figure. But these attacks were not limited to him, but we see that they are repeated both in his predecessors and in his successors. It is worth asking why this mechanism of harassment and demolition existed in the Spanish court of the 17th century, which marked the political future of the Monarchy itself on many occasions. Historian Adolfo Carrasco Martínez reflects this clearly in the following quote:
Notes
(1). 20 Ms. 11259/40, Report to Carlos II on the miserable state of the Monarchy during the presidency of the Count of Oropesa, BNM, fol. 3(r). seen in A. Testino-Zafiropoulos, «Political disputes around the Count of Oropesa at the end of the reign of Carlos II», Atlante. Revue d'études romanes, 2, 2015, p. 264-291
(two). AHN, State, L. 1009, fol. 113 seen in A. Testino-Zafiropoulos, «Political disputes around the Count of Oropesa in the last years of the reign of Carlos II», Atlante. Revue d'études romanes, 2, 2015, p. 264-291
(3). Adolfo CARRASCO MARTÍNEZ, “The great ones, the power and the political culture of the nobility in the reign of Carlos II”, p. 84, Studia Historica, Modern History, 20, 1999, p. 77-136.
Bibliography
- CARRASCO MARTÍNEZ, Adolfo, “The greats, the power and the political culture of the nobility in the reign of Carlos II”, Studia Historica, Historia Moderna, 20, 1999, p . 77-136
- TESTINO-ZAFIROPOULOS. A, «Political disputes around the Count of Oropesa in the last years of the reign of Carlos II», Atlante. Revue d'études romanes, 2, 2015, p. 264-291.
- BERNARDO ARES, JOSÉ MANUEL. (2018). Manuel Joaquín Álvarez de Toledo and Portugal | Royal Academy of History. [online] Dbe.rah.es. Retrieved from:http://dbe.rah.es/biografias/13723/manuel-joaquin-alvarez-de-toledo-y-portugal