Madrid hat riot

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Madrid hat riot by Francisco de Goya .

The Madrid hat revolt (also revolt of the hats ; Spanish Motín de Madrid , Motín de Esquilache , or Motín contra Esquilache or Motín de Aranjuez ) was a bloodless uprising in Spain in 1766 against the Marqués de Esquilache , minister ( rey alcalde ) under King Charles III.

Causes and Reason

The ostensible reason was the government's ban on wearing the round, wide-brimmed hat ( sombrero redondo ) and the traditional long cape ( capa larga ) in Madrid on March 10th . Instead, the three-cornered hat and the French short coat were prescribed for men. Failure to comply could result in a fine and imprisonment. The clothing was supposed to prevent criminals from undetected doing what they did while wearing them. Also believed the "enlightened" monarch Charles III. probably to create the appearance of social progress by banning clothes that are perceived as old-fashioned in the rest of Europe. Another reason may have been the inclination of the Bourbon king of Italian descent towards French culture.

It was named after Leopoldo de Gregorio, Marqués de Esquilache, who initiated and implemented the clothing standard . He was one of the numerous Italian entourage that the King of Sicily brought with him when he came to Madrid in 1759 to take office. The new king quickly recognized the backwardness of his new country and tried to improve conditions together with his Italians. He promoted trade and industry, abolished obsolete laws and introduced reforms that were mostly sensible, but were carried out with great arrogance and ignorance of the circumstances. For example, when the Madrid people were banned from throwing their rubbish out the window without any alternative, and the Madrid people complained about it, the king compared them to "children who scream when their faces are washed".

The crisis potential was intensified by the bread crisis from which the common population suffered. Charles III was forced by his brother Ferdinand VI. to clean up the household left behind by deteriorating the coins. The attempt to free the Spanish Church from its dependence on the Pope , following the example of the Gallican Church , led to conflicts with the clergy, especially with the Jesuits who were particularly loyal to Rome . Many Spanish aristocrats adapted to the new circumstances, while the others stuck to the old forms all the more doggedly, which they also demonstrated through their clothing.

The riot

In this explosive situation, the new dress code came under a flimsy pretext. The uprising broke out 13 days after the ban on Palm Sunday (March 23) and quickly spread from Madrid. “Muera Esquilache!” (Die Esquilache!) And “Muera el mal gobierno!” (Death of the bad government) were soon to be heard across the country. It is estimated that 50,000 people took part in the end. The king fled to Aranjuez and left the government to the minister Pedro Pablo Aranda . The troops could not restore the authority of state power. It was only thanks to the intervention of two Jesuits, Padre Osma and Padre Cueva , that the insurgents gave in to minor concessions and the dismissal of Esquilache.

consequences

Esquilache left the country via Cartagena and embarked for Naples . He later became the Spanish ambassador in Venice . He retained this office until his death in 1785. Although he owed his salvation to the Jesuits, the king could not shake off the suspicion that they were the real instigators of the uprising. In 1767 the Jesuit order was banned in Spain. Charles III played a decisive role in the dissolution of the order by Pope Clement XIV in 1773.

Goya captured a scene in which the demonstrating crowd was held in check by a Jesuit in his picture El motín de Esquilache ( The Esquilache Riot , probably 1767).

literature

  • Manuel Bustos Rodríguez: Del motín de Esquilache a la inculpación de los jesuitas. Visión e información portuguesa de la revuelta . In: Hispania sacra , vol. 39 (1987), pp. 211-234.
  • Constancio Eguía Ruiz: El P. Isidro López y el Motín de Esquilache. Estudio hecho sobre las fuentes . Editorial Razón y Fé, Madrid 1935.
  • Constancio Eguía Ruiz: Los Jesuitas y el Motín de Esquilache . Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas / Instituto Jerónimo Zurita, Madrid 1947.
  • José Andrés Gallego: El motín de Esquilache, América y Europa . Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 2003, ISBN 84-00-08133-1 .
  • José Miguel López García: El motin contra Esquilache. Crisis y protesta popular in el Madrid del siglo XVIII . Alianza Editorial, Madrid 2006, ISBN 84-206-4793-4 .
  • Jacinta Macías Delgado (ed.): El motín de Esquilache a la luz de los documentos . Centro de estudios constitucionales, Madrid 1988, ISBN 84-259-0798-5 .
  • Jacinta Macías Delgado: Ideario político-económico del motín contra Esquilache, según la "Causa del motín de Madrid" . In: Revista de estudios políticos , No. 71 (1991), pp. 235-258.
  • Laura Rodríguez Díaz: El motín de Madrid de 1766 . In: Revista de Occidente , Jg. 41 (1973), No. 121, pp. 24-49.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Johannes Meier : La importancia de la música en las misiones de los jesuitas . In: José Jesús Hernández Palomo, Rodrigo Moreno Jeria (ed.): La misión y los jesuitas en la América española, 1566–1767. Cambios y permanencias . Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Sevilla 2005, ISBN 84-00-08368-7 , pp. 69–86, here p. 83.
  2. ↑ José Andrés Gallego: El motín de Esquilache, America y Europe . Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 2003, Part 9: Esquilache y los jesuitas , Chapter 2: La acusación contra los eclesiásticos and Chapter 3: Por qué los jesuitas .
  3. ↑ José Andrés Gallego: El motín de Esquilache, América y Europa , Part 9: Esquilache y los jesuitas , Chapter 5: La expulsión de los jesuitas .

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