Narciso Heredia Begines

Narciso Heredia y Begines de los Ríos , Count (Conde) of Ofalia, Marquis (Marqués) of Heredia (born September 11, 1775 in Gines , Seville province , † 1847 in Madrid ) was a Spanish diplomat , politician and Prime Minister of Spain ( Presidente de Gobierno ) .

biography

Reign of Joseph Bonaparte

Heredia Begines began his professional career as a diplomat as Secretary of the Embassy to the United States in Philadelphia . He later worked as an administrative officer during the occupation of Joseph Bonaparte . After the Spanish War of Independence and the resulting renunciation of Bonaparte on the Spanish royal throne on December 11, 1813, however, he fell into unrest and then had to retreat to Andalusia .

Absolutism under Ferdinand VII (1823 to 1833)

Only after the re-establishment of the absolutism represented by King Ferdinand VII. In 1823 ( Decada Ominosa ) did he return to political life and on December 2, 1823 took over the office of Minister for Pardons and Justice ( Ministro de Gracia y Justicia ), the he exercised until January 18, 1824.

When State Secretary ( Secratario de Estado ) Carlos Martínez de Irujo y Tacón , whom he was already serving as Secretary at the Embassy in the USA, fell ill, he became Acting State Secretary on December 25, 1823 and thus de facto Prime Minister of the absolutist court. After the death of Irujo Tacón on January 17, 1824, the day after he was finally appointed State Secretary and Head of Government himself. The main task of his government was in particular to restore the administration and the state. He tried in particular more comprehensive reforms of the ancien régime and possible conflicts, whereby he tried to renounce the influence of the king. During this time he was able to count on the support of Treasury Secretary ( Ministro de Hacienda ) Luis López Ballesteros and Navy Secretary ( Ministro de la Marina ) Luis Salazar, two influential reform politicians of the time. He and his cabinet built on the liberal ideas of François-René de Chateaubriand in particular . Soon, however, there was a shift in the balance of power to the detriment of the Liberals, which ultimately led to the removal of Heredia Begines as State Secretary on July 11, 1824 and his retreat to Almería .

In 1827 he returned to the diplomatic service as Plenipotentiary Envoy in London and tried as such through diplomatic contacts to regain control in the Spanish colonies and at the same time to obtain help from his allies. As one of the first important diplomats in his country, he was then appointed Ambassador to Paris . In particular, he maintained exceptionally good relationships with King Ludwig Philipp, who came to power on August 7, 1830 . Spain was one of the first states to recognize its reign and to receive arms and support from liberalism in return.

Prime Minister and last years of life

On December 28, 1832 he returned to Spain and took over the newly created office of Minister for Infrastructure Promotion ( Ministerio de Fomento ) in the transitional cabinet of Francisco Cea Bermúdez , which was in office until September 29, 1833 .

In 1834 he was first appointed senator as representative of Queen Isabella II . From 1837 until his death he was a member of the Senate as a representative of the province of Lugo .

Heredia Begines was again appointed Prime Minister of Spain ( Presidente de Gobierno ) on December 16, 1837 , as he was seen as the only possible diplomatic negotiator to avoid foreign intervention in the First Carlist War . As Minister of State, he was also Foreign Minister.

When his government ultimately failed to balance the budget and there was also an uprising in Cádiz in 1838, he had to resign as Prime Minister on September 6, 1838. Following this, he retired from political life, except for his work as a senator.

swell

Web links

• Biography (spanish)
• The cabinets during the tenure of Ferdinand VII (1808–1833) ( Memento from May 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• The cabinets during the tenure of Isabella II (1833–1843)
• The governments of the Kingdom of Spain from 1833 to 1868 ( Memento of February 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ List of State Secretaries ( Memento of December 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Members of the Spanish Senate
3. ^ The Heredia Cabinet ( Memento of February 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

predecessor	Office	successor
Eusebio Bardají Azara	Prime Minister of Spain 1837 - 1838	Bernardino Fernández de Velasco