Monday, 1st of December

Good afternoon everybody!
Today in Social Sciences we have done a lot of things and we have learnt a lot.
As always, at first, we have started speaking until Paqui has said: Stop talking please!!
Then, the lesson has started. Firstly Paqui has started speaking us about the scheme of the Bourbons and she has remembered us the content about Philip V and Ferdinand VI.
Paqui has remembered us also Philip V's main decisions and his political system:
- Nueva Planta Decrees.
- The Catilian institutions were extended to all the territory.
- Kings were helped by secretaries and councils.
- The division of the territory into provinces.
- The creation of intendants to collect taxes. They were an institution imported from France.
Paqui has said that he was married twice, and we have spoken also about his personal crises. Due to these crises he abdicated and his son Louis I became king, who reigned only for six months because he died of smallpox.

Philip V                                                                                                                          Ferdinand VI

Paqui has explained us what the cadastre was.

- The cadastre: it was a tax imposed in Catalonia related to the properties everybody had. Everybody had to pay for their properties, including the privileged. It had different names inside the Crown of Aragón. For example, in Valencia it was called "equivalente". But the privileged people of Castile didn't want to pay this tax.

There was another type of cadastre:

- The Marquis of Ensenada, Ferdinand VI's minister, wanted to impose this tax also in Castile and he prepared a big survey to know the properties of the population with the purpose of establishing a unique tax in Castile. Finally the tax wasn't imposed due to the protests of the privileged.

After this, we have started to speak about the TV programm Isabel. Paqui has told us that in today's chapter, Isabelle dies. And she has said that the next TV programm is about Charles I.

Later we have started with the Enlightened despotism. Paqui has started saying us that Aranda, Floridablanca were enlightened ministers and Charles III was an enlightened despot. Paqui has also explained us also the Esquilache riots, which appeared at the beginning of Charles III's reign. The privileged instigated the people's revolt using the new hygiene and public order ordinances as as a pretext. 

Charles made some reforms in order to prevent crime and illnesses.

- In order to prevent crime: they ordered to cut brims and cloaks.

- In order to prevent illnesses: they established very strict hygiene rules:

     - Price of wheat had been liberalized damaging speculators.

     - Privileged were afraid of Esquilache's reforms.

Charles III expelled the Jesuits because he accused them of having participated in the riots.

Absolute monarchs didn't like the Jesuits because they didn't obey them. They only obeid the Pope and the Church.

After this, we have started to speak about the reforms of the Enlightened monarchs:

- Educational.

- Administrative.

- Economic.

Finally, Paqui has written a scheme on the blackboard about the second part about the Enlightened despotism scheme.

During our lesson, today we have copied a lot of things in our glossary:

- Navy: armada

- Half brother: hermanastro

- Schillaci: Esquilache

- Wheat: trigo

- Brim: ala del sombrero

- Long cloak: capa larga

- Esquilache riots: motín de Esquilache

- To dimiss/ to fire: echar, despedir

- Jesuits/ Society of Jesus: jesuitas o compañía de Jesús

- To instigate: instigar, empujar a alguien a hacer algo

Pictures' sources:

Philip V 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_V_of_Spain

Ferdinand VI 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_VI_of_Spain

Brims and cloacks

http://todayinsocialsciences.blogspot.com.es/2012_11_01_archive.html