The Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal and Madoz in Spain
The confiscation was a long historical process initiated in economic Spain in the late eighteenth century by Godoy (1798) and concluded well into the twentieth century (16 December 1924). In other countries, a phenomenon with more or less similar features also occurred. It involved putting on the market, through a public auction, land and non-productive assets held by the so-called “dead hand”, usually the Catholic Church or religious orders and territorial nobility, who had accumulated wealth as regular recipients of donations, wills, and intestate inheritances. Its purpose was to increase national wealth and create a bourgeoisie and middle class of farm owners. In addition, the Treasury obtained extra income to repay those who claimed titles of public debt. Secularization became the main political weapon with which the Liberals changed the system of ownership of the Old Regime, to implement the new bourgeois state during the first half of the nineteenth century.
The Ecclesiastical Confiscation of Mendizábal (1836)
From 1833, the confiscation process was precipitated by several causes:
- The war forced the state to obtain resources at a time when the coffers were empty, and foreign credit had sunk.
- An anticlerical climate spread throughout the country due to the Carlist clergy’s support.
- The old property buyers in the Trienio Liberal (1820-1823), expropriated in 1823, lobbied the government to return their property.
In February 1836, the ecclesiastical confiscation of Mendizábal declared for sale any property belonging to the regular clergy, with the proceeds intended to amortize public debt. The goals were to win the war, raise funds and troops, restore confidence in the State’s credit, and, in the long term, allow tax reform. Other objectives included cleaning up the tax system, reducing debt, providing access to property for the bourgeoisie, and creating a social sector of new owners linked to the regime and the Cristino side.
However, only wealthy nobles and burghers could purchase the auctioned land, failing to create a true bourgeoisie or middle class in Spain. The consequences of Mendizábal’s confiscation were varied:
- The almost complete dismantling of church property and sources of wealth, including tithes, which were abolished in 1837.
- Secularization did not solve the debt problem but helped mitigate it.
- Secularization did not increase agricultural production as new owners continued collecting rents.
- The confiscation brought about a process of deforestation.
- It led to a strengthening of the land ownership structure, with increased landlordism in Andalusia and Extremadura and smallholdings in the North.
- Peasants could not buy land due to lack of information or financial means.
- Secularization planning contributed to a discriminatory urban layout.
The Civil Confiscation of Madoz (1855)
The civil confiscation of Madoz (1855) established the public auction of all types of properties belonging to the state, the Church, municipalities, and generally all amortized goods. It aimed to complete the secularization process initiated by Mendizábal. The Madoz Law was developed rapidly, and the accumulated funds were used to repay debt and meet the Treasury’s needs. The consequences of this second confiscation included:
- The elimination of communal property and what remained of the church’s property.
- A considerable worsening of the peasantry’s economic situation.
- A breakdown in relations with the Church due to the violation of the Concordat.
Between 1836 and 1856, ownership of 10 million hectares (20% of the national area) was transferred. The confiscation of Madoz remained in force until 1895, merging the old feudal aristocracy with the urban bourgeoisie to create a new landed elite.
Conclusion
The dis entailment process did not significantly change the ownership structure. Small plots were bought by nearby residents, while the wealthy acquired larger properties. Landlordism was reinforced in the southern part of Spain, and many peasants were deprived of resources, leading to increased migration. The Treasury was cleaned up, and there was an increase in cultivated area and agricultural productivity. Culturally, many artworks and books from monasteries were sold or ended up in public libraries and universities. Many buildings of artistic interest were abandoned, while others became public museums or institutions.
The confiscations aimed to consolidate the liberal regime and create a new class of small and medium landowners, but this was not achieved. In many large cities, the urban landscape transformed from convent-dominated to bourgeois, with taller buildings, wider streets, and new public spaces created by demolitions.