El sistema beneficial y los beneficios eclesiásticos en tiempos de Carlos IIIuna reflexión a partir de las provisiones de Real Patronato

Zusammenfassung

This paper forms part of a long tradition of studies addressing the relationships between the monarchy and the Church and the efforts made by the Crown to extend its power within the ecclesiastical sphere. In this respect, the reign of Charles III, presented in historiography as the zenith of the Spanish regalism, received constant attention. The aim behind this monarch’s religious and beneficial policy and the provisions of the benefices, controlled by the Crown, was to turn the clergy and the ecclesiastical institution into an ally to serve his interests. Nevertheless, the works about the beneficial system, which determined the internal organization of the clergy and its socioeconomic reality, are still limited for this period. For this reason, we intend to analyze the lines of the regal interventions made in the beneficial field during the reign of this monarch and how, in practice, these affected this complex structure. To this end we will use Royal Patronage provisions documents which reflect these new measures.