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La Defensa Del Imperio: Julián de Arriaga En La Armada (1700–1754)

2015; Duke University Press; Volume: 95; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1215/00182168-3088788

1527-1900

Allan J. Kuethe,

Historical Studies in Latin America

The baylío Julián de Arriaga occupied a central place in the governance of Bourbon America, serving as secretary of the Offices for Marine and the Indies from 1754 until his death in early 1776, by far the longest stretch for any minister. Yet little was known about this figure other than his reputation for exceptional rectitude and propriety, his conservative inclinations, and his faithful service to Charles III. His background has in general been an even greater mystery. The present volume by María Baudot, which addresses the young Arriaga, partially fills this void. The work began as a doctoral dissertation at Spain's Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia under the direction of the distinguished Carlos Martínez Shaw, and it was published through collaboration by the Spanish Ministry of Defense and the Cátedra de Historia Naval, directed by Juan José Sánchez Baena at the Universidad de Murcia.Baudot divides her work into 13 chapters that address Arriaga's experiences chronologically, from his birth in 1700 and his family origins in Old Castile until his eventual appointment to the Secretariats for Marine and the Indies in 1754. She consulted the complex documentation for the topic principally in the Archivo General de Indias, the Archivo General de la Marina “Don Álvaro de Bázan,” and the Archivo General de Simancas, as well as the Archivo Histórico Nacional and the Archivo del Museo Naval. The bibliography is exhaustive, and her treatment of the pertinent historiography is helpful.Arriaga was a younger son in a large family of untitled provincial nobility, and accordingly he pursued an outside career, opting for a religious military life in the Order of San Juan de Jerusalén of Malta. Sanjuanistas, as they were called, took vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity, and, as Baudot shows, they underwent rigorous naval training in the Maltese navy. Dedicated to cleansing the Mediterranean of North African corsairs, this fleet provided the young Arriaga with the opportunities he sought; he reached the category of baylío, the highest standing within the order. Although José Patiño had already established the Compañía de Guardias Marinas to train naval officers, sanjuanistas frequently transferred to the Armada; they assumed not only prominent roles in the military during the eighteenth century but also in the royal administration.The methodological challenge that the author faced in illuminating Arriaga's years at sea and his rise to jefe de escuadra was the want of personal documentation and information. She addressed this by covering the services that his ship or squadron performed in specific actions or theaters. The result is an unexpected but excellent series of short, revealing histories of episodes in Spanish and Spanish American naval history, including two trade convoys to Veracruz, the Italian campaigns of the 1730s, the actions of Rodrigo de Torres's squadron in the Caribbean and Atlantic during the War of Jenkins' Ear, and the 1748–1749 expedition to suppress the pirates of Algiers. Moreover, she sets the scene for the baylío's original transfer to the Armada with a general account of its restoration under Philip V and in particular the contributions of Patiño. Baudot argues that the close ties that Arriaga developed with the powerful Marqués de la Ensenada, the secretary of finance, war, and marine and the Indies, ensured that his merits received proper recognition in the personalist climate of royal politics.An officer with extensive American experience, Arriaga jumped to the top echelon of the royal administration when Ensenada selected him to suppress the León revolt that had erupted in Caracas in 1749. Baudot argues that his success in doing so, characterized by prudence, good sense, and a dogged dedication to royal service, led to his promotion to intendant general of marine and president of the Casa de la Contratación in Cádiz. Moreover, prior to transferring him from Madrid to Cádiz, Ensenada placed Arriaga on a series of select committees that Ensenada convened to address pressing issues in the Americas. Arriaga prevailed in defining the ultimate compromise that restored peace between the Caracas Company and the colonials; he also contributed prominently to shaping policy for combating British interlopers in Central America and to drafting a regulation for the proper conduct of Spanish corsairs. As marine intendant, he worked to bring La Carraca shipyard up to the standards that Ensenada's ambitious construction agenda demanded.Baudot absolves Arriaga — who was in Cádiz at the time — of participation in or even knowledge of the treacherous plot, effected in 1754 by the Duke of Huéscar (the shady leader of the grandees), Minister of State Ricardo Wall, and British ambassador Benjamin Keene, that overthrew Ensenada. His succession to the newly divided Secretariats of Marine and the Indies, she argues, resulted from the insistence of King Ferdinand himself. However, to ensure the diplomatic neutrality that Wall's deceased predecessor, José de Carvajal y Lancaster, had cultivated, Wall usurped from the Secretariat of Marine control over the naval budget and effectively derailed Ensenada's armament agenda. Consequently, Arriaga would operate within severe constraints until the succession of Charles III.María Baudot is to be congratulated for her exhaustive work in charting the achievements of Julián de Arriaga, illuminating an unknown but critical part of the Bourbon century. The historical profession can only hope that she might someday proceed to research the baylío's long tenure in the service of Charles III.