The Bourbon army during the last third of the XVIII century: social permeability in a noble institution

Abstract

Despite the fact that the Spanish army of the XVIII century was conceived as an institution reserved for the nobility, and although the need to prove the purity of blood and nobility of the candidates to the position of cadet was ruled by ordinance, in practice numerous exceptions broke those regulations, allowing the access of men from the merchant social classes to the military institution. During the last third of the century, this process was further aggravated by the sale of positions that took place either when new military corps were arranged or when certain offices were sold directly from the Ministry of War. Men of all kinds of backgrounds took advantage of this situation, although the phenomenon was particularly strong among the American creole elite, who sent their sons to Spain using the Nobility Seminar of Madrid and the regiment of Spanish Infantry Guard as a bridge.