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In-Depth Information
view of Lisbon's life and contemporary
mores with a denunciation of the abuses of
the monarchy that suggested republican
sympathies. Frustrated by financial difficul-
ties and his lack of a consistent literary
patron, the author concentrated on win-
ning the hand of a wealthy woman. Her
death, not long after their 1893 marriage,
left him with a fortune of his own. His
O
país das uvas
(Country of the grapes, 1893)
presents a sunnier image of Portuguese life
in which the simple rural patterns of exis-
tence contrast favorably with the urban
images presented in his earlier stories.
Apparently named after the feast of Pascua
Florida (Easter) upon which day it was dis-
covered in 1513 and long believed to con-
tain the Fountain of Youth and other fabled
wonders, Florida had proved a deathtrap
for many Spaniards over the centuries and
brought few of them anything but grief.
Floridablanca, José Moñino, conde
de
(1728-1808)
Spanish statesman
A lawyer with experience in business
administration, Moñino began his rise to
power with the accession of C
HARLES
III.
Appointed treasurer of the Council of Cas-
tile, he led an inquiry into matters involv-
ing church property that established his
credentials as a supporter of royal author-
ity, and he was thereafter involved in the
king's moves against the Jesuits.
When Charles III accelerated his con-
frontation with the clergy by expelling the
Jesuits from Spain and her overseas posses-
sions in 1767, Moñino was sent as envoy to
the Vatican to persuade the pope to support
the growing movement against the Society
of Jesus. The mission was successful, the
pope dissolved the order, and Moñino was
rewarded in 1773 with the title
conde de
Floridablanca.
Appointed chief minister in
1776, Floridablanca intensified the devel-
opment of enlightened despotism, encoun-
tering much opposition to his authoritarian
program of reform but effecting a number
of significant improvements in the Spanish
economy. In foreign policy he was success-
ful in improving relations with various old
antagonists, including Portugal and the
Ottoman Empire. He was not able, how-
ever, to overcome the pro-French elements
at court who secured a Spanish declaration
Florida
Evidently sighted by the early Spanish
explorers and later visited by J
UAN
P
ONCE
DE
L
EÓN
(1513), P
ÁNFILO
DE
N
ARVÁEZ
, and
H
ERNANDO
DE
S
OTO
, this southeastern cor-
ner of the present-day United States was
not settled by Spaniards until 1565 when
San Agustín (St. Augustine) was built after
the expulsion of French colonists from the
area. Unprofitable owing to its dearth of
natural resources, the peninsula was hence-
forth garrisoned by Spain in order to guard
against French and English encroachments
and to protect the maritime trade route that
passed her shores. East Florida (essentially
the modern state of that name) and West
Florida (coastal Alabama and Mississippi)
were acquired by Britain in 1763 but recov-
ered by Spain in 1783 after her troops seized
Pensacola while supporting the American
revolutionary cause. Relations with the
newly independent United States soon
deteriorated, however, and boundary dis-
putes continued until 1819, when the
sparsely populated territory was ceded to
the Americans for a payment of $5 million.
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