José de Carvajal y Lancáster

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Carvajal and the second or maternal family name is Lancáster.

José de Carvajal y Lancáster (1698 – 8 April 1754) was a Spanish statesman who served as the first secretary of state from 1746 to 1754.

The Most Excellent José de Carvajal y Lancáster
First Secretary of State
In office 4 December 1746 – 8 April 1754
Monarch	Ferdinand VI
Preceded by	The Marquis of Villarías
Succeeded by	The Duke of Huéscar
Seat O of the Real Academia Española
In office 13 May 1751 – 8 April 1754
Preceded by	Diego de Villegas y Saavedra Quevedo
Succeeded by	Fernando de Silva
Director of the Real Academia Española
In office 13 May 1751 – 8 April 1754
Preceded by	Juan López Pacheco
Succeeded by	Fernando de Silva
Personal details
Born	1698 (1698) Cáceres, Spain
Died	8 April 1754(1754-04-08) (aged 55–56) Madrid, Spain

Biography

He was son of the Duke of Liñares and his mother was descendant of infante Jorge de Lancastre, a natural son of King John II of Portugal. After graduating at the University of Salamanca, he was appointed oidor (judge) of the Chancillería of Valladolid and later councillor of the Council of the Indies. Prime minister José del Campillo elected him as his personal secretary. In 1746, he was appointed president of the Junta of Commerce and Money, and promoted the establishment of chartered corporations for the improvement of regional trade and manufacture.

The new king Ferdinand VI appointed him First Secretary of State that same year, and carried out a neutrality policy. In 1750, he signed the agreement between Spain and Portugal that finished the disputes over the borders of Río de la Plata and Brazil; Colonia del Sacramento returned to Spain in exchange of some Paraguayan territories.

He reformed the royal mail and in 1752 founded definitively the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.^[1]

Bibliography

• Molina, Juan: José de Carvajal: un ministro para el reformismo borbónico, Cáceres: Institución Cultural El Brocense, 1999
• Delgado, José Miguel: El proyecto político de Carvajal: pensamiento y reforma en tiempos de Fernando VI, Madrid: CSIC, 2001