ARANDA, PEDRO PABLO ABARCA DE BOLEA, CONTE D'

ARANDA, PEDRO PABLO ABARCA de BOLEA, count d'. — Minister of Charles III of Spain, b. in 1719 near Huesca (Aragon), d. at Epila (Aragon) in 1798. Having entered a military career, he traveled in Europe, attending the maneuvers of Frederick the Great and forming ties of friendship with the French encyclopedists. Ambassador to Portugal in 1755 and to Poland in 1760, he later attained the highest rank in the military hierarchy during the war with Portugal. In 1766 he was appointed by Charles III president of the Council of Castile. In this very high office he was especially guided by his persistent anti-religious prejudices, drawing encouragement and advice from Voltaire, with whom he maintained a continuous correspondence. He persecuted the Jesuits, denounced them before an extraordinary tribunal, and succeeded in obtaining from the king their expulsion from Spain in 1767. This action by the all-powerful minister earned him wide renown in the world of the Enlightenment and unbelievers, marking him as one of the most influential figures of the anti-religious movement. Having fallen into disfavor with the king, he was sent as ambassador to France in 1773. There, a few years later, he affiliated himself with the Grand Orient of France, importing a branch into Spain and becoming its grand master. Queen Maria Luisa had him recalled for a few months to the position of minister in 1792, after which he was definitively set aside.