Aranda, Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, Count of

ARANDA, PEDRO PABLO ABARCA de BOLEA, conte d'. - Minister of Carlo III of Spain, b. in 1719 near Huesca (Aragon), d. at Epila (Aragon) in 1798. Having entered a military career, he travelled in Europe, observing the manoeuvres of Federico il Grande, and forming bonds of friendship with the French Encyclopedists. Ambassador to Portugal in 1755 and to Poland in 1760, he subsequently attained the highest rank in the military hierarchy during the war with Portugal. In 1766 he was appointed by Carlo III president of the Council of Castile. In this most exalted office he was guided especially by his obstinate anti-religious prejudices, drawing encouragement and advice from Voltaire, with whom he maintained 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 won him wide renown in the world of the Enlightenment and of unbelievers, marking him out as one of the most influential figures in the anti-religious movement. Having fallen into the king’s disfavour, he was sent as ambassador to France in 1773. There, a few years later, he affiliated himself with the Grand Orient of France, a branch of which he introduced into Spain, becoming its grand master. Queen Maria Luisa had him recalled for a few months to the post of minister in 1792; he was then definitively set aside.