José Moñino, 1st Count of Floridablanca
José Moñino y Redondo, 1st Count of Floridablanca (October 21, 1728 – December 30, 1808) was a Spanish statesman. He was the reformist chief minister of King Charles III of Spain, and also served briefly under Charles IV. He was arguably Spain's most effective statesman in the eighteenth century. In Spain, he is simply known as Conde de Floridablanca.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Moñino and the second or maternal family name is Redondo.
The Count of Floridablanca
21 October 1728
Murcia,
Kingdom of Spain
30 December 1808
Seville
Andalusia
Kingdom of Spain
Later life[edit]
His centralist policies brought him into conflict with regional interests, and he was often at odds with the Aragonese faction at court, which enjoyed many traditional liberties from the central government. The Aragonese faction, supported by the queen's lover Manuel de Godoy and the Count of Aranda, finally succeeded in ousting Floridablanca from power in 1792 on charges of embezzlement. Floridablanca was imprisoned at the castle of Pamplona for three years and released only after the intervention of his brother. He was acquitted in 1795 although the ordeal weighed heavily upon him, and he retired to seclusion on his estates.
When Napoleon marched against Spain in 1808, there was a public outcry for Floridablanca to lead the country in resistance. He accepted the call and became the President of the Supreme Central and Governmental Junta, but at the age of 80, his strength failed him, and he died at Seville on November 20 that year.
Although an avid statesman, he left few writings, and only a few short treatises by his hand on jurisprudence were published during his lifetime.
The plant genus Monnina was named after him.