Sebastián de la Cuadra, 1st Marquess of Villarías

Sebastián de la Cuadra y Llarena, 1st Marquess of Villarías (19 January 1687 – 23 April 1766) was a Spanish statesman. He served as Chief Minister between 1736 and 1746 during the reign of Philip V of Spain.


The Marquess of Villarías

Prime Minister of Spain
In office
26 November 1736  4 December 1746
MonarchPhilip V
Ferdinand VI
Preceded byJosé Patiño
Succeeded byJosé de Carvajal
Personal details
Born19 January 1687
San Julián de Musques, Spain
Died23 April 1766(1766-04-23) (aged 79)
Madrid, Spain

He was the third son of Simón de la Quadra y Medrano, Síndico General of the Comarca of Las Encartaciones. In 1700, he moved to Madrid, where he was a protégé of future Secretary of State José de Grimaldo. He became in 1719 Mayor of Muskiz, a Basque town exploiting iron ores and local smelters, having two himself, one working as early as the 15th century. But he remained in Madrid and was represented in Muskiz by his brother Agustin. He became a Knight of the Military Order of Santiago in 1730 (sig. 2239) and Oficial Mayor to the Secretary of State in 1731.

In 1736 he became himself First Secretary of State, when José Patiño died. From 1741 he also controlled the Justice Department. For much of this late period in office, Spain was involved in the War of Jenkins' Ear with Britain and the War of the Austrian Succession in Italy. He was replaced by José de Carvajal y Lancáster in December 1746. For his service he was made Marqués de Villarías by King Philip V of Spain on 22 March 1739, an honour awarded sometimes either to outgoing First Ministers or during their tenure.

He was a co-founder of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in 1744.

Character

Sebastián de la Cuadra was of a quiet and discrete nature. He was very religious and never married. He had a large network to gather all necessary information to serve the King and even more the Queen.
The British Ambassador Benjamin Keene didn't hold him in high regards, and the Queen treated him as a servant.[1]

Family

Isabel Parreño Arce, (1751 - 1823), wife of Spanish diplomat Jose Agustín de Llano y de la Cuadra. Painted around 1770 by Danish-German painter Anton Raphael Mengs (1728 - 1779). Oil on canvas, 250 x 148 cm. Museo de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid, Spain

He died without issue on 23 April 1766. The 2nd Marquess of Villarías was his brother, Agustín de la Cuadra y de Llarena, (5 November 1679 - married 17 December 1709 to Andresa Manuela de Mollinedo).

Agustin and Sebastian had a sister, Francisca de la Cuadra y de Llarena, born also in San Julián de Musques on 13 October 1697. She married Simon de Llano y Musquez on 16 February 1716; they had 8 children. Among their children were:

See also

References

  • MCN Biography (in Spanish)
  • Genealogy (in Spanish)
  • Euskomedia Biography (in Spanish)
  • Juan Antonio Llorente, (born 1756 - 1823), Noticias históricas de las tres provincias vascongadas, Alava, Guipuzcoa y Vizcaya en que se procura .., Madrid Imprenta Real, (1808),consulted in Internet, (22 July 2009), at the Library of the University of Michigan, U.S. A. :
  • Book of this Bonapartist member of the Spanish Inquisition, reprinted as Noticias históricas de las tres provincias vascongadas, Author Juan Antonio Llorente, Edición 3, Editor Editorial Amigos del Libro Vasco, (1984) ISBN 84-7572-119-2, ISBN 978-84-7572-119-4, 479 pages.
  • W. F. REDDAWAY, Don Sebastian de Llano and the Danish Revolution, The English Historical Review, Vol. 41, No. 161 (Jan., 1926), pp. 78–90, (article consists of 13 pages), Published by: Oxford University Press.
Political offices
Preceded by
José Patiño
First Secretary of State
1736–1746
Succeeded by
José de Carvajal
Spanish nobility
New title Marquess of Villarías
1745–1766
Succeeded by
Agustín de la Cuadra
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