Juan Donoso Cortés | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byFederico Madrazo, 1849 | |
| Born | Juan Francisco María de la Salud Donoso Cortés y Fernández Canedo (1809-05-06)6 May 1809 |
| Died | 3 May 1853(1853-05-03) (aged 43) |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | 19th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western Philosophy |
| School | |
| Main interests | Political theory,Political theology |
| Notable works | Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism |
| SeatR of theReal Academia Española | |
| In office 16 April 1848 – 3 May 1853 | |
| Preceded by | Javier de Burgos |
| Succeeded by | Rafael María Baralt |
Juan Francisco María de la Salud Donoso Cortés y Fernández Canedo, marqués de Valdegamas (6 May 1809 – 3 May 1853) was a Spanishcounter-revolutionary author, diplomat, politician, andCatholicpolitical theologian.[1]
Cortés was born atValle de la Serena (Extremadura) on 6 May 1809. His father,D. Pedro Donoso Cortés was a lawyer and landowner, and a descendant of the conquistadorHernán Cortés. His mother, Maria Elena Fernández-Canedo was a provincial heiress.[2] During his youth, Juan Donoso was tutored by the liberal Antonio Beltran in Latin, French, and other subjects required for entrance to a university. At 11, possibly due to issues at home, Juan Donoso left to study at theUniversity of Salamanca. He only remained there a year before leaving to study at the Colegio de San Pedro de Caceres. In 1823, at age 14, he entered theUniversity of Seville to study law, and would remain there until 1828. It was here that Donoso Cortés first encountered philosophy; he fell under the influence of liberal and traditionalist thinkers such asJohn Locke andLouis de Bonald.[1][3]
Donoso returned home to work at his father's law practice for a couple of years. At this time he continued his eclectic reading habits. In October 1829, Cortés was offered at professorship in aesthetics and politics at the Colegio de San Pedro de Caceres. He criticized medievalfeudalism but defended thePapacy and theCrusades, which he believed engendered vitality into European civilization.[1] Influenced by therationalism prevalent in Spain following upon the French invasions, he ardently embraced the principles ofLiberalism and fell under the influence ofJean-Jacques Rousseau, whom he later characterized as "the most eloquent of sophists".
Cortés married Teresa Carrasco in 1830, however their marriage lasted only five years with the death of Teresa after the birth of their only child, Maria. It was also at this time that Juan Donoso entered politics along with his brother-in-law.[1] He entered politics as an ardent liberal under the influence ofManuel José Quintana.[4] After the death of KingFerdinand VII, Donoso, along with most of Spain's liberals, backed the late king's fourth wife,Maria Christina, and her claim to the throne of Spain. They were opposed by Ferdinand'sclerical and conservative brotherCarlos, and his conservative supporters who were known asCarlists. In 1832, Donoso wrote a memorandum to King Ferdinand defending female succession as being in line with the king'sPragmatic Sanction of 1830. For his efforts, the new queen regent would appoint Donoso to a position in the Secretariat of State.[5]
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The death of King Ferdinand in 1833 precipitated theFirst Carlist War. Donoso protested themassacre of friars byanti-clerical liberals inMadrid in July 1834 in a memo to Maria Christina.
Donoso's views began to shift after the 1836 rising atLa Granja, where soldiers in the royal palace forced Maria Cristina to reinstitute the liberalConstitution of 1812. At this time Donoso was appointed as a cabinet secretary andelected to theCortes as a member of the liberalModerate Party, which representedbourgeois interests and supported a constitutional monarchy. At this time he gave a series of lectures for the party,A Defense of Representative Government, where he lauded representative government and rationalism, but at the same time defended dictatorship as sometimes being a necessary evil.[6]
The period between 1837 and 1840 saw the nadir of Donoso's journalistic career; writing for various publications such asEl Correo Nacional,El Porvenir, andEl Piloto. His drift into conservatism continued during this time; Donoso attackedVictor Hugo's depiction ofMary Stuart and argued in favor of the use of rich articles in religious rites. His most extensive article during this time, "Classicism and Romanticism", written inEl Correo Nacional in August or September 1838, urged a synthesis betweenclassicist andromantic art forms. Donoso's articles brought him a great deal of notoriety and condemnation, with 65 members of the Cortes accusing Donoso of being subversive.[7]
Donoso recognized the power of the press and sought to influence public discussion through his publications, yet he was also one of the sharpest critics of the press and thefreedom of the press. He believed that journalism was an almost sacred vocation but that this vocation was often abused and was used to spread mindless chatter and gossip. He was critical of the use of the press to spread revolutionary, socialistic, and anti-Christian ideas. Donoso went as far as to believe that freedom of the press itself was the result of the abandonment of Christian moral principles: editors were a new priesthood devoted to furthering the revolution and the authority of Christian doctrine was replaced with endless discussion. He was also critical of the use of the press by governments to achieve centralization and bureaucratization.[8]
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By the end of the First Carlist War in 1839, Donoso had become disillusioned with liberalism, rationalism, and the bourgeoisie. He became something of a recluse and rarely left the royal palace. With the fall of the regency of Maria Christina, Donoso went into exile with the former Queen-regent; from March 1841 to the autumn of 1843, Donoso spent almost all of his time inParis. During this time he began a history of the regency of Maria Christina, however it would never be finished. During this time Donoso came more strongly under the influence of the French traditionalistsJoseph de Maistre and Louis de Bonald.[7]
Donoso returned to Spain in late 1843 and played a key role in granting majority status to QueenIsabella II, ending the regency ofBaldomero Espartero. For his services to the crown Donoso was made private secretary to the young Queen and he was raised to thepeerage. Shortly after, in May 1844,General Narváez came to power as prime minister. Donoso's liberalism saw a brief upsurge with the early reforms ofPope Pius IX, who appointedPellegrino Rossi to be prime minister of thePapal States.[7]
TheRevolutions of 1848, along with the assassination of Rossi and the death Donoso's pious Carlist brother Pedro brought an end to any trace of liberalism in Donoso's thinking. In January 1849, Donoso gave a speech in the Cortes, "On Dictatorship," defending the actions of General Narvaez in suppressing any traces of revolutionary activity in Spain. Donoso spoke out vociferously against the chaos he saw unfolding across Europe in the Cortes; he attackedsocialism as the result of the erosion of Christian morality and atheism. Donoso would later become a sharp critic of Narvaez and his speeches denouncing him in the Cortes would lead to Narvaez's resignation. During this time Donoso briefly served as ambassador toBerlin.[9]
In 1851, Donoso was appointed as the Spanish ambassador to France, presenting his credentials to the court of President, and later Emperor,Louis Napoleon, who would reign under the title of Napoleon III. Donoso was initially a confidant of Napoleon, and may have helped finance hiscoup. However, as time went on it became clear that Donoso and Napoleon did not share a common intellectual purpose. Still, Donoso worked to obtain international recognition for the new regime and he represented Queen Isabella II at the Emperor's marriage to the Spanish countessEugénie de Montijo.[10]
Donoso's life took on a newfound piety during this time: he went on pilgrimage, wore ahair shirt, volunteered with theSociety of St. Vincent de Paul, visited slums and prisons, and donated much of his wealth to the poor. He also spent much of time writing in opposition to theLiberal French Catholics and their leaderBishop Dupanloup.[10]
It was during this time Donoso Cortés issued hisEnsayo Sobre el Catolicismo, el Liberalismo, y el Socialismo Considerados en sus Principios Fundamentales (1851),[11] orEssays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism, Considered in their Fundamental Principles, the work for which he is most well-known. It was written at the insistence ofLouis Veuillot, who was an intimate friend of Juan Donoso. The work placed Cortés in the first rank of Catholic apologists and made him a defender ofUltramontanism. It is an exposition of the impotence of all human systems of philosophy to solve the problem of human destiny and of the absolute dependence of humanity upon theCatholic Church for its social and political salvation.[12] He excoriates liberalism as the bridge that ultimately leads to atheistic socialism.[10]
During his last years he also engaged in a series of correspondences that developed his thought further; firstly with the former Queen regent Maria Christina; withCardinal Fornari, the papal nuncio to France; andAtanazy Raczyński, a Polish nobleman and Prussian ambassador to Spain, who was a close friend of Donoso. He also briefly engaged in a correspondence with Pope Pius IX, and warned the pope about the continuing threat fromGallicanism and democracy. Many of Donoso's ideas would be incorporated into Pius's encyclicalQuanta Cura and its attachedSyllabus of Errors.[10]
Juan Donoso Cortés died in the Spanish Embassy in Paris on 3 May 1853. His funeral was held in theChurch of Saint Phillipe du Roulein Paris where he would be interred. His remains were transferred to Madrid on 11 May 1900, along with the remains ofGoya,Moratin, andMelendez Valdes. His remains are currently interred in the pantheon of the royal cemetery ofSan Isidro el Real.[13]
Donoso Cortés's works were collected in five volumes at Madrid (1854–1855) under the editorship of Gavino Tejado.[11]
In his workPolitical Theology (1922), political philosopherCarl Schmitt[14][15] devotes large portions of his final chapter ("On the Counterrevolutionary Philosophy of the State") to Donoso Cortés, praising him for recognizing the importance of decision and of the concept ofsovereignty.[16] Schmitt also credited Donoso'sDiscourse on Dictatorship with initiating the demise of the progressive notion of history.[17]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Donoso Cortés, Juan".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 419.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Juan Francesco Maria de la Saludad Donoso Cortés".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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