Charles III (1716-1788) reigned as king of Spain from 1759 until his death. He was a member of the Bourbon family, a French royal family that began to rule Spain in 1700. Charles’s reign marked the high point of a period of reforms in Spain that were known as the Bourbon Reforms. During this period, Spain greatly developed its economy and modernized its administration.
Charles stimulated the construction of shipyards and the growth of manufacturing. His government liberalized trade, improved the country’s transportation system, issued the first Spanish paper money, and conducted the first census of the kingdom. In 1767, Charles’s government expelled the Jesuits, members of a powerful Roman Catholic order, from Spain and the Spanish Empire (see Roman Catholic Church (Suppression of the Jesuits) ).
During the American Revolution (1775-1783), Charles aided the American Colonies financially and diplomatically. In 1780 and 1781, his forces defeated British troops in the South at Mobile and Pensacola. As a result, Spain officially regained Florida from Britain in 1783. Spain had lost Florida to Britain in 1763. He died on Dec. 14, 1788.
Charles was born on Jan. 20, 1716, in Madrid. He was the son of King Philip V of Spain.
