Codzienność hiszpańska drugiej połowy XVIII wieku w świetle korespondencji Johna i Sarah Jay
Streszczenie
The eighteenth century was the time of the big changes in Spain. At the beginning of
the century the country was weak from political and economic point of view. Foreign
travellers emphasized that Spain was depopulated and destroyed. „The age of reforms” started
with the reign of Philip V. His successor Ferdinand VI continued the reconstruction. The
main reforms were done during the reign of Charles III. He was the outstanding administrator
in Spanish history.
For American diplomats who came to Europe during the war of Independence Spain was
very often the first point of their travels. America had great expectations of Spain, including
large - scale aid and even an alliance. Seeing that the Congress decided to send a minister
plenipotentiary to Spain in September 1779. This minister was John Jay. He was the most
able and distinguished man whom the Congress could spare for this important mission.
The article is based on John and Sarah Jay correspondence and it documents their
adventures on the voyage to Spain in 1779. Then it shows the Jays’ opinions on Spanish
everday life which they made during their stay in this country.
John and Sarah Jay left America in October 1779 on the ship „Confederacy” . The stormy
voyage was described in the letters of Sarah Jay too her mother because John Jay himself was too
seasick to attend to formal correspondence. When the Jays’ arrived at Cadiz in February 1780 no
one welcomed them. John Jay was accorded no offical status by the Spanish court. In March
having sent William Carmichael (John Jay’s secretary) ahead, the Jays along set out for Madrid,
four hundred miles away. The route to Madrid took them through Andalusia, La Mancha and
Castile. As travellers, John and Sarah Jay brought their own food, they ate it with their own
utensils, and they carried their own beds. They reached the capital in April 1780. Although the
Jays rented the house in Madrid, John Jay was soon engaged in following the court form country
seat to country seat. King Charles III moved very often from his winter capitol of El Pardo to
Aranjuez and then to the north at the two sites of El Escorial and San Ildefonso. Moving the
court from one palace to another made Spain one of the most expensive diplomatic establishment
in Europe. That is why Sarah Jay stayed in Madrid most the time. Generally financial problems
made their stay in Spain very difficult although John Jay was supported by Benjamin Franklin
from Paris. To make matters worse from the beginning Jay’s mission was a hoples one. He had
lowly status at the court and he felt lonely. He showed his discontent quite often in his letters.
To sum up in the correspondence, John and Sarah Jay did not put a lot of attention to
everyday life in Spain. There are a few letters where we can find fascinating descriptions of
their ocean voyage, broken by near-disaster and the interlude a t Martinique, and then their
arrived in Cadiz and their difficult overland journey to Madrid and the Spanish court.
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