Administrative reforms in the Valencian domains of the House of Medinaceli during the second half of the eighteenth century

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the administrative reforms and changes undertaken by the House of Medinaceli in its Valencian manors during the second half of the eighteenth century. To achieve this objective, research has been done in the Medinaceli archive and the Archive of the Kingdom of Valencia, where the files concerning the lawsuits which led to the reforms are located. This research shows that the main achievement attained by the noble household was the creation of the Audit Board of Accounts of Valencia, which not only allowed the centralizing of decisionmaking and the optimization of management resources, but also facilitated true professionalization of staff. This new management board planned to recover part of the rights and income lost in the previous years, with the purpose of draining some revenue to the House’s Central Audit Board in Madrid, which was increasingly beset by financial problems. However, none of the actions taken by the Audit Board of Accounts of Valencia achieved positive results owing to increasing anti-manorial opposition.