Suppression of Jesuits in Spanish America

Background. The expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain and its empire in 1767 followed the Esquilache Riots of 1766. Bread riots pinned the blame on the minister Esquilache, but behind the uprising the Society of Jesus was seen as the real culprit. After exiling Esquilache, Charles expelled the Jesuits from Spain and its empire in 1767. The wealth and power of the Jesuits were very great, and their possessions were confiscated under the decree.

The Decree of 27 February 1767. By the royal decree of 27 February 1767, known as the Pragmatic Penalty of 1767, the Jesuits were expelled from Spain and all their possessions were confiscated. A commission's meeting on 29 January 1767 had planned the expulsion. The suppression in Spain and the Spanish colonies, and in the dependencies of Naples and Sicily, was the last of the serial expulsions, following Portugal (1759) and France (1764).

Enforcement in the Colonies. In late June 1767, Spanish soldiers removed the Jesuits from their 16 missions and 32 stations in Mexico. By 3 February 1768, Portolá's soldiers had removed the peninsula's 16 Jesuit missionaries from their posts and gathered them in Loreto, whence they sailed to the Mexican mainland and thence to Europe. The royal decree reached the capital of Manila on 17 May 1768, and between 1769 and 1771 the Jesuits were transported from the Spanish East Indies to Spain and deported to Italy.