The scope of the military engineers’private life in Spain in the 18th century

Abstract

In the 18th century, spanish military engineers made up the technical and scientific corps of the army. It is a model of the bourbon reformism, which is a modern and precursory element in the army and of its centralizing will. One of the innovative sight of our study is to sketch out the private life of these men. In this way we can outline the reality of the engineer not only in the army but also in the society of his days. Through the study of these men’s income, of their possessions inventory and of engineers’libraries, we can define the level of wealth, the private field and their centers of interest. Thus, we show that they belong to the middle educated class and that they take part in the creation of a new social elite : those of technicians.