Las virtudes y el jurista: El Emperador Político de Francisco Solanes y el amor a la patria

Abstract

During the civil war which was the War of the Spanish Succession, the language of patriotism also flourished in Spain. By appealing to the patria as the source of the highest political obligation, Catalan writers and pampheteers backing resistance against the Bourbon dinasty found in the old language of patriotism a powerful rethoric tool for liberty. El Emperador político y política de emperadores, by Francisco Solanes, published in Barcelona between 1700 and 1706, was one among the first treatises putting forward an outright argument in favour of patriotism. Solanes understood patriotism as a virtous passion resulting from the political transformation of perniciuos passions. The decissive element that eabled the metamorphosis of self-love into love of the country was the outstanding virtue of the prince. Religion was a key element as well.