•Forests, war and reforms: management and exploitation of Andalusian timber resources for the Spanish Navy in the Early Bourbon period (Cádiz, 1717-1759)

AbstractThe conversion of Andalusia as a new frontier of forest resources for state shipbuilding, in the 18th century, was a direct result of the first Bourbon Reforms of the Spanish Navy, implemented in the reigns of Philip V (1700-1746) and Ferdinand VI (1746-1759). In this context, Cádiz had a fundamental role, establishing as naval base and center for the American trade, as well as laboratory for a politic and economic centralizing project, inspired by absolutist and mercantilist ideologies. After 1717, Cádiz, developed as a naval industry complex at the service of the construction of new war and auxiliary vessels, within the framework of the state plans promoted by José Patiño y Rosales (1728-1736), Zenón Somodevilla y Bengoechea, Marqués de la Ensenada (1748-1754), and Julián de Arriaga (1700-1776). At the same time, it became a fundamental supporting base for the fleets that took part in the diverse war missions in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, providing repair and maintenance.The development of these activities generated an unprecedented need of an effective and economic acquisition of timber, which initiated the systematic management and exploitation of the Andalusian forest resources. Forests and woodlands located near the cost and navigable rivers fell under the jurisdiction of the Cádiz Maritime Department, and regulation of legislation such as the 1748 forest Ordinances, as a way of reserving the best suited timber for shipbuilding, for the Spanish Navy. The provision of these forest timber resources was operated through the combination and articulation of direct administration with contractors, as well as the purchase from other private suppliers.The rhythm of regional timber supply and shipbuilding and maintenance activities expressed in quantitative data series, as well as in the use of Systems of Geographical Information (SIG) reflects the correlation between deforestation in Andalusia and dynamics such the state shipbuilding plans, the re-conquest of Oran and Mers el-Kebir (1732), the re-conquest of Naples and Sicily in the context of the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735), the operations of the War of the Jenkins Ear (1739-1748), or the protection of the fleets of the Carrera de Indias.