Miejsce kapitana generalnego w systemie ustrojowym Hiszpanii dawniej i obecnie

Abstract

This article is an answer to the question where the rank of the Captain General in the title of the king of Spain came from. Reaching back to the pre-constitutional times, the role of the Captain General in the political system of Spain was defined. Originally he acted as the supreme military commander, with time gaining competences in the field of politics, judiciary and treasury. The essence of the post functions is evidenced by the creation of separate territorial administrative entities – captaincy general. The apogee of the Captain-General’s importance in Spain took place in the 18th century, when with the arrival of Philip V of Anjou at the Iberian Peninsula, the system of Bourbon absolutism began to be implemented in Spain under the Nueva Planta reforms. In the constitutional era, the post was once again reduced to strictly military matters, however traditionally appearing in the royal titulature.