The use of authenticity as a criterion to determine the validity of political thought possesses a particular appeal. At a first glance, it seems to confirm the long-standing views of writers with a more or less conservative opinion: the idea that a given society’s legal and political framework should be an accurate reflection, not of abstract universal principles, but of local circumstances and developments. However, authenticity might also be related to a more complex assumption, namely that is possible to establish a clear distinction between ideas which are national and ideas which are foreign. When it comes to Spanish nineteenth-century political thought, describing ideas which run against the status quo as dangerous foreign importations was, essentially, an act of self-defence. It must be stressed, however, that ‘one can never determine which ideas are out of place, and which are not, except from within a given, particular conceptual framework’ (Palti 2006: 158). In the case of Jaime Balmes, such a framework was Catholicism; consequently, he regarded ideas which questioned his own image of Catholic Spain as being “misplaced”, ill-suited to his country’s needs and innermost beliefs. As I show throughout this chapter, a certain defensiveness characterised Balmes’ relation to European intellectual movements. He accepted them insofar they did not oppose either his own idea of Spain as a Catholic nation or his strict adherence to Catholic dogma. Though limited by ideological constraints and religious commitments, Balmes nevertheless provided a path towards new ideas and re-shaped Spain’s relationship with Catholicism by taking current developments into consideration. In this sense, the role of Balmes as leader of a veritable Catholic ‘revival’ in mid-century Spain, in this being ‘the first and most important [European] Catholic thinker to build a consistent Catholic nationalistic theory’, has been confirmed by recent scholarship (Villalonga 2012: 52 & 2014: 311).

When it comes to analysing the relationship of Juan Donoso Cortés with “foreign” ideas, mainly French political thought, the question of authenticity takes a different shape. It reflects the anxieties engendered by cultural influences from abroad, and here the question usually asked by critics is how authentic (i.e. original, fresh, innovative) Donoso’s political ideas were, taking into account the fact that during his early years he was heavily dependent upon French sources. It is useful to remember that the exchange of ideas between different cultures never consists solely of passive reception, but rather implies a process of assimilation in which ideas are made legible by the culture that is going to incorporate them (Palti 2006: 173). Attaining such legibility involved, in the case of the young Donoso, a far more accommodating spirit than that of Balmes. Both worked within a Catholic framework, and yet Donoso was far more flexible when it came to positioning Spain within a European intellectual setting.

Authenticity in nineteenth-century Spain can be regarded as a preoccupation with both coherence and originality. During this period, political ideas were often assessed in terms of their being locally produced and applicable to local realities. The acute preoccupation with authenticity, rather than being a sign of cultural isolation, was an indicative of Spain’s intense involvement with debates taking place in Europe. Selective readings and a spirit of creative appropriation characterised the process of intellectual exchange between Spain and other European countries. Reconstructing this process can be seen as tantamount to ‘intellectual archaeology’, to use the happy expression of Fernández Sebastián, as this involves unearthing the logic that governed the beliefs, institutions and practices of contemporary historical actors (2014a: 70). Therefore, instead of searching for ‘ideological innovation’, the emphasis ought to be placed in restoring the multiple and often controversial meanings behind political concepts (Fernández Sebastián 2014a: 65). In the case of Balmes and Donoso, as I contend, this involves highlighting the fact that they conscientiously operated within a European – and not merely a Spanish – framework, so that tracing their links to their non-Spanish contemporaries serves the purpose of underlining the living and polemic nature of their thought.

In the case of Juan Donoso, the political ideas of the French doctrinaires served to consolidate his profile as an aspiring political figure within the context of the partido moderado. Following and re-creating the example of his French counterparts, Donoso aimed at turning his party into a middle ground between the reactionary Carlists and the progressive liberals. He used the doctrinaire ideas on sovereignty and intelligence in order to justify the superiority and right to rule of the upper middle class in Spain. In doing so, he echoed the doctrinaires’ understanding of liberalism, that is, as a ‘centrist doctrine that opposed the revolutionary spirit in all its forms and promoted gradual political reform’ (Craitu 2003: 8-9). Moreover, the first works of Donoso as a political writer, dwelling insistently upon matters of foreign policy, are an eloquent of expression of his desire to reinstate Spain within the European international order. The story of how Donoso became both a man of letters and a politician with a European outlook is the subject of the first two sections of this chapter.

In contrast to Donoso, the response of Balmes to French political thought was carried out at a more fundamental level. For Balmes, there was a crucial issue to take into account when “importing” the ideas of the doctrinaire and Protestant historian François Guizot, whose historical works were highly influential in the Spain during the 1830s and 1840s. Balmes found Guizot’s definition of civilisation to be deeply distressing, as it was grounded upon a profound critique of the Catholic Church, portrayed as having been a hindrance to the modern freedom to think and to dissent. Balmes devoted several works to challenging such idea. With tremendous consequences for the next generations of conservative thinkers, Balmes united the cause of Spain with that of Catholicism. Balmes was eager to emphasise that Spain, not despite of its Catholicism but thanks to it, fully belonged to the civilised order of Europe. In sum, by vindicating the superiority of Catholicism as a faith, Balmes intended to demonstrate the validity of Spain as a civilisation. The last two sections of this chapter will analyse the contributions of Balmes to the both the concept of civilisation and the idea of Spain as a Catholic nation.