Jean Orry

Jean Orry was a French economist and politician who served as the Controller-General of Finances in Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession. He was sent to Spain by King Louis XIV of France in 1701 to assist his grandson Philip V, who had just succeeded to the Spanish throne. Orry implemented a series of financial and governmental reforms that aimed to stabilize the finances of the country, reduce the national debt, and centralize the administration. He repudiated part of the debt, suspended payments on the interest on government bonds, levied forced loans, reformed the collection of indirect taxes, and restricted free trade of grain. He also created secretaries of state and intendants who were directly responsible to him and the king, and reduced the power of the traditional local governments (the Cortes). He faced opposition from nobles and commoners alike, who protested against his policies and accused him of being part of a "Pact of Famine" with Louis XIV. He was supported by the influential Princesse des Ursins, who acted as a de facto ruler of Spain with Orry. He also helped to bring down the minister of foreign affairs, Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, by demonstrating that the government could not afford to go to war with Great Britain. However, when Philip V married Elisabetta Farnese in 1714, Orry lost his influence and was dismissed by the new queen and her adviser Giulio Alberoni in 1715. He returned to France and died in Paris in 1719. His reforms were continued by Alberoni and later by the Bourbon Reforms in the 18th century. Orry was a lavish patron of the arts who rebuilt his hôtel in Paris with the architect Antoine-Mathieu Le Carpentier.