Francisco Estévanez Rodríguez

Francisco Estévanez Rodríguez (1880 -1953) was a Spanish politician, publisher, philanthropist, agrarian syndicalist and religious activist. He is best known as deputy to the Cortes during two terms between 1931 and 1936. Politically he was a Traditionalist, first member of the Integrist branch and then active within Carlism. He also published two small Burgos periodicals, continuously donated money and supported various charity schemes, strove to build rural trade unions which unite landholders and farmers, and was involved in numerous Catholic initiatives usually related to the Burgos archbishopric office.

Francisco Estévanez Rodríguez
Born
Francisco Estévanez Rodríguez

1880
Burgos, Spain
Died1953
Burgos, Spain
NationalitySpanish
Occupationlawyer, landowner
Known forpolitician
Political partyIntegrism, Carlism

Family and youth
Burgos, late 19th century

The Estévanez[1] family was related to northern Castile, to the area at the confluence of Santander, Burgos and Palencia provinces; the paternal grandfather of Francisco,[2] Valentín Estévanez Sainz de Baranda y Terán, originated from Soncillo.[3] Social status of the Estévanez is not clear. It seems that they either belonged or aspired to petty nobility, the hidalguia.[4] On the one hand, Valentín was noted as owner of an unspecified estate; on the other, he practiced as a physician.[5] His daughter and the aunt of Francisco, Margarita Estévanez Mazón, was a nun and grew to abbess of the Augustine convent in Burgos.[6] His son and the father of Francisco, Aquilino Estévanez Mazón (died 1901),[7] studied medicine in Madrid and also became a doctor.[8] One more son of Valentín was a pharmacist.[9]

In the 1870s Aquilino married María Rodríguez, descendant to a noble and much better positioned Rodríguez family from Burgos. Her aunt, María Benita Rodríguez Macho, in 1867-1870 served as abbess of the iconic Real Monasterio de las Huelgas abbey;[10] her uncle, Tiburcio Rodríguez Calderón de Thorices, was first a catedrático of theology in Colegio Español in Rome, then canónigo peniternciario serving in the Burgos cathedral,[11] and finally a Jesuit scholar.[12] It is not clear where Aquilino and María settled initially; later they were related to Burgos, Valdeolea[13] and Mataporquera.[14] The couple had at least 5 children including Francisco, probably 3 of them boys and 2 girls.[15] One brother of Francisco became a lawyer;[16] one sister entered a monastery and served as a Catholic nun.[17]

None of the sources consulted provides any information on early education of the young Francisco. In 1897 he was called into the army and if served indeed he was posted to a garrison on the peninsula.[18] According to one rather unfriendly source Francisco intended to be a religious and studied in an unspecified seminary, but he fell in love and when forced to choose between priesthood and marriage he opted for the latter.[19] It is certain that he studied law, but details are not clear; most likely he pursued academic career in Salamanca in the early 1900s.[20] Following graduation he was sworn as abogado in Burgos in 1904 and commenced the law practice in the city.[21]

charity action, Spain 1946 (sample)

Estévanez was rumored to marry an unnamed “distinguida señorita” in 1904,[22] but he actually wed in 1911. The bride was Carmen Obesso Palacio[23] (1885-1976),[24] it is not clear whether the same girl as he had been reported to marry 7 years earlier. Related to Mazandrero and Aguilar del Campóo,[25] she was descendant to a prestigious local family of landowners[26] and was Estévanez’ distant relative.[27] The couple settled in Burgos at Calle Nuño Basura 16, in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral.[28] They had no own children.[29] However, Francisco and Carmen acted as godparents to tens if not hundreds of children from poor families, which implied financial aid and general assistance; they were first noted in such role in 1914,[30] and later also in 1923,[31] 1944[32] and 1947.[33]

Early Integrist engagements
Ramón Nocedal

Both paternal and maternal ancestors of Estévanez were Carlists. His maternal uncle Tiburcio Rodríguez could have been involved in the 1869 assassination of the Burgos anticlerical civil governor Isidoro Gutiérrez;[34] he was later persecuted[35] and joined headquarters of Carlos VII during the Third Carlist War. It is there where he met the father of Francisco, Aquilino,[36] a young medic serving in the Carlist general staff.[37] However, in the 1880s Aquilino Estévanez joined the Carlist breakaway faction, first known as Nocedalistas and later as the Integrists. The young Francisco was growing up as an Integro; already as a boy he was listed along his father and brothers as financially contributing to the homage of Félix Sardá y Salvany, one of the chief theorists of the group.[38] In his teen years he started publishing in the Integrist Madrid daily El Siglo Futuro; the first piece identified comes from 1897.[39] In 1901 in an open letter to the Integrist leader Ramón Nocedal he fully embraced the intransigent and vehemently anti-liberal politico-religious program of the group.[40]

Prior to 1904 Estévanez purchased a local Burgos daily El Castellano, founded in 1900[41] as “diario católico de información general”.[42] He turned it into a belligerent Integrist press tribune[43] which vehemently advocated adamant Catholic stand.[44] His zeal produced conflicts and incidents;[45] at one point he resigned from the director job[46] but he kept contributing, not a step deviating from the fixed line which hailed great Christians confronting sinister Liberalism. Some of his pieces were re-printed in other periodicals,[47] yet it seems at one point – perhaps as late as in the 1910s – he either sold or otherwise lost control of El Castellano.[48] Another thread of his religious activity was charity, to become his trademark later on; from his teens engaged in organizations like Congregación de San Luis Gonzaga[49] he took part in numerous juntas and committees.[50] Energetic in the Burgos Integrist organization, in 1906 he grew to secretary of Junta Integrista Regional for the entire Old Castile region.[51]

Juan Olazabal

As his law career progressed[52] and in 1909 Estévanez was sworn as magistrado suplente of Audiencia de Burgos[53] his prestige grew and his position strengthened. As Integrist politician he did not share the earlier anti-Carlist venom of the group and in 1910 he was noted speaking at a Catholic rally in Palencia jointly with Carlist militants Larramendi, Bilbao and Polo.[54] The same year he was about to launch his first bid for the Cortes, and in Cervera de Pisuerga he was reported to stand as a joint Traditionalist candidate.[55] His candidacy was agreed with the Carlist leader Feliú though it is not clear whether it was approved by the new Integrist leader, Olazábal;[56] it seems that he withdrew in the last minute.[57] In 1911 he was supposed to run on a joint Catholic anti-Liberal ticket in by-elections in Miranda del Ebro,[58] but there is no confirmation of him actually standing. In the mid-1910s he focused on his law career and charity; there is no information on his political engagements.[59]

Late Restoration and Dictatorship
Cristo de Burgos

When approaching 40 years of age Estévanez was a locally recognized Burgos figure, known mostly for his law practice[60] and religious charity initiatives. It seems also that having inherited and married into rural estates,[61] he was increasingly involved in buildup of agrarian syndicates which would unite both landowners and farmers.[62] In the early 1920s he started to publish El Defensor de los Labradores, a periodical which advanced the cause.[63] His political weight was moderate. He gradually made it to the Spanish Integrist executive and during a 1918 general party assembly Estévanez was listed among heavyweights,[64] entrusted with co-heading “Organización y Juventudes” section;[65] in 1920 he served as jefe of the provincial Integrist organization.[66] However, his renewed attempts to enter nationwide politics failed. In the last general elections of the Alfonsist monarchy in 1923 he ran as “católico agrario” and narrowly lost to a conservative counter-candidate.[67]

In the early 1920s Estévanez got engaged in missionary activity centered in Burgos and launched by the newly appointed archbishop of Burgos Juan Benlloch; acting on direct instructions of the pope Benedict XV, Benlloch tried to convert an earlier Colegio de Ultramar into Seminario de Misiones, a future hub of apostolic action overseas.[68] In 1921 Estévanez travelled to Cuba, possibly on a related mission;[69] in 1922 he was already in close entourage of Benlloch, who grew to cardinal in the meantime.[70] Named gentilhombre de cámara[71] and camarero secreto[72] of the archbishop, in 1923-1924 Estévanez accompanied Benlloch on a long religious and political mission[73] to America, which involved visits to Cuba, Peru and Chile.[74] In the mid- and late 1920s he was greatly engaged in numerous Catholic religious initiatives in Burgos, co-organizing feasts,[75] sponsoring various associations[76] or welcoming ecclesiastic hierarchs.[77] With no children on their own, both Estévanez and his wife remained very active in charity, be it in Cruz Roja[78] or in education.[79] In truly Integrist fashion his stand demonstrated an amalgam of personal,[80] religious and political features,[81] though his zeal produced also lawsuits.[82]

Juan Benlloch (middle)

There is no information on Estévanez engaging in primoderiverista institutions like Unión Patriótica or Somatén, though it is likely that close to Benlloch, he at least initially viewed the regime favorably;[83] Estévanez is only known to have contributed to general patriotic initiatives of the regime.[84] He kept advocating Christian syndicalist solidarity when publishing El Defensor de los Labradores[85] and it is likely that at one point in the late 1920s he regained control over El Castellano.[86] Apart from his agrarian economy he obtained a license for operating bus connection between Burgos and Aguilar del Campóo[87] and to handle post services on the route.[88] Last but not least, Estévanez was active building up a network of Catholic agrarian syndicates, according to himself striving to build “clase social agro-pecuaria organizada” in the province.[89]

Late Integrist projects
cardenal Segura

In the spring of 1930, shortly after the fall of Primo de Rivera, Estévanez assumed a more active political stance. In line with recommendations of the primate Pedro Segura (whom he knew from Segura's Burgos archbishopric term of 1926-1927)[90] and in co-operation with the Burgos archbishop Manuel de Castro he tried to mount a grand Catholic provincial political organization, “unión habitual fuera de partidos y a los fines unicamente de la Religión y de la Patria”.[91] Nothing came out of these schemes; also their scaled-down version, a temporary general alliance possibly centered around the Integrist nucleus failed to materialize.[92] In late 1930 and early 1931 he seemed already focused merely on reconstruction of the Integrist structures, e.g. lobbying with Segura about clerical subscriptions to El Siglo Futuro,[93] and on general Catholic propaganda.[94]

During the first republican campaign to the Cortes of June 1931 the Burgos Integrists joined forces with Partido Agrario; it seems that Estévanez personally negotiated the provincial alliance with leader of the Agrarians, José Martinez de Velasco.[95] The result was a common list known as “Candidatura Católico-Agraria”, by some scholars referred to as “en realidad tradicionalista”.[96] Both Estévanez’ periodicals, El Castellano[97] and El Defensór de Labradores,[98] staged a propaganda campaign on his behalf.[99] His former record in charity[100] and in agrarian syndicates[101] also greatly worked to his advantage,[102] especially in the countryside,[103] though some scholars prefer rather to stress his position in “oligarquía burgalesa”.[104] His bid proved successful[105] and Estévanez was among 3 Integrists[106] who obtained the Cortes ticket; once in the chamber, they all joined the Agrarian minority;[107] some scholars count him among the Agrarians[108] even though Estévanez identified himself as an Integrist.[109]

wheat fields, Castile

In the parliament Estévanez joined Comisión de Estado,[110] but he gained some sort of notoriety during the plenary sessions.[111] This was due to his grandiose apology of Spanish Catholic tradition,[112] claim that all public power comes from the Almighty and challenging fellow deputies by asking whether they read the Gospel, to which many cheerfully responded either to the negative or with laughter.[113] As a result, he gained opinion of one of the most reactionary deputies,[114] sort of a prehistoric relic, mocked as fanatic, extravagant and picturesque ridicule;[115] some dubbed him “cavernícola de las estalatitas”.[116] Undeterred, in one of the opening Cortes sessions when discussing reported extremism of the Left he declared the government responsible and warned that “the Republic was already reaping a revolutionary harvest from the seeds it had sown itself”.[117] In practical terms he opposed secular education designs[118] and legislation aimed against religious orders.[119] Another visible thread of his activity was related to defense of the agrarian status quo, at least in Castile. By some historians named “one of most powerful landowners” of the Burgos province[120] he is considered a spokesman “for cereal growers’ interests in Castilla”[121] who zealously defended their interests and was a perfect embodiment of “common interests between landowners, order and religion”.[122]

Carlist
Carlist standard

Some scholars refer to Estévanez of early 1931 as “integrista carlista”,[123] claim that El Castellano ran a Carlist campaign[124] or vaguely note him against the Carlist background,[125] yet there is no confirmation of his Carlist identity prior to late 1931. At the time Estévanez supported the party leader Olazábal in his strategy of re-unification with the Carlists.[126] In December he participated in a Madrid conference[127] attended by many Integrist and Carlist heavyweights;[128] in a grand lecture he de-emphasized Integrist threads and dwelled on common Traditionalist principles,[129] though he remained silent on usual Carlist dynastic objectives.[130] The rapprochement[131] was complete in the spring of 1932, when already as member of the united Carlist organization Comunión Tradicionalista he started to appear on public rallies.[132] In the 1933 electoral campaign Estévanez ran as a Traditionalist hopeful[133] within Candidatura de las Derechas[134] and triumphed comfortably;[135] this time he entered the Carlist minority.[136]

Though Estévanez used to join trademark Carlist initiatives like legislation against freemasonry[137] and shared the party intransigence when declaring that “adhesionismo a este régimen es imposible”,[138] within the party he was not particularly distinguished. He did not assume any major post in the organization,[139] was only mentioned in a Carlist luxury publication which hailed 100 years of the movement[140] barely spoke at rallies and did not publish in party newspapers. None of the scholarly historiographic works notes him as involved in forging the party line, except that in controversies on closing a monarchist alliance with the Alfonsists he sided with advocates of this option.[141]

As belligerent[142] president of Cámara Oficial Agrícola de Burgos[143] Estévanez focused on agriculture. He vehemently opposed governmental agrarian reform[144] which he considered socialist;[145] though he supported growth of the class of rural owner farmers he envisaged the process as based on credit, syndicates, and agricultural organizations,[146] not on state socialism.[147] In defense of private property[148] he also lobbied for flexible application of new regulations like términos municipales or jurados mixtos; when speaking to minister of labor he described these measures as undermining Castilian rural life.[149] He lobbied for protective measures against wheat imports[150] and control of prices,[151] though in general he preferred the wholesale trade be left to syndicates and agricultural chambers.[152] Facing his onslaught[153] the ministry of agriculture stroke back and charged the organizations he headed with poor organization.[154]

Carlists in an electoral committee, 1930s

During the 1936 electoral campaign Estévanez stood in Burgos[155] as a Traditionalist[156] candidate of Frente Contrarrevolucionario de Derechas alliance[157] and won comfortably.[158] However, his ticket was annulled by the Frente-Popular-dominated Cortes,[159] since as involved in negotiation of government grain contracts[160] he was reportedly in violation of the electoral law.[161] Neither in 1931 nor in 1933 was he challenged on similar grounds; as tens of right-wing tickets were cancelled at the same time, in historiography the 1936 process of their validation is at times considered “worst and most audacious fraud”.[162] Deprived of his parliamentary tribune, Estévanez used his position of head of Federación Católico Agraria Burgalesa to lobby about wheat contracts,[163] trade barriers[164] and price regulations.[165]

Civil War: enthusiast turned skeptic
Estévanez (1st f/R) and other Carlists in Burgos, 1937

It is not clear whether Estévanez took part in the Carlist conspiracy against the Republic.[166] However, immediately after the rebels had taken control of Burgos he published a large article which hailed the insurgents and dwelled on their patriotic stand against the background of such historical events like the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.[167] In mid-August he was among the city personalities who welcomed Franco in Burgos,[168] yet there is no information on Estévanez assuming any position either in the local administration or in the Carlist wartime executive, despite the fact that Junta Nacional Carlista de Guerra partially resided in Burgos and many party leaders moved to the city,[169] the informal capital of the Nationalist zone.[170] Amidst the wave of rearguard repression Estévanez called for order and in press piece wrote that “let there be not a single individual who takes justice into his own hands! Justice yes, but by means of appropriate procedures and competent tribunals!”.[171] It is likely that in September he contributed to release of Manuel Machado, few days earlier arrested in his office.[172]

In wake of the forced political unification of April 1937 Estévanez was applauded in heavily censored press as a champion of patriotic movement, “nosotros carlistas y vosotros fascistas” who fought against “servants of Russia”, yet it is not clear whether he actually supported the merger.[173] He did not assume any post in the newly created state party, Falange Española Tradicionalista, and there is no information he accepted its ticket; similarly no source confirms he continued as independent Carlist. He remained active in Cámara Agrícola[174] and used his links in Latin America to raise support for the Nationalists.[175] In mid-1937 he was admitted by Gómez-Jordana, president of the quasi-government Junta Técnica del Estado, yet it is not clear what issues they discussed.[176] Estévanez kept practicing as a lawyer and in this role he defended individuals charged with politically-flavored crimes,[177] he went on with charity action and was involved in running the Burgos Hogar del Herido.[178]

nueva Babilonia?

In early 1938 it was already evident that Estévanez got hugely disappointed with the emerging Francoist regime. In private correspondence with cardenal Segura he heavily criticized pro-German stand, censorship and Fuero del Trabajo,[179] which advanced “organización corporativa contranatural”. He declared not understanding “how they intend to found a Catholic state by negating true liberty”; he also lambasted “nueva Babilonia” which “pretends to be a Catholic state but which imitates neo-pagan social structures”.[180] In mid-1938 he was already in conflict with the Francoist administration; the new restrictive Ley de Prensa was intended to drive independent newspapers out of the market and spelled problems to his newspapers.[181] Estévanez[182] requested help on part of religious administration and the primate Goma;[183] it is possible that he actually transferred ownership of El Castellano, at the time issued twice a day in a morning and evening edition,[184] to the Toledo curia.[185] The maneuvers did not help[186] and both newspapers closed down either in 1939[187] or slightly later.[188]

Francoism and after
working the fields, Francoism

There is scarce information on Estévanez’ public activity after the Civil War. None of the sources consulted notes him as involved in political activities, either within Carlism[189] or any other structures; in police files he appeared as "desafecto totalmente a FET y de las JONS".[190] He seemed rather focused on agricultural organizations. In 1939 he was among co-founders of a re-created Confederación Nacional Católico-Agraria, the nationwide Catholic agricultural trade union, yet he did not enter its executive;[191] the following year the syndicate lost its autonomy and identity, forcibly incorporated into the Falangist Delegación Nacional de Sindicatos.[192] Estévanez was then noted as involved in local organizations of wheat producers, notably in the mid-1940s he acted as president of Cámara Oficial Agrícola in the Burgos province, heavily engaged in trade, distribution and quality control. It seems also that the chamber made some effort to protect small producers; as the 1940s were in Spain the years of food shortages and hunger, the position of Estévanez rendered him a locally prominent person.[193] As to his own economy he held some rural estates in the provinces of Burgos,[194] Santander[195] and elsewhere,[196] apart from urban property in the immediate vicinity of the Burgos cathedral;[197] it is not clear whether after the Civil War he kept practicing as a lawyer.[198]

Another thread of Estévanez’ post-war activity was traditionally charity. Apart from personally supporting children from poor families[199] he acted as member of Junta Directiva of Congregación Mariana de Caballeros.[200] In the mid- and late 1940s the Estévanez couple at least twice travelled to Latin America[201] and at least some of these journeys were related to charity and religion, as he was noted as involved in the Cuban Sociedad Benéfica Burgalesa.[202] It is not clear whether he was awarded the Chilean Medalla de Merito and the Peruvian Sol del Peru during his 1940s visits or during the earlier 1920s trips with cardenal Benlloch.[203] Estévanez appeared in the Burgos press societé columns or as involved in local religious feasts until the early 1950s, always noted as a respected and prestigious citizen.[204] However, his death was not acknowledged by nationwide media and he soon went into almost total oblivion; his memory was not cherished by Carlism of the late Francoism and is absent also in the present-day Carlist propaganda. Except a minor related piece he has not earnt a monograph;[205] when mentioned in historiographic works he is usually presented as a reactionary landowner busy with preserving social inequality in rural Castile.[206] The figure of Estévanez made a marginal and peculiar entry into literature; as a secondary character he appears in Inquietud en el Paraíso by Óscar Esquivias.[207] The 2005 novel is set in Burgos before and during the outbreak of the Civil War; Estévanez is pictured in an episode possibly related to actual events, namely when introducing Manuel Machado to general Fidel Dávila.[208]

See also

Notes
  1. many press titles preferred the “Estébanez” spelling, also with reference to “Francisco Estébanez”, see e.g. La Libertad 20.03.36, available here. Also some present-day scholars prefer this spelling, see e.g. Robert Vallverdú i Martí, El Carlisme Català Durant La Segona República Espanyola 1931-1936, Barcelona 2008, ISBN 9788478260805, pp. 84, 101, 149 and more. The death certificate and death notices in the press, published by the family, preferred the “Estévanez” spelling, it is also the version adopted in the official Cortes service
  2. in the 1930s a popular weekly suggested that Estévanez was the grandson of Nicolás María Rivero, minister of interior during the First Republic. Rationale behind this speculation is not clear, but it appears to be entirely false, see Mundo Gráfico 11.11.31, available here
  3. María Cruz Ebro, Memorias de una burgalesa, 1885-1931, Burgos 1952, p. 163
  4. an individual named Vicente Estévanez y Terán from Soncillo, who appears to be the brother of Vícente and paternal granduncle of Francisco, in the mid-19th century formally asked the appropriate tribunal for confirmation of his status of the hidalgo, Adolfo Barredo de Valenzuela, Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent (eds.), Revista Hidalguía 44 (1961), p. 55
  5. Cruz Ebro 1952, p. 163
  6. Diario de Burgos 08.06.21, available here
  7. El Siglo Futuro 18.12.01, available here
  8. Cruz Ebro 1952, p. 163
  9. Boletín oficial de la provincia de Santander 05.10.98, available here
  10. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, La Abadesa de Las Huelgas: estudio teológico jurídico, Madrid 1988, ISBN 9788432124389, p. 161, see also Lista de abadesas, [in:] Monasterio de Las Huelgas service, available here
  11. Cruz Ebro 1952, p.162
  12. Amancio Rodríguez Lopez, El Real Monasterio de las Huelgas de Burgos y el Hospital del Rey, vol. 1, Burgos 1907 (reprint 2011), ISBN 9788490011461 , p. 227
  13. Aquilino Estévanez resided in Valdeolea in the late 1890s, Boletín oficial de la provincia de Santander 07.03.98, available here
  14. Aquilino Estévanez died in Mataporquera, El Siglo Futuro 18.12.01, available here
  15. Diario de Burgos 17.12.52, available here
  16. Diario de Burgos 02.01.72, available here
  17. Diario de Burgos 17.12.52, available here
  18. Boletín oficial de la provincia de Santander 27.10.97, available here
  19. the source is not highly credible as it provided also clearly false information on Estévanez’ grandfather. However, given the high rate of religious servants in the family, the seminar episode of Francisco appears to be credible. The newspaper which floated the news compared him to Marcones, a character from the La Puchera novel of José María de Pereda, see Mundo Gráfico 11.11.31, available here. Indeed, Marcones “aún era libre, aún estaba en el mundo, aún era un hombre como todos los demás, aún era dueño de elegir, si el obstáculo se atravesaba, entre la Iglesia... y el matrimonio”, José M. de Pereda, La Puchera, Madrid 1901, p. 244, available online here
  20. in 1901 Estévanez sought and was admitted residence in Salamanca, El Adelanto 29.08.01, available here
  21. Diario de Burgos 11.03.04, available here
  22. El Lábaro 18.07.04, available here
  23. Cruz Ebro 1952, p. 163, see also Diario de Burgos 27.12.53, available here; in some sources her surname is spelled as “Obeso Palacios”, see e.g. El Cantábrico 29.06.11, available here, or “Obesso Palacio”, see Diario de Burgos 27.12.53, available here
  24. Diario de Burgos 23.03.76, available here, Diario de Burgos 24.03.76, available here
  25. Diario de Burgos 03.01.20, available here
  26. El Cantábrico 21.07.11, available here
  27. Cruz Ebro 1952, p. 163
  28. El Correo Español 08.11.11, available here
  29. see Estévanez’ death certificate, available here
  30. Diario de Burgos 04.04.14, available here
  31. Diario de Burgos 17.05.23, available here
  32. Diario de Burgos 08.04.44, available here
  33. Diario de Burgos 09.09.47, available here
  34. the crowd, rising the cries of Viva Carlos VII!, was instigated by an anonymous canónigo and other religious, and lynched the governor inside the Burgos cathedral, El asesinato del Gobernador de Burgos, [in:] La Aventura de la Historia service, available here
  35. “perseguido con ocasión del asesinato del gobernador” and “a quien persiguieron por carlista”, Manuel Revuelta González, La Compañía de Jesús en la España Contemporánea, vol. 3, Madrid 2008, ISBN 9788484682370, pp. 53, 1028
  36. Cruz Ebro 1952, p. 163
  37. Luis Castro Berrojo, Capital de la Cruzada: Burgos durante la Guerra Civil, Barcelona 2006, ISBN 9788484327226, pp. 29-30; Estévanez is wrongly indexed as “Francisco Estévanez Calderón”, see p. 374
  38. El Siglo Futuro 02.04.87, available here
  39. it was a correspondence covering a local pilgrimage in Valladolid, El Siglo Futuro 19.05.97, available here
  40. “El liberalismo e s pecado y peor ex genere suo que el robo,el asesinato y el adulterio (...) ¡Fuera caretas! El liberalismo es muerte,ruina, desolación y síntesis de todos los atropellos yfieros males”, El Siglo Futuro 13.03.01, available here
  41. Melchor Ferrer, Historia del tradicionalismo Español, vol. XXX/2, Sevilla 1979. p. 136
  42. Castro Berrojo 2006, p. 140
  43. Eduardo González Calleja, La prensa carlista y falangista durante la Segunda República y la Guerra Civil (1931-1937), [in:] El Argonauta Español 9 (2012), p. 5
  44. Mundo Gráfico 11.11.31, available here
  45. in 1904 Estévanez was slapped by conde de Berberana, who felt offended by one of his articles, El Lábaro 12.03.04, available here
  46. in 1904 Estévanez ceased as director and nominated José Miguel Oliván, El Lábaro 03.08.04, available here
  47. compare La Lectura Popular 01.06.05, available here
  48. in the early 1920s Estévanez sued the director of El Castellano over defamation, Diario de Burgos 16.05.25, available here
  49. El Lábaro 02.12.97, available here
  50. Diario de Burgos 20.01.12, available here
  51. El Siglo Futuro 27.08.06, available here
  52. Diario de Burgos 13.03.08, available here
  53. Diario de Burgos 13.03.09, available here
  54. El Diario Palentino 08.04.10, available here
  55. La Independencia 24.04.10, available here, also El Norte 26.04.10, available here
  56. El Norte 05.05.10, available here
  57. the triumphant candidate, a Conservative José María Garay y Rowart, was declared victorious as had no counter-candidate, see details of his 1910 Cortes ticket available here
  58. El Salmantino 06.07.11, available here
  59. his relations with the Carlists must have been correct, as he kept advertising in the flagship Carlist daily, see El Correo Español 08.11.11, available here
  60. in mid-1920s Estévanez served as juez in Reinosa, Boletín oficial de la provincia de Santander 17.12.23 available here
  61. “owned lucrative estates principally devoted to the cultivation of wheat”, Martin Blinkhorn, Carlism and Crisis in Spain, Cambridge 2008], ISBN 9780521086349, p. 57
  62. El Siglo Futuro 15.06.31, available here
  63. none of the sources consulted provides information when the daily was founded. The earlierst note on El Defensor comes from 1922, see Diario de Burgos 11.11.22, available here
  64. like Juan Olazabal, Manuel Senante, José Sanchez Marco, Ladislao de Zavala, Marcial Solana or Juan Lamamie de Clairac
  65. El Siglo Futuro 15.05.18, available here
  66. El Siglo Futuro 16.06.20, available here
  67. the victorious candidate gathered 10,545 votes, Estévanez mustered support of at least 8,187 voters, La Voz 01.05.23, available here, Diario de Burgos 03.05.23, available here
  68. Rubén Domínguez Méndez, El viaje del Cardenal Benlloch por Iberoamérica en 1923. Los intereses de España e Italia en la correspondencia diplomática del Archivio Segreto Vaticano, [in:] Confluenze 5 (2013), p. 226
  69. La Atalaya 17.05.21, available here
  70. Diario de Burgos 02.12.22, available here
  71. Cruz Ebro 1952, p. 387
  72. Mundo Gráfico 11.11.31, available here
  73. Benlloch acted as ambassador of both Pope Pius XI and King Alfonso XIII of Spain, Ricardo Daniel Cubas Ramacciotti, The Politics of Religion and the Rise of Social Catholicism in Peru (1884-1935): Faith, Workers and Race before Liberation Theology, Leiden 2017, ISBN 9789004355699, p. 74
  74. Dimitri Pablos Papanikas, La iglesia de la “Raza”. La iglesia Católica Española y la construcción de la identidad nacional en Argentina 1910-1930 [PhD thesis Universidad Autonoma de Madrid], Madrid 2012, p. 186
  75. 1923 co-organized Fiesta de Santo Tómas, Diario de Burgos 09.03.23, available here
  76. like Asamblea Eucaristica, Diario de Burgos 12.10.27, available here
  77. in 1924 Estévanez was among these welcoming the Jesuit general Ledóchowski in Burgos, Diario de Burgos 09.09.24, available here
  78. Diario de Burgos 17.03.23, available here
  79. Diario de Burgos 23.09.24, available here
  80. in 1924 Estévanez got his house at Nuño Rasura 14 consecrated, Diario de Burgos 31.05.24, available here
  81. e.g. he led political-religious events like consecration of the local Integrist organization in the name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, El Siglo Futuro 16.06.20, available here
  82. in 1925 Estévanez sued the director of El Castellano, who allegedly accused him of “playing loosely with Catholic social doctrine”, Diario de Burgos 16.05.25, available here. In 1926 he was engaged in another civil lawsuit, Diario de Burgos 12.06.26, available here
  83. the Primo de Rivera coup took place when Benlloch and his entourage were on the Atlantic travelling to America. The cardinal sent an enthusiastic radio message to Primo, Pablos Papanikas 2012, p. 187
  84. e.g. in 1926 he contributed financially to monument of Cervantes in Madrid, an initiative of gobierno civil, Diario de Burgos 11.11.26, available here
  85. Diario de Burgos 10.09.25, available here
  86. in 1931 he was reported as owner of El Castellano, Mundo Gráfico 11.11.31, available here
  87. at least since 1928, Diario de Burgos 03.04.28, available here, see also Diario de Burgos 02.12.29, available here
  88. Diario de Burgos 12.11.29, available here
  89. El Siglo Futuro 15.06.31, available here
  90. in the late 1930s Estévanez was referred to as Segura’s “viejo conocido”, Santiago Martínez Sánchez, El Cardenal Pedro Segura y Sáenz (1880-1957) [Phd thesis Universidad de Navarra], Pamplona 2002, p. 321
  91. Martínez Sánchez 2002, p. 155. The person in question, in main text referred to as “Francisco Estévanez” (“un integrista, presidente de la Federación de Sindicatos Católicos de Burgos”) is further identified in footnotes and on basis of original document in the Segura archive as “Francisco Estévanez Calderón”, which remains puzzling
  92. “si esto no fuera posible, entonces puede y debe recurrirse a la unión transeúnte”, Martínez Sánchez 2002, p. 155
  93. Martínez Sánchez 2002, p. 166
  94. in March 1931 Estévanez took part in a conference in Palencia, where he delivered a lecture “Santo Tomás y los estudiantes católicos”, El Día de Palencia 07.03.31, available here
  95. Diario de Burgos 20.06.31, available here
  96. Luis Teófilo Gil Cuadrado, El Partido Agrario Español (1934-1936); un alternativa conservadora y republicana [PhD thesis Universidad Complutense], Madrid 2006, p. 113, Blinkhorn 2008, p. 126
  97. it seems that he re-possessed El Castellano some time between 1925 and 1931, as he was referred to as its owner during the 1931 elections, see El Defensór de Córdoba 30.06.31, available here, Diario de Burgos 02.06.31, available here, Rafael Ibañez Hernández, La familia católica obrera durante la Segunda República: el Círculo Católico de Obreros de Burgos, [in:] Espacio, Tiempo y Forma 10 (1997), p. 182
  98. though unnamed, it is probably El Castellano and El Defensor referred by a historian who noted that Estévanez “owned two small local newspapers”, Blinkhorn 2008, p. 57
  99. some scholars give Estévanez as a sample of a peculiar phenomenon, which consisted of a large contingent of press-related individuals (owners, publishers, journalists) winning parliamentary seats; following lawyers and academics they were the 3rd largest professional group in the Cortes, which prompted some historians to coin the name “republica de periodistas”, see Antonio Checa Godoy, Prensa y partidos políticos durante la II República, Salamanca 1989, ISBN 9788474815214, p. 17
  100. Estévanez claimed having donated huge sums to Sindicatos Católicos, provided free law consultations and dedicated time and money to the poor, Diario de Burgos 01.08.31, available here
  101. “no es necesario presentarle a los labradores. Conocen bien sus campañas y vida de sacrificios por la clase social agro-pecuaria organizada, por la Federación de Sindicatos y por sus propagandas en favor de los labradores y ganaderos”, El Siglo Futuro 15.06.31, available here
  102. Blinkhorn 2008, p. 57
  103. Gil Cuadrado 2006, p. 104; Estévanez obtained 42,6% of all votes cast, Gil Cuadrado 2006, p. 113, Blinkhorn 2008, p. 126
  104. Castro Berrojo 2006, p. 27
  105. see his 1931 electoral data at the official Cortes service, available here
  106. the other two were a Salamanca landowner José María Lamamié de Clairac and a fellow Estévanez’ Burgos candidate, canónigo Ricardo Gómez Roji
  107. La Nación 27.07.31, available here
  108. see e.g. Gil Cuadrado 2006, pp. 117, 120
  109. like his father; Estévanez admitted also the Carlist episode of his father, Diario de Burgos 01.08.31, available here
  110. La Nación 27.07.31, available here, La Libertad 01.08.31, available here
  111. however, in June 1933 Estévanez was a candidate to presidency of Tribunal de Garantías Constitucionales, a body elected by the Cortes; he got 2 votes, compared to 204 of Alvaro de Albornoz and 88 of Ortega y Gasset, La Voz 14.07.33, available here. He later planned to run for a simple member in the Tribunal, but eventually withdrew to give way to another right-wing candidate, El Día de Palencia 30.08.33, available here, Wilhelm Boucsein, Verfassungssicherung und Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit in der zweiten spanischen Republik: (1931-1936), Heidelberg 1977, ISBN 9783881290753, p. 203
  112. spanning the Reconquista and conquest of the New World, undo Gráfico 16.09.31, available here
  113. El Siglo Futuro 17.12.31, available here
  114. Castro Berrojo 2006, p. 29
  115. Mundo Gráfico 16.09.31, available here
  116. probably the insult was intended as “cavernicola de las estalactitas”, Diario de Burgos 01.08.31, available here
  117. Blinkhorn 2008, p. 59
  118. e.g. Estévanez co-founded Agrupación para la Defensa y Libertad de los Padres en la educación de los hijos, Diario de Burgos 08.08.31, available here
  119. La Cruz 08.06.33, available here. Back in 1932 he co-authored a competitive draft of law on the religious, El Defensór de Córdoba 29.12.32, available here
  120. none of the sources consulted provides information on Estévanez’ landholdings and it is not clear how much land he actually possessed
  121. Julián Casanova, The Spanish Republic and Civil War, Cambridge 2010, ISBN 9781139490573, p. 30
  122. Casanova 2010, p. 70
  123. Ibañez Hernández 1997, p. 182
  124. Ferrer 1979, p. 136
  125. Blinkhorn 2008, pp. 57, 59, Jordi Canal, El Carlismo, Madrid 2000, ISBN 8420639478, p. 291
  126. Blinkhorn 2008, p. 73
  127. titled "Doctrina y Acción Tradicionalista"
  128. El Siglo Futuro 17.12.31, available here
  129. Estévanez described Traditionalism as political system which “tiene como principal fin la proclamación del reinado de Dios y de su justicia: el reinado social de Jesucristo” and declared that “adhesionismo a este régimen es imposible”, El Siglo Futuro 17.12.31, available here
  130. however, at another opportunity he supported revindicación of Catalan rights, a clear component of traditional Carlist theory usually missing in the Integrist toolset, La Independencia 10.05.32, available here
  131. among some common Integrist-Carlist initiatives joined by Estévanez there was a letter highly critical of the papal nuncio Tedeschini, signed in December 1931 along Senante, Lamamie, Rodezno and Beunza, Cristóbal Robles Muñoz, Los Católicos integristas y la republica en España (1930-1934), [in:] António Matos Ferreira, Joao Miguel Almeida, Religião e cidadania: protagonistas, motivações e dinâmicas sociais no contexto ibérico, Lisboa 2011, ISBN 9789728361365, p. 72
  132. on May 8, 1932 Estévanez was first noted speaking at grand Traditionalist rally with Rodezno, Larramendi, Chicharro, Urraca, Senante, Oreja, Lamamie, Beunza and Díaz Aguado, El Siglo Futuro 06.05.32, available here, see also Hoja oficial de la provincia de Barcelona 09.05.32, available here
  133. Ahora 21.12.33, available here; some scholars claim that in 1933 Estévanez ran as Agrarian, Evelyn Dillge-Mischung, Die Agrarbevolkerung in Altkastilien wahrend der Zweiten Spanischen Republik: sozio-okonomische Lage und politischen Verhalten, Frankfurt a/M 1989, ISBN 9783631407875, p. 137
  134. Heraldo de Madrid 17.10.33, available here
  135. see Estévanez’ 1933 mandate data at the official Cortes service, available here
  136. El Siglo Futuro 22.11.33, available here
  137. Ferrer 1979, p. 112
  138. El Siglo Futuro 17.12.31, available here
  139. unlike his fellow ex-Integrist Burgos deputy Gómez Roji, who was invited to seat in the Council of Culture, a Carlist board of pundits entrusted with guarding the party’s theoretical platform
  140. compare Juan María Roma (ed.), Album histórico del Carlismo, Barcelona 1933, p. 296
  141. Estévanez co-signed the document which founded Bloque Nacional, Ferrer 1979, p. 106
  142. see his militant intervention at a session of the board, Labór 19.01.35, available here, also Diario de Burgos 17.07.35, available here
  143. Diario de Burgos 18.09.34, available here
  144. when speaking in the Cortes he painted “el paisaje bucolico” of the Burgos rural life and claimed that “reforma agraria va a ser un volcán colocado a los pies de España, Castro Berrojo 2006, p. 64
  145. El Día de Palencia 17.06.32, available here
  146. Estévanez referred to Aquinas when laying down his concept of supporting peasant owners, El Día de Palencia 28.06.32, available here
  147. Gil Cuadrado 2006, p. 424
  148. Castro Berrojo 2006, p. 29
  149. see his discussion with Largo Caballero, at the time the Minister of Labor, El Siglo Futuro 12.05.33, available here
  150. see his discussion with Marcelino Domingo, at the time the Minister of Agriculture, Noticiero de Soria 11.01.34, available here; another intervention with the same ministry is noted in Diario de Burgos 06.07.35, available here
  151. Noticiero de Soria 22.10.34, available here. In 1935 he proposed cutting the minimum price of wheat in the face of an uprecedented glut. Blaming speculators, he and Lamamie “swallowed their dislike of state intervention and urged the government to buy up the wheat surplus, a policy adopted later in the year”, Blinkhorn 2008, p. 195
  152. Labór 12.12.35, available here
  153. Diario de Burgos 17.07.35, available here
  154. Diario de Burgos 08.08.35, available here
  155. Frente was competitive to Agrarians in Burgos and El Castellano ran a campaign against them, marking u-turn of Estévanez’ alliance strategy, Gil Cuadrado 2006, pp. 516, 528. One author claims that Estévanez abandoned the Agrarians once the party had declared itself republican, Julio Gil Pecharromán, Sobre España inmortal, solo Dios. José María Albiñana y el partido nacionalista español (1930-1937), Madrid 2013, ISBN 9788436266627, p. 80
  156. Ahora 11.02.36, available here
  157. Ibañez Hernández 1997, p. 182, also Castro Berrojo 2006, p. 26, also Diario de Burgos 10.02.36, available here
  158. Estévanez obtained 66,324 votes out of 135,012 votes cast, see Estévanez’ failed 1936 bid data in the official Cortes service, available here
  159. La Epoca 20.03.36, available here
  160. Blinkhorn 2008, p. 231
  161. Estévanez was declared in violation of art. 7 pt 2 of electoral law, which excluded from standing “los contratistas de obras o servicios públicos que se costeen con fondos del Estado, de la provincia o del Municipio”; the ticket was transferred to a Republican Socialist candidate, Eliseo Cuadrado García, La Libertad 20.03.36, available here, Gil Cuadrado 2006, pp. 527-528
  162. Stanley G. Payne, The Collapse of the Spanish Republic, 1933-1936: Origins of the Civil War, Yale 2008, ISBN 9780300130805, p. 214. For a systematic historiographic review see Enrique Moradiellos, Las elecciones generales de febrero de 1936: una reconsideración historiográfica, [in:] Revista de Libros 2017, pp. 1-38
  163. La Epoca 20.03.36, available here
  164. Noticiero de Soria 20.02.36, available here
  165. Labor 16.04.36, available here
  166. one scholar claims that the Burgos Carlists well were prepared to the coup and gathered many weapons but does not mention Estévanez as involved, Castro Berrojo 2006, p. 29
  167. Pensamiento Alavés 25.07.36, available here
  168. Labor 20.08.36, available here a
  169. compare the list of posts in high Carlist executive as referred by Ricardo Ollaquindia, La Oficina de Prensa y Propaganda Carlista de Pamplona al comienzo de la guerra de 1936, [in:] Príncipe de Viana 56 (1995), pp. 485-508
  170. compare Luis Castro Berrojo, Capital de la Cruzada: Burgos durante la Guerra Civil, Barcelona 2006, ISBN 9788484327226
  171. “Y ¡que no haya entre nosotros uno sólo que se tome la justicia por su mano! Justicia sí, pero mediante procedimiento oportuno y ejercido por tribunal competente”, El Defensor de Labradores 07.08.36, referred after Castro Berrojo 2006, p. 222
  172. Isaac Rilova Perez, Burgos durante la Guerra Civil Española (II), [in:] Boletín de la Institución Fernán González 214 (1997), p. 120
  173. El Defensor de Córdoba 24.04.37, available here
  174. Diario de Burgos 02.04.37, available here
  175. e.g. he appealed to Cuban women to volunteer as madrinas de guerra, Diario de la Marina 18.02.37, available here
  176. Diario de Burgos 11.06.37, available here
  177. in March 1938 he defended a man charged with murdering a guard, Diario de Burgos 14.03.38, available here
  178. Diario de Burgos 04.10.38, available here
  179. labelled “errores, aberraciones y propósitos inaceptables”, Martínez Sánchez 2002, p. 321
  180. Martínez Sánchez 2002,p. 321
  181. the August 1938 Ley de Prensa specified very strict requirements to be met by every daily; they included an inflated staff, composed of e.g. a director, redactor jefe, redactor político, head of foreign policy section, head of daily chronicle section, head of sport section and so on; José Andrés-Gallego, ¿Fascismo o Estado católico?: Ideología, religión y censura en la España de Franco (1937-1941), Madrid 1997, ISBN 9788474904178, pp. 140, 143
  182. there appears to be some confusion about names. In the same archive of primate Goma and in the same month of October 1938 the director of El Castellano appears either as “Francisco Estévanez Rodríguez” or as “Francisco Estévanez Calderón”, compare Andrés Gallego, Antón M. Pazos (eds.), Archivo Gomá: documentos de la Guerra Civil, vol 12, Madrid 2001, ISBN 9788400088002, pp. 41, 61
  183. Andrés Gallego, M. Pazos 2001, p. 41
  184. Gonzalez Calleja 2011, p. 5
  185. Gonzalez Calleja 2011, p. 27
  186. it probably did not help either that some El Castellano collaborators aloud expressed their hostility towards the regime; it was the case of Martin Garrido Hernando, a poet and requeté, who was detained during unrest in Burgos in 1939. He was charged with for refusing to give a falangist salute, Manuel Martorell Pérez, La continuidad ideológica del carlismo tras la Guerra Civil [PhD thesis in Historia Contemporanea, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia], Valencia 2009, p. 239
  187. Gonzalez Calleja 2011, p. 5
  188. one source claims that in 1940, Ferrer 1979, p. 136, another one suggests the last issue was this of August 30, 1941, Andrés-Gallego 1997, p. 166
  189. Estévanez is not listed a single time in any of few large monographs on post-war Carlism, compare Francisco Javier Caspistegui Gorasurreta, El naufragio de las ortodoxias. El carlismo, 1962–1977, Pamplona 1997; ISBN 9788431315641, Manuel Martorell Pérez, La continuidad ideológica del carlismo tras la Guerra Civil [PhD thesis in Historia Contemporanea, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia], Valencia 2009, Ramón María Rodón Guinjoan, Invierno, primavera y otoño del carlismo (1939-1976) [PhD thesis Universitat Abat Oliba CEU], Barcelona 2015, Daniel Jesús García Riol, La resistencia tradicionalista a la renovación ideológica del carlismo (1965-1973) [PhD thesis UNED], Madrid 2015
  190. Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 207; dating of the police document in question is not clear, probably either late 1930s or early 1940s
  191. Pensamiento Alavés 09.05.39, available here
  192. Ignacio Lamamié de Clairac, Recuerdos de la guerra: España 1936-1939: vividos y relatados por los autores, Mexico 1991, ISBN 9789688590317, p. 158
  193. Diario de Burgos 17.03.42, available here
  194. in Cobos de Cerrato, Boletín oficial de la provincia de Palencia 23.03.49, available here
  195. in Anievas, Boletín oficial de la provincia de Santander 30.03.51, available here
  196. in the 1950s Estévanez’ wife was reported as owner of a property in an unidentified location of La Jedesa or La Dehesa, Diario de Burgos 10.12.61, available here
  197. Diario de Burgos 02.03.50, available here
  198. in the New York immigration documents Estévanez is listed as “lawyer”, Passenger lists, 17–19 July 1946 (NARA T715, roll 7142), [in:] FamilySearch service, available here
  199. for 1944 see Diario de Burgos 08.04.44, available here, for 1947 see Diario de Burgos 09.09.47, available here
  200. Diario de Burgos 27.12.53, available here
  201. Passenger lists, 17–19 July 1946 (NARA T715, roll 7142), [in:] FamilySearch service, available here, Passenger lists, 6-7 Feb 1948 (NARA T715, roll 7543), [in:] FamilySearch service, available here, see also JewishGen service, available here
  202. Diario de Burgos 11.01.48, available here
  203. Diario de Burgos 25.12.58, available here
  204. Diario de Burgos 26.06.52, available here
  205. the exception is Clara Sanz Hernando, "Diario de Burgos" y "El castellano" contra la República; periodismo de trinchera en la capital de la cruzada, [in:] José María Chomón Serna, Clara Sanz Hernando (eds.), La prensa en Burgos durante la Guerra Civil, Burgos 2018, ISBN 9788470748257, pp. 77-110
  206. compare Blinkhorn 2008, pp. 57, 59, 80 and passim, Casanova 2010, pp. 30, 70, Castro Berrojo 2006, pp. 27, 30, 140 and passim, Checa Godoy 1989, p. 17, Gil Cuadrado 2006, p. 424; the single work which offers a different perspective is Martínez Sánchez 2002, pp. 155, 166, 321
  207. Merche Pallarés, Inquietud en el Paraíso, [in:] Kikkax blog 14.01.11, available here l
  208. La locura desatada, [in:] El cuento que no es quento blog 23.01.11, available here

Further reading
  • Martin Blinkhorn, Carlism and Crisis in Spain, Cambridge 2008, ISBN 9780521086349
  • María Cruz Ebro, Memorias de una burgalesa, 1885-1931, Burgos 1952
  • Clara Sanz Hernando, "Diario de Burgos" y "El castellano" contra la República; periodismo de trinchera en la capital de la cruzada, [in:] José María Chomón Serna, Clara Sanz Hernando (eds.), La prensa en Burgos durante la Guerra Civil, Burgos 2018, ISBN 9788470748257, pp. 77–110
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