The 18th century according to Menéndez Pelayo

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to help understand the eighteenth century from the perspective of Menéndez Pelayo. For this, different points are taken into account: The century of the Enlightenment in the « History of the heterodox », Ideology and literature (The History of aesthetic ideas in Spain) and The «Preliminary Warnings» of 1910 to the Heterodoxes. It delves into the thought of Menéndez Pelayo about what this period entailed from an ideological, political, religious and even sociological point of view, without forgetting science and culture, and considers the positive and negative aspects. Although at first the eighteenth century was perceived by Menéndez Pelayo as a stage of loss of spiritual values, there is an evolution in the thought of the Cantabrian author, who ends up accepting its importance. Thus, this research allows us to conclude that the eighteenth century was a key century for both Pelayo and us.