He was born to Rafael Álvarez Montañés, a cloth merchant, and Margarita Méndez, of
converso origin. He was given training in banking, first working in a bank and then in the
military administration during the
Peninsular War. In 1820, he was appointed military supplier of the troops that
Ferdinand VII had sent to America to suppress the revolts. Taking advantage of this situation he financed
Rafael del Riego's military uprising. At the time of the coup he became a
Freemason as a member of "Taller Sublime", a Cádiz
masonic lodge. During the
Trienio liberal Mendizábal renounced to the Public Administration, although he had actively participated in the revolts against
absolutism. When Ferdinand VII renounced the
Constitution of 1812 and restored his absolute power in 1823, Mendizábal and many other revolutionary liberals went into exile: in the United Kingdom he opened a trade business. In 1835, under
José María Queipo de Llano's presidency, he was appointed Minister of the Treasury. On 14 September he succeeded Queipo de Llano, keeping the Treasury portfolio during a delicate economic situation due to the
First Carlist War's military expenses.
Queen Regent Maria Christina thought a liberal prime minister would hold the rebellions. Mendizábal's political program included the
Desamortización Eclesiástica ("
Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal"), the immediate end to the Carlist war and the elimination of the
public debt. The Liberal movement, the Queen Regent and Mendizábal were supported by the new owners of the confiscated properties, though the measures only benefited the big land tycoons. The impossibility of ending the Carlist revolts forced Mendizábal's resignation in 1836. A few months later a revolt in
La Granja made the Queen accept a radical government and the restoration of the
Spanish Constitution of 1812. Mendizábal was appointed Minister of Finance and a series of revolutionary measures were taken: the abolition of tithe and
señoríos, freedom of the press, confiscation of the Church properties). In 1837 a more moderate government was elected. Mendizábal was again appointed Minister of Finance in 1843 but had to go in exile again when the moderates came back to power. In 1847, he came back to Spain and occupied a seat in the
Cortes until his death in 1853. ==See also==