state which assumed under the 1851 Concordat with the Papacy responsibility for financial support of the clergy and strengthened cooperation between the church and the landed aristocracy. In 1836 the liberals wrenched control of the universities away from the church in favor of the state. Conservatives entered into the 1851 Concordat under which Catholicism was recognized as "the only religion of the Spanish nation" and, according to Sanchez, "the church was granted . . . the right to control education in the state schools" (28).
Sanchez said 19th century Spanish liberals "wanted a secular school system; they wanted the church excluded from the intellectual life of the nation" (36). However, in a poor, underdeveloped predominantly agricultural economy, funds for public education were lacking. As a result, liberal pronouncements in the sphere of education far exceeded their actions. A 1857 law established the beginnings of a public school system, called for compulsory school attendance for all children ages 6 to 12 and free tuition for the poor, and
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