Since the nobility could amass large tracts of land during this period, they naturally could also engage in corruption through various means.
The former American Colonies provided Spain with a wealth of gold and silver, but only a portion of these resources made it into the coffers of the Royal Family and the government; much of it became the private property of the nobility and the Church.
Among these assets, there surely were properties obtained legally by the nobility and the Church, but to say all were earned entirely by legal means might not be accurate.
In any case, this legislation indeed affected a large number of the old nobility, as they were the most likely candidates to embezzle millions of pesseta from the government.
Although a million pesseta might not seem much to the Spanish Government, it was still a substantial sum of nearly forty thousand pounds, quite valuable in this era.
