Pedro Rodriguez Campomanes (1723–1802) is one the most interesting personalities in the political scene of the long Charles III reign. He possessed a great intelligence, a strong character and a non common working capacity. His family was one of modest «hidalgos» in Asturias, and he leaved very young to try his own destiny in the capital. He worked as an assistant and was afterwards a lawyer, always linked to the progrssive groups of «novatores» in Madrid. His entrance to the Public Administration (1755), and above all to the Counsel of Castile (1762), took place in connection with the political struggel against the dominant faction of the «colegiales», who were united to the Jesuits and to the Inquisition. He stands out, most of all, as a public prosecutor in the Counsel, collaborating in the reforms of Charles III and his more progressive ministers.