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76-521: Isabella was the elder daughter of King Ferdinand VII and Queen Maria Christina . Shortly before Isabella's birth, her father issued the Pragmatic Sanction to revert the Salic Law and ensure the succession of his firstborn daughter, due to his lack of a son. She came to the throne a month before her third birthday, but her succession was disputed by her uncle Infante Carlos (founder of

152-585: A cabinet, presided over by Joaquín María López y López . This government induced the Cortes to declare Isabella of age at 13. Between the beginning of her reign in 1833, and the abdication of Margrethe II in 2024, at any given time, there was a queen regnant in Europe. Isabella was declared of age and swore the 1837 Constitution on 10 November 1843, age thirteen. Despite the alleged parliamentary supremacy, in practice,

228-493: A captain of the guard, Enrique Puigmoltó y Mayans. In 1847, a major scandal took place when Isabella, age seventeen, publicly showed her love for General Serrano and her willingness to divorce from her husband Francisco de Asís; though Narváez and Isabella's mother Maria Christina solved the problem posed to the monarchical institution—Serrano was shifted away from the capital to the post of Captain General of Granada in 1848—,

304-581: A conspiracy against the Crown in connivance with generals from the Liberal Union . Since the late summer, Isabella II had been enjoying her traditional holiday on the coast at Lekeitio , Biscay. The royal entourage moved to San Sebastián to hold a meeting with Napoleon III and Eugenia de Montijo , scheduled for 18 September, but it did not take place, as the French royals did not arrive in time and it

380-565: A daughter who lived only five months, and a stillborn daughter. On 20 October 1819, in Madrid , Ferdinand married the daughter of his father's first cousin Maximilian, Prince of Saxony and of his mother's first cousin Caroline of Parma , Princess Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony (1803–1829). They had no children. Lastly, on 27 May 1829, Ferdinand married another niece, Maria Christina of

456-626: A group of homecoming exiles who taunted her with cries of "Down with the Bourbons!", "Long Live Liberty!" and "Long Live the Republic!". Prim—leader of the liberal progressives—was received in a festive mood by the Madrilenian people at his arrival in the capital in early October. He pronounced his famous speech of the "three nevers" directed against the Bourbons. At the Puerta del Sol , he gave

532-823: A highly symbolic hug to Serrano, the leader of the revolutionary forces triumphant in the bridge of Alcolea. Following the crossing of the French–Spanish border by train on 30 September, the Queen and King spent 5 weeks in the Château de Pau organising their Parisian future. They went to the French capital and arrived on 8 November, settling in the Rue de Rivoli 172. Isabella was forced to renounce to her dynastic rights in Paris in favour of her son Alfonso on 25 June 1870, officially "freely and spontaneously". Involving an economic settling,

608-580: A number of Carlist Wars in the 19th century. Isabella's reign was maintained only through the support of the army. The Cortes and the Moderate Liberals and Progressives reestablished constitutional and parliamentary government, dissolved the religious orders and confiscated their property (including that of the Jesuits ), and tried to restore order to Spain's finances. After the Carlist war,

684-591: A spoiled 11-year-old girl. King Ferdinand VII Ferdinand VII ( Spanish : Fernando VII ; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as el Deseado (the Desired), and after, as el Rey Felón (the Criminal King). Born in Madrid at El Escorial , Ferdinand

760-564: A unicameral body, instead of in three chambers representing the three estates : the clergy, the nobility and the cities.) Ferdinand initially promised to convene a traditional Cortes, but never did so, thereby reasserting the Bourbon doctrine that sovereign authority resided in his person only. Meanwhile, the wars of independence had broken out in the Americas, and although many of the republican rebels were divided and royalist sentiment

836-586: A vigorous policy of suppression in 1838 he was appointed captain-general of Old Castile , and commander-in-chief of the army of reserves. In 1840, for the part he had taken at Seville in the insurrection against Baldomero Espartero, Count of Luchana and the Progresista party, he was compelled to take refuge in France, where, in conjunction with Maria Cristina , he planned the expedition of 1843 which led to Espartero's overthrow. On 3 May 1844 Narváez became

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912-767: The British forces on the peninsula , the first Protestant member of the order. During the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence , the general of the Army of the Three Guarantees , Agustín de Iturbide , and Jefe Superior Juan O'Donojú , signed the Treaty of Córdoba , which concluded the war of independence and established the First Mexican Empire . The imperial constitution contemplated that

988-723: The Carlist movement ), whose refusal to recognize a female sovereign led to the Carlist Wars . Under the regency of her mother, Spain transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, adopting the Royal Statute of 1834 and Constitution of 1837 . Isabella was declared of age and began her personal rule in 1843. Her effective reign was a period marked by palace intrigues, back-stairs and antechamber influences, barracks conspiracies, and military pronunciamientos . Her marriage to Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz

1064-618: The Count of San Luis (whose ascension to premiership had been solely founded on the support from the networks of the royal court), the system was in a critical state by June 1854. On 28 June 1854 a military pronunciamiento intending to force the queen to oust the government of the Count of San Luis, featuring Leopoldo O'Donnell (a "puritan" moderate), took place in Vicálvaro , the so-called Vicalvarada . The military coup (rather dominated by

1140-565: The First Spanish Republic was overthrown in a coup. The Bourbon monarchy was restored, and Alfonso ascended the throne as King Alfonso XII. Isabella returned to Spain two years later but soon again left for France, where she resided until her death in 1904. Isabella was born in the Royal Palace of Madrid in 1830, the eldest daughter of King Ferdinand VII of Spain , and of his fourth wife and niece, Maria Christina of

1216-543: The Jesuits upon his return, but now they had become identified with repression and absolutism among the liberals, who attacked them: twenty-five Jesuits were slain in Madrid in 1822. For the rest of the 19th century, liberal political regimes expelled the Jesuits, and authoritarian regimes reinstated them. Ferdinand VII was an ardent opponent of Freemasonry in Spain , seeing it as a vehicle for liberal revolutions, an enemy of

1292-648: The Ominous Decade ) saw the restoration of absolutism, the re-establishment of traditional university programs and the suppression of any opposition, both by the Liberal Party and by the reactionary revolt (known as " War of the Agraviados ") which broke out in 1827 in Catalonia and other regions. In May 1830, Ferdinand VII published the Pragmatic Sanction , again allowing daughters to succeed to

1368-710: The Palacio Castilla . She paid some visits to Seville. She wrote her testament in Paris in June 1901, making her will to be entombed in El Escorial . Less than a month after passing through a cold categorised as "flu" by the physicians, she died on 9 April 1904, at 8:45 AM. Her corpse was moved from the Palacio Castilla to the Gare d'Orsay , and arrived to El Escorial on 15 April. The funeral took place on

1444-517: The baleen stays of her corset , and what was intended to be a stab wound to the chest only resulted in a minor incision at the right side of the belly. Merino, quickly seized by the halberdiers of the Royal Guard (with help from the dukes of Osuna and Tamames, the Marquis of Alcañices and the Count of Pinohermoso), was removed from sacerdocy and executed by garrote . Under the government of

1520-613: The liberal constitution of 1812 . A revolt in 1820 led by Rafael del Riego forced him to restore the constitution, starting the Liberal Triennium , a three-year period of liberal rule. In 1823 the Congress of Verona authorized a successful French intervention , restoring him to absolute power for the second time. He suppressed the liberal press from 1814 to 1833, jailing many of its editors and writers. Under his rule, Spain lost nearly all of its American possessions , and

1596-476: The "double trust" led to Isabella having a role in the making and toppling of governments, undermining the progressives. The uneasy alliance between moderates and progressives that had toppled Espartero in July 1843 was already disintegrating by the time of the coming of age of the queen. Following a brief government led by progressive Salustiano de Olózaga , the moderates elected their candidate, Pedro José Pidal , to

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1672-405: The 26th prime minister , on 1 July 1844 the 102nd Minister of Foreign Affairs until 21 August 1844, and on 18 November 1845 was created field-marshal and Duque de Valencia , but his policy was too reactionary to be tolerated long, and he was compelled to quit office on 12 February 1846. He then held the post of ambassador at Paris, until again called to preside over the council of ministers as

1748-415: The 28th Prime Minister from 16 March 1846 to 4 April 1846 and 105th Minister of Foreign Affairs from 16 March 1846 to 5 April 1846, and again as the 34th Prime Minister and 111th Minister of Foreign Affairs on 4 October 1847; but misunderstandings with Maria Cristina led to his resignation as Minister on 23 October 1847 and as Prime Minister in the following year on 19 October 1849. On the next day, however, he

1824-468: The 54th Prime Minister on 11 July 1866, and was still in office when he died at Madrid on 22 April/23 April 1868. On his deathbed, he was asked to forgive his enemies. His answer would become infamous, as he stated "I don't need to forgive my enemies — I have had them all shot." He married French Marie Alexandrine de Tascher, 369th Dame of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa on 22 July 1844. He

1900-602: The Bourbon dynasty, a Damnatio memoriae . The defeat of the Isabelline forces commanded by Manuel Pavía y Lacy by the revolutionary forces led by Marshal Serrano at the 28 September 1868 Battle of Alcolea led to the definitive demise of Isabella II's 35-year reign. In the light of the news, Isabella and her entourage left San Sebastián and went to exile taking a train to Biarritz (France) on 30 September. As Isabella entered France after her abdication, her train passed

1976-407: The Bourbons in the early 18th century, and to reestablish the older succession law of Spain. The first pretender to the throne, Ferdinand's brother Infante Carlos, Count of Molina , fought for seven years during Isabella's minority to dispute her title (see First Carlist War ). The supporters of Carlos and his descendants were known as Carlists , and the fight over the succession was the subject of

2052-593: The British government acknowledged Ferdinand VII as king of Spain. Five years later after experiencing serious setbacks on many fronts, Napoleon agreed on 11 December 1813 to acknowledge Ferdinand VII as king of Spain, and signed the Treaty of Valençay so that the king could return to Spain. The Spanish people, blaming the policies of the Francophiles ( afrancesados ) for causing the Napoleonic occupation and

2128-463: The Isabelline monarchy. Dominated by the figure of Marshal Narváez , the Espadón ("Big Sword") of Loja, the so-called " Moderate decade " began in 1844. The constitutional reforms devised by Narváez moved away from the 1837 Constitution by rejecting national sovereignty and reinforcing the power of the monarch, to the point of a "co-sovereignty" between the Cortes and the Queen. On 10 October 1846,

2204-744: The Masonic Lodges suppressed. Ferdinand blamed Freemasonry for the 1820 coup, the Trienio Liberal , as well as for the loss of Spanish colonies in Latin America , with his return to the throne for the so-called " Ominous Decade ", the Anti-Masonic campaign stepped up and members who would not renounce Freemasonry were hanged. He had his police compile reports on Freemasons and former Freemasons active in Spanish society. In

2280-836: The Mexican throne. The imperial crown was consequently given to Iturbide himself, but the Mexican Empire collapsed and was replaced by the First Mexican Republic a few years later. There were several pronunciamientos , or military uprisings, during the king's second reign. The first came in in September 1814, three months after the end of the Peninsular War , and was led by General Espoz y Mina in Pamplona. Juan Díaz Porlier revolted at La Coruña in

2356-523: The Moderate Party made their sixteen-year-old queen marry her double-first cousin Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz (1822–1902), the same day that her younger sister, Infanta Luisa Fernanda , married Antoine d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier . Disgusted by her marriage, Isabella reportedly commented later to one of her intimates: "what shall I tell you about a man whom I saw wearing more lace than I

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2432-479: The Peninsular War by allying Spain too closely to France, at first welcomed Fernando . Ferdinand soon found that in the intervening years a new world had been born of foreign invasion and domestic revolution. In his name Spain fought for its independence and in his name as well juntas had governed Spanish America. Spain was no longer the absolute monarchy he had relinquished six years earlier. Instead he

2508-537: The Royal Guard were caught by surprise while the Queen was leaving the Chapel of the Royal Palace intending to go with her parade to the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Atocha : Martín Merino y Gómez  [ es ] , an ordained priest and liberal activist approached the queen giving the impression of wanting to deliver her a message, and stabbed her. The impact was reduced by the gold embroidery of her dress and by

2584-706: The Spanish Crown and the Catholic faith, subordinated to foreign interests (the Grand Orient of France primarily). After reinstating the Spanish Inquisition and the Jesuits, on 4 May 1814 he publicly declared all Spanish freemasons to be traitors. The same year Pope Pius VII issued a decree against Freemasonry, approved by Ferdinand VII and became an edict of the Spanish Inquisition. Freemasons in high places in Spanish society were arrested and

2660-495: The Spanish throne as well as sons. This decree had originally been approved by the Cortes in 1789, but it had never been officially promulgated. On 10 October 1830, Ferdinand's wife gave birth to a daughter, Isabella , who thereupon displaced her uncle, Carlos, in the line of succession. After Ferdinand's death, Carlos revolted and said he was the legitimate king. Needing support, Maria Christina, as regent for her daughter, turned to

2736-550: The Two Sicilies (1806–1878), daughter of his younger sister Maria Isabella of Spain and of their first cousin Francis I of the Two Sicilies , who was also the brother of Ferdinand's first wife. They had two surviving daughters, the older of whom succeeded Ferdinand upon his death. Ram%C3%B3n Mar%C3%ADa Narv%C3%A1ez Ramón María Narváez y Campos, 1st Duke of Valencia (5 August 1799 – 23 April 1868)

2812-529: The Two Sicilies . She was entrusted to the royal governess María del Carmen Machín y Ortiz de Zárate . Queen Maria Christina became regent on 29 September 1833, when her three-year-old daughter Isabella was proclaimed sovereign following the death of Ferdinand VII. Isabella succeeded to the throne because Ferdinand VII had induced the Cortes Generales to help him set aside the Salic law , introduced by

2888-668: The capital of Spain on 28 July, and proceeded to separate again Isabella from the influence of Maria Christina. In any case, though Isabella accepted advice from Maria Christina, she was not characterised for displaying a profound filial love towards her mother. By virtue of a royal decree, Iloilo in the Philippines was opened to world trade on 29 September 1855, mainly to export sugar and other products to America, Australia and Europe. A Liberal Constitution ("the Unborn One")

2964-686: The commonwealth." Ferdinand VII married four times. His first wife died of tuberculosis , the second died in childbirth , and the third died of "a fever". His fourth wife outlived him by 45 years. In 1802, he married his first cousin Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily (1784–1806), daughter of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Marie Caroline of Austria . Her two pregnancies in 1804 and 1805 both ended in miscarriages . In 1816, Ferdinand married his niece Maria Isabel of Portugal (1797–1818), daughter of his older sister Carlota Joaquina and John VI of Portugal . They had

3040-430: The country entered into a large-scale civil war upon his death. His political legacy has remained contested since his death; some historians regard him as incompetent, despotic, and short-sighted. Ferdinand was the eldest surviving son of Charles IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma . Ferdinand was born in the palace of El Escorial near Madrid . In his youth Ferdinand occupied the position of an heir apparent who

3116-580: The deterioration of the public image of the queen increased from then on. Following the near-revolution of 1848 , Narváez was authorised to rule as dictator to repress insurrectionary attempts up until 1849. In late 1851, Isabella II gave birth to her first daughter and heir presumptive, who was baptised on 21 December as María Isabel Francisca de Asís . Historians have attributed the Princess of Asturias' biological parenthood to José Ruiz de Arana , Gentilhombre de cámara . On 2 February 1852, Isabella and

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3192-565: The dominant figure of the new regime, became convinced that the figure of Isabella had become an issue for the Crown and wrote her a letter bluntly stating "Your Majesty is not a person, it is a reign, it is a historical time, and what the country needs is another reign, a different time", hellbent on avoiding the former queen stepping onto the Spanish capital before the proclamation of the new constitution in June 1876 . She returned to Spain in July 1876, stayed in Santander and El Escorial and

3268-668: The following year. General Luis Lacy led an uprising in Barcelona in 1817, and General Juan Van Halen did the same in Valencia in 1818. In 1820 Rafael del Riego undertook the most successful pronunciamiento , leading to the Trienio Liberal . In 1820 a revolt broke out in favor of the Constitution of 1812 , beginning with a mutiny of the troops under Riego. The king was quickly taken prisoner. Ferdinand had restored

3344-456: The formal separation between Isabella and Francisco had pended on the passing of the former queen's dynastic rights to her son. Following the election to the Spanish throne of Amadeo of Savoy (second son of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy ) in November 1870, Isabella reconciled in 1871 with her brother-in-law, the Duke of Montpensier, who assumed the political management of the family. The First Spanish Republic that followed Amadeo's short reign

3420-434: The fruitless Chincha Islands War (1864–1866) against Peru and Chile . In August 1866, exiled forces comprising both elements from the Democratic and the Progressive Party met secretly in Belgium and subscribed to the Pact of Ostend  [ es ] under the initiative of Marshal Prim , seeking to topple Isabella. On 7 July 1868, Isabella banished her sister and brother-in-law from Spain, as they were linked to

3496-426: The houses of his prime ministers, arrests them, and hands them over to their cruel enemies;" and again, on 14 January 1815, "the king has so debased himself that he has become no more than the leading police agent and prison warden of his country." The king did recognize the efforts of foreign powers on his behalf. As the head of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece , Ferdinand made the Duke of Wellington , head of

3572-486: The liberals. She issued a decree of amnesty on 23 October 1833. Liberals who had been in exile returned and dominated Spanish politics for decades, leading to the Carlist Wars . Ferdinand VII's reign is typically criticized by historians, even in his own country. Historian Stanley G. Payne wrote that Ferdinand was "in many ways the basest king in Spanish history. Cowardly, selfish, grasping, suspicious, and vengeful, D. Fernando seemed almost incapable of any perception of

3648-433: The moderates themselves) had a mixed result and O'Donnell (advised by Ángel Fernández de los Ríos and Antonio Cánovas del Castillo ) proceeded then to seek for civilian support, promising new reforms not in the initial plans in order to appeal to progressives, by bringing a "liberal regeneration", as proclaimed in the Manifesto of Manzanares , drafted by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and issued on 7 July 1854. Days later,

3724-406: The monarch would be "a Spanish prince," and Iturbide and O'Donojú intended to offer the Mexican Imperial Crown to Ferdinand VII himself to rule Mexico in personal union with Spain. However, Ferdinand, refusing to recognize Mexican independence or be bound by a constitution, decreed that the Mexican constitution was "void", declined the Mexican crown, and stated that no European prince could accede to

3800-424: The new French king. After the Battle of Bailén proved that the Spanish could resist the French, the Council of Castile reversed itself and declared null and void the abdications of Bayonne on 11 August 1808. On 24 August, Ferdinand VII was proclaimed king of Spain again, and negotiations between the council and the provincial juntas for the establishment of a Supreme Central Junta were completed. On 14 January 1809

3876-427: The next day at San Francisco el Grande . Isabella had twelve pregnancies, but only five children reached adulthood: There has been considerable speculation that some or all of Isabella's children were not fathered by Francisco de Asís; this has been bolstered by rumours that Francisco de Asís was either homosexual or impotent. Francisco de Asís recognised all of them: he played the offended, proceeding to blackmail

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3952-415: The owner of the château, for his lack of interest in Spanish affairs. While the upper echelons of the Spanish government accepted his abdication and Napoleon's choice of his brother Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain, the Spanish people did not. Uprisings broke out throughout the country, marking the beginning of the Peninsular War . Provincial juntas were established to control regions in opposition to

4028-402: The presidency of the Cortes. After the subsequent decision to dissolve the hostile Cortes by Olózaga on 28 November, rumours about an alleged forcing of the queen to sign the royal decree spread. As a result, Olózaga was prosecuted, removed from political office, and forced to exile, with the Progressive Party already being beheaded, in what was the starting point of their growing disaffection from

4104-412: The queen to receive money in exchange for keeping his mouth shut. The extortion by her husband would continue and intensify during Isabella's exile. She came to be known by the sobriquets of the Traditional Queen ( Spanish : la Reina Castiza ), and the Queen of Sad Mischance ( Spanish : la de los Tristes Destinos ). In the 1997 film Amistad , she was played by Anna Paquin , and is depicted as

4180-462: The regent, Maria Christina, resigned to make way for Baldomero Espartero , Prince of Vergara, the most successful and most popular Isabelline general. Espartero, a Progressive, remained regent for only two years. Her minority saw tensions with the United States over the Amistad affair . Baldomero Espartero was deposed in 1843 by a military and political pronunciamiento led by Generals Leopoldo O'Donnell and Ramón María Narváez . They formed

4256-430: The revolution highlight that peasantry , small bourgeoisie, and the proletariat formed an alternative to bourgeoisie proper, articulated through the progressive and federal republican forces. By September 1868 Isabella was a repudiated monarch, and, during the early stages of the revolution, instances of political iconoclasm carried out by the masses took place, leading to the destruction of many symbols and emblems of

4332-413: The revolution included the weariness of the moderates alienated by the Crown and the progressives barely having even the chance to rule. Both developed a vis-à-vis with the Isabelline monarchy. Other factors were the personal behaviour of the queen, the corruption, the abortion of the possibility of political reform and the economic crisis alienating the bourgeoisie . Historians looking at social roots for

4408-427: The situation was followed by a full-scale people's revolution, with revolutionary juntas organised on 17 July in Madrid, and barricades erected in the streets. With the prospect of a civil war on the horizon, Isabella was advised to appoint General Espartero (who enjoyed charisma and popular support) as prime minister. This renewed ascension of Espartero marked the beginning of the bienio progresista . Espartero entered

4484-410: The spring of 1823, the restored Bourbon French King Louis XVIII of France invaded Spain , "invoking the God of St. Louis , for the sake of preserving the throne of Spain to a fellow descendant of Henry IV of France , and of reconciling that fine kingdom with Europe." In May 1823 the revolutionary party moved Ferdinand to Cádiz , where he continued to make promises of constitutional amendment until he

4560-406: Was heir apparent to the Spanish throne in his youth. Following the 1808 Tumult of Aranjuez , he ascended the throne. That year Napoleon overthrew him; he linked his monarchy to counter-revolution and reactionary policies that produced a deep rift in Spain between his forces on the right and liberals on the left. Back in power in December 1813, he re-established the absolutist monarchy and rejected

4636-471: Was a Spanish general and statesman who served as Prime Minister on several occasions during the reign of Isabella II . He was also known in Spain as El Espadón de Loja , "The Big Sword of Loja". He was born at Loja , Granada , a son of José María de Narváez y Porcel, 1st Count of Cañada Alta , and wife María Ramona de Campos y Mateos. He entered the army at an early age, and saw active service under Francisco Espoz y Mina in Catalonia in 1822. He

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4712-437: Was an unhappy one, and her personal conduct as well as rumours of affairs damaged her reputation. In September 1868, a naval mutiny began in Cadiz , marking the beginning of the Glorious Revolution . The defeat of her forces by Marshal Francisco Serrano, 1st Duke of la Torre brought her reign to an end, and she went into exile in France. In 1870, she formally abdicated the Spanish throne in favour of her son, Alfonso . In 1874,

4788-468: Was discovered, Ferdinand submitted to his parents. Following a popular riot at Aranjuez Charles IV abdicated in March 1808. Ferdinand ascended the throne and turned to Napoleon for support. He abdicated on 6 May 1808, and thereafter Napoleon kept Ferdinand under guard in France for six years at the Château de Valençay . Historian Charles Oman records that the choice of Valençay was a practical joke by Napoleon on his former foreign minister Talleyrand ,

4864-464: Was drafted in 1856, yet it was never enacted as the counter-revolutionary coup by O'Donnell seized power. On 28 November 1857, Isabella II gave birth to a male heir, who was baptised on 7 December 1857 as Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María Gregorio y Pelagio . Assumed by historians to be the biological son of Enrique Puigmoltó y Mayans  [ es ] , the toddler, who replaced infanta Isabella as Prince of Asturias upon his birth,

4940-399: Was encouraged by conservatives and the Church hierarchy to reject the constitution. On 4 May he ordered its abolition, and on 10 May had the liberal leaders responsible for the constitution arrested. Ferdinand justified his actions by claiming that the constitution had been made by a Cortes illegally assembled in his absence, without his consent and without the traditional form. (It had met as

5016-400: Was excluded from any participation in government by his parents and their favourite advisor and Prime Minister, Manuel Godoy . National discontent with the government produced a rebellion in 1805. In October 1807, Ferdinand was arrested for his complicity in the El Escorial Conspiracy in which the rebels aimed at securing foreign support from the French Emperor Napoleon . When the conspiracy

5092-410: Was free. When Ferdinand was freed after the Battle of Trocadero and the fall of Cádiz, reprisals followed. The Duc d'Angoulême made known his protest against Ferdinand's actions by refusing the Spanish decorations Ferdinand offered him for his military services. During his last years, Ferdinand's political appointments became more stable. The last ten years of his reign (sometimes referred to as

5168-454: Was in his sympathies a Conservative, and could not fully support the Radical opposition to Ferdinand VII , whom he served after his restoration. When the king died in 1833, Narváez became one of the Conservative supporters of Isabel II . He achieved great popularity by his victory over Miguel Gómez Damas , the Carlist general, at the Battle of Majaceite near Arcos de la Frontera , in November 1836. After clearing La Mancha of brigands by

5244-427: Was known under the moniker el Puigmoltejo , in reference to the rumours about his presumed biological parenthood. Isabella II showed a special affection for the child, greater than that shown to her daughters. The later part of her reign saw a war against Morocco (1859–1860), which ended in a treaty advantageous for Spain and cession of some Moroccan territory, the Spanish retake of Santo Domingo (1861–1865), and

5320-423: Was now asked to rule under the liberal Constitution of 1812 . Before being allowed onto Spanish soil, Ferdinand had to guarantee the liberals that he would govern on the basis of the constitution, but only gave lukewarm indications he would do so. On 24 March the French handed him over to the Spanish Army in Girona , and thus began his procession towards Madrid. During this process and in the following months, he

5396-405: Was only allowed to visit Madrid for barely hours on 13 October. She moved to Seville , where she remained for a longer time and left for France in 1877. Isabella's son would marry Mercedes of Orléans (first cousin of Alfonso and daughter of the Dukes of Montpensier) in 1878, only for the latter to die five months after the wedding. Isabella mostly lived in Paris for the rest of her life, based at

5472-472: Was overthrown by a military coup started in Sagunto by General Arsenio Martínez Campos on 29 December 1874 that proclaimed the restoration of the monarchy and the Bourbon dynasty in the person of Isabella's son Alfonso XII, who landed in Barcelona on 9 January 1875. After 1875 she lived in a relationship with Ramiro de la Puente y González Nandín , her secretary and chief of staff. Cánovas del Castillo,

5548-580: Was recalled as the 36th Prime Minister on 20 October 1849, remaining in office until 10 January 1851. He was the 58th Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword in 1848. His ministry succeeded that of General Leopoldo O'Donnell for a short time as 45th Prime Minister between 12 October 1856 and 15 October 1856, and he again returned to power for a few months as 52nd Prime Minister between 16 September 1864 and 19 May 1865. He once more replaced O'Donnell as

5624-539: Was strong in many areas, the Spanish treasure fleets – carrying tax revenues from the Spanish Empire – were interrupted. Spain was all but bankrupt. Ferdinand's restored autocracy was guided by a small camarilla of his favorites, although his government seemed unstable. Whimsical and ferocious by turns, he changed his ministers every few months. "The king," wrote Friedrich von Gentz in 1814, "himself enters

5700-654: Was subsequently aborted. On that day, a pronunciamento took place in Cádiz . Led by Marshal Prim and the Admiral Topete (himself an unconditional follower of the Duke of Montpensier), it marked the beginning of the Glorious Revolution . The Democratic Party provided the insurrection with popular support, making it transcend the nature of a simple military statement into an actual revolution. Factors for

5776-443: Was wearing on our wedding night?" The marriages suited France and Louis Philippe, King of the French , who as a result bitterly quarrelled with Britain. However, the marriages were not happy; persistent rumour had it that few if any of Isabella's children were fathered by her King Consort , rumoured to be a homosexual. The Carlist party asserted that the heir-apparent to the throne, who later became Alfonso XII, had been fathered by

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