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Charles II's death
Charles II of Spain, also called 'Bewitched' was king of Spain from 1665 to 1700, the last one of the Habsburg dynasty. Since the royal family only married with members of the same family to 'avoid mixing their blood', after many generations, the result was Charles II, who was called the 'Bewitched' because of his several illnesses and defects. He died without inheritors, what led to the conflict known as the War of Spanish Sucession. -
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War of Spanish Succession
This international conflict was triggered by the death of Carlos II of Spain. The fight was between the Bourbons and their supporters and Austrians and their supporters. This conflict finished with the victory of Bourbons and the estabilshment of the House of Bourbon in Spain. -
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First reign of Philip V
Philip V was the first king who belonged to the Bourbon dynasty after the death of Charles II and the War of Spanish Sucession.
He gave up the crown to his son. -
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, also known as Peace of Utrecht or Treaty of Utrecht-Rastatt, is a set of treatis signed by the enemies of the War of Spanish Succession between 1713 and 1715 in Utrecht and Rastatt. The treaties put an end to the war, although subsequent to the signature the hostilities continued in the Spanish territory, until july 1715, when the Marquis of Asfeld took the City of Mallorca. In this treaty Europe changed its political map. -
New Foundation Laws
The New Foundation Laws is a set of laws established by Philip V, winner of the War of Spanish Succession. This laws abolished the exclusive laws of the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Aragón, the Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Mallorca, all of them belonging to the Crown of Aragon, which supported Archduke Charles during the war. The laws were also applied to the judicial and administrative organization of the Crown of Castilla. -
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Reign of Louis I
Louis was the son of Philip V. He didn't do anything important while he was King of Spain since he died young from smallpox. -
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Second reign of Philip V
He spent years in bed, and when he recovered he governed but influenced by his wife since he was under her control. -
First Family Compact
In this family compact, Philip V and Louis XV allied with the intention of fighting a common enemy: Austria. Philip wanted to get back the Italian territories Spain owned in the past and Louis needed reinforcements for supporting Stanislaw of Poland. -
Second Family Compact
This family compact was also signed by Philip V and Louis XV. After Philip V death, Ferdinand VI carried out a policy of active neutrality between United Kingdom and France. He strengthened the navy to avoid been dragged into war, what broke the link between Spain and France of military support. In return, the United Kingdom agreed banning black people from entering the kingdom. Thanks to this alliance, Spain got Milan and the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla. -
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Reign of Ferdinand VI
He began his reign by eliminating the influence of the widow Queen Elizabeth Farnese and her group of Italian courtiers. Established peace, King followed a policy of neutrality and peace abroad for a set of internal reforms.
In August 1749, Ferdinand VI authorized the persecution to stop and extinguish the kingdom Gypsies, known as the Great Raid.
By ordinance on 2 July 1751 he prohibited freemasonry. -
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Reign of Charles III
Carlos III was the fifth son of Felipe V, but the eldest of his second wife, Elizabeth Farnese. In 1731, he became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza. Charles III contributed to his family will of getting back the Spanish influence in Italy. He inherited initially from his mother the duchies of Parma,Piacenza and Tuscany in 1731, but later, when Philip V reconquered the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily during the Polish Succession War,he became the king of those territories with the name of Charles VII -
Third Family Compact
Charles III of Spain returned to the military policy directly against England for getting back Gibraltar and Menorca and signed the Third Family Compact, which made him enter the last phase of the Seven Years War supporting France agains Great Britain, and it led him to the defeat which caused important losses at the end. -
Treaty of Paris
This treaty put an end to the American Revolutionary War. It was signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States. -
Esquilache Riots
This riots were caused mainly by the growing discontent of Madrid citizens about the rising prices of bread and other staples. They were triggered by some measures regarding Spaniards' apparel that have been enacted by Leopoldo de Gregorio, who was the Marquis of Esquilache. -
Jesuits expelled by Bourbons
The order of expulsion of Jesuits was given by Charles III. He blame them for being the instigators of the Esquilache Riots. -
American Delaration of Independence
A resolution promoted by John Adams and Richard Henry Lee was presented calling on Congress, meeting in Philadelphia. This resolution promoted the declaration of independence of the thirteen American colonies from Britain. On July 4th the Declaration of Independece was adopted by the colonies and they became independent. -
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Reign of Charles IV
Charles IV of Spain, called 'the Haunter', was the son of Charles III and Maria Amalia de Sajonia. He assumed power just before the French Revolution and his lack of character made him leave the government in hands of his wife Maria Luisa de Parma and Manuel Godoy. With the death of Charles III, the worsening of the economy reveal the limits of reformism, and the French Revolution shows an alternative to the Ancient Regime. -
Storming of Bastille
The French Revolution exploded. A mob furious because of the raise of taxes attacked the Bastille to get the guns and gunpowder stored inside. They also attacked it because it represented everything that the revolutionaries were against. -
Execution of Louis XVI
Louis XVI was arrested and interned in the Temple prison with his family, judged for high betrayal in the National Convention, convivted in a nearly unanimous vote and sentenced to death by a slight majority. He was guillotined in the Place de la Concorde. -
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War of Pyrenees
The War of the Pyrenees was a conflict between the monarchy of Charles IV of Spain and the First French Republic.
The war was brutal. The Committee of Public Safety decided to execute all French royalist prisoners and frequently there were sent to prison or guillotined French generals who lost battles. -
Treaty of San Ildelfonso
This treaty was a military alliance signed between Spain and France, being France involved in the wars of its revolutionary period. This alliance made them to mantain a common military policy against Great Britain, which by those times threatened the Spanish navy during their trips to America. -
Napoleon First Consul
Napoleon seized control of France with a coup d'état. After the coup, a new constitution was introduced and Napoleon was made First Consul of France. Later he crowned himself Emperor of France. -
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval battle in the framework of the Third Coalition initiated by Britain, Austria, Russia, Naples and Sweden to try to overthrow Napoleon Bonaparte's imperial throne and dissolve the existing French military influence in Europe. This naval battle is considered one of the most important nineteenth century, where the allies France and Spain fought against the British army under the command of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, who earned the victory. -
Treaty of Fontainebleau
This treaty was singned between Charles IV and Napoleon. This treaty divided the territories of the Kingdom of Portugal between the signers. -
Abdications of Bayonne
The Abdications of Bayonne is a series of forced abdications of the Kings of Spain that led to the Spanish War of Independence. The failed El Escorial Conspiracy preceded the Mutiny of Aranjuez, which forced King Charles IV to abdicate the throne to his son Ferdinand VII by order of the Spanish Royal Council.
The French emperor, soon after, gave these rights to his brother Joseph Bonaparte, who reigned under the name of Joseph I. -
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Peninsular War
In this war, Spain form an aliance with Portugal and England trying to defeat the Napoleon Empire which was growing without any brake. -
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Reign of Joseph I
Napoleon gave the Crown of Spain to his brother Joseph, after the abdications of Bayonne, and he became the King of Spain after he swear under oath the Constitution. -
First Constitution. La Pepa
This was the first constitution of Spain. It protected the principles of universal male suffrage, national sovereignty, constitutional monarchy, freedom of press, and supported land reform and free enterprise. This was one of the most liberal consitutions of its time. It was probably nicknamed as 'La Pepa' since it was adopted on St. Joseph's Day, and 'Pepa' is a short version for 'Josephine'. -
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Ferdinand VII. First period.
He and his father were forced to leave the Peninsula and live in Bayonne because of the riot of Aranjuez. He went back to Spain after Napoleon was defeated and occupied the throne. -
Riego's Pronunciamiento
The General Rafael de Riego with other army officers influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution rebelled against the corrupt and repressive rule of Ferdinand VII. This forced Ferdinand to became a constitutional king. -
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Ferdinand VII. Second period.
This period started with the Riego's Pronunciamiento, which forced him to be a constitutional monarch. Anyway, everything was put down by the Holly Alliance. -
Cien Mil Hijos de San Luis
This was an army sent by France to put down the revolts in Spain caused by the Pronunciamiento. They succeeded. -
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Ferdinand VII. Third period.
It was his largest reign. The main characteristic of this one is the political inestability he suffered since he gain many enemies. -
Pragmatic Sanction
This allowed women to get to the crown. Ferdinand VII decreted this to promulgate that his still not born child would inherit the crown no matter if the baby was a boy or a girl. -
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Regency of Mª Cristina
The just born child Isabella II was too young to reign and her mother decided to take the control meanwhile she was growing up. Maria Cristina tried to have the help of the liberals, and this caused the enmity against Don Carlos which was a bit more absolutist. -
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First Carlist Civil War
The First Carlist Civil War lasted seven years. It was a civil war in Spain between the supporters of Carlos María Isidro de Borbón and an absolutist regime and the supporters of Isabel II and the regent María Cristina de Borbón, whose government was originally absolutist and ended in a liberal government for obtaining the popular support. -
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Reign of Isabella II
The reign of Elizabeth II is characterized by an attempt to modernize Spain that the content was, however, the internal tensions of the Liberals, who continued to exert pressure in favor of absolutism, totally influenced by the military government and the failure facing the economical difficulties.
Because of this, Spain reached the last third of the nineteenth century under unfavorable conditions compared to other European powers. -
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Regency of Espartero
This was the last regency before Isabell II reached her age of majority. This period is called Espartero because it was the general Baldomero Espartero who substituted María Cristina de Borbón after the 'revolution of 1840'. The Regency of Espartero ended when a military and civic movement forced Espartero to go into exile. After this, when Isabel II reached the age of thirteen, she reached her age of majority, starting her reign. -
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Second Carlist Civil War
In this Second Carlist War, the conflict took place mainly in Catalonia, because of, theorethically, the failure of the attempts of marrying Isabel II and Carlos Luis de Borbón. Isabel II finally married Francisco de Asís de Borbón, so the Isabel II supporters and Carlos Luis de Borbón supporters started to fight. The conflict was mainly an uprising in different places of Catalonia. Finally, Isabel II supporters won. -
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Spanish Glorious Revolution
This was a Spanish revolutionary uprising which supposed the dethronement of Isabel II. After this events, the first attempt of establishing a democratic regime in Spain takes place, first with the reign of Amadeo I, with a parliamentary monarchy, and later with the First Spanish Republic. However, both ways failured. -
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Amadeus of Savoy
Amadeus I of Spain was King of Spain and the first Duke of Aosta. His reign, which lasted a little bit more than two years, was characterized by the politic inestability. He wasn't able to solve the crisis, which got even worse with the independentist conflict in Cuba, and a new Carlist War. -
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Third Carlist Civil War
This last Carlist War developed between the supporters of Charles, Duke of Madrid, and the supporters of Amadeo I, of the First Republic and Alfonso XII. This war developed mainly in Basque Country and Navarra. In this war, the triumph was for Alfonso XII. -
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First Spanish Republic
The First Spanish Republic was the politic regime in Spain since its proclamation by the Cortes Generales. The first republican attempt in the history of Spain was a short experience, characterized by the politic inestability. In its first eleven months there were four presidents, all of them from the same Republican Federal Party. The First Spanish Republic ended with the uprising of the general Martínez-Campos, which led to the Borbonic Restoration in Spain.
