Fernando VII - History Lab

The El Escorial Conspiracy as seen by an exiled Jesuit (1808)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:33:11 +0000

The document deals with the so-called Conspiracy of El Escorial from the point of view of the Jesuit exile. This conspiracy consisted of a plot led by Prince Ferdinand of Bourbon to depose Manuel Godoy. It is suspected that the conspiracy was ultimately intended to remove Charles IV from the throne. The Ferdinand attempts failed on 28 October 1807 when the King ordered Ferdinand’s arrest. How did the Jesuits deal with this attempt? The conspiracy was viewed sympathetically; the diary of the Jesuit Manuel Luengo gives evidence of the thoughts of this group: Ferdinand was a victim of Godoy’s political abuses and was entitled to act.

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Manual calendar and guide for strangers in Madrid

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:51 +0000

An annual publication founded in 1722 by Luis Félix de Miraval y Spínola, who in the same year obtained the marquisate of Miraval, and Gaspar Ezpeleta, and which until 1734 was entitled Kalendario particular. From 1725 its printer was Juan Sanz, then his heirs, and from 1730, Antonio Sanz, his nephew, who in 1769 ceded the rights to the Spanish Crown in exchange for a lifelong pension. The most complete collection was acquired by the Royal Academy of History, and the one in the possession of the National Library of Spain begins in 1744, stamped with a privilege held by Antonio Sanz, printer to the King and his council. The title page states that it contains the births of the kings, queens, the seventy members of the Sacred College of Cardinals, the princes of Europe, the ministers who make up His Majesty’s courts in their kingdoms, with an indication of their private residences in Madrid. In short, it is a very complete guide to the State Administration of the ancien régime, with an indication of its executive and consultative bodies (royal councils, boards), scientific and academic institutions and other bodies and entities that the Spanish monarchy created throughout the eighteenth century (including the Royal Public Library itself), the book includes the names of the archbishops and bishops of Spain and the Indies, the composition of the courts (chancillerías and audiencias), the list of kingdoms and provinces and partidos, with the names of their governors, intendants and corregidores. It begins with the Gregorian calendar, with the saints’ calendar for each day and astronomical data, and also contains the 40-hour jubilee, as well as statistical data on marriages, births and deaths in the parishes of Madrid, and a summary of the sick in their hospitals. There is also another section on the days on which the court dresses up or the days on which the mails come and leave the General Post Office of Castile in this court, or the list of the Knights of the Golden Fleece. It will also include the values of Spanish coins and their exchange values with the most important coins in Europe. From 1768 it will be accompanied by the Estado militar de España, with its own title page, with the names of the captains and lieutenant generals of His Majesty’s Army, field marshals, brigadiers and naval officers, etc. In the 1767 edition he began to include engravings, such as those of Charles III, the Princes of Asturias and the one of the Palace of Aranjuez, and later those of Charles IV and Queen Maria Luisa, before including those of Ferdinand VII and his daughter, the young Queen Isabella II, in the 19th century. He would also print a dozen maps of Spain and plans by Tomás López and his sons. In 1774, it left the Royal Printing House of the Gazette, and included the lists of knights of Charles III, professors of the Royal Studies, ambassadors and consuls and vice-consuls of the King abroad, the chronology of the kings of Spain and the calendar of the main fairs. In 1790 it already included an index, at the end or at the beginning, and in the 19th century, the lists of the Royal Order of Noble Ladies, the economic societies and the Royal Seminary of Nobles. Its volume increased over the years, from a hundred to over four hundred pages. During the invasion of the Napoleonic army, the kalendario did not appear in 1809 or 1810, and in 1811 it left the printing house of Miguel Segovia, printer to the Royal Navy, from the Royal Island of León in Cadiz, produced by two of the editors who were in charge of the main guides for foreigners, litigants, commerce and finance, and war and the navy in Madrid, and entitled Guía patriótica de España (Patriotic Guide to Spain). It includes an introduction narrating the difficulties encountered in producing it and will consist of two parts. The first part will give an account of the legitimate government, its courts and military state, and the second of the corps and officers of the armies resident in Cadiz, as well as the list of deputies of the Cortes, accompanied by an article. Those of 1812 and 1813 were entitled Guía política de las España, and were also printed in Cádiz, the first in the office of the widow of Comes, and the second in the Imprenta Nacional. In this case it is written by a single editor, and includes patriotic ephemeris of the main events that have been taking place during the war against the French armies, and introductory articles to the list of the legislative body, list of deputies and of the court and secretariat of State of Cortes, executive power, supreme council of Regency, Council of State, ambassadors and commanders of the armies. The 1813 edition will include an addendum entitled Exércitos nacionales. On the return of Ferdinand VII, it returned to its previous title and to practically the same contents as it had published during the old regime, until during the liberal triennium, when it again changed its title and some of its contents, once again including the list of deputies to the Cortes and the new administrative institutions that the incipient liberal State was beginning to create. In 1821 it was entitled Guía de forasteros en Madrid, and in 1822 and 1823 Guía política y militar, printed at the Imprenta Nacional, formerly the Imprenta Real. For its part, the Estado militar de España, which had been published together with the kalendario, in 1821, 1822 and 1823 was entitled Estado de los ejércitos de la monarquía española (State of the Armies of the Spanish Monarchy). The calendar for 1825 is also interesting because the “purified” did not appear in the lists. This publication would continue to be published until 1837, when it was replaced by the Guía de forasteros en Madrid, which included engravings of the queen governor Maria Cristina and her daughter, Isabel II, and gave an account of the new organisation that the liberal state was creating to replace that of the old regime, the kalendario is therefore a basic source of information for understanding both the evolution of the state structure and the holders of its numerous organs and institutions, from the absolutist and enlightened monarchy of the eighteenth century to the first decades of the construction of the liberal state, with its two most influential episodes, the constituent Cortes of Cadiz and its epigone of the triennium.

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The family of Charles IV

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:03 +0000

The Family of Carlos IV belongs to a series of royal portraits begun by Goya in 1799, on the eve of Napoleon’s Consulate, which promised to pacify the tumultuous past decade. Goya placed the fourteen figures depicted in an austere interior without carpets, decorating only the back wall. The painting is based, as has often been claimed, on Las Meninas of 1656. The modifications made by the artist from Zaragoza differed from Velázquez’s details, such as the definition of space (none in this work) and the close relationship of Velázquez’s figures as opposed to the introspective depictions of arlos IV’s family. In the centre of the painting is the figure of the queen, dressed like the other infantas in a brilliant French-style dress, on which she wears the sash of the Royal Order of Noble Ladies founded by her in 1794. In addition, she imitates the Infanta’s posture, which several historians considered to be a satire on the Queen because of her advanced age. Emerging from the half-light, Ferdinand appears dressed in the blue of the principality of Asturias. His brother, Carlos María Isidro, holds him by the waist, a curious attitude that could be interpreted as a predisposition to succeed Ferdinand if necessary, and which seems to announce his intention in 1833 to claim the throne for his niece Isabella, a fact that would lead to the future Carlist Wars. The lady in lost profile represents Ferdinand’s future wife, thought to be Caroline of Saxe-Weimar, until in 1802 it was Maria Antonia of Naples. King Charles IV is depicted in full dress, with a golden fleece, and bands and badges of the order of Charles III, the Neapolitan order of San Gennaro and the four Spanish orders (Santiago, Montesa, Calatrava and Alcántara).

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National Militia and Royalist Volunteers in Lleida (1820-1841)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:25 +0000

An analysis of the formation of the absolutist and liberal groups in Lleida at the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century reveals a series of clashes between the two groups. If we also compare the socio-professional groups of their members, we can see that the absolutist ranks were made up of families of greater social influence and the peasantry, while the liberals were made up of liberal professionals, artisans and intellectuals.
On the other hand, and despite these social characteristics, 54% of the municipal posts went to the liberals, following the trend of other Catalan town councils of this chronology. This situation led to the founding of the National Militia as a neighbourhood tool (already provided for in the 1812 Constitution) to defend liberalism and its governing institutions in each locality.
The National Militia allowed a large part of the population – most of them as volunteers – to participate in political life as protagonists, especially in the key years of the liberal revolution, between 1833 and 1843. The main problem they faced was the social groups that supported them, with more than 50% of the population of Lleida, dedicated to farming, remaining outside of them.
In this socio-political panorama, Ferdinand VII at the end of 1823 decided to copy the liberal model and created a group for the defence of absolutism, the Royalist Volunteers, thus attracting other sectors of the population that for convenience or ideology were not attracted by the liberal currents.

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Bicentenary of the War of Independence

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:59 +0000

Website of the Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library where you can consult a wide selection of documents, bibliography and resources on the Spanish uprising against Napoleon (May 1808), which led to the War of Independence.

The post Bicentenary of the War of Independence first appeared on History Lab.

Causes of the Spanish War of Independence

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:48 +0000

3.13-minute video in which the causes that led to the War of Independence are presented schematically and visually. Based on the question “How did the French invasion begin?”, it narrates the relations between Spain and France during the reign of Carlos IV, the mutiny of Aranjuez, the Treaty of Fontainebleau, the abdications of Bayonne, the enthronement of Joseph Bonaparte and the beginnings of the conflict.

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The Spanish War of Independence

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:48 +0000

6.57 minute video on the Spanish War of Independence, created as a didactic resource for the BNEscolar portal of the National Library of Spain

The post The Spanish War of Independence first appeared on History Lab.

The Family of Carlos IV, by Goya

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:48 +0000

1.49 minute animated audio guide for children on The Family of Carlos IV, produced by the Museo Nacional del Prado.

The post The Family of Carlos IV, by Goya first appeared on History Lab.

The Crisis of the Ancient Regime 1808-1833

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:48 +0000

Website of Professor Juan Carlos Ocaña which explains the block of contents on “The crisis of the Ancient Regime 1808-1833”, adapted to the subject of Spanish History of Second Baccalaureate (2005), which includes the following sections: the crisis of 1808: War of Independence and political revolution; The Cortes of Cadiz and the Constitution of 1812; Ferdinand VII: Absolutism and libertarianism. The Emancipation of Latin America.

The post The Crisis of the Ancient Regime 1808-1833 first appeared on History Lab.

Ferdinand VII, a bad reign of a lousy king

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:35 +0000

Radio documentary on Ferdinand VII and his reign. Described in his time as “The Desired One” by a people who saw him as a victim of Godoy, first, and Napoleon, later, he is considered one of the worst kings in the history of Spain. Born in 1784, he was the son of Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma. A conspirator against his father, Napoleon took advantage of the weakness and division of the royal family to force the abdication of the crown and hand it over to his brother Joseph. Exiled in France during the War of Independence, he returned to Spain in 1814. As absolute monarch he annulled the Constitution of Cadiz and persecuted the liberals. After Riego’s uprising, he had no choice but to swear the Constitution in 1820 during the so-called Liberal Triennium. Three years later the absolute monarchy was imposed once again, ushering in the Ominous Decade until his death in 1833. In the absence of a son, he repealed the Salic Law so that his daughter, the Infanta Isabella, could accede to the throne. With the Pragmatic Sanction, the Carlists, supporters of the Infante Carlos María Isidro, saw their hopes of succession collapse, provoking a civil war that would continue throughout the 19th century. Modesta Cruz’s documentary features contributions by Emilio La Parra and Juan Francisco Fuentes, as well as Miguel Artola Gallego, a former Prince of Asturias Award winner.

The post Ferdinand VII, a bad reign of a lousy king first appeared on History Lab.