Spanish Monarchs

A history of Spanish monarchs.

Iberian Kingdoms

The Iberian peninsula was divided between the Christian kingdoms of Portugal, Leon, Aragon, and Castile; and the Moorish province of al-Andalus.

After the death of Alfonso IX of Leon in 1230, Ferdinand III of Castile conquered the kingdom and brought them into a permanent personal union.

Al-Andalus was established by the Umayyad Caliphate and governed by successive empires: Córdoba (an emirate until 929, then a caliphate), the Almoravid Empire, the Almohad Empire, and finally the emirate of Granada.

Through the Reconquista, al-Andalus was dismantled entirely by 1491.

Catholic Monarchy

The marriage of Ferdinand II and Isabella I in 1469 established a union between Aragon and Castile known variably as the Catholic Monarchy or the Hispanic Monarchy. The Council of Aragon and the Council of Castille remained separate peerages.

When Isabella died in 1504, their daughter Joanna nominally succeeded. Ferdinand instead appointed himself governor of Castile. When he also died in 1516, her son Charles I usurped the thrones of both Aragon and Castile, which the respective nobilities tolerated as a co-monarchy. This began the Spanish Habsburg dynasty.

The Spanish crown was passed from the Spanish Habsburgs to the new Bourbon dynasty through the War of the Spanish Succession.

Don Carlos, a younger son of Charles IV, pressed his claim after Ferdinand VII died in 1833. His supporters became known as Carlists, and his claim would lead to a series of Carlist Wars throughout the 19th century.

New World

Commissions for expeditions and encomiendas were granted by the crown to conquer and settle the New World. These colonies were then reorganized and administered by a complex system involving:

• the Council of the Indies based in Madrid

• real audencias as courts of appeal to enforce royal laws and edicts

• viceroyalties for appointed, but otherwise independent, regional government

Iberian Union

Philip II established a personal union of Portugal and Spain in 1580. A degree of separation remained through the Council of Portugal.

Again in 1621, following the death of Philip III, the personal union was re-established under Philip IV. By 1640 the Portuguese nobility was in revolt; the Restoration War ended with Philip conceding Portuguese sovereignty in 1668.

Supreme Central Junta

Regency and the First Republic

Isabella II was overthrown in 1868 through the Glorious Revolution. While the Cortes considered candidates for replacement monarchs, and drafted the Constitution of 1869, Francisco Serrano served as regent. Finally Amadeo I was elected king in late 1870, and he entered Madrid in early 1871. Elections were then organized for March.

The Carlists now backed the claim of Carlos VII. There were also substantial republican and radical movements advocating for the complete abolition of monarchy. In the context of this deep division, Amadeo appointed a conciliation government. It quickly failed, leading into a series of short-lived government, a series of elections, and the Third Carlist War. Serrano as an accomplished general led three governments in this period. In early 1873, there were mass resignations from the officer corps as they rejected civilian oversight in the form of the appointment of Baltasar Hidalgo de Quintana. The radicals, which had come to dominate Madrid's politics, accepted the resignations despite the ongoing war. Believing the situation unsalvageable, Amadeo abdicated.

The First Republic was declared and a series of republican-radical coalition governments appointed presidents. Serrano led an attempted coup in April then went into exile. In January however, Pavía's coup (led by Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque) succeeded and Serrano was named president. He served for a year as the final president of the First Republic, and in December (following a nonviolent but nonetheless military interventions led by royalist Martínez Campos) restored the Bourbons through Isabella's son Alfonso XII. Importantly though, the Constitution of 1876 ensured that free political competition would continue through the officially-recognized Liberal Party and the two party system (turnismo).

Dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera

General Miguel Primo de Rivera seized power in September 1923. Alfonso XIII quickly granted legitimacy to Rivera. His corporatist government was known as the Civil Directory.

Second Republic

Franco

Kingdom of Spain

Dynasties

Trastámara

TODO: history of Trastámaran monarchs!

Habsburg

Charles I usurped the thrones of both Aragon and Castile from his mother Joanna, which the respective nobilities tolerated as a co-monarchy. This began the Spanish Habsburg dynasty.

While Charles II never had children, the crown was inheritable through a female line. When Charles died in 1700, in accordance with his will, the Spanish nobility offered the crown to Maria Theresa's grandson, Philip V. This ended the Spanish Habburg line (although the War of Spanish Succession attempted to prop up the Habsburgs again through Charles).

Bourbon

Charles II died childless, but had designated Philip V as his heir. This Bourbon dynasty was interrupted twice: first by the Napoleonic Wars, and again by the Glorious Revolution.

Bonaparte

Napoleon imposed the reign of Joseph I during the Napoleonic Wars.

Savoy

After Isabella II was deposed in the Glorious Revolution, a provisional government and a regency by Amadeo I were established.

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