History of Modern Spain — Spring

Subjects for tonight:
1. The general crisis of the Seventeenth Century that leads us towards the year 1700.
2. The economic crisis (Hobsbawm) and the crisis of court and country (Hugh Trevor-Roper).
3. The international crisis that leads to 1700 and the War of the Spanish Succession.
4. The idea of Balance of Power (Bernardo Rucellai, Florence, 1475).

From Wikipedia:
When Charles II died in 1700, the line of the Spanish Habsburgs died with him. He had named as his successor a grand-nephew, Philip, Duke of Anjou (a grandson of the reigning French king Louis XIV, and of Charles' half-sister, Maria Theresa of Spain—Louis XIV himself was an heir to the Spanish throne through his mother, daughter of Philip III of Spain). As alternate successor he had named his blood cousin Charles. The spectre of the multi-continental empire of Spain passing under the effective control of Louis XIV provoked a massive coalition of powers to oppose the Duke of Anjou's succession. The actions of Louis heightened the fears of, among others, the English, the Dutch and the Austrians. In February 1701, the French King caused the Parlement of Paris (a court) to register a decree that should Louis, Grand Dauphin (King Louis's eldest son) himself have no heir, the Duke of Anjou would surrender the Spanish throne for that of the French, ensuring dynastic continuity in Europe's greatest land power. However, a second act of the French King "justified a hostile interpretation": pursuant to a treaty with Spain, Louis occupied several towns in the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium and Nord-Pas-de-Calais). This was the spark that ignited the powder keg created by the unresolved issues of the War of the League of Augsburg (1688–97) and the acceptance of the Spanish inheritance by Louis XIV for his grandson. Almost immediately the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) began. After thirteen years of bloody, global warfare, fought on four continents and three oceans, the Duc d'Anjou, as Philip V, was confirmed as King of Spain on substantially the same terms that the powers of Europe had agreed to before the war. Thus the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt ended the war and "achieved little more than...diplomacy might have peacefully achieved in 1701." A proviso of the peace perpetually forbade the union of the Spanish and French thrones. The House of Bourbon, founded by Philip V, has intermittently occupied the Spanish throne ever since, and sits today on the throne of Spain in the person of Juan Carlos I of Spain (1975–present).

REQUIRED READING

Mark Williams, Chapter Seven: "The French Century"
The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Philip V (Spanish: Felipe V; French: Philippe de France; 19 December 1683 to 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Luis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his own death. Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a grandson of King Louis XIV. His father, Louis, the Grand Dauphin, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain when it became vacant in 1700. However, since the Grand Dauphin and Philip's older brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could not be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne, King Charles II of Spain named Philip as his heir in his will. It was well known that the union of France and Spain under one monarch would upset the balance of power in Europe, such that other European powers would take steps to prevent it. Philip was the first member of the House of Bourbon to rule as king of Spain. The sum of his two reigns, 45 years and 21 days, is the longest in modern Spanish history(The above from Wikipedia).

LECTURE NOTES:

The Spanish Bourbons, at right.

PART TWO: PICTURES

The family of Philip V.

REQUIRED READING:

Mark Williams, Chapter Seven: "The French Century"
The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Charles III (Spanish: Carlos; Italian: Carlo; 20 January 1716 to 14 December 1788) was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, Elisabeth Farnese. In 1731, the fifteen-year-old Charles became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I, on the death of his childless granduncle Antonio Farnese. In 1734, as Duke of Parma, he conquered the kingdoms of Naples and of Sicily, and was crowned king on 3 July 1735, reigning as Charles VII of Naples and Charles V of Sicily. In 1738 he married Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony, an educated, cultured woman who gave birth to thirteen children, eight of whom reached adulthood. Charles and Maria Amalia resided in Naples for nineteen years; she died in 1760. Upon succeeding to the Spanish throne on 10 August 1759, Charles, a proponent of enlightened absolutism, on 6 October 1759 abdicated the Neapolitan and Sicilian thrones in favour of Ferdinand, his third surviving son, who became Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, or Ferdinand IV of Naples and III of Sicily. Charles III's descendants ruled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until 1861. As king of Spain Charles III tried to rescue his empire from decay through far-reaching reforms such as weakening the Church and its monasteries, promoting science and university research, facilitating trade and commerce, modernizing agriculture and avoiding wars. He never achieved satisfactory control over finances, and was obliged to borrow to meet expenses. His reforms proved short-lived and Spain relapsed after his death. But his legacy lives on to this day. (The above from Wikipedia.)

PART TWO: PICTURES

Pictures of the family of Charles III.

REQUIRED READING:

Chapter Seven: "The French Century"

Mark Williams,
The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Charles IV (Spanish: Carlos Antonio Pascual Francisco Javier Juan Nepomuceno Jose Januario Serafin Diego; 11 November 1748 to 20 January 1819) was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808. Charles was the second son of Charles III and his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. He was born at Naples (11 November 1748), while his father was king of the Two Sicilies. His elder brother Don Felipe was passed over for the two thrones as he was mentally retarded and epileptic. In Naples and Sicily Charles was styled as the Prince of Taranto. He was called el Cazador (the Hunter) due to his preference for sport and hunting over affairs of state. Many considered Charles to be amiable but simple-minded. (The above from Wikipedia.)

PART TWO: PICTURES

Portraits of the family of Charles IV, his wife Maria Luisa of Parma, and his Prime Minister Manuel Godoy.

REQUIRED READING:

Chapter Seven: "The French Century"

Mark Williams, The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Eighteenth-century Europe became enraptured with the Classical world.  People traveled to Italy to view the ruins, painters produced thousands of views of Italy that sold to visiting tourists, books were written on the classical world to great acclaim, and everywhere buildings were constructed to imitate Classical temples.  Spain was no exception to this mania for Classical Greece and Classical Rome.  The Palacio Real in Madrid is just one of the many Classical buildings that were constructed in the Eighteenth Century in Spain.

REDUCE thisimage size

The French Revolution that began in June 1789, sent shock waves all across Europe.  Any and all European monarchies viewed the events in Paris as catastrophic with terrible consequences for all other monarchies.  The execution of the King Louis XVI when it happened, seemed inconceivable to many of the world leaders.  And in every single capital, the kings nad queens of Europe declared war on the new terror that was exploding in France.  No nation worried more than did the monarchy in Spain.  It was weak, it was poor, and it was not loved by the Spanish people.  Thus the Revolution in Paris was a blow to the king of Spain and viewed as such.

REQUIRED READING:

Mark Williams, The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Winston Churchill, "Nothing like this universal uprising of a numerous, ancient race and nation, all animated by one thought, had been seen before ... For the first time the forces unchained by the French Revolution, which Napoleon had disciplined and directed, met not kings or Old World hierarchies, but a whole population inspired by the religion and patriotism which ... Spain was to teach to Europe."

Wikipedia:
The Peninsular War was a military conflict between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its ally, Spain. The war lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814. The conflict is regarded by some historians as one of the first national wars and is significant for the emergence of large scale guerrilla warfare (guerrilla means "little war" in Spanish, from which the English language borrowed the word). The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas. In 1810 a reconstituted national government fortified itself in Cádiz but proved unable to recruit, train, or equip effective armies due to being under siege. British and Portuguese forces secured Portugal, using it as a safe position from which to launch campaigns against the French army while Spanish guerrilleros bled the occupiers. Combined regular and irregular allied forces prevented Napoleon's marshals from subduing the rebellious Spanish provinces. To the Spanish the war is known as the Guerra de la Independencia Española, or the Spanish War of Independence.

LECTURE NOTES:

Napoleon Biography notes at right.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Michael Glover
Wellington's Peninsular Victories

Richard Holmes
Wellington: The Iron Duke

Heinrich von Brandt
In the Legions of Napoleon: The Memoirs of a Polish Officer in Spain and Russia, 1808-1813

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, (March 30, 1746 to April 16, 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the Moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era. The subversive imaginative element in his art, as well as his bold handling of paint, provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, notably Manet, Picasso and Francis Bacon. (The above from Wikipedia.)

LECTURE NOTES:

Goya Biography notes at right.

IMAGES:

Images of Goya lecture.

Romanticism is thought of as complex and confusing, with great contradictions that range from rebellion and revolutionary ideas to the return of the Catholic and monarchial tradition.  With respect to political liberty, some understood it merely as the restoration of the ideological, patriotic, and religious values that the 18th century rationalists had tried to suppress. They exalted Christianity, throne, and country as supreme values. In this "traditional Romanticism" camp one would place Walter Scott in Scotland, Chateaubriand in France, and the Duke of Rivas and José Zorrilla in Spain.  It was based on the ideology of the restoration of absolute monarchy in Spain, which originated after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, and defended the traditional values represented by Church and State. On the other hand, other Romantics, as free citizens, fought the entire established order in religion, art, and politics. They proclaimed the rights of the individual over and against society and the law.  They represented "revolutionary" or "liberal" Romanticism, and their most notable members were Lord Byron, in England, Victor Hugo, in France, and José de Espronceda, in Spain. (The above from Wikipedia.)

REQUIRED READING:

Don Juan il Tenorio (PDF)

The French invasions devastated the economy, and left Spain a deeply divided country prone to political instability. The power struggles of the early 19th century led to the Spanish American wars of independence, losing all dominions which stretched from Las Californias to Patagonia, with the sole exception of the Caribbean, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Amid the instability and economic crisis that afflicted Spain in the 19th century there arose nationalist movements in the Philippines and Cuba. Wars of independence ensued in those colonies and eventually the United States became involved. Despite the commitment and ability shown by some military units, they were so mismanaged by the highest levels of command that the Spanish-American War, fought in the Spring of 1898, did not last long. "El Desastre" (The Disaster), as the war became known, helped give impetus to the Generation of 98 who were already conducting much critical analysis concerning the country. It also weakened the stability that had been established during Alfonso XII's reign. (The above from Wikipedia.)

LAST CLASS OF OUR TWO YEARS ON SPAIN: Boo Hoo

Subjects for tonight:
1. The general crisis of the Seventeenth Century that leads us towards the year 1700.
2. The economic crisis (Hobsbawm) and the crisis of court and country (Hugh Trevor-Roper).
3. The international crisis that leads to 1700 and the War of the Spanish Succession.
4. The idea of Balance of Power (Bernardo Rucellai, Florence, 1475).

From Wikipedia:
When Charles II died in 1700, the line of the Spanish Habsburgs died with him. He had named as his successor a grand-nephew, Philip, Duke of Anjou (a grandson of the reigning French king Louis XIV, and of Charles' half-sister, Maria Theresa of Spain—Louis XIV himself was an heir to the Spanish throne through his mother, daughter of Philip III of Spain). As alternate successor he had named his blood cousin Charles. The spectre of the multi-continental empire of Spain passing under the effective control of Louis XIV provoked a massive coalition of powers to oppose the Duke of Anjou's succession. The actions of Louis heightened the fears of, among others, the English, the Dutch and the Austrians. In February 1701, the French King caused the Parlement of Paris (a court) to register a decree that should Louis, Grand Dauphin (King Louis's eldest son) himself have no heir, the Duke of Anjou would surrender the Spanish throne for that of the French, ensuring dynastic continuity in Europe's greatest land power. However, a second act of the French King "justified a hostile interpretation": pursuant to a treaty with Spain, Louis occupied several towns in the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium and Nord-Pas-de-Calais). This was the spark that ignited the powder keg created by the unresolved issues of the War of the League of Augsburg (1688–97) and the acceptance of the Spanish inheritance by Louis XIV for his grandson. Almost immediately the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) began. After thirteen years of bloody, global warfare, fought on four continents and three oceans, the Duc d'Anjou, as Philip V, was confirmed as King of Spain on substantially the same terms that the powers of Europe had agreed to before the war. Thus the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt ended the war and "achieved little more than...diplomacy might have peacefully achieved in 1701." A proviso of the peace perpetually forbade the union of the Spanish and French thrones. The House of Bourbon, founded by Philip V, has intermittently occupied the Spanish throne ever since, and sits today on the throne of Spain in the person of Juan Carlos I of Spain (1975–present).

REQUIRED READING

Mark Williams, Chapter Seven: "The French Century"
The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Philip V (Spanish: Felipe V; French: Philippe de France; 19 December 1683 to 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Luis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his own death. Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a grandson of King Louis XIV. His father, Louis, the Grand Dauphin, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain when it became vacant in 1700. However, since the Grand Dauphin and Philip's older brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could not be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne, King Charles II of Spain named Philip as his heir in his will. It was well known that the union of France and Spain under one monarch would upset the balance of power in Europe, such that other European powers would take steps to prevent it. Philip was the first member of the House of Bourbon to rule as king of Spain. The sum of his two reigns, 45 years and 21 days, is the longest in modern Spanish history(The above from Wikipedia).

LECTURE NOTES:

The Spanish Bourbons, at right.

PART TWO: PICTURES

The family of Philip V.

REQUIRED READING:

Mark Williams, Chapter Seven: "The French Century"
The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Charles III (Spanish: Carlos; Italian: Carlo; 20 January 1716 to 14 December 1788) was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, Elisabeth Farnese. In 1731, the fifteen-year-old Charles became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I, on the death of his childless granduncle Antonio Farnese. In 1734, as Duke of Parma, he conquered the kingdoms of Naples and of Sicily, and was crowned king on 3 July 1735, reigning as Charles VII of Naples and Charles V of Sicily. In 1738 he married Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony, an educated, cultured woman who gave birth to thirteen children, eight of whom reached adulthood. Charles and Maria Amalia resided in Naples for nineteen years; she died in 1760. Upon succeeding to the Spanish throne on 10 August 1759, Charles, a proponent of enlightened absolutism, on 6 October 1759 abdicated the Neapolitan and Sicilian thrones in favour of Ferdinand, his third surviving son, who became Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, or Ferdinand IV of Naples and III of Sicily. Charles III's descendants ruled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until 1861. As king of Spain Charles III tried to rescue his empire from decay through far-reaching reforms such as weakening the Church and its monasteries, promoting science and university research, facilitating trade and commerce, modernizing agriculture and avoiding wars. He never achieved satisfactory control over finances, and was obliged to borrow to meet expenses. His reforms proved short-lived and Spain relapsed after his death. But his legacy lives on to this day. (The above from Wikipedia.)

PART TWO: PICTURES

Pictures of the family of Charles III.

REQUIRED READING:

Chapter Seven: "The French Century"

Mark Williams,
The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Charles IV (Spanish: Carlos Antonio Pascual Francisco Javier Juan Nepomuceno Jose Januario Serafin Diego; 11 November 1748 to 20 January 1819) was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808. Charles was the second son of Charles III and his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. He was born at Naples (11 November 1748), while his father was king of the Two Sicilies. His elder brother Don Felipe was passed over for the two thrones as he was mentally retarded and epileptic. In Naples and Sicily Charles was styled as the Prince of Taranto. He was called el Cazador (the Hunter) due to his preference for sport and hunting over affairs of state. Many considered Charles to be amiable but simple-minded. (The above from Wikipedia.)

PART TWO: PICTURES

Portraits of the family of Charles IV, his wife Maria Luisa of Parma, and his Prime Minister Manuel Godoy.

REQUIRED READING:

Chapter Seven: "The French Century"

Mark Williams, The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Eighteenth-century Europe became enraptured with the Classical world.  People traveled to Italy to view the ruins, painters produced thousands of views of Italy that sold to visiting tourists, books were written on the classical world to great acclaim, and everywhere buildings were constructed to imitate Classical temples.  Spain was no exception to this mania for Classical Greece and Classical Rome.  The Palacio Real in Madrid is just one of the many Classical buildings that were constructed in the Eighteenth Century in Spain.

REDUCE thisimage size

The French Revolution that began in June 1789, sent shock waves all across Europe.  Any and all European monarchies viewed the events in Paris as catastrophic with terrible consequences for all other monarchies.  The execution of the King Louis XVI when it happened, seemed inconceivable to many of the world leaders.  And in every single capital, the kings nad queens of Europe declared war on the new terror that was exploding in France.  No nation worried more than did the monarchy in Spain.  It was weak, it was poor, and it was not loved by the Spanish people.  Thus the Revolution in Paris was a blow to the king of Spain and viewed as such.

REQUIRED READING:

Mark Williams, The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country

Winston Churchill, "Nothing like this universal uprising of a numerous, ancient race and nation, all animated by one thought, had been seen before ... For the first time the forces unchained by the French Revolution, which Napoleon had disciplined and directed, met not kings or Old World hierarchies, but a whole population inspired by the religion and patriotism which ... Spain was to teach to Europe."

Wikipedia:
The Peninsular War was a military conflict between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its ally, Spain. The war lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814. The conflict is regarded by some historians as one of the first national wars and is significant for the emergence of large scale guerrilla warfare (guerrilla means "little war" in Spanish, from which the English language borrowed the word). The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas. In 1810 a reconstituted national government fortified itself in Cádiz but proved unable to recruit, train, or equip effective armies due to being under siege. British and Portuguese forces secured Portugal, using it as a safe position from which to launch campaigns against the French army while Spanish guerrilleros bled the occupiers. Combined regular and irregular allied forces prevented Napoleon's marshals from subduing the rebellious Spanish provinces. To the Spanish the war is known as the Guerra de la Independencia Española, or the Spanish War of Independence.

LECTURE NOTES:

Napoleon Biography notes at right.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Michael Glover
Wellington's Peninsular Victories

Richard Holmes
Wellington: The Iron Duke

Heinrich von Brandt
In the Legions of Napoleon: The Memoirs of a Polish Officer in Spain and Russia, 1808-1813

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, (March 30, 1746 to April 16, 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the Moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era. The subversive imaginative element in his art, as well as his bold handling of paint, provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, notably Manet, Picasso and Francis Bacon. (The above from Wikipedia.)

LECTURE NOTES:

Goya Biography notes at right.

IMAGES:

Images of Goya lecture.

Romanticism is thought of as complex and confusing, with great contradictions that range from rebellion and revolutionary ideas to the return of the Catholic and monarchial tradition.  With respect to political liberty, some understood it merely as the restoration of the ideological, patriotic, and religious values that the 18th century rationalists had tried to suppress. They exalted Christianity, throne, and country as supreme values. In this "traditional Romanticism" camp one would place Walter Scott in Scotland, Chateaubriand in France, and the Duke of Rivas and José Zorrilla in Spain.  It was based on the ideology of the restoration of absolute monarchy in Spain, which originated after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, and defended the traditional values represented by Church and State. On the other hand, other Romantics, as free citizens, fought the entire established order in religion, art, and politics. They proclaimed the rights of the individual over and against society and the law.  They represented "revolutionary" or "liberal" Romanticism, and their most notable members were Lord Byron, in England, Victor Hugo, in France, and José de Espronceda, in Spain. (The above from Wikipedia.)

REQUIRED READING:

Don Juan il Tenorio (PDF)

The French invasions devastated the economy, and left Spain a deeply divided country prone to political instability. The power struggles of the early 19th century led to the Spanish American wars of independence, losing all dominions which stretched from Las Californias to Patagonia, with the sole exception of the Caribbean, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Amid the instability and economic crisis that afflicted Spain in the 19th century there arose nationalist movements in the Philippines and Cuba. Wars of independence ensued in those colonies and eventually the United States became involved. Despite the commitment and ability shown by some military units, they were so mismanaged by the highest levels of command that the Spanish-American War, fought in the Spring of 1898, did not last long. "El Desastre" (The Disaster), as the war became known, helped give impetus to the Generation of 98 who were already conducting much critical analysis concerning the country. It also weakened the stability that had been established during Alfonso XII's reign. (The above from Wikipedia.)

LAST CLASS OF OUR TWO YEARS ON SPAIN: Boo Hoo