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Ferdinand VII: King of Spain

He was the most popular and beloved Spanish monarch, even by decree of the Cortes, during his lifetime and the most denigrated of all Spanish history after his death. It will take time for the legend of the “felon, cowardly, arbitrary and inclement” king to disappear, although documentary studies rectify errors and reconstruct many of the successes of his reign. His life was marked by difficult political and family circumstances and by such transcendental events as: the Napoleonic invasion, the outbreak of the War of Independence, the emancipation of the American continent and the liberal revolution of the Cortes of Cadiz, which makes him a “transitional king” who lived both conditions -absolute king and constitutional king- a fact of great importance both for the history of Spain and for his figure. No king, neither among his predecessors nor his successors, encountered such a problematic approach, since it is normal to reign under a given regime. The historian is not allowed to speculate: if Don Carlos had accepted the Pragmatic, if the king had had male children, if the marriage of Princess Isabelita with Carlitos de Montemolín had been arranged, if the king had lived a few more years... but what is not in doubt is that Fernando VII, at his death, left Spain a civil war which, as the epilogue of this biography states, “he foresaw but could not avoid”. Book of History of Spain.Read more

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