Ferdinand VIII of Spain

### Name

Fernando María Antonio Carlos Isidro Francisco Pascual Gregorio Magno Luis Enrique de Borbón y Borbón-Sicilia

### Issue

* Alfonso XII of Spain
* Infante Luis of Spain (1840-1910)
* Infanta Maria Anunciada of Spain (posthumous)

### Religion

Catholicism

Ferdinand VIII of Spain (Spanish: Fernando VIII) (El Escorial 3rd September 1810-Madrid 13 July 1842) was the king of Spain from 1823 to his death in 1842. The second in a line of kings to die before the age of 40, the first being his father Ferdinand in 1823, his reign saw the First and Second Traditionalists Wars, as well as the advancement of the Spanish pollitical Progresista Party. He was injured in a horse carriage accident in 1842 and died, leaving the throne to his infant son king Alfonso XII in the care of General Baldomero Espartero.

## Birth and early years

Ferdinand, born Fernando María Antonio Carlos Isidro Francisco Pascual Gregorio Magno Luis Enrique de Borbón y Borbón-Sicilia, saw the light on the 3rd of September 1810 at the Palace of El Escorial in Madrid, Spain. He was the first son of Ferdinand VII, king of Spain since 1808 and his wife Maria Amalia di Borbone-Sicilia. They had been married in 1809 after the latter’s sister, Maria Antonietta, died in 1807. Then in order to save th ealliance with the insular kingdom, Ferdinand married his late wife’s sister. Thus, over a year later, the first son of Ferdinand was born. Named after his father (in a jab at his grandfather Charles IV who had betrayed the Spanish crown), young Ferdinand was raised at Court.

For the first years of his life, he received an at-Palace education that he found “lacking”. He excdelled in most of his studies and developed a very liberal tendency, that would only grow over time. Then in 1820 the liberal revolution in Spain happened and his family was forced into a semi-isolation at the royal palace. His father’s attempt to take back control was infructuous and since then he kind of gave up in battling the revolution, dying a couple of years later.

## Reign

-main article: Reign of Ferdinand VIII of Spain-

He was king of Spain from 1823 to his early death in 1842. The second in a successive line of Spanish monarchs to die relatively young, his reign saw a series of conflicts among the conservative Traditionalist parties and the liberal Progresista party.

## Personal life

Ferdinand was really young when he lost his father, and as such he always had a personal connection both with his tutor Francisco Espoz y Mina and then with his militar teacher Baldomero Espartero, which in turn affected his pollitical positions as Progresista. He thus was a very liberal and dashing young man who was very popular throughout the country and across Europe.

He married Maria Theresa, of the House of Habsburg’s branch of Teschen. They married on January 9th 1837 and went on to have two children. They weren’t particularly in love and were of oposite political spectra. Yet, she was of the conviction she oughtn’t partake in politics and it wasn’t until his death that thah became public knowledge.

Their children were

* Alfonso (1838-1894), successor to his father as Alfonso XII of Spain.
* Luis (1840-1910), Infante of Spain.
* María Anunciada Fernandina of Spain (1841-1871), Infanta of Spain and Archduchess of Austria