Ferdinand VII of Spain

**Ferdinand VII** (Spanish: ***Fernando VII***; 14 October 1784 - 23 September 1831) nicknamed «**the Desired**» was King of **Spain** and her realms briefly in 1808 and again from 1810 until his death in 1831. After the deposition of his father **Charles IV** by his supporters, he ascended the throne. That same year **Napoleon** overthrew him.

As a hardcore absolutist, he linked his reign to counter-revolution and the prosecution of liberals. Restored to power in autumn 1810, he inmediately revoked all reforms made in the meantime by the **Supreme Central Junta** and started a series of campaigns to reconquer Spanish America. After suffering a riding accident which left him gravely incapacitated in 1816, a revolt in 1817 led by **Espoz y Mina** forced him to accept a constitution that began a 9-month period of liberal rule. In early 1818 Ferdinand VII and his supporters launched a successful coup which overthrew the liberal government, restoring his absolute rule for a second time. Despite this, he was forced to compel with the liberals and often chose moderate ministers such as **Cea Bermúdez** or **López Ballesteros**.

Ferdinand VII died in 1831 after a severe attack of gout, a disease he had been suffering from for more than a decade. Succeeded in the throne by his young son **Xavier**, Ferdinand's death caused a civil war in Spain between the two declared regents and their supporters; The forces loyal to **his wife**, comprised of liberals and moderate absolutists, and the forces loyal to his brother **Charles**, comprised of conservatives and the reactionary ultraroyalists. Despotic and opportunistic, king Ferdinand VII was Spain's last absolute monarch.

## Biography

### Early life

Ferdinand was born on 14 October 1784 as the eldest son of **Charles IV of Spain** and his wife **María Luisa of Bourbon-Parma**, during the later years of his grandfather **Charles III**'s reign. Although nominally heir apparent since **Charles III**'s death in 1788, Ferdinand was excluded from government by his parents and their favourite advisors and Prime Minister, **Manuel Godoy**. At the same time, his tutors instilled in him a deep hatred towards his parents and **Godoy**, from which he developed his iconic distrustful and conspiratorial character.

### First reign and imprisonment

Following a popular riot at Aranjuez instigated by Ferdinand and his supporters, **Charles IV** abdicated in March 1808, with the Prince of Asturias being crowned as Ferdinand VII. In order to secure his throne, he turned to **Napoleon** for support, and was invited, along with his parents, to the French city of Bayonne, where he and his father were prompted to abdicate the Spanish throne on **Napoleon**, who then granted the crown to his brother, **Joseph**.

While the upper sections of the government accepted his abdication and tolerated Spain's new king **Joseph**, the Spanish populace did not. Uprisings broke out throughout the country, marking the beginning of the **Peninsular War**. Provincial juntas were established to control regions in opposition to the new French king. After the **Battle of Bailén** proved that the **Spanish** could resist the French, the Council of Castile reversed itself and declared null and void the abdications of Bayonne on 11 August 1808. On 24 August, Ferdinand VII was proclaimed king of **Spain** again, and negotiations between the council and the provincial juntas for the establishment of a **Supreme Central Junta** were completed. Subsequently, on 14 January 1809, the **British** government acknowledged Ferdinand VII as king of **Spain**.

### Restoration and Absolutist Septenium

In November 1810, after a disastrous campaign of almost two years, **French** troops had been driven out of **Spain** and **Portugal**. With the threat of the Iberian theater pushing into **France**, Napoleon liberated Ferdinand and acknowledged him as King of **Spain** in an attempt to manage **Spain**'s exit from the war. Arriving in Valencia, the restored king was received with a wave of patriotic fervour, and the Supreme Central Junta agreed to dissolve itself, handing all power back to the monarch.