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Charles IV
Charles IV
	Charles IV, as Prince of Asturias, (1765), by Anton Raphael Mengs
	King of Spain
Reign	14 December 1788–19 March 1808
Predecessor	Charles III
Successor	Ferdinand VII
Spouse	Maria Luisa of Parma
Issue
	Charlotte, Queen of Portugal; Maria Louisa, Queen of Etruria; Ferdinand VII of Spain; Infante Charles, Count of Molina; Maria Isabella, Queen of the Two Sicilies; Infante Francisco de Paula
House	House of Bourbon
Father	Charles III of Spain
Mother	Maria Amalia of Saxony
Born	11 November 1748; Palace of Portici, Portici, Italy
Died	20 January 1819 (aged 70); Rome, Italy

Charles IV (11 November 1748 – 20 January 1819) was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.

[edit] Early life

Portrait of Charles IV by Goya.

Charles was the second son of Charles III and his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. He was born at Portici, while his father was king of the Two Sicilies. His elder brother Don Felipe was passed over for the two thrones as mentally retarded and epileptic.

Charles had inherited a great frame and immense physical strength from the Saxon line of his mother, granddaughter of August the Strong. When young he was fond of wrestling with the strongest countrymen he could find. While he was considered by many to be intellectually sluggish and quite credulous he was also known for his acts of kindness.

[edit] Reign

In 1788, Charles III died and Charles IV succeeded to the throne. Even though he had a profound belief in the sanctity of his office and kept up the appearance of an absolute, powerful monarch, he never took more than a passive part in the direction of his own government, occupying himself with hunting. The affairs of government he left to his wife and his prime minister. In 1792, Maria Louis finally succeeded in ousting the Count of Floridablanca from office and had him replaced with Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, Count of Aranda, the chief of the Aragonese party. However, in the wake of the war against Republican France, the liberal-leaning Count of Aranda was replaced by Manuel de Godoy, a favourite of the Queen and allegedly her lover, who would henceforth enjoy the lasting favour of the King.

Equestrian statue of Charles IV in Mexico City.

Silver 8 real coin of Charles IV, struck in 1806.

Godoy continued Aranda's policy of neutrality towards France but after Spain protested against the execution of the deposed king in 1793, France declared war on Spain and in 1795 forced Godoy to conclude an alliance and declared war on Great Britain.

In 1803, after smallpox had affected his daughter María Luísa, the king commissioned his doctor Francisco Javier de Balmis to bring the vaccine to the Spanish colonies on state expenses.

Spain remained an ally of France and supported the Continental Blockade until the the British naval victory at Trafalgar. However, After Napoleon's victory over Prussia in 1807, Godoy again steered Spain back onto the French side. This switching back and forth devalued Charles' position as a trustworthy ally while the return to the French alliance increased Godoy's unpopularity and strengthened partido fernandista, the supporters of Crown Prince Ferdinand, who favored a close relationship with Great Britain.

[edit] Abdication

When King Charles was told that his son Ferdinand was appealing to Napoleon against Godoy, he took the side of the minister. When the populace rose at Aranjuez in 1808 he abdicated on 19 March, in favour of his son,^[1] to save the minister who had been taken prisoner. Ferdinand took the throne as Ferdinand VII, but was distrusted by Napoleon who had 100,000 soldiers in Spain by that time.

Charles IV found refuge in France, and became a prisoner of Napoleon: the latter, posing as arbiter, summoned both Charles IV and his son to Bayonne in April and coaxed Charles (who had a difficult time restraining himself from assaulting his son) to retract his earlier abdication and abdicate, on 5 May 1808, in favour of Napoleon.^[2]

[edit] Later life

Charles was then interned in Talleyrand's castle in Valençay.^[3]^[4] He accepted a pension from the French Emperor and spent the rest of his life between his wife and Godoy, staying briefly in Compiègne and more durably in Marseille.

In 1812, he finally settled in Rome in the Palazzo Barberini.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8], where he died on 20 January 1819.

[edit] Marriage and children

Charles IV married his first cousin Maria Louisa, the daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma, in 1765. The couple had fourteen children, six of which survived into adulthood:

Charles Clement (Carlos Clemente) (19 September 1771 – 7 March 1774)
Charlotte Joaquina (Carlota Joaquina) (25 April 1775 – 7 January 1830), married the Prince John of Portugal, later King John VI
Maria Louisa (Maria Luisa) (11 September 1777 – 2 July 1782)
Maria Amalia (9 January 1779 – 22 July 1798), married her uncle Infante Antonio Pascual of Spain in 1795, no issue.
Charles Dominic (Carlos Domingo) (5 March 1780 – 11 June 1783)
Maria Louisa (Maria Luisa) (6 July 1782 – 13 March 1824), married Louis, heir of Bourbon-Parma and became Queen consort of Etruria and Duchess of Lucca
Charles Francis (Carlos Francisco) (5 September 1783 – 11 November 1784)
Philip Francis (Felipe Francisco) (5 September 1783 – 18 October 1784)
Ferdinand (Fernando) (14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833), succeeded his father as King of Spain
Charles (Carlos), Count of Molina (29 March 1788 – 10 March 1855), later the first Carlist pretender
Maria Isabella (6 June 1789 – 13 September 1848), married Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies
Maria Teresa (16 February 1791 – 2 November 1794)
Felipe Maria (28 March 1792 – 1 March 1794)
Francisco Antonio de Paula, Duke of Cadiz (10 March 1794 – 13 August 1865)

Maria Luisa was widely considered a vicious and coarse woman who thoroughly dominated the king. During the lifetime of Charles III, she led her husband into court intrigues against the prime minister, the Count of Floridablanca.

[edit] Ancestors

16. Louis XIV of France

8. Louis, Dauphin of France

17. Maria Theresa of Spain

4. Philip V of Spain

18. Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria

9. Maria Anna of Bavaria

19. Henriette Adelaide of Savoy

2. Charles III of Spain

20. Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma

10. Odoardo II Farnese

21. Isabella of Modena

5. Elisabeth of Parma

22. Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine

11. Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg

23. Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt

1. Charles IV of Spain

24. John George III, Elector of Saxony

12. Augustus II the Strong

25. Anne Sophie of Denmark

6. Augustus III of Poland

26. Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth

13. Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth

27. Sophie Luise of Württemberg

3. Maria Amalia of Saxony

28. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

14. Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor

29. Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg

7. Maria Josepha of Austria

30. John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

15. Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick

31. Benedicta-Henrietta of Simmern

[edit] References

^ Articles: Period of Imperial Crisis (revised) - Historical Text Archive
^ Gazeta de Madrid de 20 de mayo páginas 483 and 484.
^ Napoleon I: Blockade and the peninsular campaign - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
^ http://pcombal.club.fr/bioanglaise.html — “The Spanish affair&rqduo;
^ http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV_d%27Espagne
^ Manuel de Godoy#Exile
^ Worldroots.com
^ The Royal Favorite: Manuel Francisco Domingo de Godoy, Prince of the Peace

Historia del Reinado de Carlos IV, by General Gomez de Arteche (5 vols.), in the Historia General de España de la Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid, 1892, etc.).
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Regnal titles
Charles IV of Spain House of Bourbon Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty Born: 11 November 1748 Died: 20 January 1819
Preceded by Charles III	King of Spain 1788–1808	Succeeded by Ferdinand VII
Vacant Title last held by Prince Ferdinand his uncle	Prince of Asturias 1759-1788	Succeeded by Prince Ferdinand his son

[0] Articles: Period of Imperial Crisis (revised) - Historical Text Archive

[1] Gazeta de Madrid de 20 de mayo páginas 483 and 484.

[Britannica-Napoleon-2] Napoleon I: Blockade and the peninsular campaign - Britannica Online Encyclopedia

[3] ttp://pcombal.club.fr/bioanglaise.html — “The Spanish affair&rqduo;

[WP-fr-4] ttp://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV_d%27Espagne

[5] Manuel de Godoy#Exile

[6] Worldroots.com

[7] The Royal Favorite: Manuel Francisco Domingo de Godoy, Prince of the Peace

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