The royal family of Spain and its history

A few years ago, I completed the page the House of Habsburg. At least, I though
I completed the House of Habsburg (more on this link) but it only was the
Austrian branch of the dynasty. So, I decided to create a new blog page for the
Spanish part of the famous royal family.

Readers of this blog already knew that I really have a big fascination for Spain
and I like to go there each year on holiday.

Besides all this, Belgium and Spain has important royal connections together:

- Emperor Charles V was born in Ghent (nowadays located in Flanders,
Belgium);
- King Philip II, who ruled over the Habsburg Netherlands
and at least our Queen Fabiola. She was born in Madrid .

I really hope you enjoy this page about the Royal History of Spain.

Spain Costa Blanca - own picture taken in 2018

Although the real history of Spain start earlier, I start on this page in the
important year: 1492.

Before Spain was a mix of different Kingdoms but on 19 October 1469,
Ferdinand II of Aragon married Queen Isabella I of Castile. This royal wedding
was important for the unification of Spain. In these days Spain was ruled by
Moorish Muslims, who had conquered the region from Northern Africa.

Ferdinand II

Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile had 7 children

inter alia:

- Isabella, who became Queen of Portugal
- John, who married Archduchess Margaret of Austria
- Joanna, Queen of Castile, who married Archduke Philip of Austria
- Maria, who married her sister's widower and became Queen of Portugal
- Catherina, who became Queen Consort of England and the first wife of
King Henry VIII.

Ferdinand II of Aragon was due to his marriage King Ferdinand V

of Castile.

Isabella I

More about the royal wedding of Ferdinand and Isabella on this
link.

own picture of the Royal Alcazar of Seville

More about the Royal Alcazar of Sevilla - Spain. More on this link.

More about the Cathedral of Seville, Spain on this link.

👉 King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile established in
1478 the Spanish Inquisition.

👉 In 1492, the monarchs conquered the city of Granada. 1492 is an important
date in the Spanish history. From then on, every single man and woman in Spain
was ruled by the same monarchs.

👉 After the Spanish monarchs conquered Granada, they met
Christopher Columbus. On August 3rd. 1492, the Niña, the Pinta and the
Santa Maria put out to Sea from Palos. 8 months later a brand 'new' world was
discovered.

Isabella I of Castille died on 26 November 1504. She was buried at the
Royal Chapel in Granada, Spain.

Ferdinand II of Aragon died on 23 January 1516 at the age of 63 (after he
married Germaine of Foix).

Joanna

King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile were
succeeded by their daughter Joanna. She also was called Joanna the Mad.
Joanna and her parents were members of the House of Trastámara.

Joanna was married to Philip the Handsome. He was a member of the
House of Habsburg.

More about Philip the Handsome on this link.

Charles I

Joanna was succeeded by her famous son who even became Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V. His empire really was large, it was called: 'The
Empire on which the sun never sets'.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor was a member of the noble
House of Habsburg.

On this blog, I already made a page of the Austrian branch of the
House of Habsburg, this is the second page of this important dynasty.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor had as motto: "Plus Ultra". This still is
used by the modern monarchs of Spain.

👉 On 17 September 1517, Charles came for the first time to Spain, where
he was the new King. When he arrived Charles spoke no Spanish at all.
However Charles' reign marked the Golden Age in Spanish History.

👉 In 1519, Charles' grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I died.

Famous painters:

* Murillo;

* El Greco;

* Velazquez.

Charles abdicated as Emperor and as King of Spain in 1556. He died on
21 September 1558 at the age of 58.

Philip II

Philip II of Spain was born on 21 May 1527.

Philip II of Spain became the new ruler after his father abdicated in his
favour. This took place in 1556 in Brussels (nowadays Belgium).

This Philip II married 4 times

1/ Maria Manuela of Portugal

2/ Mary I of England
More about this royal wedding on this link.

3/ Elisabeth of Valois

4/ Anna of Austria

Philip II of Spain also was a member of the noble House of Habsburg.

One of his daughters, Isabella Clara Eugenia who married
Archduke Albert VII of Austria. They became governors of
The Netherlands. More about Isabella Clara Eugenia on this link.

👉 In the Low Countries there was the Rise of Calvinism. Religious Wars
broke out and King Philip II tried to stop them with the help of the Iron
Duke of Alba.

👉 In 1580 King Philip II of Spain became King of Portugal too.

👉 In 1588, he sent an armada to invade Protestant England. He wanted to
overthrow Queen Elisabeth I of England and to set up a Catholic reign.
This failed.

Philip II of Spain died on 13 September 1598.

Philip III

Philip III of Spain was born on 14 April 1578.

Philipp III of Spain followed his father as ruler of Spain. He married
Margaret of Austria, a daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and
Maria Anna of Bavaria.

This royal couple had children inter alia

- Anne, Queen of France;
- Philip IV, King of Spain;
- Maria Anna, Holy Roman Empress;
- Infante Charles of Spain;
- Cardinal Infante Ferdinand

They were all members of the noble House of Habsburg.

👉 He also was:

King of Portugal;

King of Naples & Sicily;

King of Sardinia;

Duke of Milan.

King Philip III of Spain died on 31 March 1621.

Philip IV

Philip IV of Spain was born on 8 April 1605.

Philip IV of Spain married twice.

1/ Elizabeth of France
2/ Mariana of Austria

They had lots of children inter alia:

- Maria Theresa of Austria, who married King Louis XIV of France;
- Margaret Theresa of Austria, who married Leopold I, Holy Roman
Emperor;
- Charles II of Spain.

Philip IV of Spain died on 17 September 1665. More about him on
this link.

Charles II

Charles II of Spain was born on 6 November 1661. He suffered ill-health
during his whole life as well as a depression.

Charles II of Spain married twice

1/ Marie Louise d'Orléans niece of King Louis XIV of France
2/ Maria Anna of Neuburg.

Charles died on 1 November 1700 without heirs. The Spanish crown
was offered to Philip, a grandson of King Louis XIV of France and
Maria Theresa of Austria.

Philip V

Philip V of Spain was a member of the royal house of Bourbon.

He married twice.

1/ Mara Luisa of Savoy
2/ Elsabeth Farnesse.

He had lots of issue inter alia:

- Louis I of Spain;
- Ferdinand VI of Spain;
- Charles III of Spain;
- Infanta Maria Antonia of Spain, who became Queen Consort of
Sardinia.

Philip V of Spain was succeeded by King Louis I of Spain, who died
a few months later of smallpox. King Philip V returned to duty until
he died.

Ferdinand VI

He was succeeded by Ferdinand VI of Spain and later by Charles III
of Spain.

Charles III

King Charles III of Spain was succeeded by Charles IV of Spain (not
an original name though ....).

Charles IV

Ferdinand VII

From 1808-1813 the Kingdom of Spain was ruled by Joseph I,
who was imposed by his brother Napoleon I of France.

His title was King of the Spains and the Indias, by the Grace of
God and the Constitution of the State.

Joseph I

Charles IV's eldest son was restored to the throne in 1813.
Again the title used was king of Castle, Leon, Aragon, ...
by the Grace of God.

Ferdinand VII

Isabella II

After the revolution of 1868 of the deposed Isabella II, there was
established a political government and a regency headed by
Francisco Serrano y Dominguez. A new monarch was sought.
Amadeo was elected as king and the new title used was:
King of Spain, by the Grace of God and the will of the nation.

Amadeo I

Spanish Republic (1873-1874)

Kingdom of Spain (1874-1931)

Alfonso XII

He was the son of Queen Isabella II. He belonged to the royal
house of Bourbon.

Alfonso XIII

He married Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. She was a
granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. His mother
Queen Maria Christina did not like his choice. She considered the
Battenbergs as non-royal and she wanted that her son would marry
to someone from her own family.
Other obstacles were Victoria's religion.

Spanish republic (1931-1939)

Spanish State (1936-1975)

On 1 October 1936, General Francisco Franco was proclaimed
Leader of Spain in the parts of Spain controlled by the Nationalists
after the Spanish Civil War broke out.

On 1 April 1939, Franco took control of the whole of Spain.
In 1947, Franco proclaimed the restoration of the monarchy but
did not allow the pretender, Juan, Count of Barcelona to take
take throne.

In 1969, Franco declared that Juan Carlos, Prince of Spain, the
Count of Barcelona's son would be his successor. After Franco's
death in 1975, Juan Carlos became King of Spain. They were
members of the House of Bourbon.

Juan Carlos I

Juan Carlos was the grandson of Alfonso XIII. He reigned from
22 November 1975 till 18 June 2014. More about Juan Carlos I
on this link.