| 1713 |
In the Treaty of Utrecht Spain loses that part of the Netherlands which had belonged to the Habsburgs (Belgium) as well as other lands. Naples, Milan, Sardinia all go to the Austrian Emperor while Gibraltar and the island of Minorca are ceded to Great Britain. The treaty solves the problem that started the War of Spanish Succession, placing Philip V, the former Duc d'Anjou on the Spanish throne. Although the treaty expressly forbids the eventual uniting of Spain and France under one Bourbon king, Philip will set his sights on the French throne, in the process rebuilding Spain as a European and world power. |
| 1716 January 20 |
Born in Madrid, Spain. His Father is Philip V (1693-1746) , King of Spain, the first Bourbon king of Spain, seated by the Treaty of Utrecht. Philip is the grandson of Louis XIV who dies in 1715. Charles' (or Don Carlos) mother is Elizabeth Farnese (1692-1766) a granddaughter of the Duke of Parma (in Italy). Philip V's first wife, Maria Luisa of Savoy, had two sons Luis and Ferdinand, who will both be kings of Spain for a brief period. |
| 1717 November |
Spain regains Sardinia and part of Sicily |
| 1719 August 2 |
To curb Spain's new aggressive tendencies the Quadruple Alliance is formed, uniting Great Britain, France, Austria and the United Provences (Netherlands) against Spain. |
| 1720 January 26 |
Spain surrenders Sardinia to Savoy, but Don Carlos is acknowledged to the succession of Parma and Tuscany through his mother. |
| 1724 January to August |
Philip V abdicates in favor of his 17 year old son who becomes Luis I of Spain. Luis dies of smallpox before the year is up and Philip resumes his reign. Ferdinand, his second son becomes the Prince of Asurias, next in line for the throne. Philip builds San Ildefonso, the palace of the Granja modeled on Versailles, to house himself and Elizabeth as the palace of the Bourbons in Spain. |
| 1731 January |
Antonio, the last Farnese duke of Parma dies, making Don Carlos, now 15, the Duke of Parma |
| 1731 October 20 |
Don Carlos leaves Seville and will not return for nearly 30 years. He develops smallpox soon after arriving in Italy. He will survive the disease, but it delays his arrival in Florence. Smallpox has killed many in the Bourbon clan, including Louis XIV, Louis XV and many in the line of succession between. |
| 1732 March |
Don Carlos makes his formal entry into Florence to assume the Duchy. |
| 1733 February |
Augustus II of Poland dies. He is also the Elector of Saxony. His death precipitates another war of succession, this time of Poland. Stanislaus Leszczynski, who is the father-in-law of Louis XV, will be backed by France in his attempt to re-establish himself on the throne of Poland. |
| 1733 December |
France declares war on Austria in October and in November France and Spain sign the Treaty of Escorial. The next month Spain also declares war on Austria. |
| 1734 January 20 |
Don Carlos, now 18, becomes generalissimo of the Armies of Parma and Tuscany. |
| 1734 May 10 |
Don Carlos enters Naples in triumph, reclaiming the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, a former Bourbon nation. |
| 1738 May |
Don Carlos is married, by proxy, to Maria Amalia, daughter of Augustus III who wins the War of Polish Succession to become the king of Poland and Elector of Saxony. He meets the new queen on June 19 and she develops smallpox soon after, but survives. Don Carlos' chief counselor of state is his old tutor the Conde de San Esteban until August of 1738 when he is replaced by the marques de Monte Alegre. Bernardo Tanucci is his Minister of Justice. Don Carlos will build palaces at Portici, Capodimonte and Casserta. Portici is near Vesuvius and Herculaneum where he takes interest in the excavations. |
| 1739 |
At the Treaty of Vienna Don Carlos surrenders Parma, but is established as the King of the Two Sicilies. Stanislaus loses his claim to the throne of Poland. The Duke of Lorraine, in line to become the Emperior of Austria gets Tuscany. |
| 1740 October 20 |
Emperor Charles VI of Austria dies. By December 16 the Prussians invade Silesia and the War of the Austrian Succession begins. France will not enter the war until 1744 but Spain and Great Britain have already been in a state of war for 12 months. Three theatres of war exist: Central Europe, Flanders and West Germany and Italy. Italy is a battle between Habsburg and Bourbon dynasties. The House of Savoy, as always, allied itself to its best advantage. |
| 1742 August 18 |
A British squadron of 13 men-of-war anchors at Naples, forcing Don Carlos to withdraw his troops from the war. He realizes that he is not prepared to take on another power so he embarks on a program to build new fortifications and ships to guard the Two Sicilies. The British ships move on, but he is later drawn back into the war as Austrian troops reach his borders. |
| 1744 August 4 |
At the Battle of Velletri Don Carlos is surprised by an early morning attack, but he manages to turn it into a victory and is no longer threatened in this war. |
| 1746 July 4 |
Philip V dies at the palace of Buen Retiro and is buried at San Ildefonso. In 1713 he had revoked the Siete Partidas of Alfonso X which had recognized the right of females to succeed to the throne of Castile and Leon in default of male heirs of an equally near degree of consanguinity. He introduced the Salic Law which established the French procedure. His widow who has always been quite active in affairs of the throne is involuntarily retired from public life. Ferdinand VI is the new king of Spain and the Indies. At 33 years old he is a pacifist and directs his energy toward his subjects. |
| 1748 October 18 |
At the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle Silesia and Glaz go to Prussia's Frederick. Don Carlos' younger brother Philip gets the old Duchies of Parma and Piacenza. Charles Emmanuel of Sardinia gets (back) Savoy and Nice. The Pragmatic Sanction is guaranteed except for the above duchies. Francis I is recognized as the Emperor of Austria. In Naples Don Carlos has a second son, also carlos, who will eventually succeed him. |
| 1751 |
Don Carlos begins building the Reale Albergo dei Poveri, a palace for the poor, vagabonds, orphans. the unemployed and the unemployable. He starts a rising spirit of public service in the kingdom. |
| 1755 |
Carlos dismisses the marchese Fogliani, who has been his chief councilor since 1746. Tanucci is now his minister of foreign affairs, justice and the royal household. Squillacci is his secretary of finance, war and the marine. Gaetano Brancone is head of theatrical and ecclesiastical affairs. |
| 1753 |
Don Carlos' half brother finally sends a representative from Spain. Ferdinand is closer to his uncle Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia. |
| 1756 May 1 |
A Treaty of Versailles, allying France and Austria follows the Treaty of Westminster in January which unites Britain (George II) and Prussia (Frederick) completing a reversal of traditional alliances. On May 18 war is declared starting the Seven Years War. |
| 1756 |
Powerful earthquakes are reported in Spain following the Lisbon quake the year before. |
| 1758 |
The Queen of Spain dies. She has been the only connection between Ferdinand and reality. Ferdinand has been in a steady decline of physical health and mental stability. In spite of this Spain has prospered during his reign. |
| 1759 August 10 |
Ferdinand dies. Don Carlos hears of his half brother's death on August 22nd. Carlos must find a successor for the throne of the Two Sicilies. His oldest son has been subject to epileptic fits since infancy and is now completely incapacitated mentally.He leaves this third son with Tanucci as Regent. |
| 1759 August 17 |
Don Carlos' mother Elizabeth Farnese is named in Ferdinand's will as Regent until his arrival |
| 1759 October 6 |
Don Carlos heads for Spain leaving his third son Ferdinand as King of the Two Sicilies. Tanucci heads the Regency Council. |
| 1759 October 17 |
Don Carlos arrives in Barcelona, where he restores many of the liberties and privileges his father had taken away from the Catalans for there lack of support during the final years of the War of Spanish Succession. Next he stays in Zaragosa for a while to allow his son, the future Charles IV, to recover from the measles. Great Britain declares war on Spain during this month |
| 1760 July |
Don Carlos makes his public entry into Madrid as Charles III of Spain. He has brought Squillacci from Naples to be his minister of finance. Don Ricardo Wall remains as Minister of Foreign Affairs. His second son Charles is named as Prince of Asturias and heir to the throne. Lord Bristol is the British ambassador and Marquis d'Ossun is the French ambassador to Madrid. |
| 1760 September 27 |
Maria Amalia, Carlos' wife dies at age 36. He will never remarry and his faithfulness to her defies the normal Bourbon behavior. |
| 1761 October 5 |
Pitt resigns as Prime Minister of Great Britain. He wants to declare war on Spain based on secret information he has intercepted. George III and his other ministers do not want to bring Spain into the war without direct hostilities. General Wall wants to wait until the Spanish treasure ships from America are safely in port before changing any policies toward the British. |
| 1761 |
Don Carlos exiles the Inquisitor-General Quintano from Madrid. Carlos is a proponent of the Enlightenment which the Inquisition, supported by the Society of Jesus, is attacking. |
| 1761 December |
The third Pacte de Famille of the Bourbon kingdoms signals a change in policy by Spain toward the British. This compact also gives equality to citizens of each kingdom in the others and equal treatment in matters of trade, taxes and navigation. |
| 1762 January |
Great Britain declares war on Spain. Don Carlos first attempts to pressure Portugal to end her alliance with Britain through diplomacy. When that fails a Spanish invasion on two fronts is checked by a large British army that lands in Lisbon. |
| 1762 July |
For two months Havana, Cuba is under seige by British forces. After its victory Great Britain has undisputed control of the entire Caribbean archipelgo. |
| 1762 September |
Manila falls to a British force from Madras. |
| 1763 November 3 |
A truce is signed in Paris. |
| 1764 February 10 |
A definitive treaty is signed by Britain, France and Spain. Austria and Prussia will sign five days later. Spain retains Cuba and the Philippines, but the Floridas are ceded to Britain. Spain loses its ability to fish off of Newfoundland and the British right to logging in Belize is upheld. Louisiana is transfered from France to Spain. |
| 1764 September 17 |
A secret dispatch from Rochford, the British Ambassador to Spain, to the British High Ministry warns of a plot by Choiseul and Gimaldi, Foreign Ministers of France and Spain, to burn the docks at Plymouth and Portsmouth. This revelation further complicates the ongoing discussions about the finer points of the Treaty of Paris. A French Navigator, Bougainville establishes a French settlement on the Falkland Islands, the Spanish crown protests this encroachment on its American territory, France capitulates and names a Spanish governor. The British also establish a naval post on the islands. |
| 1764 |
Don Ricardo Wall retires to his estate near Grenada and is replaced as Foreign Minister by the Marchese Grimaldi who has been ambassador to France. The new British ambassador is William Henry Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford. |
| 1764 |
Peace time and a treaty with Vienna brings a series of marriages between the Bourbon and Habsburg families, including Don Carlos' infant daughter Maria Luisa. Don Carlos begins a program of public works more ambitious than the one in Naples years earlier, He builds a new Customs House, the Prado gallery, an observatory, botanical gardens, a Natural History Library and a new hospital. |
| 1765 |
Don Carlos' brother Don Felipe is succeeded in Parma by another Ferdinand. |
| 1766 March |
Squillacci, minister of finance, issues a regulation on the length of cloaks, adding to the many reasons that he is hated by the Spanish people. When they plot to force a confrontation a riot ensues and the minister's house is sacked. When a troop of Walloon Guards fire on the rioters they become uncontrollable. The Walloons are attacked and killed and the rioters began to target all foreigners. Don Carlos is completely surprised by the attacks and feels his only option is to completely capitulate to the rioters. Squillacci is replaced by a Spaniard, the price of staples is reduced and a general amnesty is proclaimed. Although he leaves the city to the rioters for 48 hours his popularity is not diminished. O'Reilly is the Captain of the Household guard and is said to have stopped the riot from reaching the king when it broke into the palace. He was rewarded with an appointment as governor of Cadiz and Commander in Chief of the forces. |
| 1766 |
Don Michael Musquiz is the new minister of finance. The Conde de Aranda is appointed President of the Council and Captain-General of New Castile with authority over ten thousand troops and will remain the king's top adviser for the next seven years. For a short time Don Carlos considers moving the capital to Seville. Don Carlos is looking for a reason for the riots and the blame eventually falls on the Jesuits. |
| 1767 March 31 |
The Society of Jesus is already on the decline in France where all Jesuits schools and seminaries had been closed and lands seized. Benedict XIV, who had issued a Bull disowning the Society in 1741 dies at this juncture and is replaced by Clement XIII who will give support to the Society. On a more personal level the Jesuits are spreading rumors that Carlos is an illegitimate son of Elizabeth Farnese and Alberoni. At midnight of March 31st the six Jesuit colleges in Spain were surrounded by troops and bells secured against alarming a crowd. The Jesuits were allowed to collect a small bag of personal possessions and were then escorted to the coast and shipped to Italy. |
| 1769 |
Clement XIII dies , still battling the suppression of the Society of Jesus. He had attempted to coerce the young duke of Parma, but the Bourbons stand as a family, France occupies Avignon and Neapolitan troops take Pontecorvo and Benevenieto, all papal lands. The kings of France , Spain and Portugal have a veto on the election of a Pope, so Clement XIV is more likely to side with the Bourbons. He will continue to be pressured and on July 21 1773 issues a Bull that abolishes the Society of Jesus, citing the insistence of the King of Spain for the peace of his kingdom and the Pope's dominions. |
| 1769 |
A British naval officer claims the Falkland Islands for his country and tells the Spanish governor he must leave. A force sails from Buenos Aires, evicting the British. In France Louis XV sees the hand of Choiseul in various intrigues against the British and dismisses him. He writes to Don Carlos that his minister wants war, but the king does not. |
| 1771 September |
In a settlement, Bucareli, the Captain-General of Buenos Aires is rebuked and Port Egmont, in the Falklands is returned to the British, but Spain reaffirms its ownership of the islands. The British withdraw their settlement in 1774, but leave a monument staking their claim to the Falklands, The Spanish maintain a colony there, subordinate to Buenas Aires, until 1811. |
| 1771 |
Charles II appoints Antonio de Bucareli Viceroy of Mexico 1771-1779. The colony sees unprecedented prosperity and peace. He is followed by the Conde de Revilla Gigedo, appointed by Don Carlos' ministers after his death.. Revilla uses Mexico's renewed prosperity to push for many public improvements in the colony. He replaces the previous Viceroy de Croix who reports that he leaves a drunken and debauched populace which deposits at least one dead body a day on the streets of Mexico City. Riots occur frequently and the troops have to be called out, resulting in the death and imprisonment of many. the various regiments also fight among themselves and soldiers are known to rob citizens. |
| 1700 |
The Conde of Aranda is replaced as President of the Council and Captain-General of New Castile by his nemesis Grimaldi. |
| 1775 June |
Grimaldi organizes an expedition against the Barbary pirates, placing General Alejandro O'Reilly in charge. The force of 46 warships and 22,000 men is assembled at Cartegena. They arrive in the bay of Algiers on July 1, but the siege is delayed and the use of mostly raw troops adds to the set up of a rout for the Algerines. The regiment of Hibernia saves the force from complete annihilation. O'Reilly narrowly misses being the scapegoat, for Don Carlos will not turn on his old warrior. He becomes Captain-General of Andalusia and Inspector General of the Spanish Infantry, disappearing from public view. It is Grimaldi that takes the fall. |
| 1776 November |
Grimaldi steps down as President of the Council, but Don Carlos asks him to name a successor, feeling pressured by Aranda through the Prince of Asturias. Don Jose de Moñino, 48, who was recently created Conde de Floridablanca and the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See is named. Floridablanca will be one of the great names of Spanish history. Grimaldi becomes ambassador at the Vatican, having maintained the king's esteem. He is conferred a dukedom and made a grandee. Don Pedro Gonzalez Castejon, the naval commander at Algiers is minister of marine and Don Jose de Galvez minister of the Indies. |
| 1776 |
Hostilities with Portugal arise over Colonia Sacramento in South America. Pedro de Cebellos, who had taken the Portuguese colony on the Rio Plata thirteen years earlier, retakes it and is named Viceroy. This move is taken to re-establish overland trade to Peru. The hostilities end with the death of King Joseph I in February of 1777. His daughter Maria I dismisses the troublesome Pombal. Don Carlos is her uncle and assures her that he will protect her from the scheming ex-minister. |
| 1777 |
A Treaty of Ildefonso is signed between Spain and Portugal. As a settlement for Colonia Sacramento, Spain cedes a large territory in the Amazon River Basin. All disputes over the border between Brazil and Paraguay are settled. As a result Buenos Aires flourishes as a cultural and trade center. Slaves are brought from Africa and silver and vicuna wool is shipped to Spain. |
| 1777 |
Dr. Arthur Lee arrives in Madrid as an unofficial representative of the United States some time between the resignation of Grimaldi and the arrival of Floridablanca. He is from the Virginia family of Lees and had been educated at Eton and Edinburgh University, graduating in medicine and law. A well timed and argued memorandum by Lee does much to influence Don Carlos' departure from his neutral position. |
| 1777 September 19 |
News arrives from Naples that Don Felipe, Don Carlos' eldest son who was barred from succession because of his imbecility, had developed smallpox. About this time Don Carlos hears of the dismissal of Tanucci in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Ferdinand's wife, the queen, is a daughter of Maria Teresa and has inherited that family's love of intrigue. |
| 1777 October |
At the beginning of hostilities between Great Britain and her American colonies Don Carlos assures the British ambassador, Lord Grantham, that he is already wary of the possibility that revolution could spread back to his own colonies. Don Carlos sends a new ambassador to London, the Marques de Almodovar. His offer to mediate is refused. At the same time he is strongly urged by some of his councilors, Aranda for one, that Britain's problem is his opportunity. It is Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga that finally convinces Don Carlos that Britain's fall from the greatness of the Treaty of Paris is sufficient to take action. |
| 1778 February |
France makes her agreement with the Americans in February of 1778. Neither would make peace with Great Britain without the consent of the other, or until London acknowledges the independance of the United States. Hostilities between France and Great Britain begin in the Summer of 1778. |
| 1778 March 24 |
The Treaty of the Prado creates an entente between Don Carlos and Portugal whose monarch is his niece, Maria I. This is important because Portugal is Great Britain's oldest ally. |
| 1779 June 16 |
Hostilities by British forces on Spanish possessions are denied and Don Carlos has finally given up on his plan to mediate the British troubles in America. On this date Spain declares war on Great Britain. Bernardo de Galvez, governor of Louisiana and nephew of the Minister of the Indies, spared no time once he heard war had been declared, to attack British settlements on the Mississippi River. By the end of this year he has taken Baton Rouge and Natchez and turns his attention to the Gulf Coast. |
| 1779 July 23 |
Hostilities by British forces on Spanish possessions are denied and Don The main Spanish fleet joins that of France and together they sail up and down the English Channel coast of South Britain causing alarm wherever they were sighted. Not a man was landed or a shot fired before they sailed for home, but the results were a temporary command of the sea that set British efforts to reinforce troops in North America. Spain's main objective at this time is to recapture Gibraltar and Minorca from the British. A siege was laid until January 1780, when it was temporarily broken by the British navy. In October of 1779 a Captain Lutrell out of Jamaica took the port of San Fernando de Omoa in Honduras for the British. The Spanish re-take it in November due to the insufficient strength of the garrison left there.Carlos has finally given up on his plan to mediate the British troubles in America. On this date Spain declares war on Great Britain. Bernardo de Galvez, governor of Louisiana and nephew of the Minister of the Indies, spared no time once he heard war had been declared, to attack British settlements on the Mississippi River. By the end of this year he has taken Baton Rouge and Natchez and turns his attention to the Gulf Coast. |
| 1780 |
Galvez takes Mobile in March. Just as the British defenders are marching out of the fort, Brigadier General Campbell, military governor of West Florida appears, and decides against attacking the newly surrendered fort. He falls back to Pensacola, which is the next objective of Galvez. He is ready by October, but storms scatter his ships in the Gulf and Galvez is forced to postpone until the following March. The British hatch another force to take Lake Nicaragua, the wealthy cities of Leon and Granada and the land to either sea, thus splitting the Spanish possessions into north and south. The force with Horatio Nelson in charge, landed at the end of the dry season and once inland were hit by torrential rains. They captured their immediate objective, but yellow fever soon overtook the troops. Before the end of the year the fort is destroyed and abandoned. A powerful Inca leader descended from Tupac Amaru takes that name and on November 4, 1780 takes hostage a coregidore named Aliaga. Aliaga is a particularly cruel man who Tupac ransoms and then hangs. There is an offensive by the Spaniards which Tupac wins, but he spreads his rebellion through words rather than weapons. He demands only correction of abuses by the coregidores and promises to respect the church , all women and non-combatants. All this chest thumping gives the Spanish time to organize their forces and by March 12, 1781 they march out to defeat the uprising. Tupac is drawn and quartered by four horses and his various body parts displayed as a warning to other Indians, but in the end Don Carlos puts into law most of the reforms that Tupac had advocated. |
| 1781 |
Near the close of 1781 the Spanish fleet intercepts a large convoy bound from England to both the East and West Indies. Its capture is a great prize and reinforces the alliance with France. In addition Floridablanca helped form an armed neutrality of other maritime nations including Russia, Denmark and Sweden. France and Spain fail to coordinate a fight against another English relief squadron that sails toward Gibraltar. Again it succeeds against tepid resistance. Instead the Spanish bombard the stores once the fleet has left, causing damage and rioting within the garrison. Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown on October 19, 1781 In July Spanish forces pull a surprise attack on Minorca, forcing a surrender of Fort St. Philip by February 4, 1782. |
| 1782 |
Galvez anchors his seventy -four gun flagship, San Ramon, in Pensacola Bay on March 9, 1782. He has 1,315 troops from Cuba, 2,253 men from Mobile and New Orleans. By April 19 he is reinforced by another 1,300 Spanish regulars to siege Fort George. The siege continued until the seventh of may when a Spanish shell landed in the British powder magazine killing over one hundred of the garrison. Galveston ordered an immediate attack, and while many casualties were sustained, the Spanish forced a surrender, completing the retaking of Florida for Spain. Forces at the surrender include the 69th Regiment for the British (later the Welch Regimen) and the Hibernia Regiment for the Spanish. Spain occupies Providence and the Bahamas without bloodshed, but will surrender them at Versailles. A great offensive of Gibraltar was finally staged on September 13, 1782 using huge floating batteries, but everything that could go wrong did go wrong and again there was little back-up by the powerful Spanish and French fleets. By October 14 another relief flotilla was sent to Gibraltar by the British. It found no resistance. In March of 1782 Lord North resigns and is replaced by the Marquess of Rockingham on condition that the independence of the United States be acknowledged. Rockingham dies in July and is replaced by the Earl of Shelburne. Lord Grantham, who has been British ambassador in Madrid is Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Provisional articles of peace are signed between the United States and Great Britain on November 30, 1782. France is left out because the American representatives find out that the French were trying to negotiate American claims to the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Spain was double crossed by French negotiator and Foreign Minster Vergennes, possibly with the help of Aranda. He tells the British that could keep Gibraltar if Spain could retain sovereignty over Minorca and the two Floridas, which they had obtained through battle. |
| 1783 |
The preliminaries of peace between Britain and the Bourbon nations were signed on January 20, 1783 at Versailles and the definitive Treaty of Versailles is signed by all parties on September 3, 1783. |
| 1784 |
Vincente de Zespedes is the new governor of Florida, landing in San Augustine on June 27, 1784 accompanied with Colonel William O'Kelly and 400 soldiers of the Hibernia Regiment. The Irish are used because they speak both English and Spanish. Many Loyalists who fled from the United States during the war are in Florida and must now move again. Most go to Canada or the West Indies. On the Georgia border are a collection of pirates, renegade Indians, runaway slaves and other undesirables. Aranda presents to Don Carlos a grand scheme to divide the Spanish dominions into three kingdoms each ruled by his offspring, with the King himself as the Emperor. |
| 1787 |
Early in his reign Don Carlos sent Jose de Galvez to Mexico as a visitador to investigate abuses that have been established over the previous two centuries. He was born in Malaga of an obscure family. He will become Minister for the Indies and lives the greater part of his life in the Americas where he introduces many reforms. He removes the old system of coregidores and alcaldes mayores and introduces a system of twelve Intendants that are more carefully chosen for their honesty and efficiency. Jose de Galvez dies at a relatively young age in 1787. He has relaxed trade regulations among the Americas and reduced the oppression of the Indians. Don Carlos is very pleased with the reforms which have returned prosperity to Spain. |
| 1788 |
The Prince of Asturias will be Charles IV and his wife the princess is his first cousin, Maria Luisa, the daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma and Don Carlos' brother. He is a patron of Goya, shares his contemporary, Louis XVI's, love of odd clocks and his father's love of hunting. They were married in 1765. Maria Luisa's affections had begun to roam after a few years and because of this at least four members of high aristocracy wee sent into exile. Eventually she set her sights lower and to her attentions came one Manuel Godoy, an ordinary gentleman of the bodyguard. Godoy will become a prominent man during the reign of Don Carlos' son. Don Carlos' other children besides Charles and Felipe, who was an imbecile were: Gabriel who marries Maria Ana of Portugal, they both die a few weeks before Don Carlos; Pedro, Antonio and Francisco Javier who all die before Don Carlos; Maria Josefa, who is deformed and never marries; and Maria Luisa who marries the Archduke Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany and later the Emperor Leopold II. |
| 1788 December 14 |
In his last years Don Carlos and Floridablanca are successful in maintaining peace in Europe. He settles into a routine moving from palace to palace, the Pardo in January, Aranjuez at Easter, La Granja in July, the Escorial in October and back to Madrid in December. Don Carlos and Floridablanca gave attention to every aspect of reform and reorganization of Spain. Men of science and learning and craftsmen were brought from all over Europe to initiate industry, banks and institutions for the benefit of all. The system of taxation is changed. He dies on December 14 at the new Palacio de Oriente. |