Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/589

* FERDINAND V. 537 FERDINAND VII. Alcantara, anil Santiago. In all his schemes he was ablj seconded by his Queen, Isabella, and by ili, celebrated Cardinal Xinienez. The year 1 192 was the most brilliant in his reign, and is one iif the uiosl important in the history of the ina- terial progress "i the world. Ii was signalized by the discovery of America by Christopher Co- lumbus, though the honor of having aided the great navigator belongs, not to Ferdinand, but to Isabella. The beginning of the same veal- witnessed the entry of Ferdinand and Isabella into Granada and the end of Moorish domin- ion in Spain. This event was immediately followed by the expulsion of the -lews from the Spanish dominions and from Sicily. This act of barbarity entailed the loss of a large and indus- trious body in the community. Ferdinand was as successful abroad as at home. He was vic- torious over Alfonso V., King of Portugal, while his general, Gonsalvo de Cordova, decided the contest for the possession of the Kingdom of Naples between France and Aragon in favor of the Spaniards in 1503. In the following year Isabella died, but Ferdinand regained power after 1506 as Regent of Castile for his daughter, Juana the Mad (who had married Philip, son of the Emperor Maximilian), and her son Charles. In 1505 Ferdinand married Germaine de Foix, a niece of Louis XII. of France. He took part in the famous League of Cambrai, formed against Venice in 1508, made himself master of various towns and fortresses in Africa, and in 1512 conquered the main portion of the Kingdom of Navarre, thus becoming monarch of Spain from the Pyre- nees to the Rock of Gibraltar. He died at Madri- galejo, January 23, 1516, and was succeeded by his grandson, Charles I. (afterwards Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V.). To Ferdinand and Isa- bella Spain owes her unity and greatness as a nation. Consult: Prescott, Ferdinand and Isa- bella (Philadelphia, 1900). FERDINAND VI. (c. 1712-59). King of Spain from 1740 to 1759, called 'The Sage.' He was the third son of Philip V. and Maria Louisa of Savoy. On succeeding to power he withdrew from European complications, concluding the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ( 174S), and devoted him- self to internal reforms in bis kingdom, aided by his- two able ministers, Carvajal and Ensenada, and by his Irish adviser, Wall. Financial, agri- cultural, and commercial reforms took place, and the arts were encouraged by the foundation of the Royal Academy of San Fernando and by State support for the higher education of Spanish stu- dents. In 1753, by a concordat with Pope Bene- dict XIV., the right of presentation to Spanish benefices was confined to the King for all save fifty offices. In the Seven Years' War Ferdinand refused to join the French and the English, and remained neutral. In 1758 the King, who had never enjoyed good health, broke down almost completely after the death of his consort, Maria of Portugal, and lost his reason. Under these cir- cumstances a regency was formed. He died at the monastery of Villaviciosa, August 10, 1759. As he left no heirs, the crown passed by an act of settlement to his half-brother, Charles III. Con- sult: Coxe. Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon (London. 1815) : Villa. Mar- ijues dc la Ensenada (Madrid, 1878). FERDINAND VII. (1784-1833). King of Spain 1S0S and 1814 to 1833. He was the son of King Charles IV.. and «:i- born at San [lde- ion,,., October It, 1784. In 1789 he was pro claimed Prince of Asturias, and his edu lion was intrusted to the Duke i and the ('anon Escoiquiz. Encouraged bj them, he placed himself in opposition to the powerful Spanish Minister. .Manuel de Godoy (q.v.), who, alter the death of Ferdinand's Hist wife, Marie Antoinette Therese of Naples, in 1806, -ought to in.urv the young Prince to Marie Therese de Bourbon. I pon this Ferdinand look the advice of the French Ambassador, Moniihnrna i-, and wrote to Napoleon asking for the hand of one of the Emperor's nieces. Spanish -pies, acting on behalf of Godoy and the Queen, unearthed this correspondence, and the Prince was arrested by oriler of Charles IV. and confined in the Kscorial in ISO". These events were followed by the French invasion of Spain, which so inllamed the people against Gcfdoy and the King and ijueen that they were forced to flee from Madrid. In .March. I SOS. following on the rising at Aran- juez, Charles IV. abdicated in favor of Ferdinand, who was immediately proclaimed as Ferdinand VII., amid great rejoicing. The French, under Murat, however, entered Madrid a few days later, and Charles IV., instigated by the French, withdrew his abdication, in a letter to Napoleon, on the ground that it had been extorted from him. The Emperor thereupon invited Ferdinand VII. to a conference at Bayonne, and in spite of warnings the new King repaired thither, only to find himself a prisoner. The disorder in Madrid consequent on Murat's occupation was laid at Ferdinand's door, and after repeated negotiations and threats the Prince signed one paper renouncing the throne in favor of bis father, and another by which he ceded to Na- poleon all his rights of succession to the Spanish monarchy. In return, he was to receive a pen- sion of 800,000 francs and the chateau of Va- lencay. There he remained for the next si years, with his uncle, Don Antonio, and hi9 brother, Don Carlos. In 1813. after Wellington's victorious cam- paign in the Peninsula, Napoleon offered to rein state Ferdinand on the Spanish throne. In March, 1814, the long-wished-for sovereign returned, and was received with every demonstration of loyalty. All acts promulgated during his absence, including the Constitution of 1812, were abro- gated, and the old order of things restored. For six years Ferdinand sought to make himself absolute. Banishment, imprisonment, and death were all resorted to: but insurrection succeeded insurrection, until in 1S20 such a. serious mutiny took place among the Spanish troops, supported by the Cortes and the people, that Ferdinand was forced to confirm the Constitution of 1812. But the struggle between the Constitutionalists and Royalists continued, and finally ended in the triumph of the former (1822): thereupon the Holy Alliance sent a French army in 1823 to re- store peace and absolutism, which, after an obstinate resistance on the part of the liberal ele- ment, it succeeded in doing. The Cortes, after the occupation of Madrid, retired to Cadiz, but were unable to hold the place against the in- vaders. Ferdinand returned in triumph to Ma- drid, and his first act was to annul all liberal measures passed since 1820 as having been forced upon him. The Absolutist and Clerical party became practically supreme. In 1829 Ferdinand