10 famous Spanish Kings

10 famous Spanish Kings

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Felipe_VI_of_Spain.jpg

10 famous Spanish Kings

After financing the voyages of Christopher Columbus, Spain started acquiring unbelievable wealth from the New World. It became a global empire; however, what many people don’t realize is how much the monarchy of Spain had to do to create this empire. It is documented that less than 30 years before Columbus embarked on his voyage, Spain didn’t quite exist. There was no sole Spanish kingdom, but instead, a series of smaller states comprising what is now known as Spain. To go from that to what is now reminisced as a mighty empire, these smaller kingdoms and a lot of Spanish history would depend on a series of very powerful rulers. Let’s take a look at ten famous Spanish Kings.

1. Charles V

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elderly_Karl_V.jpg

Charles V, or Carlos I as he was known in Spain, was from the Hapsburg family, a royal dynasty of Northern Europe. He was crowned King of Spain in 1516, inherited from his grandparents, within a few years he had also inherited the titles of King of Germany, King of Italy, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, and, most significantly, the Holy Roman Emperor. A title granted by the Pope, formally recognizing Charles as the most powerful emperor in Europe. During his rule, Spain became a truly unified empire and the most powerful nation in the world. After Martin Luther kicked off the Protestant Reformation around the same time that Charles rose to power, Spain also became the defender of Catholicism across the globe.

2.Philip II

King Philip II of Spain, also known as Philip the Prudent of the House of Habsburg, was unarguably the most important ruler in Spanish history. Born in 1527, Philip II Led Spain to the height of influence and power, and also of its artistic, literary, and musical excellence. As a result, those years are often referred to as the ‘Golden Age’. He was also named the King of Portugal, King of Naples, Duke of Milan, and lord of Seventeen Provinces of Netherlands at various points of his life. For a brief period, he became the jure uxoris King of England and Ireland through his marriage to Queen Mary I. He received great formal training and military education and at the age of 16, his father made him the Regent of Spain. In the ensuing years, he would be the sovereign of a massive empire that would extend to every continent known to modern Europeans.

3.Alfonso XIII

Alfonso XIII of Spain, also known as El Africano, was the King of Spain from his birth in 1886 until the establishment of the Second Republic in 1931. The posthumous son of Alfonso XII, he grew up alongside two elder sisters under the regency of their mother, María Cristina. He took full authority as the king on his sixteenth birthday in 1902. During his reign, Alfonso continued the system of rotating the governments which led to political instability. His popularity also suffered due to the poor situation of the popular classes, Catalan nationalism, and consequences of the Rif War. However, his tremendous courage in dealing with a plot to assassinate him on his wedding day in 1906 won him considerable admiration all over Spain. In April 1931, he was forced to leave the country though he refused to abdicate the throne. Ten years later, he died at a hotel in Rome, at the age of 54.

4.Philip VI

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Felipe_VI_of_Spain.jpg

Philip VI (Felipe VI) is not only the current king of Spain; he is also the youngest monarch in Europe. He is the only son of King Juan Carlos I, which made him the sole heir to the throne. Along with his studies, Felipe continued his military training, which is mandatory for any prince of the state. As the prince of Spain, Felipe promoted relations with Spanish America and the former Spanish East Indies. Throughout the 1990s, he represented the Spanish monarchy, both domestically and overseas. Apart from performing his official activities, he serves as the honorary president of many associations and foundations. He is married to a well-known former ‘CNN’ journalist together they have two daughters.

5.Charles III

Charles III was a King of Spain who ruled from August 1759 to December 1788. He also reigned over Naples as Charles VII and Sicily as Charles V from May 1734 and October 1759, respectively.  Charles III was the eldest child born to Philip V of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese. Charles became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza when he 15 years old, succeeding his childless grand-uncle Antonio Farnese. In 1738, he exchanged wedding vows with Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony, and they went on to have 13 children, eight of whom survived childhood. Following the death of his half-brother Ferdinand VI, Charles ascended the Spanish throne. Throughout his reign, he established himself as a proponent of enlightened absolutism. He was widely considered to be the most successful ruler of his generation; Charles led Spain into the modern age.

6.Philip III

Philip III was the king of Spain, the king of Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia, and the duke of Milan, from 1598 to 1621. He was known as “Philip the Pious,” but was infamous for his ineffective and faulty policies. His reliance on the Duke of Lerma brought him a lot of criticism. The decline of Spain is often attributed to the economic problems that were set during his reign. He achieved temporary peace with the Dutch (1609–1621) and made Spain venture into the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648). He was responsible for the expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain, thereby causing more economic damage to the country. Philip III’s extravagant lifestyle and Lerma’s excesses were brought to an end in 1618, with the fall of Lerma and a decree stating the revocation of the powers of the “valido.” Philip eventually died in 1621 and was succeeded by his son Philip IV.

7.Ferdinand VII

Ferdinand VII was a King of Spain who reigned twice, once in 1808 for a brief period and again from 1813 till his death. The royalists who supported him referred to him as ‘el Deseado’ or ‘the Desired,’ whereas the liberals who wanted freedom from absolute monarchy called him ‘el Rey Felón’ or the ‘Felon King’. After Napoleon took over, he struck back and implemented policies that divided Spain into two significant factions with his armies on one side and the dissidents on the other. After he returned to power, he established absolute monarchy with the sole authority residing on the crown. His dismissal of the constitution resulted in several uprisings and revolts spearheaded by Col. Rafael del Riego. Eventually, a Liberal Triennium was agreed upon where the liberals would rule for three years. After his death, civil war erupted in Spain.

8. Amadeo I

Amadeo I was an Italian prince who reigned as King of Spain from 1870 to 1873. The only King of Spain from the House of Savoy, he was the second son of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy and was known for most of his life as the Duke of Aosta. He was elected by the Cortes as Spain’s monarch in 1870, following the deposition of Isabella II, and was sworn in the following year. Amadeo’s reign was fraught with growing republicanism, Carlist rebellions in the north, and the Cuban independence movement. He abdicated and returned to Italy in 1873, and the First Spanish Republic was declared as a result.

9.Juan Carlos

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Juan_Carlos_I_of_Spain_2007.jpg

Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón, born 5 January 1938, is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from November 1975 until his abdication in June 2014. Juan Carlos is the grandson of Alfonso XIII, the last king of Spain before the abolition of the monarchy in 1931 and the subsequent declaration of the Second Spanish Republic. Juan Carlos was born in Rome, Italy, during his family’s exile. Generalísimo Francisco Franco took over the government of Spain after his victory in the Spanish Civil War in 1939, yet in 1947 Spain’s status as a monarchy was affirmed and a law was passed allowing Franco to choose his successor. Juan Carlos’s father, Juan, was the third son of King Alfonso, who had renounced his claims to the throne in January 1941. Juan was seen by Franco to be too liberal and in 1969 was bypassed in favor of Juan Carlos as Franco’s successor as head of state.

10. Alfonso XII

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_Alfonso_XII.jpg

Alfonso XII, also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885. After a revolution that deposed his mother Isabella II from the throne in 1868, Alfonso studied in Austria and France. His mother abdicated in his favor in 1870, and he returned to Spain as king in 1874 following a military coup against the First Republic. Alfonso died aged 27 in 1885 and was succeeded by his unborn son, who became Alfonso XIII on his birth the following year.