The directory «Plots of stamps in the catalogue»

Ferdinand VII Bourbon
(1784—1833)

Ferdinand VII was the son of King Charles IV and Queen María Luisa of Parma. He proved to be even more inept as king than his father. He was exclude from any governmental role by his father and Chief Minister Godoy who Ferdinad came to hate. As a result, he he became the center of various plots against Godoy who became very unpoular with the Spanish people. Ferdinand toyed at gaining support from Napoleon who was closely following developments in Spain. King Charles arrested his son and accused him of plotting to dethrone him and murder his mother and Godoy who was closely associated with the Queen. His parents reortedly forgave him which seems difficult to understand if the charges were true. The image of the royal family was badly tarnished. This helped convince Napoleon that the time was right to seize Spain. A French army was already in Portugal fighting the Britush. The French invasion launched a new phase of the Penisular Campaign. A palace revolution at Aranjuez resulted in the the dismissal of Godoy and the abdication of Ferdinand's father. Ferdinand VII was enthusiastically received by the Spanish people. Ferdinand was convinced that his army could not effectively resist the French and that an arrangent was necessay with Napoleon. He refussed the Portuguese option of resisting Napoleon from the Spanish colonies in America. He was duped by Napoleon into a meeting accross the border at Bayonne. Napoleon refused to negotuiate and demanded that Ferdinand abdicate in favor of his father. Napoleon than forced his father to abdigate again and Napoleon put his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne. Thus during the vicious fighting of the Peninsular Campaign (1807-14), Ferdinand was imprisoned by Napoleon in France. Spanish nationalists, including those with liberal sentients, resisted the French and with assisrtance from the British under the Duke of Wellington involved Napoleon in a debilitating campaign that lasted until Napoleon's. The Spanish Cortes approved a liberal constitution in Ferdinand's name (1812). Elements in Spain's American colonies pushed for more democratic government in Ferdinand's name. After Napoleon's defeat, Ferdinand was restored to the Spanish throne (1814). He proved to be very different than what the liberals had expected. He proved as reactionary as the French bourbons. He immediately revoked the liberal constitution of 1812 and attempted to rule as an absolute monarch. Several uprisings failed. The liberals organized into increasingly effective secret societies (the Carbonari) and finally succeeded. They forced the King to reinstate the constitution (1820). The reactionary Holy Alliance was concerned not only about events in Spain, but what it might lead to elsewhere. The European powers discussed the matter at the Congress of Troppau, but failed to reach an agreed course of action. At the Confress of Verona, France was scantioned by the Holy Alliance to intervene in Spain (1822). King Ferdinand this supported by a French ally again abolished the constitution and ruthlessly retaliated against the liberal opposition (1823). It was during Ferdinand's reign that Spain lost most of its American colonies. During the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars, the American colonists had exercized effective political power and there was considerable reluctance to retuen to absolutist ruke from Madrid. Dredinand died 10 years after reestablishing absolute rule in 1833, but even his death caused serious difficulties for Spain. He had maried four times. His last wife, Maria Christina (1806-78), convinced him to suspend the Salic law requiring succession through the male line. This allowed his so that his only surviving child, Princess Isabella (1830-1904), would succeed. This excluded Ferdinand's younger brother, Don Carlos (1788-1855). On Ferdinand's death in 1833 a civil war ensued called the Carlist Wars erupted. Liberals backed Isabella II, still a small child. Reactionary forces supported Don Carlos.

Bhutan, 2000, Ferdinand VII

Equatorial Guinea, 1996, The Family of Carlos IV

Sharjah, 1967, Ferdinand VII as general

Spain, 1973, Ferdinand VII

Spain, 1978, Ferdinand VII

Spain, 2002, Carlos IV and Napoleon

Spain, 2003.08., Hacinas. Ferdinand VII, Carlos IV and Napoleon