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She was born in Madrid, the eldest daughter of Ferdinand VII, king of Spain, and of his fourth wife, Maria Christina, a Neapolitan Bourbon. Maria became queen-regent on September 29 1833, when her daughter Isabella, at the age of three years, was proclaimed queen on the death of the king.
Queen Isabella succeeded to the throne because Ferdinand VII induced the Cortes to assist him in setting aside the Salic law, which the Bourbons had introduced in the beginning of the 18th century, and to re-establish the older succession law of Spain. The brother of Ferdinand, Don Carlos , the first pretender, fought seven years, during the minority of Isabella, to dispute her title. Supporters of Don Carlos and his descendants were known as Carlists and the dispute over the succession was the subject of a number of Carlist Wars in the 19th century.
Isabella's rights were only maintained through the support of the army, the Cortes and the Liberals and Progressists, who at the same time established constitutional and parliamentary government, dissolved the religious orders, confiscated the property of the orders including the Jesuits, and attempted to restore order in finances. After the Carlist war the queen-regent, Christina, resigned to make way for Espartero, the most successful and most popular general of the Isabelline armies, who only remained regent two years.
He was turned out in 1843Events February 6 The first minstrel show in the United States The Virginia Minstrels opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City). February 11 Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi premieres in Milan May 18 The Disruption of the Church of Scotland took place by a military and political pronunciamiento, led by Generals O'Donnell and Narvaez, who formed a cabinet, presided over by Joaquin Maria Lopez , and this government induced the Cortes to declare Isabella of age at thirteen. Three years later the Moderado party or Castilian Conservatives made their queen marry, at sixteen, her cousin, Prince Maria Fernando Francisco de Asis de Bourbon ( 1822Events March 30 Florida becomes a United States territory. May 24 Battle of Pichincha: Simon Bolivar secures the independence of Quito. June 14 Charles Babbage proposes a Difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society entitled "Note on the- 1902Events January-April January 28 The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie. France, Loisy's L'evangile et l'Eglise which inaugurates the Modernist Crisis February 11 Police beat up universal suffrage), on the same day ( October 10 1846Events January 5 The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom February 5 The Oregon Spectator becomes the first newspaper on the Pacific coast of the United States. February 10 Many Mormons) her younger sister married the duke of Montpensier.
These marriages suited the views of FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. and Louis PhilippeLouis-Philippe of France ( October 6, 1773 August 26, 1850), served as the " Orleanist" king of the French from 1830 to 1848. Born in Paris, Louis-Philippe, as the son of Louis Philippe Joseph, duc d'Orleans (known as "Philippe Egalite"), descended direct, who nearly quarrelled in consequence with BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly; but both matches were anything but happy. In fact, persistent rumor had it that few if any of the Spanish queen's children were conceived by her king-consort, a homosexual. The heir to the throne, who would eventually become Alfonso XII, for instance, was widely believed to be Isabella's child by a captain of the guard, Enrique Puig y Moltó.
Isabella had twelve children, but only four reached adulthood:
Queen Isabella reigned from 1843 to 1868, and that period was one long succession of palace intrigues, back-stairs and antechamber influences, barrack conspiracies, military pronunciamientos to further the ends of the political parties--Moderados who ruled from 1846 to 1854, Progressists from 1854 to 1856 Únion Liberal from 1856 to 1863; Moderados and Únion Liberals quickly succeeding each other and keeping out the Progressists so steadily that the seeds were sown which budded into the revolution of 1868.
Queen Isabella II often interfered in politics in a wayward, unscrupulous manner that made her very unpopular. She showed most favour to her reactionary generals and statesmen, to the Church and religious orders, and was constantly the tool of corrupt and profligate courtiers and favourites who gave her court a bad name. She went into exile at the end of September 1868, after her Moderado generals had made a slight show of resistance that was crushed a the battle of Alcolea by Marshals Serrano and Prim. Other events of Queen Isabella's reign were a war against Morocco, which ended in an advantageous treaty for Spain and some Morroccan cession of territory; some progress in public works, especially railways and a slight improvement in commerce and finance.
Isabella was induced to abdicate in Paris on June 25 1870 in favour of her son, Alfonso XII, and the cause of the restoration was thus much furthered. She had separated from her husband in the previous March. She continued to live in France after the restoration in 1874. On the occasion of one of her visits to Madrid during Alfonso XII's reign she began to intrigue with the politicians of the capital, and was peremptorily requested to go abroad again. She died on April 10 1904.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
| Preceded by: Ferdinand VII | Queen of Spain | Succeeded by: Amadeus |
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