Alfonso XIII of Spain
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Alfonso XIII (Alfonso León Fernando Maria Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbon y Hapsburg) (May 17, 1886 – February 28, 1941), King of Spain, posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain, was proclaimed King at his birth. He reigned from 1886-1931. His mother, Queen Maria Christina, was appointed regent during his minority. In 1902, on attaining his 16th year, the King assumed control of the state.
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[edit] Reign
During his reign Spain lost its last colonies in the Americas (Cuba and Puerto Rico) and the Philippines, lost several wars in North Africa; witnessed the start of the Spanish Generation of 1927, and endured the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, which ultimately cost him the throne.
During the First World War, despite his family connections with both sides and the division of popular opinion, Spain remained neutral. The king ran an office for captives from the Palacio de Oriente, that leveraged the Spanish diplomatic and military network abroad to intercede for thousands of prisoners of war, receiving and answering letters from all Europe.
He was a promoter of tourism in Spain. The problems with the lodging of his wedding guests prompted the construction of the luxury Hotel Palace in Madrid. He also supported the creation of a network of state-run lodges (Parador) in historic buildings of Spain. His fondness for the sport of football led to the patronage of several "royal" football clubs like Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, Real Betis and Real Unión.
In approximately 1926, the King commissioned three private erotic movies whose English titles are The Minister, The Confessor, and The Women's Doctor. These movies can be seen at the Barcelona Museum of the Erotic.
When the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed on April 14 1931, he left Spain, but did not abdicate the throne. He settled eventually in Rome where he lived in the Grand Hotel.
Once the Spanish Civil War broke out, Alfonso made it clear he favoured the military uprising against the Popular Front government, but General Francisco Franco in September 1936 declared that the Nationalists would never accept Alfonso as king (the supporters of the rival Carlist pretender made an important part of the Franco army). First he went into exile in France. However, he sent his son Juan de Borbon, Count of Barcelona to enter Spain in 1936 and participate in the uprising. However, near the French border, General Mola had him arrested and expelled from the country.
On 15 January, 1941, Alfonso XIII abdicated his rights to the Spanish throne in favour of his fourth, but second surviving, son Juan, father of the current king Juan Carlos.
Alfonso died in Rome in 1941. The Spanish government ordered three days of national mourning.[1] His funeral was held in Rome in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. He was buried in the Church of Santa Maria di Monserrato, the Spanish national church in Rome, immediately below the tombs of Pope Calixtus III and Pope Alexander VI.[2] In January 1980 his remains were transferred to El Escorial in Spain.[3]
[edit] Marriage and children
On May 31, 1906 Alfonso married Scottish-born Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (1887-1969), a niece of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. A Serene Highness by birth, Ena, as she was known, was raised to Royal Highness status a month before her wedding to prevent the union from being viewed as unequal. As Alfonso XIII and Ena were returning from the wedding they narrowly escaped the assassination attempted by the anarchist Mateu Morral; instead, the bomb explosion killed or injured many bystanders and members of the royal procession.
Alfonso and Ena had seven children:
- Infante Alfonso Pio Cristino Eduardo Francisco Guillermo Carlos Enrique Fernando Antonio Venancio of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1907-1938), a hemophiliac, he renounced his rights to the throne in 1933 to marry a commoner, Edelmira Ignacia Adriana Sampedro-Robato, and became Count of Covadonga. He later remarried to Marta Esther Rocafort y Altazarra, but had no issue by either of them.
- Infante Jaime Luitpold Isabelino Enrique Alberto Alfonso Victor Acacio Pedro Maria of Spain (1908-1975), a deaf-mute as the result of a childhood operation, he renounced his rights to the throne in 1933 and became Duke of Segovia, and later Duke of Madrid, and who, as a legitimist pretender to the French throne from 1941 to 1975, was known as the Duke of Anjou.
- Infanta Beatríz Isabela Federica Alfonsa Eugenia Cristina Maria Teresa Bievenida Ladisláa of Spain (1909-2002), who married Don Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi.
- Infante Fernando, stillborn (1910)
- Infanta Maria Cristina Teresa Alejandra Guadalupe Maria de la Concepción Vittoria Eugenia of Spain (1911-1996), who married Enrico Eugenio Marone-Cinzano, 1st Conte di Marone.
- Infante Juan Carlos Teresa Silvestre Alfonso of Spain (1913-1993), named heir to the throne and Count of Barcelona, whose son is current king Juan Carlos I of Spain.
- Infante Gonzalo Manuel Maria Bernardo Narciso Alfonso Mauricio of Spain (1914-1934), a hemophiliac.
The king also had three illegitimate children:
- By French aristocrat Mélanie de Gaufridy de Dortan:
- Roger Leveque de Vilmorin (1905-1980)
- By Spanish actress Carmen Ruíz Moragas:
[edit] Ancestors
[edit] Notes
[edit] Further reading
- Churchill, Winston. Great Contemporaries. London: T. Butterworth, 1937. Contains the most famous single account of Alfonso in the English language. The author, writing shortly after the Spanish Civil War began, retained considerable fondness for the ex-sovereign.
- Collier, William Miller. At the Court of His Catholic Majesty. Chicago: McClurg, 1912. The author was American ambassador to Spain from 1905 to 1909.
- Noel, Gerard. Ena: Spain's English Queen. London: Constable, 1985. Considerably more candid than Petrie about Alfonso the private man, and about the miseries the royal family experienced because of their hemophiliac children.
- Petrie, Charles. King Alfonso XIII and His Age. London: Chapman & Hall, 1963. Written as it was during Queen Ena's lifetime, this book necessarily omits the King's extramarital affairs; but it remains a useful biography, not least because the author knew Alfonso quite well, interviewed him at considerable length, and relates him to the Spanish culture of his time.
- Pilapil, Vicente R. Alfonso XIII. Twayne's rulers and statesmen of the world series 12. New York: Twayne, 1969.
- Sencourt, Robert. King Alfonso: A Biography. London: Faber, 1942.
| Alfonso XIII of Spain Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty Born: May 17 1886 Died: February 28 1941
| ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alfonso XII | King of Spain May 17, 1886 – April 14, 1931 with Maria Christina of Austria (May 17, 1886 – 1902) | Vacant Title next held by Juan Carlos I
|
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Alfonso XII as King of Spain | Head of State of Spain as King of Spain May 17, 1886 – April 14, 1931 | Succeeded by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora as President of Spain |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Alfonso XII
| — TITULAR — King of Spain April 14, 1931 – 15 January, 1941 | Succeeded by Juan III |
| Preceded by Alphonse II | — TITULAR — King of France and Navarre September 29, 1936 – February 29, 1941 Reason for succession failure: Bourbon monarchy deposed in 1830 | Succeeded by Jacques II |
Monarchs of Spain | |
|---|---|
| House of Habsburg (Philippine Dynasty excluding Charles I) Image:Escudo Felipe II.png | Charles I of Spain • Philip II of Spain • Philip III of Spain • Philip IV of Spain • Charles II of Spain |
| House of Bourbon Image:Escudo Felipe V.png Image:Escudo Isabel II.png | Philip V of Spain • Louis I of Spain • Philip V of Spain • Ferdinand VI of Spain • Charles III of Spain • Charles IV of Spain • Ferdinand VII of Spain |
| House of Bonaparte Image:Escudo Jose Bonaparte.png | Joseph Bonaparte |
| House of Bourbon, First Restoration Image:Escudo Isabel II.png | Ferdinand VII of Spain • Isabella II of Spain |
| House of Savoy Image:Escudo Amadeo I.png | Amadeo I of Spain |
| House of Bourbon, Second Restoration Image:Escudo Isabel II.png | Alfonso XII of Spain • Alfonso XIII of Spain |
| House of Bourbon, Third Restoration Image:Escudo Real.png | Juan Carlos I of Spain |
| Pretenders to the French throne since 1792 | ||
|---|---|---|
House of Bourbon | House of Orléans | House of Bonaparte |
Louis XVII (1793-1795) Louis XVIII (1795-1814) | ||
1804-1814 | ||
1814-1815 | ||
1815 | ||
1815-1830 | Joseph (1832-1844) Louis (1844-1846) Napoléon III (1846-1852) | |
Louis XIX (1836-1844) Henri V (1844-1883) Jean III (1883-1887) Charles XI (1887-1909) Jacques I (1909-1931) Alphonse I (1931-1936) Alphonse II (1936-1941) Jacques II (1941-1975) Alphonse III (1975-1989) Louis XX (1989-) | 1830-1848 | |
Philippe VII (1850-1894) Philippe VIII (1894-1926) Jean III (1926-1940) Henri VI (1940-1999) Henri VII (1999-) | ||
1852-1870 | ||
Napoléon IV Eugène (1873-1879) Napoléon V Victor (1879-1926) Napoléon VI Louis (1926-1997) Napoléon VII Charles (1997-) | ||
| Image:FranceRoyale.jpg |
|---|
| Legitimist Pretenders to the French throne since 1792 |
Louis XVI (1792-1793) |
Charles X (1830-1836) |
See also House of Bourbon |
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Categories: Spanish monarchs | Roman Catholic monarchs | House of Bourbon | Legitimist pretenders to the French throne | British Field Marshals | Knights of the Garter | Knights of the Golden Fleece | Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order | Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav | Recipients of the Royal Victorian Chain | 1886 births | 1941 deaths
