Brief History of the Kingdom of Spain

When in 1469 

King Fernando the 2nd 

El Católico

King of Aragon 

Catalonia 

Mallorca 

and Valencia 

which then conformed 

a united crown

married 

Isabel the 1st, Queen of Castilla, 

of the House of Trastamara,

& daughter of the Queen of Portugal

the embryo of the 

KINGDOM OF SPAIN

had been conceived. 

They were the famous Reyes Catolicos. 

And by the way, he was born in Sos del Rey Catolico,

where my wife and I had our wedding party, connecting 

then to the majestic of this great nation. 

Under their administration America 

was discovered as long as South-America,

completely mined out and tamed. 

The jews were expelled and 

the moors kicked-out.

Navarra first 

and the Canary Islands later 

were both conquered and absorbed

into the rising Kingdom. 

Out of their heirs, the most important 

in international relevance was Catalina, 

who would become Queen of England, 

spousing Henry VIII, 

who never loved her and created his own, 

tailored, personal religion... 

the Anglicanism 

to be able to divorce her,

cutting forever the ties England so far had held

with Roman Catholic Vatican 

Europe-oriented religion. 

No matter what, Catalina was biological mother of 

Mary the 1st, 

Queen of England, of the House of Tudor, 

who would later spouse Felipe II, 

one of the greatest Kings of Spain.

But first. 

In national terms, the relevant heir of the Reyes Catolicos, 

was Juana, named La Loca, so in love she was, 

of his husband Felipe el Hermoso, 

from the House of Hausburg. 

This Felipe el Hermoso, not truly relevant per se, 
he lasted in power less than a year, gave the Hausburg Dinasty lineage on the crown of Spain. 

In Spain, the Hausburg Dinasty is known 
as Casa de Austria. 

Juana gave birth to Carlos I (also Carlos V, 

in German, Austrian, regions of Europe) who was actually 

the first great unifying king of Spain.

The one that made the KINGDOM OF SPAIN a reality. 

The King that set Spain as a standing World Empire.  

Carlos I reigned, maybe under the draw of Edipo Complex, 

with his Mother Queen Juana most of his life. 

He finally got to marry Isabel I de Portugal making her Queen of Spain 

and Emperess of el Imperio Español. 

Isabel de Portugal gave birth to five kids, 

being the most relevant Felipe II. 

Felipe II was the great King of Spain and Emperor, 

circumspect, all dressed in black, incredibly elegant 

and mannered. Trendy. His looks and ways were actually 

followed by all 16th Century courts in Europe and this is something

I still teach in History of Clothing. 

He had four wives, the hottest one Isabel de Valois, 

daughter of the King of France and Catalina de Medicis. 

But the was the fourth one, the cold, distant, Ana de Austria,

who gave birth to Felipe III. 

Felipe III was small-minded, he just wanted to go hunting, 

and partying, an painting, and he was probably gay, he relegated all King-obliged 

tasks in his assistants, specifically the Duque de Lerma. A handsome man,

who was King with no blood to be one. 

He married Margarita de Austria, 
a true political woman who gained strong influence 
in the Spanish court, 
fighting in the dark against Duque de Lerma. 

She was a great Queen of Spain (considering the small amount of time she had for) and gave birth significantly to: 

• Felipe IV (King of Spain)
• Maria Ana de Austria (Empress of Sacre Imperio Romano Germánico) 
• Ana Maria de Francia (Queen of France and mother to the Great French King, Luis XIV)

Felipe IV, King of Spain, known as PLANET KING, did a great job for Spain, trying to hold the Empire together. 

He had to face religious wars in Europe, and 

had to fight the French as well. A huge expense that took Spain to a first bib bankrupt,

by mid 17th Century.

He married Mariana de Austria 
who gave birth to Carlos II, 

el "Hechizado", the Haunted King 
-- a polite way of saying daft.

The Spanish people thought he was under some demonic influence, so skinny, weak, and retard he looked. 

He was also sterile... 

Two wives, Maria de Orelans, Mariana de Neoburgo.

No hard-ons. No kids. 

Which took the country to a succession war, Guerra de Sucesión.

Yes, he was the last Austria in Spain. 

And the Borbones took over. 

In the figure of the Great Felipe V, handsome, stylish, 

the second big unifying King. 

He got the country back on its feet, by pushing some strict order, cleansing the nation's colon, inland and colonies. 

Today's skewed Catalan views consider this King an invader, which is blatantly a lie, since we were all the same nation. 

The thing is that the Catalans, along with some Navarre and some other regions of Spain, stood for the old Austria order and got defeated. 

Actually, also England, Austria, Germany, and Portugal stood for the House of Austria in our war, bringing troops to fight against the Borbones. 

Well, the Borbones won. 

The Borbones, by the way, of French origin, had been Kings of Navarre, before Navarre was absorbed, so at some point we could consider the Navarre reign Spain. 

The Borbones were respectful with the nation, and by the way, Felipe V had married, before being King, and before the war, got married in Barcelona. 

After cleansing Spain, Felipe V abdicated on his son Luis I, the Beloved. Luis I was King, but died 229 days after coronation, at the age of 17.

Since Felipe V was still alive, he got back the reigns of the nation. 

His son Fernando VI, got the Kingdom when he died, by mid 18th century. Fernando VI was a good, nice King. 

His mother (Felipe V's first wife) had died when he was 5 months old, and he never really had his dad around, since he was so busy reconstructing an Empire. 

Fernando VI did great things inland. He bettered up our IRS, 

he made a better international trade policies and laws, he did economical moves, letting go the military for a while. 

He's remembered as a functional, smart King. 

He died with no heir, and to avoid a war, and being Felipe V dead, all attention fell on Carlos III, the third son of Felipe V (brother of different mother to Luis I and Felipe IV) who at the time was basically reading, playing piano and sniffing rapé in Madrid, where he was born.

Carlos III got a big pack of land and decided the Spanish influence in Italy had to be re-triggered, that's what he worked for. He also minted, coined this popular sentence: "All for the people, without the people", very King-y at the time. 

And it worked. 

He was really a great King for Spain with his "Despotismo Ilustrado", ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM, which by the way is the form of government I see myself pretty much enacting for my own family :)

He married Amalia de Sajonia who gave birth to Carlos IV. 

The King Carlos IV was the one who had to face the Napolean traison, and had to fight the French back. Those troops that burned Tivissa down. He actually got IMPRISONED by the Napolean troops. Our King in jail. So insulting. 

While the King was caged, we the Spaniards rapidly called upon Fernando VII, his son to be King while the war with the French was clearing out. 

He was King for a few months in 1808, 'til Napoleon pushed his brother Jose I as King of Spain (a disrupt in the Borbon lineage), a fucking drunken, droopy-eyed, useless King that had to face riots for 5 years until he left.

After the war, in 1813, Fernando VII remained King again. 

He was the Constitutional King, this doesn't mean he was backed up by the Constitution but he backed up a Constitution in Spain. 

He also shut down the Inquisition, still operating in Spain 

since Fernando I el Católico, back up from 15th Century.

His daughter, Isabel II was Queen of Spain. She had to face many problems in Spain, because some Spaniards saw an option to restitute the Austrias, which lead the country to a number of tiny civil wars. 

Her kingdom was abruptly ended by a coup d'etat, a revolution, in 1868, that would us all to the 1st Republica.

The Queen did fleet to Paris and there she abdicated on her son Alfonso de Borbon, the future Alfonso XII; but in Spain things were different. 

The King Amadeo I, an italian of the House of Saboya, was called upon to be King while the Republica was organized. 

He passively nodded and was king for three years, 

and once the republica was organized in the shadows, he left. 

He actually left, 

tired of the Spanish political conspiracies. 

The Republica didn't really work, 

and it lasted for 1.5 years.    

The army, along with the Spanish people who actually didnt like the Republica, re-enacted the Kingdom of Spain, with Alfonso XII on top. 

The embryo of the form we have today had been born. A King and a Parliament. 

A King kinda ruled by the Constitution and the Parliament. 

That worked for all. And Alfonso XIII, the grandfather of the Juan Carlos I, was King. But he let the military dictatorship of Primo de Rivera succeed during the 1920's, and that pissed most Spaniards off who again chose Republica. 

The King Alfonso XIII did fleet and we remained with the 2nd Republica which was centered-left-wing in first term, far-right-wing on second, extreme-left-wing on third term, 1936, when General Franco decided it was time to change again. 

And we all went to a Civil War. 

Franco won, he remained for 40 years. 

When he was getting really old, he called upon the Prince Juan Carlos, in Italy by the end of the 60's, and told him to restitute the monarch dignity of Spain. 

He was crowned King in 1975. When Franco died later that year, Juan Carlos the 1st, Borbon, was highly smart and decided he couldn't just jump in and reign in the old way. 

He submitted his power to the Constitution and Parliament. 

The 1978 Constitution accepted him as King and he's been King so far for 39 years (as long as Franco was in power, by the way, one year less). 

Next week, the Parliament will vote again. 

They'll vote in favor of Felipe VI, as King of Spain. 

So this is what we've gained due to Juan Carlos I, a truly constitutional monarchy, 

the King is King as long as the Parliament wants. 

I love it. I love this balance, I love our Kings. 

I love you too.

And I love this nation.