III.

Spanish Bourbons

The Spanish House of Bourbon was founded by Philippe, duc d'Anjou, a grandson of King Louis XIV of France and great-grandson of Philip IV of Spain. King Charles II, the only son of Philip IV, was childless; he named Philippe as his successor. The death of Charles precipitated the War of the Spanish Succession, after which Philippe became King Philip V of Spain. He was succeeded by his sons, Ferdinand VI and Charles III. Charles III had two sons, the elder of whom became Charles IV of Spain; the younger son founded the Neapolitan House of Bourbon. Napoleon deposed Charles IV in 1808, but the Bourbons were restored to the Spanish throne in 1814 under the son of Charles, Ferdinand VII, who was succeeded by his daughter, Isabella II. Her succession was disputed by Ferdinand's brother, Don Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, as a violation of the Salic Law prohibiting inheritance through the female line; those supporting Carlos and his descendants became known as Carlists. Isabella abdicated in 1870 in favour of her son, Alfonso XII, who was in turn succeeded by his son Alfonso XIII; the latter was deposed in 1931. In 1969, Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón, the grandson of Alfonso XIII, was named legal successor to the dictator of Spain, Generalissimo Francisco Franco; he ascended the throne as Juan Carlos I in 1975.