Charles IV of Spain

Charles was the second son of Charles III and his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony. He was born in Naples (11 November 1748), while his father was King of Naples and Sicily. His elder brother, Don Felipe, was passed over for both thrones, due to his learning disabilities and epilepsy. In Naples and Sicily, Charles was referred to as the Prince of Taranto.[3] He was called El Cazador (meaning "the Hunter"), due to his preference for sport and hunting, rather than dealing with affairs of the state. Charles was considered by many to have been amiable, but simple-minded.[4]

The Family of Charles IV

In 1788, Charles III died and Charles IV succeeded to the throne, and ruled for the next two decades. Even though he had a profound belief in the sanctity of the monarchy, and kept up the appearance of an absolute, powerful king Charles never took more than a passive part in his own government. The affairs of government were left to his wife, Maria Luisa, and the man he appointed first minister, Manuel de Godoy. Charles occupied himself with hunting in the period that saw the outbreak of the French Revolution, the executions of his Bourbon relative Louis XVI of France and his queen, Marie Antoinette, and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Ideas of the Age of Enlightenment had come to Spain with the accession of the first Spanish Bourbon, Philip V. Charles IV's father Charles III had pursued an active policy of reform that sought to reinvigorate Spain politically and economically and make the Spanish Empire more closely an appendage of the metropole. Charles III was an active, working monarch with experienced first ministers to help reach decisions. Charles IV by contrast was a do-nothing king, with a domineering wife and an inexperienced but ambitious first minister, Godoy. The combination of a king not up to the task of governance, the queen widely perceived to take lovers, including Godoy, and the first minister with an agenda of his own earned the monarchy to increased alienation from the king's subjects.[5]

Upon ascending to the throne, Charles IV intended to maintain the policies of his father, and retained his prime minister, the Count of Floridablanca, in office.[4] Floridablanca avoided war with Great Britain in the Nootka Sound crisis, where a minor trade and navigation dispute off the west coast of Vancouver Island in 1789 could have blown up into a major conflict. Spain could have drawn on its French ally in support against Britain, but the conservative reformer Floridablanca preferred negotiation with Britain and sidestepped being drawn into French politics at the outbreak of the revolution.[6] In 1792, political and personal enemies ousted Floridablanca from office, replacing him with the Count of Aranda. However, in the wake of the war against Republican France, the liberal-leaning Count of Aranda was himself replaced by Manuel de Godoy, a favorite of the Queen and widely believed to be her lover, who enjoyed the lasting favor of the King.

Under Charles IV, scientific expeditions continued to be sent by the crown, some of which were initially authorized by Charles III. The Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada (1783–1816),[7] and the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Spain (1787–1803),[8] were funded by the crown. The Malaspina Expedition (1789–94) was an important scientific expedition headed by Spanish naval commander Alejandro Malaspina, with naturalists and botanical illustrators gathering information for the Spanish crown.[9][10][11][12][13][14] The Balmis Expedition was also authorized, aimed at vaccinating Spain's overseas territories against smallpox.[15] In 1799, Charles IV authorized Prussian aristocrat and scientist Alexander von Humboldt to travel freely in Spanish America, with royal officials encouraged to aid him in his investigation of key areas of Spain's empire. Humboldt's Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain was a key publication from his five-year travels.

Apex of Spanish Empire in 1790

Spain's economic problems were of long standing, but deteriorated further when Spain was ensnared in wars that its ally France pursued. Financial needs drove his domestic and foreign policy. Godoy's economic policies increased discontent with Charles's regime.[16] In an attempt to implement major economic changes, Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, a reformist, Jansenist conservative proposed major structural reform of land tenure to promote the revival of agriculture. His 1795 work, Informe en el expediente de ley agraria argued that Spain needed thriving agriculture to allow its population to grow and prosper. In his analysis, the concentration of land ownership and traditions and institutional barriers were at the heart of agriculture's problems. He called for division and sale of public lands, which were held by villages, as well as the swaths of Spanish territory controlled by the Mesta, the organization of livestock owners who had kept grazing lands as an asset for their use. Jovellanos also argued for the abolition of entailed properties (mayorazgos), which allowed landed estates to pass undivided through generations of aristocrats, as well as sale of lands held by the Catholic Church. The aim of these policies was to create in Spain yeoman farmers, who would pursue their self-interest and make agricultural land more productive. The cost would be to undermine the power of the Church and the aristocracy.[17]

As the situation with immediate revenue became more fraught, the crown in 1804 imposed measures in its overseas empire forcing the church to call in immediately the mortgages it had extended on a long-term by the Catholic Church. Although aimed at undermining the wealth and power of the church, for the wealthy landowning elites, they were faced with financial ruin, since they had no way to make full payment on their mortgaged properties.[18] This ill-considered royal decree has been seen as a major factor in the independence movement in New Spain (Mexico).[19] The decree was in abeyance once Charles and Ferdinand abdicated, but it undermined elite support while in force.

In foreign policy Godoy continued Abarca de Bolea's policy of neutrality toward as France, but after Spain protested the execution of Louis XVI of France, the deposed king, in 1793, France declared war on Spain. After the declaration, Portugal and Spain signed a treaty of mutual protection against France.[20] In 1796 France forced Godoy to enter into an alliance, and declare war on the Kingdom of Great Britain. As a consequence, Spain became one of the maritime empires to have been allied with Republican France in the French Revolutionary War, and for a considerable duration.[21]

Spain remained an ally of France and supported the Continental Blockade until the British naval victory at Trafalgar, when Spain became allied with Britain. However, after Napoleon's victory over Prussia in 1807, Godoy again steered Spain back onto the French side. This switching of alliances devalued Charles' position as a trustworthy ally, increasing Godoy's unpopularity, and strengthening the fernandistas (supporters of Crown Prince Ferdinand), who favoured an alliance with the United Kingdom.

Economic troubles, rumors about a sexual relationship between the Queen and Godoy, and the King's ineptitude, caused the monarchy to decline in prestige among the population. Anxious to take over from his father, and jealous of the prime minister, Crown Prince Ferdinand attempted to overthrow the King in an aborted coup in 1807.[22] He was successful in 1808, forcing his father's abdication following the Tumult of Aranjuez.

• 
  Coins with image of Charles IV of Spain, 1798
• 
  Count de Floridablanca, painting by Goya ca. 1783
• 
  Count of Aranda
• 
  Manuel de Godoy, as general. Painting by Goya 1801
• 
  Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos. Painting by Goya 1798
• 
  Crown Prince Ferdinand, Painting by Goya 1800

Manuel Tolsá's large equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain, Mexico City

Following Napoleon's deposing of the Bourbon dynasty, the ex-King, his wife, and former Prime Minister Godoy were held captive in France first at the château de Compiègne[24] and three years in Marseille (where a neighborhood was named after him).[25] After the collapse of the regime installed by Napoleon, Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne. The former Charles IV drifted about Europe[26] until 1812, when he finally settled in Rome, in the Palazzo Barberini.[27][28][29][30] His wife died on 2 January 1819, followed shortly by Charles, who died on 20 January of the same year. Sir Francis Ronalds included a detailed description of the funeral in his travel journal.[31][32]

Well-meaning and pious, Charles IV floundered in a series of international crises beyond his capacity to handle.[26] He was painted by Francisco Goya in a number of official court portraits, which numerous art critics have seen as satires on the King's stout vacuity.[33]

Charles IV married his first cousin Maria Louisa, the daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma, in 1765. The couple had fourteen children, six of whom survived into adulthood:

Children of King Charles IV
Name	Portrait	Lifespan	Notes
Carlos Clemente Infante of Spain		19 September 1771 – 7 March 1774	Born and died at El Escorial; baptized on the same day he was born, with Charles III representing "the Holy Father" at the christening. Pope Clement XIV celebrated Carlos' birth and sent the infant consecrated swaddling clothes.[34]
Carlota Joaquina Queen of Portugal and the Algarves		25 April 1775 – 7 January 1830	Born at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, she married John VI of Portugal in 1785 and became Queen consort of Portugal in 1816. Had issue, including the future Pedro I of Brazil. She died at Queluz National Palace.
Maria Luisa Infanta of Spain		11 September 1777 – 2 July 1782	Born and died at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso.[35]
María Amalia Infanta of Spain		9 January 1779 – 22 July 1798	Born at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, she married her uncle Infante Antonio Pascual of Spain in 1795. She gave birth to a stillborn son in 1798 and died shortly thereafter.
Carlos Domingo Infante of Spain		5 March 1780 – 11 June 1783	Born at the Royal Palace of El Pardo and died at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez.[35] After his birth, his father pardoned all of the convicts from Puerto San Julián as a sign of celebration.[36]
Maria Luisa Queen of Etruria Duchess of Lucca		6 July 1782 – 13 March 1824	Born at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, she married Louis, King of Etruria in 1795 and had issue, including Charles II, Duke of Parma. Became Duchess of Lucca in her own right in 1817 and died in Rome in 1824 of cancer.
Carlos Francisco de Paula Infante of Spain		5 September 1783 – 11 November 1784	Twins, born and died at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso.[37] Their birth was an important event for the people of Spain and provided security for the succession, a security which was truncated with the early deaths of Carlos and Felipe.[38]
Felipe Francisco de Paula Infante of Spain		5 September 1783 – 18 October 1784
Fernando (VII) King of Spain		14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833	Born and died at El Escorial, he succeeded his father as King in 1808, but was deposed by Joseph Bonaparte one month later. Married Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily in 1802, no issue. Re-instated as King in 1813. Married Maria Isabel of Portugal in 1816, had issue. Married Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony in 1819, no issue. Married Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies in 1829 and had issue, including the future Isabella II of Spain. Died in 1833.
Carlos María Isidro Benito Count of Molina		29 March 1788 – 10 March 1855	Born at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. Married Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal in 1816 and had issue. Married Maria Teresa, Princess of Beira in 1838, no issue. First Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain as "Carlos V". Use the title "Count of Molina" between 1845 and his death in 1855.
María Isabel Queen of the Two Sicilies		6 July 1789 – 13 September 1848	Born at the Royal Palace of Madrid, she married Francis I of the Two Sicilies in 1802 and had issue, including the future Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. Queen consort between 1825 and 1830, her husband's death. Died at the Palace of Portici in 1848.
Maria Teresa Infanta of Spain		16 February 1791 – 2 November 1794	Born at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez and died at El Escorial[39] of smallpox.[40]
Felipe Maria Infante of Spain		28 March 1792 – 1 March 1794	Born at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez and died at the Royal Palace of Madrid.[39]
Francisco de Paula		10 March 1794 – 13 August 1865	Born at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, he married Princess Luisa Carlotta of Naples and Sicily in 1819 and had issue. Died in Madrid in 1865.

• History of Spain (1700-1810)

• Barbier, Jacques A. "Peninsular finance and colonial trade: The dilemma of Charles IV's Spain." Journal of Latin American Studies 12.1 (1980): 21–37.
• Gómez de Arteche. Historia del Reinado de Carlos IV, (5 vols.), in the Historia General de España de la Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid, 1892).
• Hamilton, Earl J. "Monetary problems in Spain and Spanish America 1751-1800." The Journal of Economic History 4.1 (1944): 21–48.
• Paquette, Gabriel B. Enlightenment, governance, and reform in Spain and its empire, 1759-1808. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
• Russell, Craig H. "Spain in the Enlightenment." The Classical Era. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1989. 350–367.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles IV of Spain.

• "Charles IV., king of Spain" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
• "Charles IV., king of Spain" . The American Cyclopædia. 1879.
• Historiaantiqua. Isabel II; (Spanish) (2008)