Infante Franciso de Paula of Spain, 1794-1865

He was the yongest son of Carlos IV and thus the youngest brother of Ferdinand VII and Carlos (of Carlist fame). He was also the father of Francis, the King-Consort to Isabella II. He seems to have been considered as King of the United Kingdom of the Rio de la Plata, Chile, and Peru under a version of the Arandite Plan proposed in 1815 (I think).

I've run across scant records that he participated in government in some way in about 1838, which would have been during the regency of Maria Christina, before the prunanciemento of Espartero.

However, I haven't been able to unearth much of anything on his opinions or political disposition...which is a pity since he too could have succeeded to the throne if, say, Carlos had died. Would he have acted as Ferdinand did, resisting the utmost form of authoritarianism but also resisiting the 1812 Constitution? Would he have acted as Carlos proposed to do? Would he have been so content to be king that maybe a liberal government could take hold in Spain in such a way as to avoid the ire of the reactionary powers?

Thoughts? Tidbits of information as to his potential disposition?
 
He was the yongest son of Carlos IV and thus the youngest brother of Ferdinand VII and Carlos (of Carlist fame). He was also the father of Francis, the King-Consort to Isabella II. He seems to have been considered as King of the United Kingdom of the Rio de la Plata, Chile, and Peru under a version of the Arandite Plan proposed in 1815 (I think).

I've run across scant records that he participated in government in some way in about 1838, which would have been during the regency of Maria Christina, before the prunanciemento of Espartero.

However, I haven't been able to unearth much of anything on his opinions or political disposition...which is a pity since he too could have succeeded to the throne if, say, Carlos had died. Would he have acted as Ferdinand did, resisting the utmost form of authoritarianism but also resisiting the 1812 Constitution? Would he have acted as Carlos proposed to do? Would he have been so content to be king that maybe a liberal government could take hold in Spain in such a way as to avoid the ire of the reactionary powers?

Thoughts? Tidbits of information as to his potential disposition?

From what I've read he seems to have been like his father Charles IV was: Totally unenthusiastic about politics, and likely to fall under the complete influence of a(ny) strongman if he could get a throne. Depending of who is that strongman, he's either the perfect constitutional king, or the perfect victim of a later revolution.
 
From what I've read he seems to have been like his father Charles IV was: Totally unenthusiastic about politics, and likely to fall under the complete influence of a(ny) strongman if he could get a throne. Depending of who is that strongman, he's either the perfect constitutional king, or the perfect victim of a later revolution.

Huzzah! An answer!

A very interesting one, at that! Thanks very much. I'm not sure what I'm planning, but this will be useful in gaming things out.
 
Just to be sure, there weren't any previous Spanish monarchs with the name Francis(co)? There are certainly none I can find since the union of Castile-Leon and Aragon.
 

maverick

Banned
No there weren't...as far as I know...

Only thing I know about him is that he was a patron of the arts and that he was offered the crown of La Plata-Peru during Belgrano's diplomatic mission to Europe...

Francisco de Paula as King of Spain? hard to imagine, since he was so far from the throne and so little is known about him...good luck anyways...

Unless you happen to know some Spanish...but still the data is insuficient...
 
Just to be sure, there weren't any previous Spanish monarchs with the name Francis(co)? There are certainly none I can find since the union of Castile-Leon and Aragon.

Tho note that Spanish monarchs continued the regnal numbers of the pre-unification kingdoms - I'm not sure if it was solely the Castilian, or whether they used both

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
No there weren't...as far as I know...

Only thing I know about him is that he was a patron of the arts and that he was offered the crown of La Plata-Peru during Belgrano's diplomatic mission to Europe...

Francisco de Paula as King of Spain? hard to imagine, since he was so far from the throne and so little is known about him...good luck anyways...

Unless you happen to know some Spanish...but still the data is insuficient...

I can usually "read" Spanish well enough to get the gist of something, having studied Latin and French. However, I can't get all the details (I can usually guess the nouns and the verbs, but not their tense, for example). And Google Translator, marvelous device though it is, can't get everything quite right. Though it does remind me of the dialogue in Hemmingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Tho note that Spanish monarchs continued the regnal numbers of the pre-unification kingdoms - I'm not sure if it was solely the Castilian, or whether they used both

Indeed, that's why I was wondering.

The one out I might have, though, is that in 1836 the Spanish Cortes retitled Isabella from Doña Isabel II por la Gracia de Dios, Reina de Castilla, de León, de Aragón... to Por la gracia de Dios y la Constitución de la Monarquía española, Reina de las Españas (By the grace of God and the Constitution of the Spanish monarchy, Queen of the Spains).

Granted, there were still a few revolutions left to go and they change things along the way. Juan Carlos I has a nice mixture of the two: King of Spain, of Castile, of León, of Aragon,...
 
Also, to get Francisco to be King, all one really has to do is kill Ferdinand before 1830 and Carlos before 1837 and prevent them having children they didn't OTL (which isn't too hard, given their Bourbon marriages).
 
Tho note that Spanish monarchs continued the regnal numbers of the pre-unification kingdoms - I'm not sure if it was solely the Castilian, or whether they used both

If the practise of Castile-Leon is anything to go by (Whichever was the higher number of the previous monarch of that name in either Leon or Castile was followed on from) then it would be dependent on who had the higher ordinal of that name in Castile, Aragon, or Leon.

I don't think that there was any Spanish monarch from any of the predecessor kingdoms named Francis though - if that's the case then he would be Francisco I.

Plenty of Ferdinands, no Fransiscos that I can see.
 

maverick

Banned
You're going with Francisco de Paula as King of Spain in the 1830s? I can't tell you how really, really glad I am that you chose him ;) [hint]
 
You're going with Francisco de Paula as King of Spain in the 1830s? I can't tell you how really, really glad I am that you chose him ;) [hint]

Well, I'm not sure yet, I just wanted to get my ducks (or dons) in a row before I went off speculating. However, I think I'll probably use him in one capacity or another.

Now, i have no idea what you're hinting at, as I suspect it means 1) that you're making someone else King of Spain in the 1830s, 2) that you're making Francisco king of something else (like the UKRPPC), or 3) you think that if I use this, my TL will self destruct ;).
 
Ferdinand VII of Spain dies w/o children in 1823, Carlos succeeds him as king of Spain, and Francisco dies as Emperor of Mexico in 1833 in my TL.
 
Last edited:

maverick

Banned
Well, I'm not sure yet, I just wanted to get my ducks (or dons) in a row before I went off speculating. However, I think I'll probably use him in one capacity or another.

Now, i have no idea what you're hinting at, as I suspect it means 1) that you're making someone else King of Spain in the 1830s, 2) that you're making Francisco king of something else (like the UKRPPC), or 3) you think that if I use this, my TL will self destruct ;).

Well, you'll have to wait 10 years until Ferdinand's death to find out...;)
 
Patron of the Arts - and politically uninterested in Power.
Sounds like a perfect candidate in Iritribe's search for a King of Mexico.
 
Top