Carlism is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – on the Spanish throne.
Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies was queen consort of Spain from 1829 to 1833 and regent of the Kingdom from 1833 to 1840.
Baldomero Fernández-Espartero y Álvarez de Toro was a Spanish marshal and statesman. He served as the Regent of the Realm as well as three times as Prime Minister. Throughout his life, he was endowed with a long list of titles such as Prince of Vergara, Duke of la Victoria, Count of Luchana, Viscount of Banderas and was also styled as "the Peacemaker".
The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Spanish monarchy: the conservative and devolutionist supporters of the late king's brother, Carlos de Borbón, became known as Carlists (carlistas), while the progressive and centralist supporters of the regent, Maria Christina, acting for Isabella II of Spain, were called Liberals (liberales), cristinos or isabelinos. Aside from being a war of succession about the question who the rightful successor to king Ferdinand VII of Spain was, the Carlists’ goal was the return to an absolute monarchy, while the Liberals sought to defend the constitutional monarchy. Portugal, France and the United Kingdom supported the regency, and sent volunteer and even regular forces to confront the Carlist army.
Ramon Cabrera y Griñó, 1st Count of Morella, 1st Marquis of Ter was a Carlist general of Catalonia. He renounced the combined title of 1st Duke of Maestrazgo with its annual stipend in favour of the less fortunate and kept both the Borbón-recognised Carlist count and the subsequent Borbón marquis nobility titles instead.
Don Carlos María Isidro Benito de Borbón was an Infante of Spain and the second surviving son of King Charles IV of Spain and of his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma. As Charles V, he was the first of the Carlist claimants to the throne of Spain. He was a reactionary who stridently opposed liberalism in Spain and the assaults on the Catholic Church. He claimed the throne of Spain after the death of his older brother King Ferdinand VII in 1833. His claim was contested by liberal forces loyal to the dead king's infant daughter. The result was the bloody First Carlist War (1833–1840). Don Carlos had support from Basque provinces and much of Catalonia, but lost the war and never became king. His heirs continued the arch-conservative cause, fought two more Carlist wars and were active into the mid-20th century, but never obtained the throne.
Spain in the 19th century was a country in turmoil. Occupied by Napoleon from 1808 to 1814, a massively destructive "war of independence" ensued, driven by an emergent Spanish nationalism. Spain was divided between the liberal ideas that were associated with revolutionary France and the reaction that followed as personified by the rule of Ferdinand VII. Ferdinand's rule included the loss of the Spanish colonies in the New World, except for Cuba and Puerto Rico, in the 1810s and 1820s. A series of civil wars then broke out in Spain, pitting Spanish liberals and then republicans against conservatives, culminating in the Carlist Wars between the moderate Queen Isabella and her uncle, the reactionary Infante Carlos. Disaffection with Isabella's government from many quarters led to repeated military intervention in political affairs and to several revolutionary attempts against the government. Two of these revolutions were successful, the moderate Vicalvarada or "Vicálvaro Revolution" of 1854 and the more radical la Gloriosa in 1868. The latter marks the end of Isabella's monarchy. The brief rule of the liberal king Amadeo I of Spain ended in the establishment of the First Spanish Republic, only to be replaced in 1874 by the popular, moderate rule of Alfonso XII of Spain, which finally brought Spain into a period of stability and reform.
Bergara is a town and municipality located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the north of Spain.
The Third Carlist War (1872–1876) was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relatively trivial in political consequence.
Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, known in France before 1974 as Prince Xavier de Bourbon-Parme, known in Spain as Francisco Javier de Borbón-Parma y de Braganza or simply as Don Javier, was the head of the ducal House of Bourbon-Parma and Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain.
Rafael Maroto Yserns was a Spanish general, known both for his involvement on the Spanish side in the wars of independence in South America and on the Carlist side in the First Carlist War.
Vicente González Moreno was a Spanish general who supported the Carlists during the First Carlist War. He was appointed commander of Carlist forces after the death of Zumalacárregui.
The Battle of Ramales, a battle of the First Carlist War, occurred at Ramales in Cantabria on May 12, 1839. The Liberals were commanded by Baldomero Espartero, the Carlists by Rafael Maroto.
Chapelgorris, also called Peseteros, were a type of volunteer unit during the First Carlist War, raised at the beginning of the war in the province of Guipúzcoa. They fought against the Carlists.
Basilio Antonio García y Velasco, known as "Don Basilio de Logroño" in the newspapers of that time, was a Spanish soldier and Carlist military commander.
The reign of Isabella II of Spain is the period of the modern history of Spain between the death of Ferdinand VII of Spain in 1833 and the Spanish Glorious Revolution of 1868, which forced Queen Isabella II of Spain into exile and established a liberal state in Spain.
The end of Basque home rule or fueros in Spain was a process coming to a head in the period extending from the First Carlist War (1833-1840) to the aftermath of the Third Carlist War (1876-1878). It brought to an end the status of sovereignty coupled with allegiance to the Crown of Castile held by the different Basque territories for centuries. In the French Basque Country, home rule was abruptly suppressed during the French Revolution.
Prince of Vergara was a life title in the Peerage of Spain, granted in 1872 by Amadeo I to Baldomero Espartero, who was Regent of Spain from 1840 to 1843. The title makes reference to the Convention of Vergara, a symbolic embrace between Espartero and Rafael Maroto which put an end to the First Carlist War in 1839.
Espartero or the monument to General Espartero, is an instance of public art in Madrid, Spain. A work by Pablo Gibert, it is dedicated to General Baldomero Espartero, "the Peacemaker".
