Carlists
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Carlists,
partisans of Don CarlosCarlos(Carlos María Isidro de Borbón), 1788–1855, second son of Charles IV of Spain. He was the first Carlist pretender. After his father's abdication (1808) he was, with the rest of his family, held a prisoner in France until 1814.
..... Click the link for more information. (1788–1855) and his successors, who claimed the Spanish throne under the Salic lawSalic law
, rule of succession in certain royal and noble families of Europe, forbidding females and those descended in the female line to succeed to the titles or offices in the family.
..... Click the link for more information. of succession, introduced (1713) by Philip V. The law (forced on Philip by the War of the Spanish SuccessionSpanish Succession, War of the,
1701–14, last of the general European wars caused by the efforts of King Louis XIV to extend French power. The conflict in America corresponding to the period of the War of the Spanish Succession was known as Queen Anne's War (see French and
..... Click the link for more information. to avoid a union of the French and Spanish crowns) was abrogated by Ferdinand VII in favor of his daughter, who succeeded him (1833) as Isabella IIIsabella II,
1830–1904, queen of Spain (1833–68), daughter of Ferdinand VII and of Maria Christina. Her uncle, Don Carlos, contested her succession under the Salic law, and thus the Carlist Wars began (see Carlists).
..... Click the link for more information. . Ferdinand's brother, Don Carlos, refused to recognize Isabella and claimed the throne.
A civil war followed (First Carlist War, 1833–40), and in the hope of autonomy, most of the Basque Provs. and much of Catalonia supported Carlos. The Carlists' conservative and clericalist tendencies gave the dynastic conflict a political character, since the upper middle classes profited from the sale of church lands and supported Isabella. The Carlists enjoyed many early successes, especially under their great general, Tomas Zumalacarregui. After he was killed (1835) in battle, the greater strength of the Isabelline forces gradually made itself felt. In 1839 the Carlist commander Rafael Maroto yielded, but in Catalonia the Carlists under Ramón CabreraCabrera, Ramón, conde de Morella
, 1806–77, Spanish Carlist general. Noted for his valor and cruelty during the first Carlist war (see Carlists), he refused to accept the Carlist defeat in 1839 and continued the war in Valencia and Catalonia until driven into France
..... Click the link for more information. continued the struggle until 1840.
Don Carlos's son, Don Carlos, conde de Montemolín (1818–61), made an unsuccessful attempt at a new uprising in 1860. Montemolín's claims were revived by his nephew, Don Carlos, duque de Madrid (1848–1909), after the deposition (1868) of Isabella. Two insurrections (1869, 1872) failed, but after the abdication (1873) of King AmadeusAmadeus,
1845–90, king of Spain (1870–73), duke of Aosta, son of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. After the expulsion (1868) of Queen Isabella II, Juan Prim urged the Cortes to elect Amadeus as king. He accepted the crown reluctantly.
..... Click the link for more information. and the proclamation of the first republic, the Carlists seized most of the Basque Provs. and parts of Catalonia, Aragón, and Valencia. The ensuing chaos and brutal warfare of this Second Carlist War ended in 1876, over a year after Alfonso XIIAlfonso XII,
1857–85, king of Spain (1874–85), son of Isabella II. He went into exile with his parents at the time of the revolt of the Carlists in 1868 and was educated in Austria and England.
..... Click the link for more information. , son of Isabella, was proclaimed king. Don Carlos escaped to France.
In the next half century many defected from Carlist ranks, and several rival groups formed. Pressure against the church by the second republic (1931–39) helped revive Carlism, and the Carlists embraced the Nationalist cause in the Spanish civil war (1936–39). Under the Franco regime Carlism was for many years an obstacle to plans for restoring the main branch of the Bourbon dynasty, but in 1969, Franco overrode Carlist objections and named the Bourbon prince Juan Carlos IJuan Carlos I
, 1938–, king of Spain (1975–2014), b. Rome. The grandson of Alfonso XIII, he was educated in Switzerland and in Spain. Placed by his father, Don Juan de Borbón, under the care of Francisco Franco as a possible successor, he graduated from
..... Click the link for more information. as his successor.
Bibliography
See E. Holt, Carlist Wars in Spain (1967).
Carlists
representatives of the absolutist, clerical political current in Spain that relies on the reactionary clergy, the titled aristocracy, and the top army officers.
The movement received its name from the pretender to the Spanish throne, Don Carlos the Elder. In the 1830’s and 1870’s the Cariists unleashed major rebellions in Spain, known as the Carlist Wars. Later on, as the traditionalist movement, the Cariists supported the most reactionary forces in the country. Cariists were active in the military fascist rebellion of July 18-19, 1936, and collaborated with the Franco regime. Many of them supported Juan Carlos, who was confirmed in 1969 at Franco’s direction as the future king of Spain after Franco’s death. Many Cariists opposed several aspects of Franco’s policies from an absolutist and clerical viewpoint.