Alfonso XII

Alfonso XII of Spain[lower-alpha 1] (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 1857 – 25 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885. After a revolution that deposed his mother Isabella II from the throne in 1868, Alfonso studied in Austria and France. His mother abdicated in his favour in 1870, and he returned to Spain as king in 1874 following a military coup against the First Republic. Alfonso died aged 27 in 1885, and was succeeded by his son, Alfonso XIII, who was born the following year. To date, he is the last monarch of Spain to have died whilst on the throne.

Alfonso XII of Spain
Portrait by Federico de Madrazo, c. 1886
King of Spain (more...)
Reign	29 December 1874 – 25 November 1885
Predecessor	Amadeo I (1873)
Successor	Alfonso XIII
Born	28 November 1857 Royal Palace of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Died	25 November 1885 (aged 27) Royal Palace of El Pardo, Madrid, Spain
Burial	El Escorial
Spouse	Mercedes of Orléans ​ ​ (m. 1878; died 1878)​ Maria Christina of Austria ​ ​ (m. 1879)​
Issue Detail	María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias Infanta María Teresa Alfonso XIII of Spain (illeg.) Fernand Sanz
House	Bourbon
Father	Francisco de Asís of Spain
Mother	Isabella II of Spain
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Political background, early life and paternity

Alfonso was born in Madrid as the eldest son of Queen Isabella II. Officially, his father was her husband, King Francisco de Asís. Alfonso's biological paternity is uncertain. There is speculation that his biological father may have been Enrique Puigmoltó y Mayans (a captain of the guard).[1] These rumours were used as political propaganda against Alfonso by the Carlists.

His mother's accession created the second cause of instability, which was the Carlist Wars. The supporters of the Count of Molina as king of Spain rose to have him enthroned. In addition, within the context of the post-Napoleonic restorations and revolutions which engulfed the West both in Europe and the Americas, both the Carlistas and the Isabelino conservatives were opposed to the new Napoleonic constitutional system. Much like in Britain, which subtracted itself from the liberal constitutional process, Spanish conservatives wanted to continue with the Traditional Spanish Organic Laws such as the Fuero Juzgo, the Novísima Recopilación and the Partidas of Alfonso X. This led to the third cause of instability of note, the "Independence of the American Kingdoms", recognized between 1823 and 1850.

A split nation

When Queen Isabella II and her husband were forced to leave Spain by the Revolution of 1868, Alfonso accompanied them to Paris. From there, he was sent to the Theresianum in Vienna to continue his studies. On 25 June 1870, he was recalled to Paris, where his mother abdicated in his favour, in the presence of a number of Spanish nobles who had tied their fortunes to those of the exiled queen. He assumed the name Alfonso XII, for although no king of united Spain had borne the name "Alfonso XI", the Spanish monarchy was regarded as continuous with the more ancient monarchy represented by the 11 kings of Asturias, León and Castile also named Alfonso.[2]

The Republic

A young Alfonso with his mentor, the Duke of Sesto

Following Amadeo's abandonment in 1873, Parliament established the Federal Republic (including the territories of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Pacific Archipelagos). The first act of President Estanislao Figueras was to extend the Abolition Act to Puerto Rico. Cuban slaves would have to wait until 1889.

But the republicans were not in agreement either, and they had to contend with the War in Cuba, and Muslim uprisings in Spanish Morocco. In the midst of the crisis during and after the First Spanish Republic, the Carlist party made itself strong in areas with claims over their national and institutional specificity, such as Catalonia or the Basque districts. By 1872, the Third Carlist War erupted. This unrest led to the creation of a group in favour of the Bourbon Restoration, made by some sectors of the conservatives led by Canovas del Castillo.

The Prince of Asturias, Alfonso, was the person chosen to develop the new road map proposed by Canovas, which led to the June 1870 abdication of Queen Isabel II in favour of her son Prince Alfonso. The new road map, which indeed ended the eternal crisis begun in 1810 was called 'Alfonsismo', and the moderate centrist Cánovas del Castillo became the spokesman. As having Alfonso in Spain would be a problem, Cánovas became responsible for his education. He sent Alfonso to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in England, where the training Alfonso received was severe but more cosmopolitan than in Spain, given the current atmosphere.

On 1 December 1874, Alfonso issued the Sandhurst Manifesto, where he set the ideological basis of the Bourbon Restoration. It was drafted in reply to a birthday greeting from his followers, a manifesto proclaiming himself the sole representative of the Spanish monarchy. At the end of 1874, Brigadier Martínez Campos, who had long been working more or less openly for the king, led some battalions of the central army to Sagunto, rallied to his own flag the troops sent against him, and entered Valencia in the king's name. Thereupon the President resigned, and his power was transferred to the king's plenipotentiary and adviser, Antonio Cánovas.[2] The 29 December 1874 military coup of Gen. Martinez Campos in Sagunto ended the failed republic and meant the rise of the young Prince Alfonso.

Return from exile

5 Peseta of Alfonso XII

Within a few days after Canovas del Castillo took power as Premier, the new king, proclaimed on 29 December 1874, arrived at Madrid, passing through Barcelona and Valencia and was acclaimed everywhere (1875). In 1876, a vigorous campaign against the Carlists, in which the young king took part, resulted in the defeat of Don Carlos and the Duke's abandonment of the struggle.[2]

Initially led by Canovas del Castillo as moderate prime minister, what was thought at one time as a coup aimed at placing the military in the political-administrative positions of power, in reality ushered in a civilian regime that lasted until Primo de Rivera's 1923 coup d'état. Cánovas was the real architect of the new regime of the Restoration.

Alfonso surrounded by his relative European monarchs and their spouses at Homburg Castle in 1883. Edward VII, Wilhelm I and Carlos I can be seen amongst others

In order to eliminate one of the problems of the reign of Isabel II, the single party and its destabilizing consequences, the Liberal Party was allowed to incorporate and participate in national politics, and the 'turnismo' or alternation was to become the new system. Turnismo would be endorsed in the Constitution of 1876 and the Pact of Pardo Palace (1885). It meant that liberal and conservative prime ministers would succeed each other ending thus the troubles.

This led to the end of the Carlist revolts and the victory over the New York-backed Cuban revolutionaries, and led to a huge backing both by insular and peninsular Spaniards of Alfonso as a wise and able king.

Alfonso's short reign established the foundations for the final socioeconomic recuperation of Spain after the 1808–1874 crisis. Both European (the coastal regions, such as the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Asturias) and Overseas – Antilles and Pacific were able to grow steadily. Cuba and Puerto Rico prospered to the point that Spain's first train was between Havana and Camagüey, and the first telegraph in Latin America was in Puerto Rico, established by Samuel Morse, whose daughter lived there with her husband. Upon the American invasion of Puerto Rico, ten US dollars were needed to buy one Puerto Rican peso.

First marriage

On 23 January 1878 at the Basilica of Atocha in Madrid, Alfonso married his first cousin, Princess Maria de las Mercedes, but she died within six months of the marriage.[2]

Second marriage and rule

King Alfonso XII and Queen Maria Christina with their daughter Mercedes in 1880

On 29 November 1879 at the Basilica of Atocha in Madrid, Alfonso married a much more distant relative, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria. During the honeymoon, a pastry cook named Otero fired at the young sovereign and his wife as they were driving in Madrid.[2]

The children of this marriage were:

• María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, (11 September 1880 – 17 October 1904), married on 14 February 1901 to Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and titular heir from the death of her father until the posthumous birth of her brother
• María Teresa, (12 November 1882 – 23 September 1912), married to Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria on 12 January 1906
• Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941). Born posthumously. He married Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg

Alfonso had two sons by Elena Armanda Nicolasa Sanz y Martínez de Arizala (15 December 1849, in Castellón de la Plana – 24 December 1898, in Paris):

• Alfonso Sanz y Martínez de Arizala (28 January 1880, in Madrid – 19 March 1970, in Paris), married in 1922 to María de Guadalupe de Limantour y Mariscal
• Fernando Sanz y Martínez de Arizala (28 February 1881, in Madrid – 8 January 1925, in Pau, France), unmarried and without issue

In 1881 Alfonso refused to sanction a law by which the ministers were to remain in office for a fixed term of 18 months. Upon the consequent resignation of Canovas del Castillo, he summoned Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, the Liberal leader, to form a new cabinet.[2]

Death and impact

Death of Alfonso XII or The last kiss, by Juan Antonio Benlliure

In November 1885, Alfonso died, just short of his 28th birthday, at the Royal Palace of El Pardo near Madrid. He had been suffering from tuberculosis, but the immediate cause of his death was a recurrence of dysentery.[3]

In 1902, his widow Maria Cristina initiated a national contest to build a monument in memory of Alfonso. The winning design, by José Grases Riera, was erected in an artificial lake in Madrid's Parque del Buen Retiro in 1922.

Coming to the throne at such an early age Alfonso had served no apprenticeship in the art of ruling. Benevolent and sympathetic in disposition, he won the affection of his people by fearlessly visiting districts ravaged by cholera or devastated by earthquake in 1885. His capacity for dealing with men was considerable, and he never allowed himself to become the instrument of any particular party. During his short reign, peace was established both at home and abroad, finances were well regulated, and the various administrative services were placed on a basis that afterwards enabled Spain to pass through the disastrous war with the United States without the threat of a revolution.[2]

Honours

• Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1857 (Spain)[4]
• Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, March 1863 (French Empire)[5]
• Knight of St. Hubert, 1865 (Kingdom of Bavaria)[6]
• Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1875 (Austria-Hungary)[7]
• Knight of the Elephant, 8 January 1878 (Denmark)[8]
• Knight of the Annunciation, 4 February 1878 (Kingdom of Italy)[9]
• Grand Cross of St. Charles, 7 September 1865 (Monaco)[10]
• Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, 1861 (Kingdom of Portugal)[11]
• Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 1875 (Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach)[12]
• Knight of the Seraphim, 23 October 1877 (Sweden-Norway)[13]
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 11 September 1879 (Empire of Japan)[14]
• Stranger Knight of the Garter, 24 October 1881 (United Kingdom)[15]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Alfonso XII

8. Charles IV of Spain 4. Francisco de Paula of Spain 9. Maria Luisa of Parma 2. Francisco de Asís of Spain 10. Francis I of the Two Sicilies 5. Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies 11. Maria Isabella of Spain 1. Alfonso XII of Spain 12. Charles IV of Spain (= 8) 6. Ferdinand VII of Spain 13. Maria Luisa of Parma (= 9) 3. Isabella II of Spain 14. Francis I of the Two Sicilies (= 10) 7. Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies 15. Maria Isabella of Spain (= 11)

See also

• Monument to Alfonso XII

Notes

1. In the languages of Spain, his name was:
   • Aragonese: Alifonso XII
   • Asturian: Alfonsu XII
   • Basque: Alfontso XII.a
   • Catalan: Alfons XII
   • Occitan: Anfós XII
   • Galician: Afonso XII
   • Spanish: Alfonso XII

References

1. Juan Sisinio Pérez Garzón, Isabel II: Los Espejos de la Reina (2004)
2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alphonso s.v. Alphonso XII.". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 736.
3. "Death of the King of Spain", The Times (26 November 1885): 7.
4. Boettger, T. F. "Chevaliers de la Toisón d'Or – Knights of the Golden Fleece". La Confrérie Amicale. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
5. M. Wattel, B. Wattel. (2009). Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur de 1805 à nos jours. Titulaires français et étrangers. Paris: Archives & Culture. p. 448. ISBN 978-2-35077-135-9.
6. Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Königreichs Bayern: 1877. Landesamt. 1877. p. 8.
7. "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
8. Jørgen Pedersen (2009). Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009 (in Danish). Syddansk Universitetsforlag. p. 470. ISBN 978-87-7674-434-2.
9. Italia : Ministero dell'interno (1884). Calendario generale del Regno d'Italia. Unione tipografico-editrice. p. 48.
10. Journal de Monaco
11. "Grand Crosses of the Order of the Tower and Sword". geneall.net. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
12. Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1885), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" p. 14
13. Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1881, p. 378, archived from the original on 11 June 2011, retrieved 6 January 2018 – via runeberg.org
14. 刑部芳則 (2017). 明治時代の勲章外交儀礼 (PDF) (in Japanese). 明治聖徳記念学会紀要. p. 143.
15. Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 62

External links

• Historiaantiqua. Alfonso XII; (Spanish) (2008)