Tuesday 17 June 2014

The first five Felipes of Spain

Felipe VI will be proclaimed King of Spain on the morning of June 19th 2014 in Madrid becoming the first monarch with that name to rule his country in over 300 years.  The name was last used by the first Bourbon to rule Spain but it as featured several times in the country's royal histories. Here are the five other kings called Felipe who have ruled Spain.

Felipe V, twice king of Spain and almost king of France


The last king of Spain to use the name was actually born Philippe of Bourbon at the Palace of Versailles in December 1683.  He was the second son of the heir to the throne of France and a grandson of the Sun King, Louis XIV.  His older brother, Louis, was expected to wear the French crown after their father, also Louis. The family also had the strongest claim to the throne of Spain and when it fell vacant on the death of Carlos II in 1700, it was passed to Philippe to avoid a future king of France becoming king of Spain as well.


Philippe of Bourbon becomes King of Spain at a ceremony in Versailles in 1700 
(Gerard)

But ongoing concerns among other European powers about a possible future joining of the French and Spanish monarchies under a single Bourbon king led to the War of the Spanish Succession, a thirteen year conflict that dominated the early years of Felipe V's reign and led to him having to cede various possessions around Europe.  


Felipe V, King of Spain 1700 - 1724 and again 1724 - 1746

In the end, neither Felipe V's father or brother became King of France as both died before Louis XIV.  But some historians have speculated that the lure of the throne of France led Felipe to carry out one of the most mysterious acts of his reign.  In 1724, at the age of 41, he abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Luis.  No reason was ever given.  The king had suffered from bouts of depression and some historians argue that he left the throne because of mental health issues.  Others claim that the Spanish king saw a chance of becoming a French king as his native country was, by then, ruled by Louis XV who was just 14 and who was without guidance as his regent had just died.  Whatever the reason, the abdication didn't last long as Luis I died seven months later and his father returned to the throne.


Felipe V, twice King of Spain

The king married twice - his first wife, Maria Luisa of Savoy, was a popular consort and mother of Luis I as well as Felipe's next heir, Ferdinand VI.  His second wife, Elizabeth Farnese, was less popular and was said to dominate the king.  Their son became Carlos III when Ferdinand died childless.  Felipe V remained on the throne of Spain until his death in 1746 and was remembered as a passive man who had enjoyed a turbulent reign but who had established the House of Bourbon in Spain.


Felipe IV, the King of Spain who never smiled


There are several statues of Felipe IV dotted around the land he once ruled which is appropriate because in his lifetime the king was often described as a statue who never laughed and rarely smiled. Historians have argued that in private this King Felipe was light hearted and enjoyed good conversation but in public he took on the persona of a 17th century monarch and played it to perfection.  As such, he has been remembered as solemn, dignified and just a little bit boring.  The penultimate King of the House of Hapsburg to rule Spain, his legacy is chequered and much debated.


Felipe IV, King of Spain 1621 - 1665

Felipe was born in Valladolid in 1610, the eldest son of King Felipe III of Spain and his wife, Margaret of Austria.  He was raised in an atmosphere of intrigue and high political drama as different factions sought to undermine the influence of his father's favourites and at the age of ten, Felipe as introduced to the Count of Olivares who one faction hoped would gain power over the young heir to the throne.  The ploy worked and by the time Felipe took the throne, at the age of sixteen, Olivares was such a favourite that he was given access to all the royal papers.


Felipe IV as a young man

By then, Felipe IV was also a married man - his wedding to Elisabeth of France took place in 1615 when he was ten and his bride was thirteen.  Their first child, Maria Margaret, was born five months after Felipe became king in 1621 (although she lived just one day) and the couple would have another five daughters and two sons although just two would survive infancy.


Felipe IV in his later years, around 1656

Meanwhile, the political intrigues that had shaped Felipe IV's early life continued to swirl and after a brief period of ruling without a minister following the fall of Olivares in the 1640s, Felipe soon acquired new favourites.  In his later years, he relied heavily on religious advisers as well.  But two other themes dominated the later part of his reign - his love of the arts and his love affairs.


Felipe IV by Diego Velazquez, a favourite painter of the king

The king was a great patron of the arts and in particular of the rising star of the painting world, Diego Velazquez.  Under the care of the king, the artist would produce some of his most famous works including the legendary royal painting, Las Meninas which showed Felipe's daughter, Margaret Teresa, and her maids of honour.


Las Meninas, produced by Velazquez in the reign of Felipe IV of Spain

The king's love of the arts also shone through in his choice of mistress - he fell in love with a famous actress called Maria Ines Calderon with whom he had a son, Juan Jose, who was briefly considered as a possible heir to the throne.  After the death of his first wife, Queen Elizabeth of Spain, in 1644 he married again and followed a pattern established by his Hapsburg relatives in his choice of bride.  In 1649, the 43 year old Felipe IV married his fifteen year old niece, Maria Anna of Austria, the daughter of his sister.  The couple had five children - the youngest became Felipe IV's eventual successor, Carlos II of Spain who would die childless and pass the crown of Spain to the House of Bourbon under Felipe V.


Felipe III, King of Spain - the most miserable


Given that his son is known to history as the man who rarely smiled, Felipe III of Spain must have been even more solemn as he is known as miserable, insignificant and a monarch who took dull to new heights - or lows.  But given the drama that had surrounded his family before he was even born and the strict regime of his father, Felipe II, it's perhaps no wonder that his King Felipe of Spain preferred the quiet life.


Felipe III, King of Spain 1598 - 1621

By the time this king of the House of Hapsburg was born in 1578, his father had been married four times.  Felipe III's parents were Felipe II of Spain and his fourth and final wife, Anna of Austria, who were said to be very much in love despite a twenty year age gap and the fact that she was his niece. Queen Anna of Spain had originally been considered as a bride for Felipe II's eldest son by his first wife, Carlos, but the teenage prince had been declared insane by his father in 1568 and died after months of solitary confinement.  Anna and Felipe married a year later.  Felipe III grew up at a court dominated by his father who imposed a strict education on his son and now heir - it was designed to curb any excesses and prevent him becoming wayward as Carlos had been described even before an accident which left him with head injuries and affected his behaviour even more.


Felipe II, King of Spain, as a young man

Felipe III was praised by his tutors as he grew up - standard practice in royal courts - but he soon showed himself to be open to influence.  He relied heavily on the Marquis of Denia who was sent away by Felipe's father but returned to court soon afterwards and who, very soon after Felipe III's accession, had been made an important minister at his court.  He went on to become the Duke of Lerma and he and his family held power at court for over a decade before their fall from grace in 1617. Felipe replaced him with new favourites and throughout his reign was seen to rely on his ministers while he spent his time hunting.


A statue of Felipe III, King of Spain, in Madrid

He was also seen to be influenced heavily by his wife, Margaret of Austria.  They had married in 1599, when Lerma already held sway over the monarch and Queen Margaret spent much of her reign trying to lessen the power of the king's favourite.  The king never remarried after Margaret's death in 1611.  The fact that he was seen to be so heavily influenced by so many people damaged his reputation as did the economic decline that began in his reign.  Spain suffered famine in the first decade of his rule while an outbreak of plague killed a large part of the population.  Weak willed, easily led and really rather dull, Felipe III's role in history remains largely forgotten.


Felipe II, King of Spain - prudent and much married


The same can't be said for his father who dominated the politics and courts of 16th century Europe as much as any other man.  Felipe II, of the House of Hapsburg, ruled Spain from 1556 until 1598 but was also ruler of Naples and Sicily.  His marriage to his second wife, Mary I, sent shockwaves through Europe as she had just become Queen Regnant of England and huge political movements took place to stop Felipe becoming the country's king as well.  This Felipe had an empire of his own and took Spain's fame and power to new heights as well as causing the realm to go bankrupt more than once.  Clever and controversial, he is the most famous of all the Felipes to reign in Spain and is also the only one - until Thursday - to succeed following the abdication of his predecessor.


Felipe II, King of Spain 1556 - 1598

Felipe had been born in Valladolid in 1527.  His parents were Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Isabella of Portugal and the young royal spent his early life in Spain.  His father was one of the great figures of early modern Europe and had amassed a huge collection of lands which he ruled well and effectively.  Philip grew up as the heir of the man who ruled Spain, Naples, Milan, part of the Netherlands, parts of newly discovered lands in North America as well as the Holy Roman Empire with its powerbase in modern day Austria.  He was given the education of a man born to rule an empire with lessons in language, art and warfare.  By the age of 16, Philip was trusted by his father enough to act as regent of Spain for a short while during one of the Emperor's absences.


Felipe II as a young man

Felipe inherited his first crown in 1554 when his father abdicated one throne in his favour - not the last time that Charles would cede a throne to his son.  Felipe became King of Naples and King of Jerusalem - to make sure he could marry as an equal.  For in 1554, at the age of 27, he went to Winchester in Hampshire for a wedding with his cousin, 36 year old Mary Tudor who had just become England's first Queen Regnant.  Following his marriage, Philip was named as joint monarch of England with his wife and later added the title of King of Ireland to that of England.  But Parliament was quite clear - he ruled jointly as long as his wife lived. And on her death, in 1558, Philip lost the two crowns his wife had gained him.  He proposed marriage to her successor, Elizabeth I, but nothing came of that.  But it didn't matter too much to Felipe because in the meantime, he had become King of Spain.


Felipe II of Spain with Mary I of England - the couple were married for four years

Two years after his marriage, and with his wife humiliated after a phantom pregnancy, Felipe's father ceded the Spanish kingdom to him.  While the Holy Roman Empire and its title of Emperor went to his cousin, Ferdinand, Felipe inherited his father's Spanish lands while Charles V retired to the monastery of Yuste after an intense but successful reign.  Felipe inherited an economy laden with debts but continued to expand the arts and the empire that meant so much to his father.  During his reign, his country's economy also benefitted from imports from the lands held in North America


Felipe II by Antonio Moro

Felipe was also deeply concerned with religion - one of the main reasons for his marriage to Mary had been to help root Catholicism in England again.  He fought the rise of Protestantism wherever he could which led to one of the most famous incidents of his reign - the Spanish Armada which sailed to invade England in 1588 and was defeated by Sir Francis Drake.


Felipe II of Spain in later life

Felipe's marriage with the Queen of England was his most famous but was just the second of four that the monarch undertook.  First down the aisle with this handsome king was his cousin, Maria Manuela of Portugal.  They wed in Valladolid in 1543 when they were both around sixteen years old but Maria Manuela, Princess of Asturias died less than two years later after giving birth to their only child, Carlos.  His third wife, Elisabeth of France, became his first queen consort.  She was the daughter of King Henri IV and Catherine de' Medici and spent her early life in the company of Mary, Queen of Scots who was about the same age.  She married the King of Spain in 1559 having originally been selected as wife for his son, Carlos.  Queen Elisabeth of Spain died in 1568.  Felipe II had been fond of his consort but he seemed to fall even more in love with his fourth wife, Anna, who was also his niece. Their wedding in 1570 led to a decade of married bliss before she became the fourth of Felipe's wives to die before him.


King Felipe II, husband to four wives

The legacy of Felipe II changes around Europe.  In England he is a villain of history, the man who tried to wrestle power from his wife, Mary I, and who tried to topple her sister, Elizabeth I, from her throne.  In other countries, his reputation is less sombre and takes into account his wide ranging achievements as well as his ambition.  Of the five Felipes to rule so far, he is easily the most famous and the most successful.


Felipe I, the Handsome King of Spain who inspired Henry VIII


The first king in Spain to bear the name of Felipe was monarch of Castile but not Aragon and wore a crown because of the woman he married.  He died young but in that time burned brightly and inspired one of the most famous of Europe's monarchs.  Felipe I, however, has gone down in history as the man who his queen refused to bury.


Felipe I, King of Castile

Felipe I entered Spanish history in 1496 when he married Joana, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Four years later, his wife became heiress to the kingdoms of her father and her mother. But this first king called Felipe had begun life in the cool climes of Bruges where he was born as Philip, son of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian, and his wife, Mary of Burgundy.  He inherited his mother's lands on her death in 1482 and was in line to be Emperor after his father.  But before that could happen, his wife unexpectedly became Queen of Castile and made her husband a king into the bargain.


Philip I of Castile was known as the Handsome

Joana succeeded her mother in 1504 and she and her husband made their way from the Low Countries to Spain to claim their inheritance.  They were shipwrecked on the Dorset coast on their way and spent six weeks with Henry VII.  This was where Philip's path crossed that of Henry VIII.  In 1506, Henry was heir to his father's throne and an imposing young man of fourteen.  He is said to have seen Philip as the embodiment of a modern leader and to have taken him as his inspiration as he shaped himself as a future ruler.  What Henry and Philip definitely have in common is a history of tempestuous marriages.  Once in Castile, Philip was determined to rule instead of his wife even though they were joint monarchs and his actions are thought by some to have worsened the mental health issues Joana was already suffering.  When Philip died unexpectedly of typhoid fever in September 1506, his wife refused to let his body be buried for several weeks.  Philip's name lived on though.  It hadn't been well used by royalty in Spain's kingdoms until then but his son - who became Charles V - used it for his son and heir, Philip II.  And after that the name became well established and will take centre stage again on June 19th 2014, when the latest royal to bear it becomes Felipe VI, King of Spain.







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