Ferdinand VII., king of Spain, born in San Ildefonso, Oct. 13, 1784, died in Madrid, Sept. 29, 1833. He was the eldest son of Charles IV. and Louisa Maria of Parma. In 1789 he was declared prince of Asturias and heir apparent to the crown. Under the influence of his preceptor, the canon Escoiquiz, he early felt a strong aversion to Godoy, prince of the peace, the favorite of both his parents. This was aggravated by Maria Antonietta of Naples, whom he married in 1802, and kindled into hatred in 1806 upon the sudden death of his wife, whom he asserted without sufficient proofs to have been poisoned. Henceforth two hostile factions openly divided the court: that of Godoy, supported by the king and queen, and that of the prince of Asturias, comprising the great majority of the nation, who shared in his hatred of the favorite. The dissensions between the son and the father, who was but a tool in the hands of his queen and Godoy, grew into scandalous quarrels. The crown prince, at the instigation of Escoiquiz and others, addressed a letter to Napoleon, complaining of Godoy's conduct, and proposing to place himself under his protection, and to marry a member of his family.

He also copied a memorial to the king against Godoy, which he was to have read to him in person; but Charles had him arrested and kept in close confinement. A royal proclamation issued Oct, 30, 1807, denounced Ferdinand as having laid a plot against the power and even the life of his father. In a vague but humble letter, Ferdinand confessed that he had sinned against his father and king, implored forgiveness, and was publicly pardoned. These transactions were soon followed by more serious events. The royal family, who acted under the advice of Godoy, having attempted to leave Aranjuez with the ultimate view of embarking for America, a sedition broke out, March 18, 1808; the departure was prevented, and the people, infuriated against Godoy, stormed his palace, seized, wounded, and would have murdered him, had not the prince of Asturias, moved by the tears of his mother, used his influence over the crowd to save his life. The king was so much frightened that he abdicated the next day in favor of his son.

Two days later he attempted a retraction, maintaining that his abdication had been forced; but the prince, who had been active in all these transactions, assumed the title of king, and made his solemn entry into Madrid, March 24. The peninsula was already invaded by French troops, and Murat soon marched into the capital. Ferdinand hoped to conciliate Napoleon by submission; he went as far as Bayonneto meet him; here, notwithstanding the empty honors which were paid to him, he found himself a prisoner, and was made to understand that he must restore the crown to his father. The old king, his queen, her favorite,.and the infantes had also been brought to Bayonne; and yielding to a pressure which he was unable to resist, Ferdinand assented to the surrender of his royal title. But this title, and all the rights it conferred, had already been resigned (May 5) by Charles into the hands of Napoleon. The emperor declared that "the house of Bourbon had ceased to reign in Spain," and placed his brother Joseph on the vacant throne. Ferdinand was immediately transferred to the castle of Va-lencay, where he remained nearly six years.

At length Napoleon, in the hope of diverting Spain, which Joseph had lost, from the coalition against him, liberated his captive; by the treaty of Dec. 11, 1813, he restored to him the Spanish crown, on condition that he would make the English evacuate the peninsula, secure a large income to his parents, and keep in their offices and immunities all the Spaniards who had been in the service of King Joseph.

On March 10, 1814, Ferdinand left Valencay and on his arrival in Spain he was welcomed by popular acclamations. He did not abide by the terms of the treaty with Napoleon, but expelled at once the afrancesados (supporters | of the French government), annulled the proceedings of the cortes, and abolished the constitution. All the members of the cortes or the regencies who had participated in the framing of the constitution of 1812, or had faithfully adhered to it, were arraigned before courts martial, tried, and sentenced. A number perished on the scaffold; hundreds of the most illustrious were sent to dungeons in Africa or imprisoned at home; the most fortunate were exiled. For six years Spain was given up to the unrelenting cruelty of a revengeful tyrant, whose gross personal appearance and habits but added to the disgust of the people. At last discontent ripened into insurrection, the signal for which was given by the army. Troops assembled at the Isla de Leon to sail for South America revolted under Col. Riego, Jan. 1, 1820, and proclaimed the constitution of 1812, and the whole army followed their example. Ferdinand convoked the cortes and swore (March 9) faithfully to observe the instrument he had formerly annulled.

Under the influence of a provisional junta who assumed the direction of affairs, he abolished the inquisition, banished the Jesuits, and reestablished the freedom of the press. On the opening of the cortes, July 9, he renewed his oath to the constitution, and appeared to act in perfect accord with that assembly, while at the same time he was intriguing to defeat the plans of his own cabinet and to encourage the plots of the opposite party. This double dealing soon brought about bloody riots and finally civil war in the capital and nearly all the provinces. The liberals or constitutionalists, who formed a large majority of the nation, were strenuously opposed by the serviles or ultra royalists. The latter, pretending that the king was a prisoner in the hands of the cortes, organized an apostolic junta, and raised bands of insurgents in Navarre and Catalonia, under the name of army of the faith." Monks and friars, among whom Merino was conspicuous, were at the head of these bands. At Madrid, the royal guards, secretly incited by their own master, attempted in July, 1822, to reestablish by force his absolute power; but after a violent struggle they were put down. Henceforth the constitutionalists held Ferdinand in a kind of imprisonment scarcely disguised under court ceremonial.

A liberal ministry was appointed; energetic measures were resorted to; the "army of the faith" was totally defeated; its chiefs and soldiers, as well as the ultra-royalist committee known as the regency of Urgel, fled to France. The revolution was thus triumphant; but the 'holy alliance" were preparing for its overthrow. France, which had assembled an army of observation near the Pyrenees, received orders from the congress of Verona to march into Spain for the purpose of restoring Ferdinand's authority. On the news of the threatened invasion, the king was removed to Seville, March 20, 1823; and on the rapid advance of the French under the command of the duke d'An-gouleme through the peninsula, he was declared to be insane, suspended from his power, superseded by a regency, and taken to Cadiz, where the constitutionalists intended to make a stand. But this project was baffled by the French army, which stormed the Trocadero, Aug. 31. The cortes then decided on declaring King Ferdinand reestablished; and the monarch at once published (Sept. 30) a proclamation granting a general amnesty, and securing the engagements entered into by the constitutional government.

But having left Cadiz the next day, he revoked the proclamation and all his acts since March 7, 1820. He made his solemn entrance into Madrid, with the applause of the ultra royalists, Nov. 13, and the work of vengeance commenced, and was continued for years. The noblest victims fell under the sword of the executioner, and terror reigned throughout Spain. Ferdinand did not even evince the least forbearance toward those who had served him most faithfully, but used his power against his friends as well as his foes. The most important Spanish colonies in America gained their independence during his reign. He had already been married three times and •had no children, and took as his fourth wife, Dec. 11, 1829, Maria Christina, daughter of King Francis of Naples. This queen, much younger than her husband, gave him two daughters, and procured from him the publication of a decree abrogating the Salic law. This excited the anger of the partisans of Don Carlos, the king's brother; and insurrectionary movements broke out in the provinces, while intrigues were set on foot at the court for the recall of the decree.

During a temporary illness the king was prevailed upon to abrogate it; but Christina, resuming her sway over her husband's mind, had it confirmed, and received herself the title of regent, while Carlos and many of his adherents were ordered out of the kingdom. This rekindled civil war, which broke out with great violence soon after the death of Ferdinand. His daughter Isabella, a child of three years, inherited the crown; but it was not secured to her till after a protracted and bloody contest.