Definition of House of Bourbon

Each country, nation o people have a particular way of organizing and, above all, of governing, in its different forms and varieties the monarchy has been the most widely used and extensive throughout the world; where kings had most of the power.

Monarchs represent the highest authority they all descend from the states, from what we call a royal house, which implies belonging to a family lineage. In the case of Spain and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the current monarchs are part of the House of Bourbon.

This surname is of French origin (Bourbon) and comes specifically from a toponymic reference, the castle of Bourbon-l'Archambault. All the descendants of this dynastic line in turn come from a much more remote origin, the Capetians.

The origin of the current Spanish monarchy

With the new dynasty, Felipe V d'Anjou, great-nephew of Carlos II the Bewitched, was crowned monarch of Spain in 1700. Thus begins the history of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain. The next monarch of this dynasty was the fourth son of the King above, Fernando VI.

Carlos III succeeded him and later his son Carlos IV who at the same time abdicated in his son Fernando VII. The Spanish monarch saw his reign interrupted during Napoleon's invasion of Spain but later returned to the throne with a marked absolutist reign.

When the king fell ill, his wife María Cristina de Borbón took over the government while his daughter was still too young to rule the country. Thus, other branches of the House of Bourbon such as the Infante Don Carlos tried to seize power from the regent María Cristina, starting the successive Carlist Wars.

During the Carlist Wars two currents of the House of Bourbon clashed: the more moderate current and Liberal represented by the Infanta Isabel in front of the absolutist current represented by the Infante Don Carlos

The infanta Isabel was proclaimed queen when she reached 13 years of age and during her tenure, Spanish parliamentarism was gaining weight. During his reign the Republic, which forced her to go into exile in France where she would end up dying.

The term republican it was very brief and after it, what is known as the second restoration occurred. In this second restoration, the House of Bourbon returns to Spain, crowning Alfonso XII as the new king in 1875.

His successor was Alfonso XIII who, after 11 years of his father's mandate, kept the crown until 1931, the year in which the second republic was proclaimed.

The house of Bourbon today

After Franco's death in 1975, Juan Carlos I was crowned King of Spain, and in 1978 the Constitution recognized the parliamentary monarchy. In 2014 he abdicated in his son Felipe VI who reigns in the present in Spain.

Photos: Fotolia - bimserd / ug