''Afrancesado'' (, ; "

Francophile A Francophile, also known as Gallophile, is a person who has a strong affinity towards any or all of the French language, French history, French culture and/or French people. That affinity may include France itself or its history, language, cuisin ...

" or "turned- French", lit. "Frenchified" or "French-alike") refers to the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

partisan of Enlightenment ideas,

Liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

or the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. In principle, ''afrancesados'' were upper-and-middle class supporters of the French occupation of Iberia (

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

), preferring the reforms of the " enlightened despots"

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and his brother

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

(installed by Napoleon as king of Spain) or, as a lesser evil, preferring to avoid the consequences of outright war with the greatest military power in Europe.Joes, Anthony James
''Guerrilla Conflict Before the Cold War'', pp. 109-110. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996.
Google Books. Retrieved 28 January 2019.

Spain

Origins

In Spain, the term ''afrancesado'' surfaced during the reign of

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person t ...

, and had a neutral meaning, being used to designate those who followed French fashions and customs. Subsequently, it became popular as a

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

reference to those members of the

Spanish nobility Spanish nobles are persons who possess the legal status of hereditary nobility according to the laws and traditions of the Spanish monarchy and historically also those who held personal nobility as bestowed by one of the three highest orders of ...

and bureaucracy who swore allegiance to Joseph I Bonaparte, installed as king of Spain by his brother,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. The term extended to cover a predominantly middle-class

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

, merchant or manufacturer who saw the French as agents of change in the rigid structure of Spanish society, and who reacted against the perceived corruption and incompetence of Charles IV and the House of Bourbon in general (including Joseph's competitor

Ferdinand VII , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = 14 October 1784 , birth_place = El Escorial, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_plac ...

Political program

Appointed king by his brother

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, Joseph found himself at war with the majority of his subjects. He relied on the ''afrancesados'' to enforce a project that would gradually replace tradition and absolutism with a system

Leandro Fernández de Moratín Leandro Fernández de Moratín (; 10 March 1760 – 21 June 1828) was a Spanish dramatist, translator and neoclassical poet. Biography Moratín was born in Madrid the son of Nicolás Fernández de Moratín, a major literary reformer in Sp ...

defined as based on ''razón, la justicia y el poder'' ("

reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

, justice, and power"). Progressive but not entirely liberal, this political creation was soon rejected by both

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and liberals (many liberals joined the ''

guerilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run t ...

'' against the occupation). The ''afrancesados'' were also weary of French designs: more favorable to the Revolution than of the Empire, they aimed to withdraw Spain from the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, and tried in vain to prevent Napoleon's separate administration of Spanish provinces (

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, Aragon, Navarre, and

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

) after 1809. The

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( es, Virreinato del Río de la Plata or es, Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called " Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some scholarly writings, i ...

had a French viceroy at the time,

Santiago de Liniers Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, KOM, OM (July 25, 1753 – August 26, 1810) was a French officer in the Spanish military service, and a viceroy of the Spanish colonies of the Viceroyalty of the River ...

. However, his appointment took place before the Peninsular War, and France was not involved at all in it: it was instead a consequence of the

British invasions of the Río de la Plata The British invasions of the River Plate were two unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of areas in the Spanish colony of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata that were located around the Río de la Plata in South America – in ...

, a conflict between Britain and the Spanish colonies. Napoleon and Joseph sent the Marquis of Sassenay to the zone, seeking support from Liniers to the new monarchy, but Liniers rejected it and confirmed his loyalty to the captive king Ferdinand VII. Later, they also attempted to negotiate with the anti-French

Cortes of Cádiz The Cortes of Cádiz was a revival of the traditional ''cortes'' (Spanish parliament), which as an institution had not functioned for many years, but it met as a single body, rather than divided into estates as with previous ones. The General ...

which served as a parliamentary Regency after

was deposedto maintain as much possible of Joseph's Bayonne laws of 1808 into Ferdinand's 1812 Constitution. Nonetheless, the Cortes voted to confiscate all assets of Joseph's court and of the ''afrancesados''.

Exile

After

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

's 1813 campaign and the

battle of Vitoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) a British, Portuguese and Spanish army under the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, eventually leadin ...

, all of Joseph's court and his collaborators (nobles, soldiers, jurists, writers, journalists, and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

clergy alike) took refuge to France with

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in ...

's armies. The total estimate of this exile is fluctuating between 4,000 and 12,000 persons at its peak. Ferdinand broke the terms of his agreement with Napoleon after his return detention at the Château of Valençay (May 4, 1814), and began a campaign of persecution, defining as ''afrancesados'' most of those who had not risen in combat against the French: ''colaboracionistas'' (servants of French interests), receivers of honours and distinctions handed by king Joseph, co-operating bureaucrats (those who had not resigned their positions during the occupation), or even those who were sought by the French as collaborators but had denied offers. The immense number of liberally-minded ''

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...

s'' alarmed the authorities of the Bourbon Restoration in France, and they began steps to convince the Spanish government to pardon them. This came during the Liberal Triennium, as an

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

decreed by liberal Premier

Evaristo Pérez de Castro Evaristo Pérez de Castro y Colomera (26 October 1778, in Valladolid – 28 November 1849, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 3 February 1839 to 18 July 1840, and held other important offi ...

; those that did return had to flee soon after the Quintuple Alliance intervention. On April 21, 1832, France ordered them to solve their highly problematic stateless condition by either settling in the country or leaving its territory. Joseph Bonaparte's great-great-grandson Frederick Joseph Benton born 1954 reviewed the afrancesado doctrine in 1999 but has done nothing to advance its cause.

Notable Spanish ''afrancesados''

Francisco Amorós Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

Miguel José de Azanza, Duke of Santa Fe --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places *Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disamb ...

* Fernando Sor *

Javier de Burgos Francisco Javier de Burgos y del Olmo (22 October 1778—22 January 1848) was a Spanish jurist, politician, journalist, and translator. Early life and career Born in Motril, into a noble but poor family, he was destined for a career in th ...

François Cabarrus François Cabarrus or Francisco Cabarrús Lalanne, ''Count'' de Cabarrús (1752–1810) was a French adventurer and Spanish financier. Life Early life He was born in Bayonne, France, where his father, Dominique Cabarrus Fourcade was a merchant ...

(was considered an ''afrancesado'' in retrospect) * Fernando Camborda *

José Antonio Conde José Antonio Conde y García (1766–1820) was a Spanish Orientalist and historian of Al-Andalus period. His ''Anacreon'' (1791) obtained him a post in the royal library in 1795. He also published several paraphrases of Greek classics. Thes ...

* Guido Bellico *

José Mamerto Gómez Hermosilla José Mamerto Gómez Hermosilla (11 May 1771, in Madrid – 31 March 1837) was a Spanish Hellenist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classica ...

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

* Alberto Lista y Aragón *

Juan Antonio Llorente Juan Antonio Llorente, ORE (March 30, 1756 in Rincón de Soto (La Rioja), Spain – February 5, 1823 in Madrid) was a Spanish historian. Biography Llorente was raised by an uncle after his parents died. He studied at the University of Zaragoza ...

* José Marchena *

Francisco Martínez Marina Biografía española. D. Francisco Martínez Marina Francisco Xavier Martinez Marina (1754–1833) was a noted Spanish jurist, historian and priest. Born in Oviedo, capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain, he was direct ...

Juan Meléndez Valdés Juan Meléndez Valdés (11 March 1754 – 24 May 1817) was a Spanish neoclassical poet. Biography He was born at Ribera del Fresno, in what is now the province of Badajoz. Destined by his parents for the priesthood, he graduated in law at Sala ...

* Sebastián Miñano * Manuel Narganes *

Martín Fernández de Navarrete Martín Fernández de Navarrete y Ximénez de Tejada (November 9, 1765 – October 8, 1844), was a Spanish noble, grandson of the Marquess of Ximenez de Tejada, knight of the Order of Malta, politician and historian. He was a Spanish senator an ...

* Gonzalo O'Farrill *

Cipriano de Palafox, 8th Count of Montijo Cipriano de Palafox y Portocarrero, 8th Count of Montijo, GE, LH (15 September 178415 March 1839), was a Spanish nobleman, politician and army officer. He was the father-in-law of Napoleon III. Life and career Pro-French in his outlook, he foug ...

* Manuel José Quintana * Félix José Reinoso * Mariano Luis de Urquijo * Diego Fernández de Velasco, 13th Duke of Frías *

Juan Van Halen Juan Van Halen y Sartí (16 February 1788 – 8 November 1864) was a Spanish military officer. After fighting for the losing side in the Peninsular War, he was forced to flee to Spain. Van Halen became a military adventurer throughout Europe and ...

Francisco Antonio Zea Juan Francisco Antonio Hilarión Zea Díaz (23 November 1766 – 28 November 1822) was a Neogranadine journalist, botanist, diplomat, politician, and statesman who served as Vice President of Colombia under then President Simón Bolívar. He ...

Portugal

The term ''afrancesado'' in

is connected with liberal politicians who organized the Revolution of Porto, begun on August 25, 1820. Demanding the rule of law as opposed to

William Carr Beresford General William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior, (; 2 October 1768 – 8 January 1854) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. A general in the British Army and a Marshal in the Portuguese Army, he foug ...

's arbitrary regime, they called for the return of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

John VI - who had preferred to remain in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

(

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

), where he had transferred the Portuguese Court during the French invasion. French influence, already present during the

War of the Oranges The War of the Oranges ( pt, Guerra das Laranjas; french: Guerre des Oranges; es, Guerra de las Naranjas) was a brief conflict in 1801 in which Spanish forces, instigated by the government of France, and ultimately supported by the French mil ...

, had familiarized the ''afrancesado'' elite with principles such as the

separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

and

parliamentarianism Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over al ...

, which they demanded to have enforced in Portugal.

References

{{Reflist *Miguel Artola, ''Los afrancesados'', Madrid, 1989 *Juan Arzadun, ''Fernando VII y su tiempo'', Madrid, 1942 *Juan López Tabar, ''Los Famosos Traidores. Los afrancesados durante la crisis del Antiguo Régimen (1808-1833)'', Madrid, 2002 Spanish expatriates in France Groups of the French Revolution First French Empire Forced migration Liberalism in Portugal Napoleonic Wars Age of Enlightenment 19th century in Portugal Portuguese expatriates in France