The Tumult of Aranjuez ( es, link=no, Motín de Aranjuez) was an uprising led against King
Charles IV that took place in the town of
Aranjuez
Aranjuez () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Community of Madrid.
Located in the southern end of the region, the main urban nucleus lies on the left bank of Tagus, a bit upstream the discharge of the Jarama. , the municipality h ...
, Spain, on 17–19 March 1808. The event, which is celebrated annually in the first week of September, commemorates the fall of the monarch and the subsequent accession of his son
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 ...
. It is celebrated in September rather than in March as the revived celebrations in Aranjuez that began in 1988 were added on top of pre-existing September festivals.
The revolt was instigated by disgruntled citizens and by Ferdinand's supporters.
[ ]
Causes of the Tumult
Before the mutiny, Charles IV's ''
valido'', or prime minister,
Manuel de Godoy, a former member of the Royal Guard, had become unpopular among both the
nobles
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...
and the Spanish people.
The nobility resented how Godoy had attained power even though he was born in poverty and obscurity. Most notable among them was the King's own son
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
, who had led the
El Escorial Conspiracy
The El Escorial Conspiracy (Spanish: ''Conspiración-proceso de El Escorial'') was an attempted coup d'état led by the Crown Prince Ferdinand that took place in 1807, but was quickly discovered and led to an investigation known as the Process o ...
a few months earlier. The people were upset about Godoy's ambitious nature, his flirting with many women of the court and his willingness to have Catholic Spain make treaties with
atheist Revolutionary France
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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
against Christian (though
Anglican) Great Britain.
Another important factor was the
economic crisis
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...
affecting the country, which was heightened after Spain lost its navy in the
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
in 1805. This had impaired trade with the United States, causing food shortages and affecting industrial production.
In addition, under the terms of the
Treaty of Fontainebleau, the King and Godoy had allowed French Emperor
Napoleon's troops to cross Spain to attack
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 ...
. This move was extremely unpopular with the Spanish people, who saw the entry as a humiliating invasion, which it soon became. French troops rapidly occupied the important cities of
San Sebastián,
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
, and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, fuelling Spanish resentment towards Godoy.
Mutiny
The uprising took place on 17 March 1808 in Aranjuez, about south of
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, where the royal family and the government were staying while on their way south, anticipating a French invasion from the north. Soldiers, peasants, and members of the general public assaulted Godoy's quarters and captured him. The mutineers made King Charles dismiss Godoy, and, two days later, the court forced the King himself to abdicate in favor of his son and rival, who became King Ferdinand VII.
[ Stanley G. Payne, ''History of Spain of Portugal'', Vol 2, University of Wisconsin Press., 1973, , page 420]
Aftermath
In 1808 Napoleon, under the false pretense of resolving the conflict, invited both Charles IV and Ferdinand VII to
Bayonne, France. Both were afraid of the French ruler's power and thought it appropriate to accept the invitation. However, once in Bayonne, Napoleon forced them both to renounce the throne and grant it to himself. The Emperor then named 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 ...
king of Spain. This episode is known as the
Abdications of Bayonne
The Abdications of Bayonne took place on 7 May 1808 in the castle of Marracq in Bayonne when the French emperor Napoleon I forced two Spanish kings— Charles IV and his son, Ferdinand VII—to renounce the throne in his favour. The move was Nap ...
, or ''Abdicaciones de Bayona'' in Spanish.
See also
*
Timeline of the Peninsular War
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutiny Of Aranjuez
1808 in Spain
Conflicts in 1808
Charles IV of Spain
Rebellions in Spain
History of the Community of Madrid
Mutinies
Peninsular War
Aranjuez
March 1808 events