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Charles IV ( November 11, 1748 - January 20, 1819) was King of Spain from December 14, 1788 until his abdication on March 19, 1808.

1 Early life

Charles was the second son of Charles III and his wife Maria Amelia of Saxony. He was born at Portici , while his father was king of the Two Sicilies. His elder brother was passed over for the throne as mentally retarded and epileptic. Charles had inherited a great frame and immense physical strength from the Saxon line of his mother. When young he was fond of wrestling with the strongest countrymen he could find. He was considered by many to be intellectually torpid and quite credulous. His wife Maria Luisa of Parma , on the other hand, was seen by many (including by the painter Francisco Goya) as a vicious and coarse woman who thoroughly dominated the king. He was the father of, amongst others, king Ferdinand VII of SpainFerdinand VII ( October 14, 1784 September 29, 1833) was King of Spain from 1813 to 1833. The eldest son of Charles IV, king of Spain, and of his wife Maria Louisa of Parma, he was born in the vast palace of El Escorial near Madrid. The events with which and Carlota JoaquinaCarlota Joaquina Teresa of Spain ( 25 April 1775 6 January 1830) was the daughter of King Carlos IV of Spain (1748-1819) and his wife Maria Luisa of Parma (1751-1819). She was born in Aranjuez. On 9 January 1790 in Lisbon, she married Joao VI, King of Por, consort of king João VI of Portugal.

During his father's lifetime he was led by her into court intrigues which aimed at driving the king's favourite minister, Floridablanca , from office, and replacing him by Aranda , the chief of the "Aragonese" party.

2 Reign

After he succeeded to the throne in 1788 his one serious occupation was hunting. Affairs were left to be directed by his wife and her lover Manuel de GodoyManuel de Godoy ( 1767- 1851) was a Spanish statesman. He was Prime Minister of Spain from 1792 to 1798. He was a lover of Queen Maria Luisa of Parma, wife of King Charles IV. The Queen and Godoy held most of the political power in Spain during the reign. Although Godoy essentially took over his wife and his office, the king was favourable towards him for all his life. When terrified by the French RevolutionThe period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. While France wo he turned to the InquisitionThe Inquisition was an office of the Roman Catholic Church charged with suppressing heresy. Their actions and interactions with the local governments are subjects of considerable historical enquiry. Origin The Inquisition was a permanent institution in th to help him against the party which would have carried the reforming policy of Charles III much further. But he never took more than a passive part in the direction of his own government. He simply obeyed the impulse given him by the queen and Godoy.

He had a profound belief in his divine right and the sanctity of his person. He thought it very important to seem a very powerful monarch, although his kingdom was treated as a mere dependency by FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. and his throne was dominated by the queen and her lover. Spain allied with France and supported the Continental Blockade, but withdrew after the Battle of Trafalgar. When Napoleon won from Prussia in 1807, Godoy returned to the French side, but France did no longer consider Spain a worthy ally. But even the alliance with France as it was made Godoy's rule unpopular and fueled the partido fernandista , the supporters of Ferdinand, who favored a close relationship with Great Britain.