A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 4

by Henry Charles Lea

Cristina.

QUESTION OF SUCCESSION

The death of Queen Amalia, May 17, 1829, was an abundant source of intrigue, for a fourth marriage of Fernando might prove fruitful and thus destroy the prospects of Don Carlos. The efforts of the Carlists to prevent it were vain and, on December 9th, Fernando married his neice, the Neapolitan princess, María Cristina de Bourbon, whose sister Carlotta was the wife of the Infante Francisco de Paula, the second brother of Fernando. There was soon prospect of an heir to the throne, and the uncertainty as to sex rendered it advisable to determine in advance whether the Salic law excluding females from the succession was in force or not. The ancient Spanish law, as expressed in the Partidas, provided for the succession of a daughter in the absence of sons or of children of a son.[1018] Under this, Spain had seen the glorious reign of Isabella the Catholic and the unfortunate one of Juana la Loca, and female succession, in default of male children, was firmly established in the tradition of the nation until 1713, when María Luisa of Savoy persuaded her husband Philip V to effect a change. Much pressure was required to bring this about, but a pragmática, agreed to by the Córtes, provided that only in the event of the total default of male representatives should the daughters of the last reigning sovereign succeed, according to age, and all laws to the contrary were annulled.[1019]

In 1784 there was talk of revoking this pragmática, but it was postponed until after the accession of Carlos IV, when the Córtes of 1789 petitioned for the revival of the law of the Partidas. The king assented but, to avoid giving offence to reigning houses whose possible claims to the succession were thus cut off, it was kept a profound secret, although filed away in the archives.[1020] This was the position when Fernando, to assure the succession to a possible daughter, by a pragmática of March 29, 1830, ordered that of 1789 to be published and commanded the literal observance of the law of the Partidas.[1021] The proceedings of 1789 were freely denounced as fraudulent by the Carlists, they were confident in the support of two hundred thousand Royalist Volunteers, and they regarded the new pragmática as a reason for more energetic organization.

In due time, on October 10th, a girl was born, known to history as Isabel II. Carlos believed that his rights had been sacrificed and, though he refused to snatch at the sceptre during his brother’s life-time, he assured his partizans that he would not permit his neice to mount the throne. Fernando’s health was rapidly giving way under repeated attacks of gout and, on September 17, 1832, his life was despaired of. The prospect was most critical. Propositions were made to Carlos about sharing the government, but he declared that conscience and honor would not permit him to abandon rights given to him at his birth by God. In the perplexity of the situation, Calomarde, who for ten years had been the king’s most trusted minister, represented to Cristina the terrors of the inevitable civil war, and the dangers to herself and her children, for she had recently given birth to a second daughter, María Luisa Fernanda. She yielded, Fernando assented and signed a paper annulling the pragmática of 1830, which was read to the assembled ministers on the night of September 18th, under the strictest injunctions of secrecy, but it was treacherously divulged, and copies were posted about the court. Cristina’s servants commenced packing her effects for departure and Carlos, in his apartments, was saluted as king.

Fernando however commenced to rally; many nobles offered their lives to Cristina and formed an association to defend the claims of Isabel. Carlotta, who was in Andalusia, hastened to Madrid, reaching it on the 22d and, being of a determined character scolded Cristina and threatened Calomarde—it is even said that she cuffed him in the face, when with ready wit he quoted Calderon—“White hands inflict no disgrace.” Fernando agreed to recall the decree, when she obtained the original and the copies and destroyed them. This only led the followers of Carlos to prepare to assert his claims by force, and there was no time to be lost in organizing a party to resist them.[1022]

This necessitated a reversal of the policy of the last ten years, identified with Calomarde—in fact the period was often designated as the Epocha de Calomarde. The ministry was dismissed; Calomarde was banished to his native place, and then was ordered to the citadel of Minorca, but he was concealed in a convent from which he escaped to France. Fernando, on October 6th signed a decree constituting Cristina regent during his illness; the next day she issued a general pardon of all political prisoners and, on the 15th, a general amnesty, including the exiles who were allowed to return, the only exceptions being those who at Seville had voted to replace the king with a regency, and those who had commanded bodies of troops against him, all of whom Fernando obstinately refused to pardon. This complete reversal of policy led to some premature insurrectionary movements by the Carlists, but they were easily suppressed.[1023]

ISABELLA RECOGNIZED

The declaration of September 18th had been destroyed, but it had not been invalidated. To effect this in the most impressive manner an assembly was held on December 31st of all the great officers of the Government, representatives of the grandees, and deputations of the provinces, in which Fernando presented a holograph paper setting forth that advantage had been taken of his desperate illness to threaten him with civil war and induce him to sign a revocation of the pragmatic sanction of March 29, 1830; now, convinced of his inability to alter the immemorial customs of the land, he pronounced the nullity of the declaration which had been snatched from him by surprise. Then he signed and rubricated the paper, all present were asked whether they had understood its purport, and the next day, January 1, 1833, the proceedings of the Córtes of 1789 and their confirmation by Carlos IV were published.[1024]

The next step was the assembling of Córtes to take the oath of allegiance to Isabel, and for this summons were issued April 4th appointing June 20th. Carlos was got out of the way by inducing Dom Miguel of Portugal to invite him, but, when Fernando desired to remove him still further to Italy, a long and very curious correspondence ensued between the brothers, couched in the most affectionate terms, in which Carlos evaded obedience. He was the only absent member of the royal family when the Córtes met, where all, including bishops, grandees, nobles and the procurators of the cities duly took the oath of allegiance. The whole kingdom followed the example, and the Biscayans, under the historic Oak of Guarnica, spontaneously recognized Isabel as the heiress of Biscay. Yet sparks of rebellion manifested themselves in one place after another, and there were symptoms of insubordination in the army, showing that the Carlist organization was at work and was awaiting only the death of Fernando.[1025]