The Spanish Bourbons : the history of a tenacious dynasty

Title:

Author:

Bergamini, John D.

ISBN:

9780399113659

Publication Information:

New York : Putnam, [1974]

Physical Description:

442 pages, 4 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Contents:

Prologue : invaders and dynasts before the Bourbons -- The crisis of 1700-1714 : the crown disputed -- The melancholy king : Felipe V (1700-1746) -- The enlightened despots : Fernando VI (1746-1759) and Carlos III (1759-1788) -- The royal cuckold : Carlos IV (1788-1808) -- The crisis of 1808-1814 : the Bourbons at the mercy of Napoleon -- The worst king : Fernando VII (1814-1833) -- The crisis of 1833-1839 : the dynasty split -- The scandalous queen : Isabel II (183301868) -- The crisis of 1868-1874 : the monarchy in doubt -- The constitutional monarchs : Alfonso XII (1874-1885) an the Regent Maria Cristina (1885-1902) -- The playboy politician : Alfonso XIII (1886) (1902-1931) -- The crisis of 1931-1939 : the dynasty overthrown -- Franco and the prospects of the monarchy.

Abstract:

"The House of Bourbon (English /brbn/; French pronunciation: {7f200b}[bu.b̃]) is a European royal house of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty /kpi?n/. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have Bourbon monarchs."--Wikipedia.

Geographic Term:

Spain -- History -- Bourbons, 1700-

Spain.

Personal Subject:

Bourbon, House of.

Bourbon, House of. (OCoLC)fst00216954

Genre:

History.

Other Format:

Online version: Bergamini, John D. Spanish Bourbons. New York : Putnam, [1974] (OCoLC)586074145

Online version: Bergamini, John D. Spanish Bourbons. New York : Putnam, [1974] (OCoLC)609079758

Available:

Library	Call Number	Material Type	Status
Searching... State Library of Oregon	929.75 Bergam	4-Week Loan	Searching... Unknown

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Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

With the possible exception of the Romanovs, the Spanish Bourbons surely take the prize as Europe's most inept and unappealing dynasty. Bergamini, a popularizer with elan, seems drawn to doomed or decaying kings (The Tragic Dynasty, 1969). Here he describes the physiognomy, sex life, mental aberrations and political orientation of each ruling monarch from 1700 when Louis XIV installed his grandson Philip on the Spanish throne as Felipe V. Known as the ""melancholy king,"" Felipe from time to time imagined himself to be a frog. Morbidly pious, sometimes bloodthirsty, and not infrequently lapsing into insanity, the Bourbons usually left government business to a strong man, who on occasion might also be the Queen's paramour. Except for Carlos III who reigned as Spain's Enlightenment monarch and tried to inject a modicum of rational and scientific thought, they were a sorry lot as Bergamini unsparingly shows. Though romantic and court intrigues take up much of his attention, in the background is the inexorable decline of Spain: military defeat, the loss of the American Empire, food riots and anarchist bombs. Bergamini makes his point about the Bourbons' capacity to survive with a brief and unflattering sketch of Don Juan Carlos, grandson of Alphonso XIII, now waiting in the wings as Franco's designated successor. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.