Alfonso XIII of Spain

Alfonso XIII
King of Spain (more...)
Reign	17 May 1886 – 14 April 1931
Enthronement	17 May 1902 (full age)
Predecessor	Alfonso XII
Successor	Niceto Alcalá-Zamora as President of the Republic Juan Carlos as King of Spain
Regent	Maria Christina of Austria (1886–1902)
Prime Ministers	See list 1886–1902: Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero Francisco Silvela y de le Vielleuze 1902–1931: Francisco Silvela y de le Vielleuze Raimundo Fernández Villaverde Antonio Maura y Montaner Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero Eugenio Montero Ríos Segismundo Moret y Prendergast José López Domínguez El Marqués de la Vega de Armijo José Canalejas y Méndez El Marqués de Alhucemas El Conde de Romanones Eduardo Dato e Iradier Joaquín Sánchez de Toca Calvo Manuel Allendesalazar El Conde de Bugallal José Sánchez-Guerra y Martínez El Marqués de Estella Dámaso Berenguer Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas
Born	(1886-05-17)17 May 1886 Madrid, Spain
Died	28 February 1941(1941-02-28) (aged 54) Rome, Italy
Burial	3 March 1941 Church of Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli, Rome, Italy 18 January 1980 El Escorial
Spouse	Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (m. 1906–41; his death)
Issue more issue...	Alfonso, Prince of Asturias Jaime, Duke of Segovia Beatriz, Princess of Civitella-Cesi Infanta Maria Christina, Countess Marone Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona Infante Gonzalo
Full name Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Austria-Lorena
House	Bourbon
Father	Alfonso XII of Spain
Mother	Maria Christina of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Alfonso XIII (Spanish: Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena; 17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941) was King of Spain from 1886 until the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931. Alfonso was monarch from birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year. Alfonso's mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as regent until he assumed full powers on his sixteenth birthday in 1902.

During Alfonso's reign Spain experienced four major problems that contributed to the end of the liberal monarchy: the lack of real political representation of broad social groups, the poor situation of the popular classes, especially peasants, problems arising from the Rif War and Catalan nationalism. This political and social turbulence that began with the Spanish–American War prevented the turnaround parties from establishing a true liberal democracy, which led to the establishment of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. With the political failure of the dictatorship, Alfonso impelled a return to the democratic normality with the intention of regenerating the regime. Nevertheless, it was abandoned by all political classes, as they felt betrayed by the king's support of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera.

He left Spain voluntarily after the municipal elections of April 1931, that was taken like a plebiscite between monarchy or republic. In exile, he retained his claim to the defunct throne until 1941, when he renounced his claim in favour of his third son Juan (whose eldest son, Juan Carlos, did eventually become king when the monarchy was restored) and died six weeks later. Buried in Rome, his remains were not transferred until 1980 to the Pantheon of the Kings in the monastery of El Escorial.

Reign

Birth and regency

Alfonso was born in Madrid on 17 May 1886. He was the posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain, who had died in November 1885, and became King of Spain upon his birth. Just after he was born, he was carried naked to the Spanish prime minister on a silver tray. Five days later he was carried in a solemn court procession with a golden fleece round his neck and was baptized with water specially brought from the River Jordan in Palestine.^[1] The French newspaper Le Figaro described the young king in 1889 as "the happiest and best-loved of all the rulers of the earth".^[2] His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as his regent until his 16th birthday. During the regency, in 1898, Spain lost its colonial rule over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War.

When he came of age in May 1902, the week of his majority was marked by festivities, bullfights, balls and receptions throughout Spain.^[3] He took his oath to the constitution before members of the Cortes on 17 May.

Engagement and marriage

By 1905, Alfonso was looking for a suitable consort. On a state visit to the United Kingdom, he stayed at Buckingham Palace with King Edward VII. There he met Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the Scottish-born daughter of Edward's youngest sister Princess Beatrice, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He found her attractive, and she returned his interest. There were obstacles to the marriage. Victoria was a Protestant, and would have to become a Catholic. Victoria's brother Leopold was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50 percent chance that Victoria was a carrier of the trait. Finally, Alfonso's mother Maria Christina wanted him to marry a member of her family, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine or some other Catholic princess, as she considered the Battenbergs to be non-dynastic.

Victoria was willing to change her religion, and her being a haemophilia carrier was only a possibility. Maria Christina was eventually persuaded to drop her opposition. In January 1906 she wrote an official letter to Princess Beatrice proposing the match. Victoria met Maria Christina and Alfonso in Biarritz, France, later that month, and converted to Catholicism in San Sebastián in March.

In May, diplomats of both kingdoms officially executed the agreement of marriage. Alfonso and Victoria were married at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid on 31 May 1906, with British royalty in attendance, including Victoria's cousins the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King George V and Queen Mary). The wedding was marred by an assassination attempt on Alfonso and Victoria by Catalan anarchist Mateu Morral. As the wedding procession returned to the palace, he threw a bomb from a window which killed or injured several bystanders and members of the procession.^[4]

On 10 May 1907, the couple's first child, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, was born. However, Victoria was in fact a haemophilia carrier, and Alfonso inherited the condition.

Neither of the two daughters born to the King and Queen were haemophilia carriers, but another of their sons, Gonzalo (1914–1934), had the condition. Alfonso distanced himself from his Queen for transmitting the condition to their sons.^[5]

From 1914 on, he had several mistresses, and fathered five illegitimate children. A sixth illegitimate child was born before his marriage.

World War I

During World War I, because of his family connections with both sides and the division of popular opinion, Spain remained neutral.^[6] The King established an office for assistance to prisoners of war on all sides. This office used the Spanish diplomatic and military network abroad to intercede for thousands of POWs – transmitting and receiving letters for them, and other services. The office was located in the Royal Palace.

Alfonso became gravely ill during the 1918 flu pandemic. Spain was neutral and thus under no wartime censorship restrictions, so his illness and subsequent recovery were reported to the world, while flu outbreaks in the belligerent countries were concealed. This gave the misleading impression that Spain was the most-affected area and led to the pandemic being dubbed "the Spanish Flu."^[7]

Rif War and the Marqués de Estella

Following World War I, Spain entered the lengthy yet victorious Rif War (1920–1926) to preserve its colonial rule over northern Morocco. Critics of the monarchy thought the war was an unforgivable loss of money and lives, and nicknamed Alfonso el Africano ("the African").^[8] Alfonso had not acted as a strict constitutional monarch, and supported the africanistas who wanted to conquer for Spain a new empire in Africa to compensate for the lost empire in the Americas and Asia.^[9] The Rif War had starkly polarized Spanish society between the africanistas who wanted to conquer an empire in Africa vs. the abandonistas who wanted to abandon Morocco as not worth the blood and treasure.^[10] Alfonso liked to play favourites with his generals, and one of his most favored generals was Manuel Fernández Silvestre.^[11] In 1921, when Silvestre advanced up into the Rif mountains of Morocco, Alfonso sent him a telegram whose first line read "Hurrah for real men!", urging Silvestre not to retreat at a time when Silvestre was experiencing major difficulties.^[12] Silvestre stayed the course, leading his men into the Battle of Annual, one of Spain's worst defeats. Alfonso, who was on holiday in the south of France at the time, was informed of the "Disaster of the Annual" while he was playing golf. Reportedly, Alfonso's response to the news was to shrug his shoulders and say "Chicken meat is cheap", before resuming his game of golf.^[13] Alfonso remained in France and did not return to Spain to comfort the families of the soldiers lost at the "Disaster of the Annual", which many people at the time saw as a callous and cold act, a sign that the King couldn't care less about the lives of his soldiers. In 1922, the Cortes started an investigation into the responsibility for the Annual disaster and soon discovered evidence that the King had been one of the main supporters of Silvestre's advance into the Rif mountains.

After the "Disaster of the Annual", Spain's war in the Rif went from bad to worse, and as the Spanish were barely hanging onto Morocco, support for the abandonistas grew as many people could see no point to the war.^[10] In August 1923, Spanish soldiers embarking for Morocco mutinied, other soldiers in Malaga simply refused to board the ships that were to take them to Morocco, while in Barcelona huge crowds of left-wingers had staged anti-war protests at which Spanish flags were burned while the flag of the Rif Republic was waved about.^[10] With the africanistas comprising only a minority, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before the abandonistas forced the Spanish to give up on the Rif, which was part of the reason for the military coup d'état later in 1923.^[10] On September 13, 1923, General Miguel Primo de Rivera, 2nd Marqués de Estella, seized power in a military coup. He ruled as a dictator with Alfonso's support until 1930. It is believed that one of Alfonso's main reasons for supporting the coup was his desire to suppress the publication of the damning Cortes report into the Annual disaster. The poetic Generation of '27 and Catalan and Basque nationalism grew in this era

Downfall and Second Republic

In January 1930, due to economic problems and general unpopularity, the 2nd Marqués de Estella resigned as Prime Minister. Alfonso, as the Marqués's ally, shared the popular dislike. The King had so closely associated with the Primo de Rivera dictatorship that it was difficult for him to distance himself from the regime he had supported for almost 7 years. In April 1931, General Le Marqués del Rif told him even the army was not loyal. On 12 April, the republican parties won a landslide victory in municipal elections. The municipal elections were fought as a virtual referendum on the future of the monarchy. On 14 April, he fled the country as the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed, but did not formally abdicate. He settled eventually in Rome.

By a law of 26 November 1931, Alfonso was accused by the Cortes of high treason.^[14] This law would later be repealed by a new law dated 15 December 1938, signed by Francisco Franco.^[15]

Exile

In 1933, his two eldest sons, Alfonso and Jaime, renounced their claims to the throne, and in 1934 his youngest son Gonzalo died. This left his third son Juan, Count of Barcelona his only heir. Juan later was the father of Juan Carlos I.

Civil War

When the Army rose up against the democratically elected Republican Government,^[16] war broke out, Alfonso made it clear he favoured the "Nationalist" military rebels against the Republic. But in September 1936 the Nationalist leader, General Francisco Franco, declared that the Nationalists would not restore Alfonso as king. (The Nationalist army included many Carlist supporters of a rival pretender.)

Nevertheless, he sent his son Juan to Spain in 1936, to participate in the uprising. However, General Mola had Juan arrested near the French border and expelled from the country.

On 29 September 1936, upon the death of Infante Alfonso Carlos, Duke of San Jaime (the Carlist pretender), Alfonso also became the senior heir of Hugh Capet and so was hailed by some French legitimists as King Alphonse I of France and Navarre.

Renunciation of claims to the throne and death

On 15 January 1941, Alfonso XIII abdicated his rights to the defunct Spanish throne in favour of Juan. He died in Rome on 28 February of that year.

In Spain, the dictator Franco ordered three days of national mourning.^[17] His funeral was held in Rome in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. Alfonso was buried in the Church of Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli, the Spanish national church in Rome, immediately below the tombs of Pope Callixtus III and Pope Alexander VI.^[18] In January 1980 his remains were transferred to El Escorial in Spain.^[19]

Legacy

Alfonso was a promoter of tourism in Spain. The need for the lodging of his wedding guests prompted the construction of the luxury Hotel Palace in Madrid. He also supported the creation of a network of state-run lodges (Parador) in historic buildings of Spain. His fondness for the sport of football led to the patronage of several "Royal" ("Real" in Spanish) football clubs, the first being Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña in 1907.^[20] Selected others include Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Real Betis, Real Unión, Espanyol and Real Zaragoza.

An avenue in the northern Madrid neighbourhood of Chamartín, Avenida de Alfonso XIII, is named after him. A plaza or town center in Iloilo City, Philippines (now Plaza Libertad) was named in his honour called Plaza Alfonso XIII.^[21] A street in Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales, was built especially to house Spanish immigrants in the mining industry and named Alphonso Street after Alfonso XIII.^[22]

Alfonso XIII appears as "King Buby" in Luis Coloma's story of Ratoncito Pérez (1894), which was written for the King when he was 8 years old. The story of Ratoncito Pérez has been adapted into further literary works and movies since then, with the character of Alfonso XIII appearing in some. Alfonso XIII is also mentioned on the plaque to Ratoncito Pérez on the second floor of "la calle del Arenal".

Marriage and children

On 31 May 1906, Alfonso married Scottish-born Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (1887–1969). Only entitled to the style of Highness by birth, Ena, as she was known, was granted the higher honorific of Royal Highness one month before her wedding.

Alfonso and Ena had six living children:

Name	Birth	Death	Marriage		Their children
			Date	Spouse
HRH Alfonso, Prince of Asturias	10 May 1907	6 September 1938	21 June 1933 Divorced 8 May 1937	Edelmira Sampedro y Robato
			3 July 1937 Divorced 8 January 1938	Marta Esther Rocafort-Altuzarra
HRH Infante Jaime	23 June 1908	20 March 1975	4 March 1935 Divorced 6 May 1947	Emmanuelle de Dampierre	Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz Gonzalo, Duke of Aquitaine
			3 August 1949	Charlotte Luise Auguste Tiedemann
HRH Infanta Beatriz	22 June 1909	22 November 2002	14 January 1935	Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi	Doñna Sandra Marco Torlonia, 6th Prince of Civitella-Cesi Doñ Marino Doña Olimpia
HRH Infante Fernando of Spain	stillborn, 1910	1910
HRH Infanta María Cristina Teresa Alejandra Guadalupe María de la Concepción Victoria Eugenia of Spain	1911	1996		Enrico Eugenio Marone-Cinzano, 1st Conte Marone-Cinzano
HRH Infante Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso of Spain[23] heir-apparent to the throne 1941–1969, Count of Barcelona.	1913	1993		Princess María Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies	Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz Juan Carlos I of Spain Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria and Hernani Infante Alfonso
HRH Infante Gonzalo Manuel María Bernardo Narciso Alfonso Mauricio of Spain	1914	1934, a haemophiliac, like his elder brother Alfonso. He died due to bleeding from injuries suffered in a car crash.

Illegitimate issue

Alfonso also had six known illegitimate children:

By French aristocrat Mélanie de Gaufridy de Dortan (1876–1937), married to Philippe de Vilmorin, he had

• Roger Marie Vincent Philippe Lévêque de Vilmorin (12 September 1905 – 20 July 1980)^[24][25]

By Pauline of Saint Glen, he had

• Charles Maxime Victor of Saint Glen (3 July 1914 – 20 May 1934).

By Béatrice Noon, he had

• Juana Alfonsa Milán y Quiñones de León (19 April 1916 – 16 May 2005)

By Spanish actress María del Carmen Ruiz y Moragas (1898–1936):

• Ana María Teresa Ruiz y Moragas (9 October 1925 – 6 September 1965)
• Leandro Alfonso Luis Ruiz y Moragas (born 26 April 1929, died 18 June 2016), officially recognized by Spanish Courts on 21 May 2003 as Leandro Alfonso Luis de Borbón y Ruiz Moragas

By Marie Sousa, he had

• Alonso of Borbon Sousa (28 December 1930 – 30 April 1934).

Heraldry

Heraldry of Alfonso XIII of Spain
Coat of arms of Alfonso XIII (1886–1931)[26][27] Coat of arms of Alfonso XIII (1931)[27][28] Coat of arms of Alfonso XIII with royal supporters (1931)[29]

Honours

Spanish honours

• 1,072nd Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in 1886^[30]
• Maestranza de Caballeria (Royal Cavalry Armory) de Ronda, Sevilla, Granada, Valencia y Zaragoza
• Order of Charles III^[31]
• Order of Santiago^[32]
• Order of Calatrava^[33]
• Order of Alcántara^[34]
• Order of Montesa^[35]

Foreign honours

• 315th Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword in 1900
• 815th Knight of the Order of the Garter – 16 May 1902 – King Edward VII´s brother, the Duke of Connaught attended the festivities marking the King's enthronement, and invested him as a Knight in a special ceremony on 16 May 1902.^[36][37]
• Knight of the Order of the Seraphim – 16 May 1902 – King Oscar II of Sweden sent his youngest son, Prince Prince Eugen to represent him at the festivities marking the King's enthronement, and he invested the King as a Knight in a special ceremony on 16 May 1902.^[36]
• Order of the Aqdas – 16 May 1902 – The King received the Persian order in a special ceremony during his enthronement festivities.^[36]
• Order of St Andrew – 1902 – During his enthronement festivities.
• Order of the Chrysanthemum, 1930: Emperor Showa's second brother, Prince Takamatsu, travelled to Madrid to confer the Great Collar of the Chrysanthemum on King Alfonso. This honour was intended, in part, to commemorate the diplomatic and trading history which existed long before other Western nations were officially aware of Japan's existence. Prince Takamatsu travelled with his wife, Princess Takamatsu, to Spain. Her symbolic role in this unique mission to the Spanish Court was intended to emphasize the international links which were forged by her 16th-century ancestor, Ieyasu Tokugawa. In the years before the Tokugawa shogunate, that innovative daimyō from Western Japan had been actively involved in negotiating trade and diplomatic treaties with Spain and with the colonies of New Spain (Mexico) and the Philippines; and it was anticipated that the mere presence of the Princess could serve to underscore the range of possibilities which could be inferred from that little-known history.^[38]

In the Royal Library of Madrid, there are many books with different emblems and super libros of the king.^[39]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Alfonso XIII of Spain

16. Charles IV of Spain               8. Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain                       17. Princess Maria Luisa of Parma               4. Francis, Duke of Cádiz                             18. Francis I of the Two Sicilies               9. Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies                       19. Infanta Maria Isabella of Spain               2. Alfonso XII of Spain                                   20. Charles IV of Spain (= 16)               10. Ferdinand VII of Spain                       21. Princess Maria Luisa of Parma (= 17)               5. Isabella II of Spain                             22. Francis I of the Two Sicilies (= 18)               11. Princess Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies                       23. Infanta Maria Isabella of Spain (= 19)               1. Alfonso XIII of Spain                                         24. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor               12. Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen                       25. Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain               6. Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria                             26. Frederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg               13. Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg                       27. Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg               3. Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria                                   28. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (=24)               14. Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary                       29. Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain (=25)               7. Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria                             30. Duke Louis of Württemberg               15. Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg                       31. Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg

See also

• 1902 Copa de la Coronación

References

Bibliography

• Barry, John M. (2004). The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Greatest Plague in History. Viking Penguin. ISBN 0-670-89473-7. 
• Churchill, Sir Winston. Great Contemporaries. London: T. Butterworth, 1937. Contains the most famous single account of Alfonso in the English language. The author, writing shortly after the Spanish Civil War began, retained considerable fondness for the ex-sovereign.
• Collier, William Miller. At the Court of His Catholic Majesty. Chicago: McClurg, 1912. The author was American ambassador to Spain from 1905 to 1909.
• Noel, Gerard. Ena: Spain's English Queen. London: Constable, 1984. Considerably more candid than Petrie about Alfonso, the private man, and about the miseries the royal family experienced because of their haemophiliac children.
• Nuttall, Zelia (1906). The earliest historical relations between Mexico and Japan: from original documents preserved in Spain and Japan. The University Press. 
• Petrie, Sir Charles. King Alfonso XIII and His Age. London: Chapman & Hall, 1963. Written as it was during Queen Ena's lifetime, this book necessarily omits the King's extramarital affairs; but it remains a useful biography, not least because the author knew Alfonso quite well, interviewed him at considerable length, and relates him to the wider Spanish intellectual culture of his time.
• Pilapil, Vicente R. Alfonso XIII. Twayne's rulers and statesmen of the world series 12. New York: Twayne, 1969.
• Sencourt, Robert. King Alfonso: A Biography. London: Faber, 1942.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alfonso XIII of Spain.

• Historiaantiqua. Alfonso XIII; (in Spanish) (2008)
• Visit by Alphonso XIII to Deauville in 1922 (with images)

Alfonso XIII of Spain House of Bourbon Born: 17 May 1886 Died: 28 February 1941
Regnal titles
Vacant Title last held by Alfonso XII	King of Spain 17 May 1886 – 14 April 1931	Vacant Second Spanish Republic Title next held by Juan Carlos
Titles in pretence
Loss of title	— TITULAR — King of Spain 14 April 1931 – 15 January 1941	Succeeded by Juan III
Preceded by Alfonso Carlos	— TITULAR — King of France and Navarre 29 September 1936 – 28 February 1941 Reason for succession failure: Bourbon monarchy deposed in 1830	Succeeded by Jaime IV
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Dwight F. Davis	Cover of Time Magazine 22 December 1924	Succeeded by Charles Evans Hughes