Charles
IV (1748-1819) king of Spain 1788-1808, son and successor of Charles
III. He was a weak monarch dominated by his wife Maria Luisa of Parma
and her lover, Manuel de Godoy, whom he appointed Prime Minister in 1792.
Under Charles’ rule during the Napoleonic wars Spain was in constant trouble;
her fleet was destroyed by Nelson in the Trafalgar battle in 1805, and
in 1807 France invaded. A riot on March 17, 1808 forced Charles to abdicate
in favor of his son Ferdinand, the future Ferdinand VII. Napoleon I then
lured Charles, Ferdinand, and Maria Luisa to Bayonne, where he forced Ferdinand
to abdicate in favor of his father, and then made Charles turn over the
crown to his brother, Joseph Buonaparte. Charles, Maria Luisa, and Godoy
were exiled to Rome, they were given a pension by Napoleon. Charles died
on Jan. 20, 1819 in Rome.
See: Anton Raphael Mengs. Charles
IV as Prince. Maria Luisa of Parma.
Maria
Luisa of Parma.
Francisco de Goya. Queen
Maria Luisa. Charles IV and His Family.
This is one of the first official portraits, if not the first, that
Goya executed on the occasion of the crowning of the new Spanish reigning
couple.