These are the questions for the last challenge of the year. They are about Spain´s history and the refer to the Regencies´ period and the first stage of Isabella II´s reign:
QUESTION 1
In September 1832 when Ferdinand VII became ill, several intransigent absolutists put pressure on him in order to change the succession law in favour of Ferdinand´s brother, Carlos María Isidro. When this intrigue was discovered, a violent scene took place in La Granja Palace. One of Ferdinand VII´s sisters-in-law had an important role in this incident. Who was this lady? What happened?
QUESTION 2
Three months after Ferdinand VII´s death, his widow and Regent, Mª Cristina, married in secret a man who worked in the royal palace. Who was this man and what was his job when he met the Regent? What nobility title did he receive when this marriage became public and official ten years later?
QUESTION 3
In 1835, during the First Carlist War, the city of Bilbao was besieged by the carlist troops. According to the legend, a famous dish of the Spanhish cuisine was invented by the carlist general who commanded this siege of Bilbao. Who was this general? What tasty dish did he supposedly invent?
General Espartero´s entrance in Bilbao
QUESTION 4
The First Carlist War finished with the signature of the Vergara Convention between two generals who had been comrades-in-arms during the independence wars of the Spanish American colonies. Who were these generals?
QUESTION 5
In 1843 Isabella II was declared of age when she was 13 years old. One month later, the proggressive prime minister Olózaga was involved in a strange incident, which led to the return of the moderates to power. What was the so called "Olózaga incident"?
Salustiano Olózaga
QUESTION 6
When and why was the Guardia Civil created? What previous public order force was replaced by the Guardia Civil? Who was the first director of the Guardia Civil?
4 comments:
Hello! My answers are...
Question 1:
I haven’t found this answer. I know that Ferdinand has to sign a Decree in which he declared his daughter as the legitimate heir. This led to the First Carlist War.
Question 2:
He was Agustín Fernando Muñoz, 1st Duke of Riánsares. He met Mª Cristina when he was a royal bodyguard. He became duke after the official ceremony.
Question 3:
The Carlist general Tomás de Zumalacárregui invented the Spanish tortilla (tortilla de patatas).
Question 4:
They were Baldomero Espartero and Rafael Maroto.
Question 5:
The incident was that Olázabar tried to force the queen to dissolve the Cortes.
Question 6:
It was created in 1844, after the First Carlist War because the security in the countryside was very bad. It can be considered as the successor of the Holy Brotherhood (Santa Hermandad). The first director of the Guardia Civil was the Duke of Ahumada.
Happy New Year to everyone!
Hello Javi,
I think you could find the answer to question 1 if you check the clues I gave you: one of Ferdinand VII´s sisters-in-law, the date (September 1832) and the place (La Granja Palace in Segovia.
By the way, I´m reading Isabella II´s biography and I´m discovering new data I didn´t know. It´s a very long book (more than 800 pages), but it´s worth it.
See you next week.
Hello Paqui,
I think I have found the question 1, she was Luisa Carlota de Borbón-Dos Sicilias, María Cristina's sister. When she knew that Ferdinand VII annulled the law to stop the Salic Law, she called called the prime minister Tadeo Calomarde to show her the document, when she had it she threw it on the fire. Tadeo tried to recover it but Luisa Carlota struck him in the face and he answered: "Madame, white hands don't offend".
About Isabella II, I think it would be interesting to know what happened exactly to her when she became queen, many people around her definitely manipulated her in many ways, she was very young to assume all that power.
Happy New Year! See you!
Hello again, Javi.
Well done! All your answers are correct. Just a comment about question 5: Olózaga was accused of having threatened Isabella II and forced her to sign the decree of dissolution of the Cortes, but this was not true. The moderates spread this rumour and manipulated the queen, so that Olózaga had to resign. Olózaga left the government and the moderates reached power. Olózaga was a victim of the political intrigues of the court, especially the intrigues led by Isabella´s mother, Mª Cristina.
Isabella II received a very poor education and she was not educated as a constitutional monarch. Her education was focused on religion, absolute power and the idea that the country and its wealths were private property of the monarchy. Her only idea was preserving the throne and the privileges she had received. She could have acted in a different way, adapting to circunmstances (the limitation of her power and the modernization of the country), but she preferred to go on with her way of conceiving monarchy. Sometimes the politicians used her way of behaving (her lovers, her husband)to put pressure on her, but she also used her female condition to survive on the throne, asking for protection to the military men who were afraid of the people´s reaction. In my opinion, she was Ferdinand VII´s fitting successor ;)
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