Do It Go

Madrid is the capital and largest city in Spain. It has an incredibly interesting history and is rich in its cultural heritage. King Ferdinand’s daughter Isabella II was born in Madrid in 1830. She was the eldest daughter of the king and his fourth wife Maria Cristina. Isabel was proclaimed to be the queen regent when she was only three years old, and came to the title with a more than a little controversy. Fernando’s brother Carlos, the first pretender, fought against this title bestowment for 7 years, and tried to claim it for himself. This created social unrest and conflict, and the supporters of Carlos, known as the Carlists fought bitterly. These violent conflicts became the Carlist Wars and Isabel was only able to retain her crown though military support.

Isabella reigned until 1868, and the country as well as the palace experienced a great amount of transition and intrigue during this time. There were rumors of back ground figures influencing many of her decisions and actions, as well as the barracks conspiracies. This may be reminiscent of some of the suspicions and rumors surrounding Queen Elizabeth’s court in London, England. She also had a competitor for the throne and though her reign was grand and known to a great extent as the golden age, she had many detractors and there was great conflict between the Catholics and Protestants. She had a small chamber of confidants, and conspiracies for her assassination were always in the works. Isabella, however, was unpopular with the public. She had a wayward, sometimes unscrupulous perspective and approach to politics, which gained her many enemies. She was eventually forced to abdicate her crown to her son. The Royal Palace in Madrid was built as a residence for the royal family. It is an extremely popular tourist attraction and guests come not only to view its pomp and ornate architecture and features, but also to gain information on the royal personalities and lives. Many of the luxury hotels Madrid Spain are located near the Palace.

Related posts:

1. The Famous Flamenco of Madrid
2. Lake Palace Hotel
3. Abba Eban Born in Cape Town
4. St. Thomas Church Newport

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 3:06 pm and is filed under History, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.