Consuelo Font

Updated Thursday, February 8, 2024-9:30 p.m.

  • Philip V This is how the first Bourbon arrived in Spain: without affection from his father, without knowing anything Spanish and creating problems that still continue.

If the name of Luis I as Spanish monarch appeared in a trivia question

,

many would think it was incorrect. However, he existed and this February 9 marks

300 years since his proclamation,

although he only

reigned for 229 days,

since he died of

smallpox

five days after turning 17. He was the

firstborn of

Philip V,

the first Bourbon sovereign from France, and his first wife, Luisa Gabriela of Savoy, who had

two more children,

Philip, who died at the age of 7, and the future

Ferdinand VI,

who finally succeeded his father. .

The first Bourbon born in Spain, Luis came into the world in the

Buen Retiro palace

in Madrid on August 25, 1707 and his birth was an

event

that ensured the succession. Sponsored by

his great-grandfather Louis XIV, a French sovereign,

numerous celebrations were held and a broad pardon was even granted. At the age of 2, he was sworn

prince of Asturias and heir

to the throne in the temple of San Jerónimo, but

the death of his mother

from tuberculosis when he was 6 years old plunged his childhood into great

sadness

, since Luisa Gabriela showered him with affection and affection. attentions.

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A few months after being widowed,

Philip V married again

in 1714 with

Isabel de Farnesio

, with whom he had

seven more children.

She was not a loving stepmother to Luis, and although her treatment of him was correct, the little heir grew up with great

loneliness

, he interacted mainly with the children of the

service

, and his preparation was also neglected, limiting himself to

reading and catechism

. He was also extremely

shy and in poor health,

something he corrected in his adolescence thanks to outdoor exercise, he practiced horseback

riding

,

hunting

and ball games.

Tall and thin,

he inherited the art of pleasing from his mother, which made him

very popular among the common people

, who nicknamed him "the Well-Beloved." At that stage, the pillars of his education as a future king were laid, based on the fulfillment of

religious duties,

mastery of

protocol

,

military

,

mathematical

, literary knowledge, and the

French

and

Latin

languages .

But an important event would change his destiny again, as

the health of King Philip V,

who was suffering from severe depression, worsened. Faced with the prospect of him having to leave the throne, it became a priority

to marry his first-born son,

and Louise Isabel, daughter of the Duke of Orleans, regent of France, was chosen. She was

14 years old when he married

Luisa Isabel in 1722 in the Lerma palace, who was two years younger than her, so it was decided to postpone the consummation of the marriage. After the banquet, a paripé was held and

the bride and groom lay down in bed,

but when the witnesses left the room, they forced Luis to get out of bed, which made him very angry.

Luisa Isabel turned out to be a disaster, as she suffered from a

serious personality disorder,

which soon manifested itself. She appeared before the Court

dirty and smelly,

she refused to accompany her husband, she had

bulimia

, and worst of all,

she refused to wear underwear,

exposing her private parts publicly. She sometimes took off her dresses and began to clean the palace windows with them, to which her husband, horrified by her, decided

to lock her up

in her chambers for a while, although it did not help. you are welcome.

In the midst of this marital catastrophe, his father suddenly decided to

abdicate

, which he carried out on January 25, 1724, and

Luis was proclaimed monarch

on February 9 at the age of 16. Although Philip V's mental problems were evident, he was probably also influenced by the

possibility of reigning in France, when his grandfather, Louis XIV, and his successive heirs died, although in the end

Louis XV, Philip's nephew,

ended up as sovereign of France.

v.

After leaving the throne, the Spanish monarch

retired to the La Granja palace

but controlled his first-born, totally

inexperienced

son from there , so he created a

cabinet of advisors

that was actually a parallel court. Meanwhile, Luis I's entourage sought to distance him from his paternal influence and to change

his policy

, focusing on the Spanish territories in America and the Atlantic. This attempt to distance himself from the French-speaking policy of Philip V gave him

great popularity,

as the people began to see him as

a traditional and entirely Spanish king.

However, his inexperience combined with his catastrophic married life pushed him to

gradually ignore

his obligations, taking refuge in

hunting

,

night parties

and

visiting brothels.

His reign had a tragic end because, in August, six months after his proclamation,

he fell ill with smallpox,

an illness from which he ended up

dying

in just a few days, on August 31, 1924. Paradoxically, his wife, Luisa Isabel, perhaps because her own madness,

she did not leave her bed

and cared for him diligently until the end, also

becoming infected

with the disease, although she did not die. She was

returned to France

and Philip V, father of the deceased monarch, once again occupied the throne.