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.