FERDINAND VII

FERDINAND VII. OF SPAIN (1784-1833), son of Charles IV. of Spain; too weak to steer his way through the intrigues of the court, he appealed to Napoleon in 1807 to support the king, his father, and himself; but his letter was discovered, and his accomplices exiled; the following year the French entered Spain, and Charles abdicated in favour of his son Ferdinand; but soon after, under Napoleon's influence, the crown was surrendered to the French, and Joseph Bonaparte became king; in 1813 Ferdinand was reinstated, but found himself immediately met by a demand of his people for a more liberal representative government; the remaining years of his reign were spent in an internecine struggle against these claims, in
which he had French support under Louis XVIII.