PARES | Spanish Archives

Identification

Type:

Person

Preferred form:

Carlos III (1716-1788, rey de España)Other forms

Dates of existence/Biographical dates:

Madrid (España) 1716-01-20 - Madrid (España) 1788-12-14

History:

Charles III was King of Spain, Naples, and Sicily, as well as Duke of Parma (1731-1735). He was born in Madrid on 20 January 1716 and died in the same city on 14 December 1788. Son of Philip V, King of Spain, and Elisabeth Farnese. He acceded to the Spanish throne after the death of his stepbrother Ferdinand VI. In 1738 he married Maria Amalia of Saxony, daughter of Augustus III, Duke of Saxony and Lithuania and King of Poland. They had thirteen children, but only seven reached adulthood: Maria Josefa Carmela, Infanta of Spain (July 6, 1744 - December 8, 1801), an important figure in Goya's painting, "La familia de Carlos IV". She died without offspring; Maria Luisa, Infanta of Spain (13 June 1745 - 15 May 1792), married Leopold II of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor; Philip, Infante of Spain and Duke of Calabria (13 July 1747 - 6 December 1777); was excluded from the succession to the throne of Spain and Naple, due to his condition of mentally handicapped; Charles IV, King of Spain (November 11, 1748 - January 19, 1819), married to Maria Luisa de Borbón-Parma, Princess of Parma; Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies (12 January 1751 - 4 January 1825), married to Maria Carolina of Hapsburg, Archduchess of Austria; Gabriel, Infante of Spain (11 May 1752 - 23 November 1788), married to Mariana Victoria of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal; Antonio Pascual, Infante of Spain (31 December 1755 - 20 April 1817), married to María Amalia de Borbón, Infanta of Spain; Francisco Javier, Infante of Spain (15 February 1757 - 10 April 1771). Charles III continued the reformism of Ferdinand VI, provoking widespread social discontent. Popular discontent - fostered by Madrid's urbanism policy, attempts to modify customs, and some administrative and financial reforms - led to Esquilache Riots on 23 May 1766. Once the traditionalist outbreak was over, his reign was long and fruitful. He relied on a team of ministers and enlightened collaborators, such as Floridablanca, Campomanes, Aranda, or Jovellanos. In line with the enlightened despotism of his time, Charles III carried out important reforms. He reorganized local power and municipal treasury resources; he tried to extend education to all groups in society by establishing centers dependent on municipalities, Reales Sociedades Económicas (Royal Economic Societies), Schools of Agriculture and of Commerce; he set in motion numerous attempts to liberalize the industrial and commercial sectors; he tackled the preparation of an agrarian law that did not come into existence until 1794; he supported the Sociedades Económicas de Amigos del País (Economic Societies of Friends of the Country); he submitted universities to royal patronage and created the San Isidro Studios in Madrid. Reign: King of Naples: 1734-1759, like Charles VII. King of Sicily: 1734-1759, as Charles IV. King of Spain: 1759-1788.

Esquilache Riots, 1766

Date of the event: 1766

Internal Structure-Genealogy:

Hijo de Felipe V, rey de España, y de Isabel de Farnesio.

Sources

BERNECKER, Walther; COLLADO SEIDEL, Carlos y HOSER, Paul (ed. dirigida), Los reyes de España: dieciocho retratos históricos desde los Reyes Católicos hasta la actualidad.- Madrid, Siglo XXI de España, 2005, p. 159-183.

Bibliothèque nationale de France

Catálogo de autoridades de la Biblioteca Nacional Alemana

Catalogue du Système Universitaire de Documentation

FERRERA CUESTA, Carlos., Diccionario de historia de España.- Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2005.

GARCÍA CÁRCEL, Ricardo., La memoria del rey: el reinado de Carlos III., en Historia de España del siglo XVIII : la España de los Borbones / coord. por Ricardo García Cárcel , 2002, p. 157-166.

IGLESIAS CANO, María Carmen., Carlos III y la ilustraciónuna exposición histórica, en Política científica, Nº. 15, 1988, p. 48-52.

DOMÍNGUEZ ORTIZ, Antonio., Carlos III y la España de la Ilustración.- Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2005.

CCBAE: Registro de autoridad de Carlos III, Rey de España