Spain and it´s rulers
I am not sure how many actually know this but right now I´m living a fairy tale. A land far far away with a king and queen, princes and princesses, royal weddings and happily ever afters. How about an in depth look at the royal family in spain?
The Royal family starts out with the Hapsburg family from Germany and here is the order of the kings:
Charles I
Phillip II
Phillip III
Phillip IV
Charles II--This man is incredibly important as he is the man that changed the royal family´s lineage. He is known as Charles II the childless. He married but they never had any kids because he had a STD. So the crown had to be given to someone now it is believed that he gave it to two different people, one was Philip V of another family and then when Charles II was on his deathbed he gave it to a member of the family. The two families fought for the title in the War of Succession and Philip V won. Passing the crown to the Bourbons a rich family that was from Paris France describing how the royal family today is of French ancestry.
Bourbon Kings:
Philip V
Ferdinand VI
Charles III
Charles IV
Ferdinand VII
Isabella II
Alfonso XII
Alfonso XIII
Juan Carlos
Now is a great time to explain the history of the rulers. In the 15th century Fernando III ¨the saint¨ reconquested Spain from the Moors, a people who had moved in and ruled the country very openly and freely. They mainly lived in southern Spain and a lot of their buildings are still here today. they were a muslim group and last week I saw one of their amazaing masques in Cordoba really an amazing sight.
Anyways Ferdinand III was the ruler of Castille and Léon ( Castille is the region of Sevilla and surrounding areas today it and Léon were big regions making him an owner of most of Spain and he has a son named Alfonso X ¨the wise¨. Alfonso X was really smart and he decided that he should give a gift to the people of Spain that helped to unite the region and cut down on internal conflicts this is still here today and everywhere you walk in the streets it is proudly displayed it looks like this:
NO 8 DO This means Nomadejado which translates to No me ha dejado ( they don´t pronounce the e on me or the h on ha so it is ma for both words together) or in english Sevilla hasn´t abandoned me.
Ok on with the story of the king of Castille Alfonso X has a son named Erique and a daughter named Isabel. Now Isabel is very pretty and she is told that she has to pick a husband and is given two choices Bachelor #1 is Alfonso V of Portugal who is older and not very handsome ( as the legends say) Bachelor #2 is Fernando de Aragón who is a little younger then her and smart, athletic, young, and handsome (ok who would you choose). Obviously she chose Fernando and the first time they met they fell in love. It is said that they wanted to get married immediately and instead of waiting for the Pope´s signature they forged his name and got married in 1469, (this was okayed later and they got the real signature).
Enrique´s other sister was Juana (believed to be illigitament) married Alfonso V of Portugal and when Enrique died the sisters fought for the crown. Obviously Ferdinand and Isabel won! So they are now the Catholic Monarchs ruling a big piece of land in Spain. They created a couple symbols that represented these rulers the first being a picture of a yoke showing that both of them were ruling united, with the same load neither over the other. If you see a picture of them together you will also see that neither is taller then the other. However, in the relationship you will find that Isabel had more power then Ferdinand because she ruled Castille which was a lot bigger region. She was richer because more people to pay taxes to her and she was the one who supported Christopher Columbus on his voyage in search of new lands. The second symbol of these Catholic monarchs is a bundle of arrows. Arrows together are strong and can´t be broken but by themselves they are easy to break. Same as the monarchs.
In this relationship castille is never united with Aragón and both are considered the only rulers in thier respective regions. for example when they traveled to Aragón Isabel was an outsider, or foreigner and visa versa. They say theat the only thing united was the crown and the inquisition. But kids fall in there too!
Kids of Ferdinand and Isabel are Juana La Loca, John, and two other sisters (I think they are vague on the amount of sisters). John died before Isabel, the queen of Castille, died. So anyways the history of Juana La Loca is very interesting and if anybody can rent the movie Juana La Loca it is excellent on portraying this story. But to make a long story short Juana La Loca is sent to marry the son of Maximillion I, Felipe ¨El Hermoso¨. This man was a very promiscuous man and he drove her crazy. They had two kids the first a girl and the second was a son born in a toliet, he would later become the ruler of Castille, Carlos I. Actually, she found out that her mother had died, making her the queen of Castille, and that her husband was cheating on her in the same day. She dealed with it by yelling and screaming in a courtyard in the rain and everybody just decided she was loca or mad. She loved her husband very much but he was always cheating on her and she begged for him to only love her. He, her father ferdinand, and her son ended up betraying her and telling everyone she was crazy so they could keep the crown for her. Her husband died at a young age from a disease and she was depressed by this even though he betrayed her. To fulfill his wishes she had his casket carried to Granada. they never made it as she had to stop in Torquemada to give birth to another child. Then they continued to Tordesillas a small town where she was locked in a tower by the aristocracy of Castille to keep her away from ruling the region. Her husband´s body was buried in a local monestary and she was allowed to visit him once in a while. She lived there for 28 years and died in that tower at the age of 75 years old. (It makes more sense in the movie) Felipe and Juana´s bodies can now be found in the cathedral of Granada.
So the crown of Castille passes from Isabel to Juana, for only a couple of years, then to Fernando (Isabel´s husband and Juana´s dad) then to Juana´s son Charles I/Charles V. His name was Carlos I of Castille but he ruled Germany too and there he was Charles V.
Charles I lived in Germany and was described as ugly. Juana was in the tower and lanlords fought Charles to keep Juana queen so they could continue ruling, in the end of the battle Charles won and ruled both Castille and Germany.
His son was Philip II. this man was not a conquesting man like the rest of his family he just controled. He built El Escorial so he could live in the middle of Spain and rule. He collected body parts of saints (wierd). He had three main enemies France, Turks, and the Protestants of England. During his reign he demolished the Turkish fleet. He defeated the French which had the battle of Le Planto. During that battle San Laurenzo was ordered to be grilled alive by Phillip II, which he was. To comemorate this El Escorial is built in the shape of a grill. As for his third enemy the protestants. The netherlands were a small and weak country so they claimed they were protestants and got help from England and they went to war against Phillip II. Phillip II had the first marines and he sent them sailing to England in the Spanish Armada. This was not a good attack as it sank because of bad weather.
then the crown (just to remind you again) passed to his son Philip III, Philip IV, Charles II and then to the Bourbons. Those kings really didn´t do too much.
Now to the 20th century with Alfonso XIII. In 1931 at the end of his reign Spain became a republic and he died. Franco then took over. Now Franco was around the same age as the king´s son Don Juan Carlos (if you haven´t figured it out Carlos is Charles in English). Franco saw Don Juan Carlos was exiled because Franco didn´t want to have a monarchy so the royal family was exiled and lived in Italy. Don Juan Carlos´ son Juan Carlos was born in Italy but attended school in Switzerland because of WWII. When Juan Carlos was 10 years old he was sent to study under Franco in Spain. His family moved to Portugal, they couldn´t live in Spain, to live near their son. And when Franco died he allowed Juan Carlos to take his place as king of Spain. Juan Carlos I went against Franco´s teachings and made Spain a constitutional monarchy. Today Juan Carlos I is still king, and his face is on the euro of Spain.
The family today:
Juan Carlos I is married to the Doña Sofia of Greece. They are professional partners not really husband and wife). Which is ok because Juan Carlos I is a promiscuous man and they say he has some illigitament children. But his children with Doña Sofia are:
Infanta Elena- The oldest child and now works at a bank in Spain (doesn´t have to). She is not very pretty and shows the effects of imbreeding by having a little amount of mental retardation.
Principe Felipe, the next to rule Spain. He is watched closely by all so I have a lot to say about him. He dated three women before he met Leticia Ortiz a news reporter who was doing some interviews about him when they begain to date. Now here I should say that the Prince only wanted to marry for love so his hunt for a wife took a long time actually he met Leticia Ortiz, at the age of 30. They dated for about a year and then decided to get married on May 22, 2004. (interesting how close that is to my birthday and the same year I graduated, and that was the same year as the terrorist attacks in Madrid). Anyways this wedding was huge and I have a lot to say about it but all you realy need to know is that it was the first royal wedding to be performed for someone who would later rule the country, performed in Spain in 100 years. Milliones of people lined the streets of madrid and the whole country was at the tvs watching the wedding and activities in Madrid. they now have a daughter named infanta Leonor. Problems with the prince marrying this woman was first she was divorced once, but had no kids. Second, she was agnostic which is huge deal but now she is catholic. Otherwise she was considered a good choice by the royal family.
Last but not least Infanta Kristine. She is now a school teacher, even though she doesn´t have to .
Ok I am tired of writing so I will write pre 15th century later.
Lauren
The Royal family starts out with the Hapsburg family from Germany and here is the order of the kings:
Charles I
Phillip II
Phillip III
Phillip IV
Charles II--This man is incredibly important as he is the man that changed the royal family´s lineage. He is known as Charles II the childless. He married but they never had any kids because he had a STD. So the crown had to be given to someone now it is believed that he gave it to two different people, one was Philip V of another family and then when Charles II was on his deathbed he gave it to a member of the family. The two families fought for the title in the War of Succession and Philip V won. Passing the crown to the Bourbons a rich family that was from Paris France describing how the royal family today is of French ancestry.
Bourbon Kings:
Philip V
Ferdinand VI
Charles III
Charles IV
Ferdinand VII
Isabella II
Alfonso XII
Alfonso XIII
Juan Carlos
Now is a great time to explain the history of the rulers. In the 15th century Fernando III ¨the saint¨ reconquested Spain from the Moors, a people who had moved in and ruled the country very openly and freely. They mainly lived in southern Spain and a lot of their buildings are still here today. they were a muslim group and last week I saw one of their amazaing masques in Cordoba really an amazing sight.
Anyways Ferdinand III was the ruler of Castille and Léon ( Castille is the region of Sevilla and surrounding areas today it and Léon were big regions making him an owner of most of Spain and he has a son named Alfonso X ¨the wise¨. Alfonso X was really smart and he decided that he should give a gift to the people of Spain that helped to unite the region and cut down on internal conflicts this is still here today and everywhere you walk in the streets it is proudly displayed it looks like this:
NO 8 DO This means Nomadejado which translates to No me ha dejado ( they don´t pronounce the e on me or the h on ha so it is ma for both words together) or in english Sevilla hasn´t abandoned me.
Ok on with the story of the king of Castille Alfonso X has a son named Erique and a daughter named Isabel. Now Isabel is very pretty and she is told that she has to pick a husband and is given two choices Bachelor #1 is Alfonso V of Portugal who is older and not very handsome ( as the legends say) Bachelor #2 is Fernando de Aragón who is a little younger then her and smart, athletic, young, and handsome (ok who would you choose). Obviously she chose Fernando and the first time they met they fell in love. It is said that they wanted to get married immediately and instead of waiting for the Pope´s signature they forged his name and got married in 1469, (this was okayed later and they got the real signature).
Enrique´s other sister was Juana (believed to be illigitament) married Alfonso V of Portugal and when Enrique died the sisters fought for the crown. Obviously Ferdinand and Isabel won! So they are now the Catholic Monarchs ruling a big piece of land in Spain. They created a couple symbols that represented these rulers the first being a picture of a yoke showing that both of them were ruling united, with the same load neither over the other. If you see a picture of them together you will also see that neither is taller then the other. However, in the relationship you will find that Isabel had more power then Ferdinand because she ruled Castille which was a lot bigger region. She was richer because more people to pay taxes to her and she was the one who supported Christopher Columbus on his voyage in search of new lands. The second symbol of these Catholic monarchs is a bundle of arrows. Arrows together are strong and can´t be broken but by themselves they are easy to break. Same as the monarchs.
In this relationship castille is never united with Aragón and both are considered the only rulers in thier respective regions. for example when they traveled to Aragón Isabel was an outsider, or foreigner and visa versa. They say theat the only thing united was the crown and the inquisition. But kids fall in there too!
Kids of Ferdinand and Isabel are Juana La Loca, John, and two other sisters (I think they are vague on the amount of sisters). John died before Isabel, the queen of Castille, died. So anyways the history of Juana La Loca is very interesting and if anybody can rent the movie Juana La Loca it is excellent on portraying this story. But to make a long story short Juana La Loca is sent to marry the son of Maximillion I, Felipe ¨El Hermoso¨. This man was a very promiscuous man and he drove her crazy. They had two kids the first a girl and the second was a son born in a toliet, he would later become the ruler of Castille, Carlos I. Actually, she found out that her mother had died, making her the queen of Castille, and that her husband was cheating on her in the same day. She dealed with it by yelling and screaming in a courtyard in the rain and everybody just decided she was loca or mad. She loved her husband very much but he was always cheating on her and she begged for him to only love her. He, her father ferdinand, and her son ended up betraying her and telling everyone she was crazy so they could keep the crown for her. Her husband died at a young age from a disease and she was depressed by this even though he betrayed her. To fulfill his wishes she had his casket carried to Granada. they never made it as she had to stop in Torquemada to give birth to another child. Then they continued to Tordesillas a small town where she was locked in a tower by the aristocracy of Castille to keep her away from ruling the region. Her husband´s body was buried in a local monestary and she was allowed to visit him once in a while. She lived there for 28 years and died in that tower at the age of 75 years old. (It makes more sense in the movie) Felipe and Juana´s bodies can now be found in the cathedral of Granada.
So the crown of Castille passes from Isabel to Juana, for only a couple of years, then to Fernando (Isabel´s husband and Juana´s dad) then to Juana´s son Charles I/Charles V. His name was Carlos I of Castille but he ruled Germany too and there he was Charles V.
Charles I lived in Germany and was described as ugly. Juana was in the tower and lanlords fought Charles to keep Juana queen so they could continue ruling, in the end of the battle Charles won and ruled both Castille and Germany.
His son was Philip II. this man was not a conquesting man like the rest of his family he just controled. He built El Escorial so he could live in the middle of Spain and rule. He collected body parts of saints (wierd). He had three main enemies France, Turks, and the Protestants of England. During his reign he demolished the Turkish fleet. He defeated the French which had the battle of Le Planto. During that battle San Laurenzo was ordered to be grilled alive by Phillip II, which he was. To comemorate this El Escorial is built in the shape of a grill. As for his third enemy the protestants. The netherlands were a small and weak country so they claimed they were protestants and got help from England and they went to war against Phillip II. Phillip II had the first marines and he sent them sailing to England in the Spanish Armada. This was not a good attack as it sank because of bad weather.
then the crown (just to remind you again) passed to his son Philip III, Philip IV, Charles II and then to the Bourbons. Those kings really didn´t do too much.
Now to the 20th century with Alfonso XIII. In 1931 at the end of his reign Spain became a republic and he died. Franco then took over. Now Franco was around the same age as the king´s son Don Juan Carlos (if you haven´t figured it out Carlos is Charles in English). Franco saw Don Juan Carlos was exiled because Franco didn´t want to have a monarchy so the royal family was exiled and lived in Italy. Don Juan Carlos´ son Juan Carlos was born in Italy but attended school in Switzerland because of WWII. When Juan Carlos was 10 years old he was sent to study under Franco in Spain. His family moved to Portugal, they couldn´t live in Spain, to live near their son. And when Franco died he allowed Juan Carlos to take his place as king of Spain. Juan Carlos I went against Franco´s teachings and made Spain a constitutional monarchy. Today Juan Carlos I is still king, and his face is on the euro of Spain.
The family today:
Juan Carlos I is married to the Doña Sofia of Greece. They are professional partners not really husband and wife). Which is ok because Juan Carlos I is a promiscuous man and they say he has some illigitament children. But his children with Doña Sofia are:
Infanta Elena- The oldest child and now works at a bank in Spain (doesn´t have to). She is not very pretty and shows the effects of imbreeding by having a little amount of mental retardation.
Principe Felipe, the next to rule Spain. He is watched closely by all so I have a lot to say about him. He dated three women before he met Leticia Ortiz a news reporter who was doing some interviews about him when they begain to date. Now here I should say that the Prince only wanted to marry for love so his hunt for a wife took a long time actually he met Leticia Ortiz, at the age of 30. They dated for about a year and then decided to get married on May 22, 2004. (interesting how close that is to my birthday and the same year I graduated, and that was the same year as the terrorist attacks in Madrid). Anyways this wedding was huge and I have a lot to say about it but all you realy need to know is that it was the first royal wedding to be performed for someone who would later rule the country, performed in Spain in 100 years. Milliones of people lined the streets of madrid and the whole country was at the tvs watching the wedding and activities in Madrid. they now have a daughter named infanta Leonor. Problems with the prince marrying this woman was first she was divorced once, but had no kids. Second, she was agnostic which is huge deal but now she is catholic. Otherwise she was considered a good choice by the royal family.
Last but not least Infanta Kristine. She is now a school teacher, even though she doesn´t have to .
Ok I am tired of writing so I will write pre 15th century later.
Lauren
posted by Lauren Westling @ 6:29 AM
1 Comments:
At 9:09 AM,
Lauren Westling said…
hey babe!!
You know all the things (well the majority) I am sharing with you now so you´ll be just as intelligent or more. Beware of speaking spanish with me when i get back as I am learning to speak really, really fast and castillon which is like a whole new language. I´ll write about castillon in another blog.
I Love you!!!!
Lauren
Post a Comment
<< Home