Rey de España Carlos III

King of Spain from 1759 to 1788

Photo by: Anton Raphael Mengs · Public Domain · Wikimedia Commons

Born:January 20, 1716

Died:December 14, 1788

Age at death:72

Zodiac Sign:Aquarius

Born in:Madrid, Spain

Residence:Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain

Buried in:Spain

Languages:French, Spanish

Ruler

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Links

Wikipedia

Famous For

Books

expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain of 1767Free Trade Regulations (1778)Ordenanza de Intendentes del Río de la Plata

Awards

Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleeceillustrious sonKnight of the Order of the Holy SpiritKnight of the Order of Saint Michael

Rey de España Carlos III

King of Spain from 1759 to 1788

Biography

Charles III (Spanish: Carlos Sebastián de Borbón y Farnesio; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain from 1759 until his death in 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza as Charles I (1731–1735), King of Naples as Charles VII and King of Sicily as Charles III (or V) (1735–1759). He was the fourth son of Philip V of Spain and the eldest son of Philip's second wife, Elisabeth Farnese. During his reign, Charles was a proponent of enlightened absolutism and regalism in Europe. In 1731, the 15-year-old Charles became Duke of Parma and Piacenza following the death of his childless grand-uncle Antonio Farnese. At the age of 18, he led Spanish troops in a bold and almost entirely bloodless march down Italy to seize the Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily and enforce the Spanish claim to their thrones. In 1738, he married the Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony, daughter of Augustus III of Poland, having 13 children, eight of whom reached adulthood. They resided in Naples for 19 years. Charles gained valuable experience in his 25-year rule in Italy, so that he was well prepared as the monarch of the Spanish Empire. His policies in Italy prefigured ones he would put in place in his 30-year rule of Spain. Charles succeeded to the Spanish throne in 1759 upon the death of his childless half-brother Ferdinand VI. As king of Spain, Charles III made far-reaching reforms to increase the flow of funds to the crown and defend against foreign incursions on the empire. He facilitated trade and commerce, modernized agriculture and land tenure, and promoted science and university research. He implemented regalist policies to increase the power of the state regarding the church. During his reign, he expelled the Jesuits from the Spanish Empire and fostered the Enlightenment in Spain. Charles launched enquiries into the Iberian Peninsula's Muslim past, even after succeeding to the Spanish throne. He strengthened the Spanish Army and the Spanish Navy. Although he did not achieve complete control over Spain's finances, and was sometimes obliged to borrow to meet expenses, most of his reforms proved successful in providing increased revenue to the crown and expanding state power, leaving a lasting legacy. His regime enacted a series of sweeping reforms with the aim of bringing the overseas territories under firmer control, reversing the trend toward local autonomy, and gaining more control over the Church. Reforms including the establishment of two new viceroyalties, realignment of administration into intendancies, creating a standing military, establishing new monopolies, revitalizing silver mining, excluding American-born Spaniards (criollos) from high civil and ecclesiastical offices, and eliminating many privileges (fueros) of clergy. With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, he reluctantly supported the rebel side, after which his council entertained peacefully separating the Spanish overseas territories to avoid their own revolt, although this was ultimately not followed. Charles also ambitioned to peacefully reunite Spain and Portugal and considered similar propositions about it. Historian Stanley Payne writes that Charles "was probably the most successful European ruler of his generation. He had provided firm, consistent, intelligent leadership. He had chosen capable ministers ... [his] personal life had won the respect of the people." John Lynch's assessment is that in Bourbon Spain "Spaniards had to wait half a century before their government was rescued by Charles III."

This biography uses content from the Wikipedia article “Rey de España Carlos III”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Photos

Retrato del rey Carlos III de España (1716-1788), que fue hijo del rey Felipe V de España y de su segunda esposa, la reina Isabel de Farnesio.

Flag designs presented by Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán, Minister of the Navy, to King Charles III of Spain in May 1785 upon his request for a flag allowing for easy identification of Spanish naval, and merchant vessels (as several territories used their royal coat of arms on a white field as their flag at the time, resulting in potential confusion or naval accidents). Hand-written under the first flag on the top row is "S.M. escogió esta para guerra" (His Majesty chose this [one] for war), while under the third flag on the top row is "S.M. escogió esta para la marina mercante" (His Majesty chose this [one] for the merchant navy). Starting half-way down the page are chosen designs for "gallardetes" (pennants), as well as the design for the flag of the "Real Compañía de Filipinas" (Royal Company of the Philippines) and "Real Compañía Marítima" (Royal Maritime Company). Definitive/final designs of the flags are present at the bottom of the page, officially implemented by Royal Decree on 28 May 1785. The war flag design would eventually become the basis for the current flag of the Kingdom of Spain, becoming official for "all the bodies and institutes that make up the army, navy and National Militia" by Royal Decree of the provisional government of Isabel II on October 13, 1843 (prior to this different units of the army often used different banners).

San Carlos del Valle is een gemeente in de Spaanse provincie Ciudad Real in de regio Castilië-La Mancha. Opname uit maart 2017.

Juan Pascual de Mena / Manuel Álvarez de la Peña, "Charles III on Horseback", 1780 and after 1790. Wood covered with a thin layer of plaster, metal crown and fabric ties; 143 x 160 x 54 cm. Madrid, Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, E-148. The horse and the king's body are believed to be the work of the sculptor Juan Pascual de Mena, as part of a 1778 model for an equestrian statue of King Philip V of Spain, while the current head, which represents Charles III instead of Philip V, is believed to be a later work by the sculptor Manuel Álvarez de la Peña, to adapt the old 1778 model to a different king after 1790. The equestrian monument to Charles III of Spain that can be seen today in Madrid's Plaza del Sol, commissioned by the city council in 1993, was cast in bronze based precisely on this 18th-century model.

Model of the Equestrian portrait of King Charles III of Spain by Arturo Melida. Made in varnished plaster by Enrique García, 1910.

Urrutia, José De, and Lafora, Nicolas de. Map, which includes the Frontier, of the King's Dominions, in North America. 1769. Map. Retrieved from the Library of US Congress.