Chapter CDXX: Act 8: Parliament 1. repeated in Act 99. Parliament 7 (17)

"The Admiral of Castile, alienated from the cause of Philip V.
by having been dismissed from his office of Master of the
Horse, had retired into Portugal; and he succeeded in
persuading King Pedro II. to accede to the Grand Alliance, who
was enticed by the promise of the American provinces between
the Rio de la Plata and Brazil, as well as a part of
Estremadura and Galicia (May 6th). Pedro also entered into a
perpetual defensive league with Great Britain and the
States-General. In the following December, Paul Methuen, the
English minister at Lisbon, concluded the celebrated
commercial treaty between England and Portugal named after
himself.

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1703.

{2994}

It is the most laconic treaty on record, containing only two
Articles, to the effect that Portugal was to admit British
cloths, and England to admit Portuguese wines, at one-third
less duty than those of France. Don Pedro's accession to the
Grand Alliance entirely changed the plans of the allies.
Instead of confining themselves to the procuring of a
reasonable indemnity for the Emperor, they now resolved to
drive Philip V. from the throne of Spain, and to place an
Austrian Archduke upon it in his stead. The Emperor and his
eldest son Joseph formally renounced their claims to the
throne of Spain in favour of the archduke Charles, Leopold's
second son, September 12th [1703]; and the Archduke was
proclaimed King of Spain, with the title of Charles III. The
new King was to proceed into Portugal, and, with the
assistance of Don Pedro, endeavour to obtain possession of
Spain. Charles accordingly proceeded to Holland, and embarked
for England in January 1704; whence, after paying a visit to
Queen Anne at Windsor, he finally set sail for Lisbon,
February 17th. … In March 1704, the Pretender, Charles III.,
together with an English and Dutch army of 12,000 men, landed
in Portugal, with the intention of entering Spain on that
side; but so far were they from accomplishing this plan that
the Spaniards, on the contrary, under the Duke of Berwick,
penetrated into Portugal, and even threatened Lisbon, but were
driven back by the Marquis das Minas. An English fleet under
Admiral Rooke, with troops under the Prince of Darmstadt, made
an ineffectual attempt on Barcelona; but were compensated for
their failure by the capture of Gibraltar on their return. The
importance of this fortress, the key of the Mediterranean, was
not then sufficiently esteemed, and its garrison had been
neglected by the Spanish Government. A party of English
sailors, taking advantage of a Saint's day, on which the
eastern portion of the fortress had been left unguarded,
scaled the almost inaccessible precipice, whilst at the same
time another party stormed the South Mole Head. The capture of
this important fortress was the work of a few hours (August
4th). Darmstadt would have claimed the place for King Charles
III., but Rooke took possession of it in the name of the Queen
of England. … The Spaniards, sensible of the importance of
Gibraltar, speedily made an effort to recover that fortress,
and as early as October 1704, it was invested by the Marquis
of Villadarias with an army of 8,000 men. The French Court
afterwards sent Marshal Tessé to supersede Villadarias, and
the siege continued till April 1705; but the brave defence of
the Prince of Darmstadt, and the defeat of the French
blockading squadron under Pointis by Admiral Leake, finally
compelled the raising of the siege."

_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 5; chapter 6 (volume 3)._

ALSO IN:
_J. H. Burton,
History of the Reign of Queen Anne,
chapter 9 (volume 2)._

_F. Sayer,
History of Gibraltar,
chapters 6-8._

SPAIN: A. D. 1704.
The War of the Succession: Blenheim.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1704.

SPAIN: A. D. 1705.
The War of the Succession: The capture of Barcelona.

As if to exhibit, upon a different theatre of the same great
warfare, the most remarkable contrast to the patience, the
caution, and the foresight of Marlborough, … Charles Mordaunt,
earl of Peterborough, took the command of an expedition to
Spain. Macaulay calls Peterborough 'the most extraordinary
character of that age, the king of Sweden himself not
excepted, … a polite, learned and amorous Charles XII.' He
sailed from Portsmouth in June, 1705, having the command of
5,000 men; unlimited authority over the land forces, and a
divided command with Sir Cloudesley Shovel at sea. At Lisbon,
Peterborough was reinforced, and he here took on board the
arch-duke Charles, and a numerous suite. At Gibraltar he
received two veteran battalions, in exchange for the same
number of recruits which he had brought from England. The
prince of Darmstadt also here joined Peterborough. The prince
and the arch-duke desired to besiege Barcelona. Peterborough
opposed the scheme of attempting, with 7,000 men, the
reduction of a place which required 30,000 men for a regular
siege. With the squadron under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, the
fleet sailed from Gibraltar. A landing was effected near
Valencia; and here the people were found favourable to the
cause of the Austrian prince, who was proclaimed, upon the
surrender of the castle of Denia, as Charles III., king of
Spain and the Indies. Peterborough, encouraged by this
reception, conceived the enterprise of dashing upon the
capital, whilst all the Spanish forces were on the frontiers
of Portugal, or in Catalonia; and king Philip was at Madrid
with few troops. Such an exploit had every chance of success,
but Peterborough was overruled by a council of war. The troops
were landed before Barcelona on the 27th of August. In three
weeks there was nothing but dissensions amongst the great men
of this expedition. The prince of Darmstadt and the earl of
Peterborough had come to an open rupture. The Dutch officers
said their troops should not join in an enterprise so
manifestly impossible of success for a small force.
Peterborough conceived a plan of attack totally opposed to all
the routine modes of warfare. The citadel of Montjouich, built
on the summit of a ridge of hills skirting the sea, commanded
the town. Peterborough gave notice that he should raise the
siege; sent his heavy artillery on board the ships; and made
every preparation for embarking the troops. With 1,200 foot
soldiers, and 200 horse, he marched out of the camp on the
evening of the 13th of September, accompanied by the prince of
Darmstadt, whom he had invited to join him. They marched all
night by the side of the mountains; and before daybreak were
under the hill of Montjouich, and close to the outer works.
Peterborough told his officers that when they were discovered
at daylight, the enemy would descend into the outer ditch to
repel them, and that then was the time to receive their fire,
leap in upon them, drive them into the outer works, and gain
the fortress by following them close. The scheme succeeded,
and the English were soon masters of the bastion. … The
citadel held out for several days, but was finally reduced by
a bombardment from the hills, the cannon having been relanded
from the ships. The reduction of Montjouich by this
extraordinary act of daring, was very soon followed by the
surrender of Barcelona. … The possession of Barcelona, in
which king Charles III. was proclaimed with great solemnity,
was followed by the adhesion to his cause of the chief towns
of Catalonia. Peterborough was for following up his wonderful
success by other daring operations. The German ministers and
the Dutch officers opposed all his projects." He was able,
notwithstanding, to raise the siege of San Mateo and to save
Valencia from a threatened siege. "It was soon found that king
Charles was incompetent to follow up the successes which
Peterborough had accomplished for him."

_C. Knight,
Crown History of England,
chapter 38._

{2995}

The above is substantially, in brief, the account of
Peterborough's campaigns given by Mahon, Macaulay, and most of
the later historians of the War of the Succession, who drew
the narrative largely from a little book published in 1728,
called the "Military Memoirs of Captain George Carleton." The
story has been recently told, however, in a very different way
and to a very different effect, by Colonel Arthur Parnell, who
declines to accept the Carleton Memoirs as authentic history.
Those Memoirs have been judged by some critics, in·deed, to be
a pure work of fiction and attributed to De Foe. They are
included, in fact, in several editions of De Foe's works.
Colonel Parnell, who seems to have investigated the matter
thoroughly, recognizes Captain Carleton as a real personality,
and concludes that he may have furnished some kind of a
note-book or diary that was the substratum of these alleged
Memoirs; but that somebody (he suspects Dean Swift), in the
interest of Peterborough, built up on that groundwork a fabric
of fiction which has most wrongfully become accepted history.
According to Colonel Parnell, it was not Peterborough, but
Prince George of Hesse Darmstadt (killed in the assault on
Montjouich) and De Ruvigny, Earl of Galway, who were entitled
to the credit of the successes for which Peterborough has been
laurelled. "In order to extol a contemptible impostor, the
memory of this great Huguenot general [Ruvigny] has been
aspersed by Lord Macaulay and most English writers of the
present century."

_Colonel A. Parnell,
The War of the Succession in Spain,
preface, chapters 12-18; and appendix C._

ALSO IN:
_E. Warburton,
Memoir of Peterborough,
chapters 7-11 (volume 1)._

_F. S. Russell,
The Earl of Peterborough,
volume 1, chapters 7-9._

SPAIN: A. D. 1706.
The War of the Succession:
Rapid changing of kings and courts at Madrid.

"The Courts of Madrid and Versailles, exasperated and alarmed
by the fall of Barcelona, and by the revolt of the surrounding
country, determined to make a great effort. A large army,
nominally commanded by Philip, but really under the orders of
Marshal Tessé, entered Catalonia. A fleet under the Count of
Toulouse, one of the natural children of Lewis XIV., appeared
before the port of Barcelona. The city was attacked at once by
sea and land. The person of the Archduke was in considerable
danger. Peterborough, at the head of about 3,000 men, marched
with great rapidity from Valencia. To give battle, with so
small a force, to a great regular army under the conduct of a
Marshal of France, would have been madness. … His commission
from the British government gave him supreme power, not only
over the army, but, whenever he should be actually on board,
over the navy also. He put out to sea at night in an open
boat, without communicating his design to any person. He was
picked up, several leagues from the shore, by one of the ships
of the English squadron. As soon as he was on board, he
announced himself as first in command, and sent a pinnace with
his orders to the Admiral. Had these orders been given a few
hours earlier, it is probable that the whole French fleet
would have been taken. As it was, the Count of Toulouse put
out to sea. The port was open. The town was relieved. On the
following night the enemy raised the siege and retreated to
Roussillon. Peterborough returned to Valencia, a place which
he preferred to every other in Spain; and Philip, who had been
some weeks absent from his wife, could endure the misery of
separation no longer, and flew to rejoin her at Madrid. At
Madrid, however, it was impossible for him or for her to
remain. The splendid success which Peterborough had obtained
on the eastern coast of the Peninsula had inspired the
sluggish Galway with emulation. He advanced into the heart of
Spain. Berwick retreated. Alcantara, Ciuadad Rodrigo, and
Salamanca fell, and the conquerors marched towards the
capital. Philip was earnestly pressed by his advisers to
remove the seat of government to Burgos. … In the mean time
the invaders had entered Madrid in triumph, and had proclaimed
the Archduke in the streets of the imperial city. Arragon,
ever jealous of the Castilian ascendeney, followed the example
of Catalonia. Saragossa revolted without seeing an enemy. The
governor whom Philip had set over Carthagena betrayed his
trust, and surrendered to the Allies the best arsenal and the
last ships which Spain possessed. … It seemed that the
struggle had terminated in favour of the Archduke, and that
nothing remained for Philip but a prompt flight into the
dominions of his grandfather. So judged those who were
ignorant of the character and habits of the Spanish people.
There is no country in Europe which it is so easy to overrun
as Spain; there is no country in Europe which it is more
difficult to conquer. Nothing can be more contemptible than
the regular military resistance which Spain offers to an
invader; nothing more formidable than the energy which she
puts forth when her regular military resistance has been
beaten down. Her armies have long borne too much resemblance
to mobs; but her mobs have had, in an unusual degree, the
spirit of armies. … Castile, Leon, Andalusia, Estremadura,
rose at once; every peasant procured a firelock or a pike; the
Allies were masters only of the ground on which they trod. No
soldier could wander a hundred yards from the main body of the
invading army without imminent risk of being poinarded; the
country through which the conquerors had passed to Madrid, and
which, as they thought, they had subdued, was all in arms
behind them. Their communications with Portugal were cut off.
In the mean time, money began, for the first time, to flow
rapidly into the treasury of the fugitive king. … While the
Castilians were everywhere arming in the cause of Philip, the
Allies were serving that cause as effectually by their
mismanagement. Galway staid at Madrid, where his soldiers
indulged in such boundless licentiousness that one half of
them were in the hospitals. Charles remained dawdling in
Catalonia. Peterborough had taken Requena, and wished to march
from Valencia towards Madrid, and to effect a junction with
Galway; but the Archduke refused his consent to the plan.
{2996}
The indignant general remained accordingly in his favourite
city, on the beautiful shores of the Mediterranean, reading
Don Quixote, giving balls and suppers, trying in vain to get
some good sport out of the Valencian bulls, and making love,
not in vain, to the Valencian women. At length the Archduke
advanced into Castile, and ordered Peterborough to join him.
But it was too late. Berwick had already compelled Galway to
evacuate Madrid; and, when the whole force of the Allies was
collected at Quadalaxara, it was found to be decidedly
inferior in numbers to that of the enemy. Peterborough formed
a plan for regaining possession of the capital. His plan was
rejected by Charles. The patience of the sensitive and
vain-glorious hero was worn out. He had none of that serenity
of temper which enabled Marlborough to act in perfect harmony
with Eugene, and to endure the vexatious interference of the
Dutch deputies. He demanded permission to leave the army,
Permission was readily granted; and he set out for Italy. …
From that moment to the end of the campaign, the tide of
fortune ran strong against the Austrian cause. Berwick had
placed his army between the Allies and the frontiers of
Portugal. They retreated on Valencia, and arrived in that
province, leaving about 10,000 prisoners in the hands of the
enemy."

_Lord Macaulay,
Mahon's War of the Succession (Essays)._

In the Netherlands the Allies won the important victory of
Ramillies, and in Italy, Prince Eugene inflicted a sore defeat
on the French and rescued Turin.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D.1706-1707;
and ITALY: A. D. 1701-1713.

ALSO IN:
_C. T. Wilson,
The Duke of Berwick,
chapters 5-6._

_W. Coxe,
Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain,
chapter 14 (volume 1)._

SPAIN: A. D. 1707.
The War of the Succession:
The fortunes of the Bourbons retrieved at Almanza.

"The enemy [the Allies] began to move again in February. After
some weeks of manœuvring on the confines of the kingdom of
Valencia and of New Castile, April 25, Galway and Las Minas,
wishing to anticipate the arrival of a reinforcement expected
from France, attacked Berwick at Almanza. Singularly enough,
the English were commanded by a French refugee (Ruvigni, Earl
of Galway), and the French by a royal bastard of England [the
Duke of Berwick, natural son of James II.]. The enemy
numbered, it is said, 26,000 foot and 7,000 horse; the
Franco-Castilians were somewhat inferior in infantry, somewhat
superior in cavalry and artillery." The battle, decided by the
cavalry, was disastrous to the Allies. "The English, Dutch and
Portuguese infantry were cut to pieces: the Portuguese foot
showed a courage less fortunate, but not less intrepid, than
the Spanish cavalry. Another corps had fought with still
greater fury, —the French refugees, commanded by Jean
Cavalier, the renowned Camisard chieftain. They had engaged a
French regiment, and the two corps had almost destroyed each
other. Six battalions were surrounded and taken in a body.
Thirteen other battalions, five English, five Dutch, and three
Portuguese, retired, at evening, to a wooded hill; seeing
themselves cut off from the mountains of Valencia, they
surrendered themselves prisoners the next morning. Hochstadt
[Blenheim] was fully avenged. Five thousand dead, nearly
10,000 prisoners, 24 cannon, 120 flags or standards, were
purchased on the part of the conquerors by the loss of only
about 2,000 men. Many Frenchmen, taken at Hochstadt or at
Ramillies, and enrolled by force in the ranks of the enemies,
were delivered by the victory. The Duke of Orleans reached the
army the next day. … He marched with Berwick on Valencia,
which surrendered, May 8, without striking a blow. The
generals of the enemies, both wounded, retired with the wrecks
of their armies towards the mouths of the Ebro. The whole
kingdom of Valencia submitted, with the exception of three or
four places. Berwick followed the enemy towards the mouth of
the Ebro, whilst Orleans returned to meet a French corps that
was coming by the way of Navarre, and with this corps entered
Aragon. Nearly all Aragon yielded without resistance. Berwick
joined Orleans by ascending the Ebro; they moved together on
the Segre and began the blockade of Lerida, the bulwark of
Catalonia." Lerida was taken by storm on the 12th of October,
and "pillaged with immense booty. … The castle of Lerida
surrendered, November 11. A great part of the Catalan
mountaineers laid down their arms. … Fortune had favored the
Franco-Castilians on the Portuguese frontier as in the States
of Aragon; Ciudad-Rodrigo had been taken by assault, October
4, with the loss of more than 3,000 men on the side of the
enemy. The news of Almanza had everywhere reanimated the
hearts of the French armies."

_H. Martin,
History of France: Age of Louis XIV.
(translated by M. L. Booth),
volume 2, chapter 5._

ALSO IN:
_Colonel A. Parnell,
The War of the Succession in Spain,
chapters 23-26._

_C. T. Wilson,
The Duke of Berwick,
chapter 7._

SPAIN: A. D. 1707-1710.
The War of the Succession:
Bourbon reverses and final triumph.

"In less than a month after the victory of Almanza, the
Bourbon troops had recovered all Arragon, with Valencia and
Murcia, excepting the ports of Denia and Alicant; but the war
still continued in Catalonia, where General Stanhope now
filled the double office of ambassador to Charles and general
of the English forces, and prince Staremberg was sent by the
emperor Joseph to take the command of the Austrian troops. The
Spanish government was reduced to still greater pecuniary
distress than it had suffered before, by the success of the
English squadron off Carthagena, under the command of Sir
Charles Wager, which took three of the great galleons and
dispersed fourteen, which were expected to furnish an unusual
supply of the precious metals from America. After a short
siege of Port Mahon, General Stanhope took possession of
Minorca and Majorca [A. D. 1708]; the count of Cifuentes
gained Sardinia; and all the efforts, spirit, and talents of
the duke of Orleans were insufficient to make the slightest
impression in Catalonia. He consequently complained, in his
letters to Versailles, that his operations were thwarted or
retarded by the intrigues of the Princess Orsini and the
ambassador Amelot. He was accused in return, and that not
without reason, of forming designs on the crown of Spain, and
corresponding with the enemies of Philip on the subject. The
fortunes of France and Spain still continued to decline, and
Louis felt that peace was the only measure which could stop
the progress of that ruin which menaced the house of Bourbon.
Conferences were accordingly opened at the Hague, and Louis
pretended that he was willing to give up the interest of
Philip; at the same time his grandson himself protested that
he would never quit Spain, or yield his title to its crown. …
{2997}
The disastrous campaign of 1710 rendered Louis more desirous
than ever of obtaining peace, and though his professions of
abandoning his grandson were insincere, he certainly would not
have scrupled to sacrifice the Spanish Netherlands and the
American commerce to Holland, as the price of an advantageous
peace to France. Meantime the Austrians had gained the
victories of Almenara and Zaragoza, and had once more driven
the Spanish court from Madrid. This time it fled to
Valladolid, and the king and queen talked of taking refuge in
America, and re-establishing the empire of Mexico or Peru,
rather than abandon their throne. But the Castilians once more
roused themselves to defend the king; the duke of Vendome's
arrival supplied their greatest want, that of a skilful
general; and the imprudence of the allies facilitated the
recovery of the capital. The disasters of the allies began
with their retreat; Staremburg, after a doubtful though bloody
battle [Villa Viciosa, December 10, 1710], at the end of which
he was victor, was yet obliged to retire with the
disadvantages of defeat; and Stanhope, with a small body of
English, after a desperate resistance [at Brihuega, December
9, 1710], was taken prisoner."

_M. Callcott,
Short History of Spain,
chapter 22 (volume 2)._

"As the result of the actions at Brihuega and Villa Viciosa
and the subsequent retreat, the Austrians lost 3,600 killed or
wounded, and 3,036 prisoners, or a total of 7,536 men; whilst
the Bourbon casualties were 6,700 placed hors-de-combat, and
100 captured, or in all 6,800 men. These operations
constituted a decisive victory for Vendôme, who thus, in less
than four months after the battle of Saragossa, had
re-established King Philip and the Bourbon cause."

_Colonel A. Parnell,
The War of the Succession in Spain,
chapters 27-34._

ALSO IN:
_W. Coxe,
Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain,
chapters 15-18 (volumes 1-2)._

_Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope),
History of the War of Succession in Spain,
chapters 6-8._

SPAIN: A. D. 1711.
The Austrian claimant of the throne becomes Emperor.

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1711.

SPAIN: A. D. 1713-1714.
The betrayal of the Catalans.

"Alone among the Spaniards the Catalans had real reason to
regret the peace. They had clung to the cause of Charles with
a desperate fidelity, and the Peace of Utrecht rang the
death-knell of provincial liberties to which they were
passionately attached. From the beginning of 1705 they had
been the steady and faithful allies of England; they had again
and again done eminent service in her cause; they had again
and again received from her ministers and generals the most
solemn assurances that they would never be abandoned. When
England first opened a separate negotiation for peace she
might easily have secured the Catalonian liberties by making
their recognition an indispensable preliminary of peace; but,
instead of this, the English ministers began by recognising
the title of Philip, and contented themselves with a simple
prayer that a general amnesty might be granted. When the
convention was signed for the evacuation of Catalonia by the
Imperial troops, the question of the provincial liberties was
referred to the definite peace, the Queen and the French King
promising at that time to interpose their good offices to
secure them. The Emperor, who was bound to the Catalans by the
strongest ties of gratitude and honour, could have easily
obtained a guarantee of their fueros at the price of an
acknowledgment of the title of Philip; but he was too proud
and too selfish for such a sacrifice. The English, it is true,
repeatedly urged the Spanish King to guarantee these
privileges, … but these were mere representations, supported
by no action, and were therefore peremptorily refused. The
English peace with Spain contained a clause granting the
Catalans a general armistice, and also a promise that they
should be placed in the same position as the Castilians, which
gave them the right of holding employments and carrying on a
direct trade with the West Indies, but it made no mention of
their provincial privileges. The Peace of Rastadt was equally
silent, for the dignity of the Emperor would not suffer him to
enter into any negotiations with Philip. The unhappy people,
abandoned by those whom they had so faithfully served, refused
to accept the position offered them by treaty, and, much to
the indignation of the English Government, they still
continued in arms, struggling with a desperate courage against
overwhelming odds. The King of Spam then called upon the
Queen, as a guarantee of the treaty of evacuation, 'to order a
squadron of her ships to reduce his subjects to their
obedience, and thereby complete the tranquillity of Spain and
of the Mediterranean commerce.' A fleet was actually
despatched, which would probably have been employed against
Barcelona, but for an urgent address of the House of Lords,
and the whole moral weight of England was thrown into the
scale against the insurgents. The conduct of the French was
more decided. Though the French King had engaged himself with
the Queen by the treaty of evacuation to use his good offices
in the most effectual manner in favour of the Catalan
liberties, he now sent an army to hasten the capture of
Barcelona. The blockade of that noble city lasted for more
than a year. The insurgents hung up over the high altar the
Queen's solemn declaration to protect them. They continued the
hopeless struggle till 14,000 bombs had been thrown into the
city; till a great part of it had been reduced to ashes; till
seven breaches had been made; till 10,000 of the besieging
army had been killed or wounded; and till famine had been
added to the horrors of war. At last, on September 11, 1714,
Barcelona was taken by storm. A frightful massacre took place
in the streets. Many of the inhabitants were afterwards
imprisoned or transported, and the old privileges of Catalonia
were finally abolished. Such was the last scene of this
disastrous war."

_W. E. R. Lecky,
History of England, 18th century,
chapter 1 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:
_Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope),
History of England, 1713-1783,
chapter 3 (volume 1)._

_C. T. Wilson,
The Duke of Berwick,
chapter 21._

{2998}

SPAIN: A. D. 1713-1725.
Continued war with the Emperor.
The Triple Alliance.
The Quadruple Alliance.
The Peace of Vienna.
The Alliance of Hanover.

"The treaty of Utrecht, although it had tranquilized a great
part of Europe, was nevertheless defective, in as far as it
had not reconciled the Emperor and the King of Spain, the two
principal claimants to the Spanish succession. The Emperor
Charles VI. did not recognize Philip V. in his quality of King
of Spain; and Philip, in his turn [instigated by his queen,
Elizabeth Farnese—see ITALY:' A. D. 1715-1735] refused to
acquiesce in those partitions of the Spanish monarchy which
the treaty of Utrecht had stipulated in favour of the Emperor.
To defeat the projects and secret intrigues of the Spanish
minister [Cardinal Alberoni], the Duke of Orleans [Regent of
France], thought of courting an alliance with England, as
being the power most particularly interested in maintaining
the treaty of Utrecht, the fundamental articles of which had
been dictated by herself. That alliance, into which the United
Provinces also entered, was concluded at the Hague (January
4th, 1717). … Cardinal Alberoni, without being in the least
disconcerted by the Triple Alliance, persisted in his design
of recommencing the war. No sooner had he recruited the
Spanish forces, and equipped an expedition, than he attacked
Sardinia [1717], which he took from the Emperor. This conquest
was followed by that of Sicily, which the Spaniards took from
the Duke of Savoy (1718). France and England, indignant at the
infraction of a treaty which they regarded as their own work,
immediately concluded with the Emperor, at London (August 2nd,
1718) the famous Quadruple Alliance, which contained the plan
of a treaty of peace, to be made between the Emperor, the King
of Spain, and the Duke of Savoy. The allied powers engaged to
obtain the consent of the parties interested in this proposal,
and, in case of refusal, to compel them by force of arms. The
Emperor was to renounce his right to the Spanish crown, and to
acknowledge Philip V. as the legitimate King of Spain, in
consideration of that prince renouncing the provinces of Italy
and the Netherlands, which the treaty of Utrecht and the
quadruple alliance adjudged to the Emperor. The Duke of Savoy
was to cede Sicily to Austria, receiving Sardinia in exchange,
which the King of Spam was to disclaim. The right of reversion
to the crown of Spain was transferred from Sicily to Sardinia.
That treaty likewise granted to Don Carlos, eldest son of
Philip V., by his second marriage, the eventual reversion and
investiture of the duchies of Parma and Placentia, as well as
the grand duchy of Tuscany, on condition of holding them as
fiefs-male of the Emperor and the Empire after the decease of
the last male issue of the families of Farnese and Medici, who
were then in possession. …. The Duke of Savoy did not hesitate
to subscribe the conditions of the quadruple alliance; but it
was otherwise with the King of Spain, who persisted in his
refusal; when France and England declared war against him. The
French invaded the provinces of Guipuscoa and Catalonia [under
Berwick, A. D. 1710], while the English seized Gallicia and
the port of Vigo. These vigorous proceedings shook the
resolutions of the King of Spain. He signed the quadruple
alliance, and banished the Cardinal Alberoni from his court,
the adviser of those measures of which the allies complained.
The Spanish troops then evacuated Sicily and Sardinia, when
the Emperor took possession of the former and Victor Amadeus,
Duke of Savoy, of the latter. The war to all appearance was at
an end." But fresh difficulties arose, one following another.
The reversion of Tuscany, Parma, and Placentia, promised to
the Infant of Spain, was stoutly opposed in Italy. The Emperor
provoked commercial jealousies in England and Holland by
chartering a Company of Ostend (1722) with exclusive
privileges of trading to the East and West Indies and the
coasts of Africa. An attempted congress at Cambrai was long
retarded and finally broken up. Meantime the French court gave
mortal offense to the King of Spain by sending home his
daughter, who had been the intended bride of the young King
Louis XV., and marrying the latter to a Polish princess. The
final result was to draw the Emperor and the King of Spain—
the two original enemies in the embroilment—together, and a
treaty between them was concluded at Vienna, April 30, 1725.
"This treaty renewed the renunciation of Philip V. to the
provinces of Italy and the Netherlands, as well as that of the
Emperor to Spain and the Indies. The eventual investiture of
the duchies of Parma and Placentia, and that of the grand
duchy of Tuscany, were also confirmed. The only new clause
contained in the treaty was that by which the King of Spain
undertook to guarantee the famous Pragmatic Sanction of
Charles VI., which secured to the daughter of that prince the
succession of all his estates. It was chiefly on this account
that Philip V. became reconciled to the court of Vienna. The
peace of Vienna was accompanied by a defensive alliance
between the Emperor and the King of Spain." The terms of the
alliance were such as to alarm England for the security of her
hold on Gibraltar and Minorca, and Holland for her commerce,
besides giving uneasiness to France. By the action of the
latter, a league was set on foot "capable of counteracting
that of Vienna, which was concluded at Herrenhausen, near
Hanover, (September 3, 1725) and is known by the name of the
Alliance of Hanover. All Europe was divided between these two
alliances."

_C. W. Koch,
The Revolutions of Europe, period 8._

ALSO IN:
_Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope),
History of England, 1713-1783,
volume 1, chapters 7-10._

_G. P. R. James,
Eminent Foreign Statesmen,
volume 4: Alberoni._

_W. Coxe,
Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain,
chapters 22-30._

_E. Armstrong,
Elisabeth Farnese. "The Termagant of Spain."
chapters 2-10._

SPAIN: A. D. 1714.
The Peace of Utrecht.

See UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714;
and SLAVERY, NEGRO: A. D. 1698-1776.

SPAIN: A. D. 1725-1740.
The Austrian Succession.
Guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction.

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1718-1738; and 1740.

SPAIN: A. D. 1726-1731.
Fresh quarrels with England.
Siege of Gibraltar.
Treaty of Seville.
Second Treaty of Vienna.
Acquisition of the Italian Duchies.

"All Europe became divided between the alliances of Vienna and
Hanover; and though both sides pretended that these treaties
were only defensive, yet each made extensive preparations for
war. George I. entered into a treaty with the Landgrave of
Hesse Cassel for the supply of 12,000 men; manifests were
published, ambassadors withdrawn, armies put on foot; the sea
was covered with English fleets; an English squadron under
Admiral Hosier annoyed the trade of Spain; and in February
1727, the Spaniards laid siege to Gibraltar, and seized at
Vera Cruz a richly laden merchant vessel belonging to the
English South Sea Company. But all these vast preparations led
to no results of importance. Of all the European Powers, Spain
alone had any real desire for war. …
{2999}
The preliminaries of a general pacification were signed at
Paris, May 31st 1727, by the ministers of the Emperor, France,
Great Britain, and Holland, and a Congress was appointed to
assemble at Aix-la-Chapelle to arrange a definitive peace. But
Spain still held aloof and sought every opportunity to
temporise. The hopes of Philip being again awakened by the
death of George I. in July 1727, he renewed his intrigues with
the Jacobites, and instigated the Pretender to proceed to a
port in the Low Countries, and to seize an opportunity to pass
over into England. But these unfounded expectations were soon
dispelled by the quiet accession of George II. to the throne
and policy of his father. … The Spanish Queen [Elizabeth
Farnese], however, still held out; till, alarmed by the
dangerous state of Philip's health, whose death might
frustrate her favourite scheme of obtaining the Italian
duchies, and leave her a mere cypher without any political
influence, she induced her husband to accept the preliminaries
by the Act of the Pardo, March 6th 1728. A congress was now
opened at Soissons, to which place it had been transferred for
the convenience of Fleury [French minister], who was bishop of
that diocese. But though little remained to be arranged except
the satisfaction of Spain in the matter of the Italian
duchies, the negociations were tedious and protracted." In the
end they "became a mere farce, and the various
plenipotentiaries gradually withdrew from the Congress.
Meanwhile the birth of a Dauphin (September 4th 1729) having
dissipated the hopes of Philip V. and his Queen as to the
French succession, Elizabeth devoted herself all the more
warmly to the prosecution of her Italian schemes; and finding
all her efforts to separate France and England unavailing, she
at length determined to accept what they offered. … She
persuaded Philip to enter into a separate treaty with France
and England, which was concluded at Seville, November 9th
1729. England and Spain arranged their commercial and other
differences; the succession of Don Carlos to the Italian
duchies was guaranteed; and it was agreed that Leghorn, Porto
Ferrajo, Parma, and Piacenza should be garrisoned by 6,000
Spaniards, who, however, were not to interfere with the civil
government. Nothing more was said about Gibraltar. Philip,
indeed, seemed now to have abandoned all hope of recovering
that fortress; for he soon afterwards caused to be constructed
across the isthmus the strong lines of San Roque, and thus
completely isolated Gibraltar from his Spanish dominions. The
Dutch acceded to the Treaty of Seville shortly after its
execution, on the understanding that they should receive
entire satisfaction respecting the India Company established
by the Emperor at Ostend. Charles VI. was indignant at being
thus treated by Spain. … On the death of Antonio Farnese, Duke
of Parma, January 10th 1731, he took military possession of
that state. … The versatility of the cabinets of that age,
however, enabled the Emperor to attain his favourite object at
a moment when he least expected it. The Queen of Spain,
wearied with the slowness of Cardinal Fleury in carrying out
the provisions of the Treaty of Seville, suddenly declared, in
a fit of passion, that Spain was no longer bound by that
treaty (January 1731). Great Britain and the Dutch States, in
concert with the Spanish Court, without the concurrence of
France, now entered into negociations with the Emperor, which
were skilfully conducted by Lord Waldegrave, to induce him to
accede to the Treaty of Seville; and, on March 16th 1731, was
concluded what has been called the Second Treaty of Vienna.
Great Britain and the States guaranteed the Pragmatic
Sanction; and the Emperor, on his side, acceded to the
provisions of Seville respecting the Italian duchies, and
agreed to annihilate the commerce of the Austrian Netherlands
with the Indies by abolishing the obnoxious Ostend Company. He
also engaged not to bestow his daughter on a Bourbon prince,
or in any other way that might endanger the balance of power
in Europe. … In the following November an English squadron
disembarked at Leghorn 6,000 Spaniards, who took possession of
that place, as well as Porto Ferrajo, Parma, and Piacenza, in
the name of Don Carlos, as Duke of Parma and presumptive heir
of Tuscany."

_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 6, chapter 1 (volume 3)._

ALSO IN:
_Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope),
History of England, 1713-1783,
chapters 14-15 (volume 2)._

_W. Coxe,
History of the House of Austria,
chapter 88 (volume 3)._

_W. Coxe,
Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain,
chapters 36-40 (volume 3)._

_E. Armstrong,
Elisabeth Farnese, "The Termagant of Spain,"
chapters 11-14._

SPAIN: A. D. 1733.
The First Bourbon Family Compact (France and Spain).

See FRANCE: A. D. 1733.

SPAIN: A. D. 1734-1735.
Acquisition of Naples and Sicily,
as a kingdom for Don Carlos.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1733-1735.

SPAIN: A. D. 1739.
Outbreak of hostilities with England.
The War of Jenkins' Ear.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1739-1741.

SPAIN: A. D. 1740.
Unsuccessful attack of the English on Florida.

See GEORGIA: A. D. 1738-1743.

SPAIN: A. D. 1740-1741.
Beginning of the War of the Austrian Succession.

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1740-1741.

SPAIN: A. D. 1741-1747.
The War of the Austrian Succession: Operations in Italy.

See ITALY: A. D. 1741-1743, to 1746-1747.

SPAIN: A. D. 1743.
The Second Family Compact of the Bourbon kings.
Arrangements concerning Italy.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1743 (OCTOBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1746.
Accession of Ferdinand VI.

SPAIN: A. D. 1748.
Termination and results of the
War of the Austrian Succession.

See AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, THE CONGRESS.

SPAIN: A. D. 1759.
Accession of Charles III.

SPAIN: A. D. 1761-1762.
The Third Family Compact of the Bourbon kings.
England declares War.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1761 (AUGUST).

SPAIN: A. D. 1762-1763.
Havana lost and recovered.

See CUBA: A. D. 1514-1851.

SPAIN: A. D. 1763.
End and results of the Seven Years War.
Florida ceded to Great Britain.
Louisiana acquired from France.

See SEVEN YEARS WAR: THE TREATIES.

SPAIN: A. D. 1766-1769.
Occupation of Louisiana.
The revolt of New Orleans and its suppression.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1766-1768; and 1769.

SPAIN: A. D. 1767.
Suppression of the order of the Jesuits.

See JESUITS: A. D. 1761-1769.

SPAIN: A. D. 1779-1781.
Reconquest of West Florida.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1779-1781.

SPAIN: A. D. 1779-1782.
The unsuccessful siege of Gibraltar.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1780-1782.

{3000}

SPAIN: A. D. 1782.
Aims and interests in the settlement of peace between
Great Britain and the United States.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1782 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1783-1800.
The question of Florida boundaries and of the navigation
of the Mississippi, in dispute with the United States.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1783-1787;
and LOUISIANA: A. D. 1785-1800.

SPAIN: A. D. 1788.
Accession of Charles IV.

SPAIN: A. D. 1791-1793.
The Coalition against revolutionary France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1790-1791;
1791 (JULY-SEPTEMBER);
and 1793 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1793.
Successes on the French frontier.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1793 (JULY-DECEMBER)
PROGRESS OF THE WAR.

SPAIN: A. D. 1794.
French successes in the Pyrenees.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1794-1795 (OCTOBER-MAY).

SPAIN: A. D. 1795.
Peace and alliance with the French Republic.
Cession of Spanish San Domingo.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1795 (JUNE-DECEMBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1797.
Naval defeat by the English off Cape St. Vincent.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1797.

SPAIN: A. D. 1797.
Cession of western part of Hayti, or San Domingo, to France.

See HAYTI: A. D. 1632-1803.

SPAIN: A. D. 1801.
Re-cession of Louisiana to France.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1798-1803.

SPAIN: A. D. 1802.
The Peace of Amiens.
Recovery of Minorca and Port Mahon.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1802.

SPAIN: A. D. 1805.
The naval defeat at Trafalgar.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1805 (MARCH-DECEMBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1807-1808.
Napoleon's plots for the theft of the Spanish crown.
The popular rising.
Accession of Ferdinand VII.

"For more than ten years Spain had been drawn in the wake of
revolutionary France. To Napoleon from the beginning of his
reign she had been as subservient as Holland or Switzerland;
she had made war and peace at his bidding, had surrendered
Trinidad to make the treaty of Amiens, had given her fleet to
destruction at Trafalgar. In other states equally subservient,
such as Holland and the Italian Republic, Napoleon had
remodelled the government at his pleasure, and in the end had
put his own family at the head of it. After Tilsit he thought
himself strong enough to make a similar change in Spain, and
the occupation of Portugal seemed to afford the opportunity of
doing this. By two conventions signed at Fontainebleau on
October 27, the partition of Portugal was arranged with Spain.

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1807.

The Prince of the Peace was to become a sovereign prince of
the Algarves, the King of Spain was to have Brazil with the
title of Emperor of the two Americas, &c.; but the main
provision was that a French army was to stand on the threshold
of Spain ready to resist any intervention of England. The
occupation of Portugal took place soon after, Junot arriving
at Lisbon on November 30, just as the royal family with a
following of several thousands set sail for Brazil under
protection of the English fleet. At the same time there
commenced in defiance of all treaties a passage of French
troops into Spain, which continued until 80,000 had arrived,
and had taken quiet possession of a number of Spanish
fortresses. At last Murat was appointed to the command of the
army of Spain. He entered the country on March 1, 1808, and
marched on Madrid, calculating that the king would retire and
take refuge at Seville or Cadiz. This act revealed to the
world, and even to a large party among the French themselves,
the nature of the power which had been created at Tilsit. The
lawless acts of Napoleon's earlier life were palliated by the
name of the French Revolution, and since Brumaire he had
established a character for comparative moderation. But here
was naked violence without the excuse of fanaticism; and on
what a scale! One of the greater states of Europe was in the
hands of a burglar, who would moreover, if successful, become
king not only of Spain but of a boundless empire in the New
World. The sequel was worse even than this commencement,
although the course which events took seems to show that by
means of a little delay he might have attained his end without
such open defiance of law. The administration of Spain had
long been in the contemptible hands of Manuel Godoy, supposed
to be the queen's lover, yet at the same time high in the
favor of King Charles IV. Ferdinand, the heir apparent, headed
an opposition, but in character he was not better than the
trio he opposed, and he had lately been put under arrest on
suspicion of designs upon his father's life. To have fomented
this opposition without taking either side, and to have
rendered both sides equally contemptible to the Spanish
people, was Napoleon's game. The Spanish people, who
profoundly admired him, might then have been induced to ask
him for a king. Napoleon, however, perpetrated his crime
before the scandal of the palace broke out. The march of Murat
now brought it to a head. On March 17 a tumult broke out at
Aranjuez, which led to the fall of the favourite, and then to
the abdication of the king, and the proclamation of Ferdinand
amid universal truly Spanish enthusiasm. It was a fatal
mistake to have forced on this popular explosion, and Napoleon
has characteristically tried to conceal it by a supposititious
letter, dated March 29, in which he tries to throw the blame
upon Murat, to whom the letter professes to be addressed. It
warns Murat against rousing Spanish patriotism and creating an
opposition of the nobles and clergy, which will lead to a
'levée en masse,' and to a war without end. It predicts, in
short, all that took place, but it has every mark of
invention, and was certainly never received by Murat. The
reign of Ferdinand having thus begun, all that the French
could do was to abstain from acknowledging him, and to
encourage Charles to withdraw his abdication as given under
duress. By this means it became doubtful who was king of
Spain, and Napoleon, having carefully refrained from taking a
side, now presented himself as arbiter. Ferdinand was induced
to betake himself to Napoleon's presence at Bayonne, where he
arrived on April 21; his father and mother followed on the
30th. Violent scenes took place between father and son: news
arrived of an insurrection at Madrid and of the stern
suppression of it by Murat. In the end Napoleon succeeded in
extorting the abdication both of Charles and Ferdinand. It was
learned too late that the insurrection of Spain had not really
been suppressed.
{3001}
This crime, as clumsy as it was monstrous, brought on that
great popular insurrection of Europe against the universal
monarchy, which has profoundly modified all subsequent
history, and makes the Anti-Napoleonic Revolution an event of
the same order as the French Revolution. A rising unparalleled
for its suddenness and sublime spontaneousness took place
throughout Spain and speedily found a response in Germany. A
new impulse was given, out of which grew the great nationality
movement of the nineteenth century."

_J. R. Seeley,
Short History of Napoleon I.,
chapter 5, lecture 1._

ALSO IN:
_Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1800-1815,
chapter 52 (volume 11)._

_R. Southey,
History of the Peninsular War,
chapters 2-5 (volume 1)._

_M. de Bourrienne,
Private Memoirs of Napoleon,
volume 3, chapter 32._

_P. Lanfrey,
History of Napoleon,
volume 3, chapters 4 and 6-8._

SPAIN: A. D. 1808 (May-September).
The stolen crown conferred on Joseph Bonaparte.
National revolt.
Organization of Juntas and planning of guerilla war.
French reverses.
Quick flight of Joseph Bonaparte from Madrid.
Arrival of English forces to aid the people.