Key Takeaways
- Medieval kingdoms united to produce Spain’s first royal family from under the rule of a Muslim caliphate.
- Only four royal houses have ruled Spain during the last 500 years, with just two dominating the throne.
- Wars, revolutions, dictatorships, and republics haven’t stopped Spain’s monarchy, which still carries out legislative deeds.
- Spaniards today are split about whether to maintain a royal family.
Spain’s intriguing and colorful history has been dramatically influenced by its equally beguiling Spanish royal family. Indeed, Spanish royalty and history have walked hand-in-hand through revolutions, drunk monarchs, and conquests. There was even a so-called “crazy lady” whose actions influenced the Spanish monarchs for centuries and led to the modern Spanish royal family’s reign.
Like many royal families, Spain’s royal family history is one of seizing power at opportune moments, good and bad luck, and rising and falling empires under different houses. Add a splash of vested interests, money, prestige, and corruption, and it’s not surprising people are still intrigued by the Spanish monarchs.
Read on to discover more about Spain’s founding and present-day monarchs and how they shaped Spanish and world history.
Spanish Royalty and History: Before the Monarchs
Many historians refer to the late 15th century as the birth of Spain, with 1492 as the exact date.
However, the Iberian peninsula formed part of the early Phoenician and Roman empires long before then, with Christianity arriving little more than a century after Jesus’ death.
By the fifth century, marauding Germanic tribes called Visigoths made inroads from the north into Spain, attacking Rome’s weakening empire and ruling the peninsula until the 8th century.
Meanwhile, in the south of Spain, Muslim forces began their own conquests, invading and conquering Spain over a seven-year period. By 711, Spain was under Muslim rule, starting a so-called Golden Age of learning, art, math, engineering, tolerance, and prosperity. Moorish rule lasted in various forms until 1492.
Spanish Royalty and History: The Beginning
Despite being under Muslim rule, Spain retained its medieval Christian kingdoms: Asturias, Castile-Leon, Navarre, and Aragon-Catalonia.
Christians fought battles against Muslims to recover territories in what was known as the Reconquista, the reconquering of Spain. By the 13th century, the Moors controlled southern Spain, and the Christians controlled the north.
These Christian kingdoms had monarchies. Uniting these kingdoms led to the birth of Spain and the Spanish royal family.
In 1479, Fernando II, the King of Aragón and known as the Catholic, married Queen Isabel I of Castilla y León. This union united several kingdoms, creating one of Europe’s most powerful countries.
The new couple waged an 11-year war on Granada, the last Muslim stronghold. In 1492, Granada came under their rule, and Spain was united as a Catholic kingdom. The tolerant era was swept aside and replaced by a new dawn under the name España.
A Brief Resumé of the Spanish Royal Family’s Houses
In 1479, Fernando II, the King of Aragón and known as the Catholic, married Queen Isabel I of Castilla y León.
The history of Spain and the royal family entered a new era. The following five centuries saw España become a world-dominating superpower and fall into dictatorship and revolution.
Spanish royalty remains a common thread throughout this era. There are four key royal families throughout this period:
- Habsburgs: This royal family ruled Austria from 1282-1918 and reigned over Spain for almost two centuries (1504-06 and 1516-1700).
- Bourbons: A French royal family whose descendants remain monarchs to the Spanish people today. The French Bourbons provided kings or queens to Spain over four periods, from 1700-1808, 1814-1868, 1874-1931, and 1975 to the present.
- Bonaparte: Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s family had a brief, five-year monarchy in Spain.
- Savoy: An Italian royal family whose one king of Spain lasted four years.
Royal families always have enemies, and there are always plots, subplots, and vested interests plotting their destinies. Let’s examine the Spanish royalty’s family tree.
King Fernando II and Queen Isabel I: The Catholic Monarchs
The political marriage in 1479 of Ferdinand II (Fernando) and Queen Isabella I kickstarted Spain’s modern history and imperial expansion. Crucial elements of European history stem from this wedding.
Under them, the Spanish Inquisition brought about strict Catholicism, with Muslims and Jews expelled if they didn’t convert. Liberating Granada from Moorish rule allowed Christopher Columbus to voyage to the Americas and establish Spain’s empire.
However, their male heir died. A daughter, Catherine of Aragon, became English King Henry VIII’s first wife. Another daughter, Juana, became known as “Juana La Loca” or Joan the Mad.
Juana played a vital part in Spanish royalty and history. As a strategic move, she married the Habsburg archduke, Philip I, also known as the handsome one. In a power battle, Juana became torn between her father’s wishes and those of her husband.
Historians report that Juana was a passionate and loving wife who would attack supposed love rivals her attractive husband entertained. She ended her life locked away, supposedly depressed or suffering from schizophrenia, while Philip ruled, cementing Habsburg’s rule of Spain for two centuries. Her story has been dramatized in the movie “Juana la Loca.”
The House of Habsburgs in Spain
The Habsburgs oversaw Spain’s empire-building days. Charles I (Carlos) was the first official King of Spain, later ruling as Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor (1519–56). He was also King of Germany and Italy, among other titles. Under his rule, Spain became the most powerful nation in the world. With the Pope’s blessing, Charles I exported Catholicism across his empire, from the Americas to the Philippines, an empire on which “the sun never set.”
Next came Philip II (Felipe, 1556-98), known as Philip the Prudent (Felipe el Prudente in Spanish) because of his wise political moves. His rule was known as Spain’s Golden Age. However, it was under Philip II that Spain’s attempts to invade the British Isles failed, which would have repercussions for the Spanish royal family a century later.
In 1588, the Spanish Armada’s ill-planned attack and poorly-trained crews were soundly beaten by English ships defending England. Fleeing Spanish boats floundered during bad weather, preventing the Catholic Spaniards from reclaiming the English crown, Protestant under Elizabeth I’s rule. This battle’s reverberations would shudder through world history for centuries.
There followed Philip III (1598–1621), Philip IV (1621–65), and then Charles II (Carlos, 1665-1700). Known as “el hechizado” (the bewitched), Charles II bore no children, sparking the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), a grand battle for one of Europe’s superpowers and a change in Spanish royalty and history.
The Spanish Royal Family: The House of Bourbon
Charles II dying without an heir left a power vacuum. Both the House of Habsburg and the House of Bourbon claimed the Spanish throne. A long, complex war involving House Allies ensued.
The War of Succession ended with many treaties signed, ceding various territories and trading rights between countries. The House of Bourbon claimed the Spanish throne, with King Philip V ruling from 1700 to 1724. He lost the crown for six months to his son, Luis, who died, then ruled again (1724-46).
Spain enjoyed a renaissance under Philip V, but the overarching outcome was the demise of French and Spanish power. Philip II’s Spanish Armada’s failure to defeat the English a century earlier came home to roost. England’s surviving the attack led to its union with Scotland, its rejection of Catholicism, and the replacement of France and Spain with a flourishing British empire.
Philip V’s rise also marked the Bourbon’s domination of the crown of Spain over four separate periods:
- 1700 to 1808
- 1814 to 1868
- 1874 to 1931
- 1975 to present.
The Bourbons steadily revived Spain’s fortunes until 1808, with Ferdinand VII (Fernando) on the throne.
Spanish Royal Family and Spain in Turmoil
History would take more twists. Napoleon attacked Spain. Ferdinand VII (Fernando) was imprisoned during the Napoleonic wars as the French invaded Spain. Regardless, many countries opposing France continued to recognize Fernando as the Spanish king.
The House of Bonaparte saw their chance, and Napoleon appointed his elder brother King. Officially called Joseph I, the Spanish people called him Pepé Botella (Joe the Bottle) thanks to his penchant for drinking. Pepé “ruled” from 1808 to 1813, when Ferdinand VII was released and resumed his seat.
Spain was to lose most of its colonies during Fernando’s second reign. Before he died in Madrid in 1833, Ferdinand VII abolished Philip V’s Salic Law, which prevented a woman from taking the Spanish throne. That allowed his then three-year-old daughter, Isabella, to become Isabella II, the only Queen Regnant in unified Spain’s history.
Isabella II’s mother, Queen Maria Christina, served as regent and changed Spain from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy, giving Spanish people the right to vote for the first time. Isabella II (1833-68) did not enjoy a happy reign, with rumors of an insatiable appetite for men and republican uprisings.
Spain’s Republic Revolution of 1868
Spain’s “La Gloriosa” translates to the Glorious Revolution. Isabella II was overthrown and went to live in exile in France, and a government was installed in 1868.
The Fourth House of Spain came to power, the House of Savoy. Amadeus became the only king of Spain from Italy (1870-73). He abdicated, and Spain lived a short-lived and tumultuous republican phase for several months.
It ended with the return of a Bourbon king, Alfonso XII, Isabella II’s eldest son, to the throne. His reign (1874-85) was fairly tranquil, the calm before another storm.
Spain’s Royal Family Face Fascists and Republicans
Alfonso XIII (1886-1931) loved the military and interfered with politics, switching conservative and liberal governments 33 times between 1902 and 1923.
He faced multiple assassination attempts, including on his wedding day. But his political meddling increased, often with dire results. By 1931, the embattled King called elections, which the Republicans and Socialists won easily. Alfonso XIII’s abdication drew the curtain on another Bourbon era of rule, replaced by the Second Spanish Republic.
Within five years, in 1936, the Spanish Civil War started. General Francisco Franco emerged as the leader and dictator, initially without space for a Spanish royal family.
That meant no rule for Alfonso XIII’s son, Juan III, known as Don Juan, the Count of Barcelona. Don Juan demanded his title, but in 1947, Franco instead declared Spain a monarchy with himself ruling as its regent. Franco would later offer an olive branch to restore the Bourbon dynasty.
Spanish Royalty and History: The Return
It seems that war, revolution, or dictatorships cannot bring down the Spanish monarchy and the House of Bourbon.
In 1969, a waning Franco announced that Don Juan’s son, Juan Carlos I, was the Spanish throne’s heir apparent. Franco died in 1975 and appointed Juan Carlos I as King and Spain’s new ruler.
King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía brought about a return to democracy, with a modern Spanish Constitution written in 1978, safeguarding Spaniards’ rights. Spain’s modernization was complete when it joined the European Union in 1986.
The King’s life was one of tragedy and controversy. At age 18, Juan Carlos I shot dead his younger brother in what was described as a hunting accident. A string of extra-marital affairs, corruption investigations involving his daughter’s husband, and a show-of-wealth elephant hunting trip during one of Spain’s economic crises saw his abdication in 2014.
Who Is Spain’s Current King and Royal Family?
Juan Carlos I’s son assumed the Spanish throne in 2014. King Felipe VI (Philip VI) reigns with Queen Letizia and remains the head of state. Spain’s monarchs are apolitical but mainly participate in ceremonial international affairs. However, they appoint presidents and cabinet members, sign treaties, and even declare wars.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia have two daughters, the eldest being Leonor, Princess of Asturias, and the youngest being Sofia, known as Infanta Sofía. Their official residence is the large, 18th-century palace, the Royal Palace of Madrid, but they usually reside at Palacio de la Zarzuela on the city’s outskirts.
Spain’s royal family has male-preference primogeniture, meaning male heirs of any age take precedence over females for succession. Still, Leonor is first in line to the throne, followed by Sofía. If no male heir appears, they will become Spain’s third Queen, following Isabel I, the Catholic Queen of 1492, and Isabella II.
What Is the Order of Succession in the Spanish Royal Family?
Succession to the Spanish throne still favors males. This is the current order of succession for the Spanish royal family:
- Leonor de Borbón, Princess of Asturias, the current monarch’s first daughter
- Infanta Sofía de Borbón, the current monarch’s second daughter
- Infanta Elena de Borbón, Duchess of Lugo, Juan Carlos I’s eldest daughter
- Don Felipe Juan Froilán de Marichalar y Borbón, son of Elena de Borbón
- Doña Victoria Frederica de Marichalar y Borbón, daughter of Elena de Borbón
- Infanta Cristina de Borbón of Spain, Juan Carlos I’s youngest daughter
Spanish Royalty and History: A Never-Ending Drama
Spanish royalty and history stem from war, uniting medieval kingdoms to expel the ruling Muslims and create a unified Spain for the first time.
From there, two Houses ruled as Spanish monarchs for almost 500 years. First, the Austrian House of Habsburgs guided Spain to its empire and riches for 200 years. Another war, to see who would succeed to the throne after Charles II died without an heir, led to the House of Bourbon becoming Spain’s monarchy until the modern day.
Napoleon, French invasions, and diminishing global influence led to domestic upheavals. Revolutions and a dictator deposed monarchs, but the royals always found their way back to the throne.
Ironically, a monarch, Juan Carlos I, led Spain to its modern and democratic constitution. He would fall to scandals worthy of an episode of “Game of Thrones” to be replaced by his son, the current King Felipe VI, whose rule has been, so far, relatively smooth.
The next chapter of the Spanish royal family’s history is being written, and it may soon include that rarest of Spanish monarchs—a Queen. Whether that changes the increasingly skeptical public’s opinion of the royal family’s role in the modern world remains to be seen.
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