Infante Carlos of Spain (1788 - 1855). Carlos de Borbón was an Infante of Spain and the second surviving son of King Charles IV of Spain and of his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma. As Charles V, he was the first of the Carlist claimants to the throne of Spain. He is often referred to simply as 'Don Carlos'. He was a reactionary who stridently opposed liberalism in Spain and the assaults on the Catholic Church. He claimed the throne of Spain after the death of his older brother King Ferdinand VII in 1833. His claim was contested by liberal forces loyal to the dead king's infant daughter. The result was the bloody First Carlist War. Don Carlos had support from Basque provinces and much of Catalonia, but lost the war and never became king. His heirs continued the arch-conservative cause, fought two more Carlist wars and were active into the mid-20th century, but never obtained the throne. Carlos was born on 29 March 1788 at the Palacio Real de Aranjuez in Aranjuez, Community of Madrid. In 1808, Napoleon captured Madrid in the Battle of Somosierra, and he induced Carlos's father Charles IV and Carlos' older brother Ferdinand VII to renounce their rights to the throne of Spain. But Carlos, who was heir presumptive to his brother, refused to renounce his rights to the throne, which he considered to have been given to him by God. From 1808 until 1814, he and his brothers were prisoners of Napoleon at the palace of Valençay in France. In 1814, Carlos and the rest of the Spanish royal family returned to Madrid. In September 1816, he married his niece Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal, daughter of King John VI of Portugal and Carlos' sister Carlota Joaquina. Francisca was also sister of the second wife of Carlos' brother, Ferdinand VII. The couple had three sons: Infante Carlos de Borbón y Braganza, known as Count of Montemolin. Infante Juan de Borbón y Braganza, known as Count of Montizón. Infante Fernando de Borbón y Braganza. Apart from several formal offices, Carlos took no significant part in the government of Spain. Ferdinand VII had found it necessary to cooperate with the moderate liberals and to sign a Constitution. Carlos, however, was known for his firm belief in the divine right of kings to govern absolutely, the rigid orthodoxy of his religious opinions, and the piety of his life. During the revolutionary troubles of 1820-1823, Carlos was threatened by the extreme radicals, but no attack was made on him. While there were certain conservatives in Spain who wanted to put Carlos on the throne immediately, Carlos himself was a firm believer in the legitimate succession and would never have taken up arms against his brother. In May 1830, Ferdinand VII published the Pragmatic Sanction, again allowing daughters to succeed to the Spanish throne as well as sons. This decree had originally been approved by the Cortes in 1789, but it had never been officially promulgated. On 10 October 1830, Ferdinand's wife gave birth to a daughter Isabella, who thereupon displaced her uncle in the line of succession. The clerical party continued to support the rights of Carlos to the throne. They considered the Pragmatic Sanction not only impractical but also illegal. They intrigued in favour of Carlos, but he himself would do no more than assert his rights in words. His wife and her sister, Maria Teresa, the princess of Beira, on the other hand, were actively engaged in intrigues with the apostólicos. In March 1833, Ferdinand 'authorised' Carlos to go to Portugal with his wife and sister-in-law. The 'authorisation' was in fact an order to remove Carlos and his adherents from Spain. In April 1833, Ferdinand called upon Carlos to take an oath of allegiance to Isabella as Princess of Asturias, the title traditionally used by the first in line to the throne. In respectful but firm terms, Carlos refused. He had no personal desire for the throne, but he was adamant that he could not renounce what he considered to be his God-given rights and responsibilities. Ferdinand VII died on 29 September 1833. In Madrid, his widow declared herself regent for their daughter. On 1 October, Carlos issued a manifesto declaring his own accession to the throne. He informed the members of Maria Cristina's government that they were confirmed in their posts, and proceeded to the Portuguese-Spanish border. There, he was met by forces loyal to Maria Cristina and Isabella, who threatened to arrest him. Carlos remained in Portugal, which itself was in a state of civil war between the adherents of Carlos' nephew and brother-in-law Miguel and his grand-niece, Miguel's niece Maria II. In Spain, there were various risings which developed into the First Carlist War.