Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Infante
Carlos of Spain (29 March 1788 - 10 March 1855) was the second surviving
son of King Charles IV of Spain and of his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma.
As Carlos V he was the first of the Carlist claimants to the throne of
Spain. He is often referred to simply as 'Don Carlos', but should not be
confused with Carlos, son of King Philip II of Spain, after whom Verdi's
opera is named. 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 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 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 (1800-1834),
daughter of King John VI of Portugal and Carlos' sister Carlota
Joaquina.
