Alfonso Carlos, Duke of San Jaime
Encyclopedia
Alfonso Carlos, Infante of Spain, Duke of San Jaime (Alfonso Carlos Fernando José Juan Pío; London
, 12 September 1849 – Vienna
, 29 September 1936) was the Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain
under the name Alfonso Carlos I and the Legitimist claimant to the throne of France
under the name Charles XII.
and Archduchess Maria Beatrix of Austria-Este
. Since his parents separated when he was young, he and his elder brother were raised in Modena
under the tutelage of his maternal uncle Duke Francis V of Modena
.
which had been formed to defend the Papal States
from the army of the Kingdom of Italy
. In 1869 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In September 1870 he fought for the pope during the Capture of Rome
where he defended the Porta Pia
. When he was ordered to surrender, he refused to give up his sword which had belonged to his grandfather Carlos V
. He escaped to Toulon
in a French naval ship.
In 1872 Alfonso Carlos joined the armies of his older brother Carlos, Duke of Madrid
, in the Third Carlist War
in Spain. He was appointed commanding general of the Royal Army of Catalonia
and distinguished himself at the Battle of Alpens
in July 1873 and the siege of Cuenca
in July 1874. In spite of these successes, however, the Carlists eventually lost the war which was over by February 1876.
where he owned castles at Puchheim
and at Ebenzweier near Altmünster
, and a house in the Theresianumgasse in Vienna
. He devoted himself to the abolition of duelling. In order to gain popular support, he wrote a book on the topic in French (translated into German), and several journal articles in English. He used his wide social contacts to encourage the establishment of anti-duelling leagues in the German Empire (with his wife's uncle Charles, 6th Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, as President), France, Austria, Italy (under the patronage of King Victor Emmanuel II
), Hungary, Belgium, and Spain (with King Alfonso XIII
as Honorary President).
and accepts our fundamental proposition of fueros-regional rights". Since many Carlists believed that Alfonso Carlos' heir presumptive according to the Salic law, the deposed King Alfonso XIII of Spain, did not hold to traditional principles, Alfonso Carlos designated his wife's nephew Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma
as Regent of the Carlist movement.
When the Spanish Civil War
broke out, Alfonso Carlos instructed his Carlist followers to cooperate with the Nationalists under the command of General Francisco Franco
.
On September 28, 1936, Alfonso Carlos was hit by a military truck as he crossed a street in Vienna. He died the next day. His body was buried in the chapel of his castle at Puchheim.
The obituary for Alfonso Carlos in The Times
described him as "a great gentleman ... ; the very picture of distinction in his looks, there was in him a rare combination of uprightness, simplicity, and kindliness; and through it all there ran a vein of deep, unostentatious religious feeling."
Alfonso Carlos was the last male male-line descendant of Infante Carlos, Count of Molina
. With his death the position of senior male descendant of King Charles IV of Spain
passed to the deposed King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
in Bavaria
, Alfonso Carlos married Infanta Maria das Neves of Portugal
, a daughter of King Miguel of Portugal
and Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
. They had no children. Maria das Neves accompanied Alfonso Carlos on many of his military campaigns in Spain.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 12 September 1849 – Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, 29 September 1936) was the Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
under the name Alfonso Carlos I and the Legitimist claimant to the throne of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
under the name Charles XII.
Early life
Alfonso Carlos was the second son of Infante Juan of Spain, Count of MontizónJuan, Count of Montizón
Don Juan Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, Count of Montizón was the Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain from 1860 to 1868, and the Legitimist claimant to the throne of France from 1883 to 1887.- Youth and marriage :...
and Archduchess Maria Beatrix of Austria-Este
Archduchess Maria Beatrix of Austria-Este
Maria Beatrix of Austria-Este was a member of the House of Austria-Este and Archduchess and Princess of Austria, Princess of Hungary, Bohemia, and Modena by birth. Daughter of Francis IV of Modena and his niece, Beatrix II of Modena...
. Since his parents separated when he was young, he and his elder brother were raised in Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
under the tutelage of his maternal uncle Duke Francis V of Modena
Francis V, Duke of Modena
Francesco Ferdinando Geminiano von Habsburg-Lothringen, known as Francis V of Modena , Archduke of Austria-Este, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, was Duke of Modena, Reggio, and Mirandola, Duke of Guastalla , Duke of Massa and Prince of Carrara from 1846 to 1859...
.
Military career
In 1868 Alfonso Carlos joined the Papal ZouavesPapal Zouaves
The Papal Zouaves were an infantry force formed in defence of the Papal States.-Origin:The Zouaves evolved out of a unit formed by Christophe Léon Louis Juchault de Lamoricière...
which had been formed to defend the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
from the army of the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
. In 1869 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In September 1870 he fought for the pope during the Capture of Rome
Capture of Rome
The Capture of Rome was the final event of the long process of Italian unification known as the Risorgimento, which finally unified the Italian peninsula under King Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy...
where he defended the Porta Pia
Porta Pia
Porta Pia is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. One of Pope Pius IV's civic improvements to the city, it is named after him. Situated at the end of a new street, the Via Pia, it was designed by Michelangelo in replacement for the Porta Nomentana situated several hundred meters...
. When he was ordered to surrender, he refused to give up his sword which had belonged to his grandfather Carlos V
Infante Carlos, Count of Molina
The Infante Carlos of Spain 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 escaped to Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
in a French naval ship.
In 1872 Alfonso Carlos joined the armies of his older brother Carlos, Duke of Madrid
Carlos, Duke of Madrid
Infante Carlos María de los Dolores Juan Isidro José Francisco Quirin Antonio Miguel Gabriel Rafael de Borbón y Austria-Este, Duke of Madrid was the senior member of the House of Bourbon from 1887 until his death...
, in the Third Carlist War
Third Carlist War
The Third Carlist War was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is very often referred to as the Second Carlist War, as the 'second' had been small in scale and almost trivial in political consequence....
in Spain. He was appointed commanding general of the Royal Army of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and distinguished himself at the Battle of Alpens
Alpens
Alpens is a municipality situated in the Lluçanès zone, within the comarca of Osona, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Alpens is located 105 km from the city of Barcelona and 35 km from the comarca capital, Vic....
in July 1873 and the siege of Cuenca
Cuenca, Spain
-History:When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria...
in July 1874. In spite of these successes, however, the Carlists eventually lost the war which was over by February 1876.
Campaigner against duelling
Alfonso Carlos spent most of the rest of his life in AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
where he owned castles at Puchheim
Puchheim
Puchheim is a city near Munich in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany. It has about 20,000 inhabitants, and is located at .Puchheim is divided into two parts: the old and rural part called Puchheim-Ort and the new part of Puchheim that was founded when the S-Bahn was built....
and at Ebenzweier near Altmünster
Altmünster
Altmünster is a market town located about 3 kilometres south of Gmunden in Upper Austria, on the west shore of the Traunsee. Its economic base consists primarily of tourism, light industry, and as a bedroom community for people working in larger communities such as Gmunden and Vöcklabruck....
, and a house in the Theresianumgasse in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. He devoted himself to the abolition of duelling. In order to gain popular support, he wrote a book on the topic in French (translated into German), and several journal articles in English. He used his wide social contacts to encourage the establishment of anti-duelling leagues in the German Empire (with his wife's uncle Charles, 6th Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, as President), France, Austria, Italy (under the patronage of King Victor Emmanuel II
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
Victor Emanuel II was king of Sardinia from 1849 and, on 17 March 1861, he assumed the title King of Italy to become the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878...
), Hungary, Belgium, and Spain (with King Alfonso XIII
Alfonso XIII of Spain
Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until 1931. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, was appointed regent during his minority...
as Honorary President).
Claimant to Spanish and French thrones
On October 2, 1931, at the age of 82 Alfonso Carlos succeeded his nephew Jaime, Duke of Madrid as Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain and legitimist claimant to the throne of France. He issued several manifestos to his Spanish followers including one in August 1932 and another in June 1934. He affirmed that he would be "succeeded by whoever follows me according to the Salic lawSalic law
Salic law was a body of traditional law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the early Middle Ages during the reign of King Clovis I in the 6th century...
and accepts our fundamental proposition of fueros-regional rights". Since many Carlists believed that Alfonso Carlos' heir presumptive according to the Salic law, the deposed King Alfonso XIII of Spain, did not hold to traditional principles, Alfonso Carlos designated his wife's nephew Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma
Xavier, Duke of Parma
Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, known before 1974 as Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma was the head of the ducal House of Bourbon-Parma, pretender to the defunct throne of Parma, and Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain under the name Javier I.-Early life:Xavier...
as Regent of the Carlist movement.
When the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
broke out, Alfonso Carlos instructed his Carlist followers to cooperate with the Nationalists under the command of General Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
.
On September 28, 1936, Alfonso Carlos was hit by a military truck as he crossed a street in Vienna. He died the next day. His body was buried in the chapel of his castle at Puchheim.
The obituary for Alfonso Carlos in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
described him as "a great gentleman ... ; the very picture of distinction in his looks, there was in him a rare combination of uprightness, simplicity, and kindliness; and through it all there ran a vein of deep, unostentatious religious feeling."
Alfonso Carlos was the last male male-line descendant of Infante Carlos, Count of Molina
Infante Carlos, Count of Molina
The Infante Carlos of Spain 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...
. With his death the position of senior male descendant of King Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
passed to the deposed King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
Marriage
On April 26, 1871, at KleinheubachKleinheubach
Kleinheubach is a market community in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and the seat of the like-named Verwaltungsgemeinschaft .- Location :...
in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Alfonso Carlos married Infanta Maria das Neves of Portugal
Infanta Maria das Neves of Portugal
Infanta Maria das Neves of Portugal was the eldest child and daughter of exiled Miguel of Portugal and his wife Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg...
, a daughter of King Miguel of Portugal
Miguel of Portugal
Dom Miguel I, sometimes Michael , was the King of Portugal between 1828 and 1834, the seventh child and second son of King John VI and his queen, Charlotte of Spain....
and Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg was the wife of King Miguel of Portugal but only following his deposition. As a widow, she secured advantageous marriages for their six daughters.-Family:...
. They had no children. Maria das Neves accompanied Alfonso Carlos on many of his military campaigns in Spain.
Publications
- "The Effort to Abolish the Duel", The North American Review 175 (August 1902): 194-200.
- "The Fight Against Duelling in Europe", The Fortnightly Review 90 (August 1, 1908): 169-184.
- Resumé de l'histoire de la création et du développement des ligues contre le duel et pour la protection de l'honneur dans les différents pays de l'Europe de fin novembre 1900 à fin octobre 1908 (Vienna: Jasper, 1908). German translation: Kurzgefasste Geschichte der Bildung und Entwicklung der Ligen wider den Zweikampf und zum Schutze der Ehre in den verschiedenen Ländern Europas von Ende November 1900 bis 7. Februar 1908 (Vienna: J. Roller, 1909).
- Documentos de D. Alfonso Carlos de Borbon y de Austria-Este (Madrid: Editorial Tradicionalista, 1950).
Ancestry
Further reading
- Maria das Neves de Borbón. Mis memorias sobre nuestra campaña en Cataluña en 1872 y 1873 y en el centro en 1874. 1a parte, de 21 abril 1872 a 31 agosto 1873 (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1934). His wife's memoirs of the Third Carlist War.