Abdications of Bayonne
View of Bayonne in 1760. | |
| Date | May 5–7, 1808 |
|---|---|
| Location | Bayonne, France |
| Participants | Charles IV of Spain, Ferdinand VII of Spain, Napoleon Bonaparte |
| Outcome | Abdication of Spanish throne by Charles IV and Ferdinand VII in favor of Napoleon, who appointed his brother Joseph I as King of Spain |
The abdications of Bayonne took place on May 5, 6, and 7 of 1808 in the castle of Marracq in Bayonne when the French emperor Napoleon I forced two Spanish kings—Charles IV and his son, Ferdinand VII—to renounce the throne in his favour. The move was Napoleon's response to the Tumult of Aranjuez (17–19 March), when Ferdinand VII forced his father's first abdication, and the uprising of 2 May against French troops in Spain (present in accordance with the Treaty of Fontainebleau). Napoleon in his turn handed the crown of Spain to his brother Joseph Bonaparte. The result of the abdications was further resistance to the French presence, resulting in the Peninsular War (1808–1814), a contributing factor to Napoleon's final defeat. Napoleon was eventually forced to release Ferdinand. On 11 December 1813, he reinstalled him as King of Spain (Treaty of Valençay).
The abdications were widely regarded as coerced. However, some historians have noted that neither Charles IV nor Ferdinand VII were adequately equipped to resist Napoleon's pressures and threats. Some authors have claimed they were "kidnapped" by Napoleon, though others avoid using this term to describe the events in Bayonne.
The abdications were not recognized in Spain or Spanish America by the "patriots". According to François-Xavier Guerra, the rejection of the new king Joseph I and loyalty to the captive Ferdinand VII were "widespread across all parts of the monarchy". However, some Spaniards, particularly among the enlightened elite, supported Joseph I, initially being called "traitors" or "sworn ones", and later "josefinos" or, pejoratively, "afrancesados". Spanish "patriots" referred to Joseph I as the "intruder king". Days after Joseph I hurriedly left Madrid on July 31 due to the French defeat at the Battle of Bailén, the Council of Castile declared the Bayonne abdications null. On August 24, Ferdinand VII was proclaimed king in absentia. Subsequently, on January 14, 1809, the United Kingdom, the main enemy of the First French Empire, recognized His Catholic Majesty Ferdinand VII as King of Spain in the Treaty of Apodaca-Canning. With the direct intervention of the Grande Armée led personally by Napoleon, Joseph I regained the throne, which he held until June 1813. As some Spaniards supported him, the Spanish War of Independence also had elements of a civil war.