Juan, Count of Montizón
Encyclopedia
Don
Juan Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, Count of Montizón (May 15, 1822 – November 18, 1887) 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.
in Madrid
, the younger son of the Infante Carlos of Spain
, brother of King Ferdinand VII, and his first wife, Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal. He was raised in an atmosphere imbued with traditional values of loyalty to the monarchy and the Church.
In March 1833 Juan moved with his family to Portugal. The following September Juan's uncle Ferdinand VII died, and Juan's father Carlos claimed the throne of Spain as King Carlos V. Carlos opposed the succession of his infant niece Queen Isabella II
whose mother the Queen Regent Maria Christina
managed to take control on behalf of her daughter. In June 1834 Juan moved with his family to England where they lived at Gloucester Lodge, Old Brompton Road, and later at Alverstoke Old Rectory, Hampshire. He remained in England throughout the First Carlist War
, playing no part in it on account of his youth.
On January 15, 1837 the Cortes
which was controlled by the Isabellists passed a law, ratified by the Queen Regent Maria Christina, which excluded Juan, his father, and brothers from the Spanish succession. By the same law the title of Infante of Spain was removed from Juan and his family. From the perspective of the Carlists this law was invalid.
On February 6, 1847, Juan married the Archduchess Maria Beatrix of Austria-Este
, daughter of Duke Francis IV of Modena
and Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy
. The couple had two sons:
Juan and Beatrix lived first in Modena, but had to leave during the revolution of 1848. After a brief time in Austria, they settled in London where their younger son was born. In spite of the conservatism and religious piety of his own family and particularly that of his wife, Juan developed liberal tendencies. He separated from his wife who returned to Modena where she raised her two sons.
and forced to renounce his claims to the Spanish throne. On June 2 Juan published a declaration affirming his accession as Juan III, King of Spain; henceforward he used the title conde de Montizón (in commemoration of a commandery of the Order of Santiago
which belonged to his father). Juan's accession declaration used phrases such as "the light and progress of the age"; these phrases caused great offence to many Carlists most of whom refused to support him.
Once he had left Spain, his brother Carlos Luis renounced his abdication. On June 15 he declared that it was invalid since he had been forced to sign against his will. Juan refused to accept his brother's declaration. Until the unexpected death of Carlos Luis the following January, there were two Carlist claimants.
During the early 1860s the popularity of the government of Isabella II continued to decline. Juan's liberal views, however, ensured that he was not a viable candidate for the Carlists. In 1866, Juan's elder son Carlos (now aged eighteen) asked his father to abdicate his rights, but he did nothing. Two years later, however, on October 3, 1868, Juan signed a decree of abdication at Paris
. He became an active supporter of his son Carlos' attempts to regain the Spanish throne in the Third Carlist War
.
After his abdication Juan lived mostly in England in the town of Worthing. He used the name Charles Monfort. He lived with an Englishwoman, Ellen Sarah Carter, with whom he had a son John Monfort (1861–1929) and a daughter Helen (1859–1947)
died. Henri had been the Legitimist claimant to the throne of France
. Henri's widow, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este
, and a minority of his supporters held that Juan as senior male descendant of Louis XIV
was his successor. They proclaimed him as Jean III, King of France and Navarre. He issued a declaration saying, "Having become Head of the House of Bourbon by the death of my brother-in-law and cousin, the Comte de Chambord, I declare that I do not in any way renounce the rights to the throne of France which I have held since my birth". But other than this declaration he made no active claim to the French throne.
Juan died of angina at his home (25 Seafield Road) in Hove on Friday 18th November 1887. His death was registered by a Ellen Sarah Carter. His body was moved to the Church of the Sacred Heart, Norton Road, Hove on the 20th of November, where he lay in state until his funeral mass was held on the 24th November in the presence of his two sons; Don Carlos, Duke of Madrid and Don Alfonso, Duke of San Jamime.
His body was moved on the 6th of January 1888 from Hove to St Katherine's Dock London along with the body of his Grandmother, Queen Maria Francisa, who had been buried at the Roman Catholic Church of our Lady, Gosport, where she had been laid to rest in September 1834. The bodies left aboard the General Steamship Navigation Company's vessel on the 7th of January bound for Hamburg and then via Berlin and Vienna and on to Trieste
where it is buried in the chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo in Trieste Cathedral
. The inscription on his tomb names him as the King of Spain.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishmonarchy/4681561147/
Flamingo, London Zoo, 1852, by Don Juan, Comte de Montizón
http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishmonarchy/4681561149/
[death certificate]
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Juan Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, Count of Montizón (May 15, 1822 – November 18, 1887) 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...
from 1860 to 1868, 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...
from 1883 to 1887.
Youth and marriage
Juan was born at the Palacio Real de AranjuezPalacio Real de Aranjuez
The Royal Palace of Aranjuez is a residence of the King of Spain, located in the town of Aranjuez, Community of Madrid, Spain. The palace is open to the public as one of the Spanish royal sites....
in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, the younger son of the Infante Carlos of Spain
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...
, brother of King Ferdinand VII, and his first wife, Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal. He was raised in an atmosphere imbued with traditional values of loyalty to the monarchy and the Church.
In March 1833 Juan moved with his family to Portugal. The following September Juan's uncle Ferdinand VII died, and Juan's father Carlos claimed the throne of Spain as King Carlos V. Carlos opposed the succession of his infant niece Queen Isabella II
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
whose mother the Queen Regent Maria Christina
Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies was Queen consort of Spain and Regent of Spain .-Early years and first marriage:...
managed to take control on behalf of her daughter. In June 1834 Juan moved with his family to England where they lived at Gloucester Lodge, Old Brompton Road, and later at Alverstoke Old Rectory, Hampshire. He remained in England throughout the First Carlist War
First Carlist War
The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833-1839.-Historical background:At the beginning of the 18th century, Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain, promulgated the Salic Law, which declared illegal the inheritance of the Spanish crown by women...
, playing no part in it on account of his youth.
On January 15, 1837 the Cortes
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
which was controlled by the Isabellists passed a law, ratified by the Queen Regent Maria Christina, which excluded Juan, his father, and brothers from the Spanish succession. By the same law the title of Infante of Spain was removed from Juan and his family. From the perspective of the Carlists this law was invalid.
On February 6, 1847, Juan married the 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...
, daughter of Duke Francis IV of 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....
and Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy
Maria Beatrice of Savoy
Maria Beatrice of Savoy was a Princess of Savoy and Duchess of Modena by marriage. She was also the Jacobite Pretender from 1824 until her death.-Biography:...
. The couple had two sons:
- Carlos, Duke of MadridCarlos, Duke of MadridInfante 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...
(1848–1909). - Alfonso Carlos, Duke of San JaimeAlfonso Carlos, Duke of San JaimeAlfonso Carlos, Infante of Spain, Duke of San Jaime 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.-Early life:Alfonso Carlos was the second son of Infante Juan...
(1849–1936).
Juan and Beatrix lived first in Modena, but had to leave during the revolution of 1848. After a brief time in Austria, they settled in London where their younger son was born. In spite of the conservatism and religious piety of his own family and particularly that of his wife, Juan developed liberal tendencies. He separated from his wife who returned to Modena where she raised her two sons.
Claimant to the throne of Spain
Juan played no part in the 1860 Carlist rising led by his brother Carlos Luis, count of Montemolín. On April 21 Carlos Luis was captured by the troops of Isabella IIIsabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
and forced to renounce his claims to the Spanish throne. On June 2 Juan published a declaration affirming his accession as Juan III, King of Spain; henceforward he used the title conde de Montizón (in commemoration of a commandery of the Order of Santiago
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...
which belonged to his father). Juan's accession declaration used phrases such as "the light and progress of the age"; these phrases caused great offence to many Carlists most of whom refused to support him.
Once he had left Spain, his brother Carlos Luis renounced his abdication. On June 15 he declared that it was invalid since he had been forced to sign against his will. Juan refused to accept his brother's declaration. Until the unexpected death of Carlos Luis the following January, there were two Carlist claimants.
During the early 1860s the popularity of the government of Isabella II continued to decline. Juan's liberal views, however, ensured that he was not a viable candidate for the Carlists. In 1866, Juan's elder son Carlos (now aged eighteen) asked his father to abdicate his rights, but he did nothing. Two years later, however, on October 3, 1868, Juan signed a decree of abdication at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He became an active supporter of his son Carlos' attempts to regain the Spanish throne 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....
.
After his abdication Juan lived mostly in England in the town of Worthing. He used the name Charles Monfort. He lived with an Englishwoman, Ellen Sarah Carter, with whom he had a son John Monfort (1861–1929) and a daughter Helen (1859–1947)
Claimant to the throne of France
On August 24, 1883 Juan's distant cousin and brother-in-law Henri, comte de ChambordHenri, comte de Chambord
Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such...
died. Henri had been 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...
. Henri's widow, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este
Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (1817–1886)
Archduchess Maria Theresa 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. Through her marriage to Henri, comte de Chambord, Maria Theresa was also a member of the House of Bourbon...
, and a minority of his supporters held that Juan as senior male descendant of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
was his successor. They proclaimed him as Jean III, King of France and Navarre. He issued a declaration saying, "Having become Head of the House of Bourbon by the death of my brother-in-law and cousin, the Comte de Chambord, I declare that I do not in any way renounce the rights to the throne of France which I have held since my birth". But other than this declaration he made no active claim to the French throne.
Juan died of angina at his home (25 Seafield Road) in Hove on Friday 18th November 1887. His death was registered by a Ellen Sarah Carter. His body was moved to the Church of the Sacred Heart, Norton Road, Hove on the 20th of November, where he lay in state until his funeral mass was held on the 24th November in the presence of his two sons; Don Carlos, Duke of Madrid and Don Alfonso, Duke of San Jamime.
His body was moved on the 6th of January 1888 from Hove to St Katherine's Dock London along with the body of his Grandmother, Queen Maria Francisa, who had been buried at the Roman Catholic Church of our Lady, Gosport, where she had been laid to rest in September 1834. The bodies left aboard the General Steamship Navigation Company's vessel on the 7th of January bound for Hamburg and then via Berlin and Vienna and on to Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
where it is buried in the chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo in Trieste Cathedral
Trieste Cathedral
Trieste Cathedral , dedicated to Saint Justus, is the cathedral and main church of Trieste, in northern Italy. It is the seat of the Bishop of Trieste.-History:...
. The inscription on his tomb names him as the King of Spain.
Ancestors
External links
Obaysch the Hippopotamus, London Zoo, 1852, by Don Juan, Comte de Montizónhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/britishmonarchy/4681561147/
Flamingo, London Zoo, 1852, by Don Juan, Comte de Montizón
http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishmonarchy/4681561149/
[death certificate]