WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
The secret history of the court of Spain during the last century cover

The secret history of the court of Spain during the last century

Chapter 2: AUTHOR’S NOTE
By Rachel Challice
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

History - EuropeanHistory - Royalty

About This Book

A chronological survey assembled from Spanish sources traces the intrigues, personal scandals, political maneuvers, regencies, contested successions, and international interactions that shaped the royal court over the century. It examines the private lives and policies of successive monarchs and regents, matrimonial alliances and scandals, ministerial struggles and revolutions, and the court's influence on national politics. The narrative integrates documentary material, contemporary memoirs, and portraits, and situates palace events alongside broader political crises. Illustrations and archival references accompany episodic chapters that recount uprisings, reforms, dynastic negotiations, and the gradual transition toward a modern constitutional monarchy.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

In presenting this history to the British public, I must draw attention to the fact that the material is gathered solely from Spanish sources, so that where the statements do not tally with the reports of English historians it must be remembered that the book, as the mouthpiece of Spanish writers, may lay claim to a special interest of its own, particularly as some of these books are not known in our country.

Thus, the account of the character of Ferdinand VII., the story of the Second of May, 1808, the relations between England and Spain during the reign of Isabella II., and the account of the recent Regency of Maria Cristina, may open points of view not generally entertained in England, but the fact of their sources may entitle them to some attention.

The history of the Regency ending in 1902, by Ortega Rubio, was only published last year, and it was as a privileged reader of the library of the Royal Palace at Madrid that I studied it. The book referred to by Galdos has also only recently seen the light. I owe much of the information to the celebrated bibliophile, Don Fernando Bremon, who garnered it for me from many histories now out of print and from manuscripts which came into his hand from his connection with celebrities of the Spanish Court. Other sources of information were open to me at the valuable library of the Athenæum at Madrid, of which I was made an honorary member during my stay in the capital; and I have also to render tribute to those whose personal recollections have added to the interest of my survey of Court life during the last century.

RACHEL CHALLICE.