UBB-2

1284. The Carlist Wars in Spain, by Edgar Holt (25 Aug 1974) I guess I should be glad I am not supposed to be a serious historian, since I just gobble up popular history. This book is compiled from secondary sources, but I found it fast-paced and absorbing. I really did not have a good idea about what the Carlist Wars were before this. Ferdinand VII died Sept 29, 1833, leaving a daughter, Isabel II, born 10 Oct 1830. Don Carlos, Ferdinand's brother, claimed the Salic law applied and thus he became king. But the Salic law had been privately repealed by the Cortes in 1789. The first Carlist War ended in 1840. It had been a momentous struggle. The more traditional and autocratic forces were behind Don Carlos; his rallying cry was "For God, Country, & King." Don Carlos' grandson, Don Carlos II, was born Mar 30, 1848. The second Carlist war began in 1872 and ended in 1876. There have been Carlists in Spain ever since but now they are not significant. I rather admire their quixotic cause, even as I do that of the Trojans, Carthage, and the Stuarts. ( )