Pragmatic Sanction of 1830

A decree by Ferdinand VII that suspended the Salic Law and allowed his daughter Isabella to inherit the Spanish throne.

Salic Law: A rule of succession that excludes women and their descendants from inheriting a throne. The decree reversed the exclusion of women established by this succession rule.
First Carlist War: A Spanish civil war fought from 1833 to 1840 over the succession of Isabella II or Carlos María Isidro. The decree’s effect on the succession helped ignite this war.
Pragmatic Sanction of 1789: A decree approved by the Spanish Cortes in 1789 to restore succession through female heirs, whose publication was delayed. It established the earlier legislative basis that Ferdinand VII’s 1830 decree put into effect.
Don Carlos, the Infante: A 1830s portrait of Carlos María Isidro de Borbón by Vicente López y Portaña. Portraiture presents the claimant whose dynastic challenge became the decree’s most visible political consequence.
Charles IV of Spain: King of Spain from 1788 to 1808 and father of Ferdinand VII. His 1789 decision to repeal the Salic Law became central to the dispute over the 1830 decree.
Carlism: A Spanish royalist movement supporting the descendants of Carlos María Isidro and traditionalist politics. Carlists rejected Isabella’s succession and defended the rival dynastic claim.
Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom: The traditional legal framework governing succession and royal authority in Spain. The dispute concerned how Spanish succession law applied and whether the Salic restriction remained binding.
Royal Decree of 1832: A decree issued during Ferdinand VII’s illness that revoked the 1830 succession measure before it was restored. Its reversal and subsequent annulment exposed the instability of the succession settlement.
Ferdinand VII: King of Spain whose reign ran from 1808 and 1813–1833, interrupted by French occupation. He issued the decree to secure his daughter’s succession.
Carlos María Isidro de Borbón: Ferdinand VII’s younger brother, whose claim to the Spanish throne was displaced by Isabella’s. He was the principal rival claimant after the decree enabled Isabella to inherit.

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