Ferdinand VI, (September 23, 1713 – August 10, 1759), King of Spain from 1746 until his death, second son of Philip V, founder of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty (as opposed to the French Bourbons), by his first marriage with Maria Louisa of Savoy, was born at Madrid on September 23 1713.
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His youth was depressed. His father's second wife, Elizabeth Farnese, was a domineering woman, who had no affection except for her own children, and who looked upon her stepson as an obstacle to their fortunes. The hypochondria of his father left Elizabeth mistress of the palace. Ferdinand was married in 1729 to Maria Barbara of Braganza, daughter of John V of Portugal and Mary Anne of Austria. The very homely looks of his wife were thought by observers to cause the prince a visible shock when he was first presented to her. Yet he became deeply attached to his wife, and proved in fact nearly as uxorious as his father.
Ferdinand was by temperament melancholy, shy and distrustful of his own abilities. When complimented on his shooting, he replied, "It would be hard if there were not something I could do." As king he followed a steady policy of neutrality in the conflict between France and England, and refused to be tempted by the offers of either into declaring war on the other. In his life he was orderly and retiring, averse from taking decisions, though not incapable of acting firmly, as when he cut short the dangerous intrigues of his able minister Zenón de Somodevilla y Bengoechea, Marquis of Ensenada by dismissing and imprisoning him. He was called Ferdinand the Learned for his refined pursuits.
Shooting and music were his only pleasures, and he was the generous patron of the famous singer Farinelli, whose voice soothed his melancholy. The death of his wife Maria Barbara, who had been devoted to him, and who carefully abstained from political intrigue, broke his heart. Between the date of her death in 1758 and his own on August 10 1759, he fell into a state of prostration in which he would not even dress, but wandered unshaven, unwashed and in a nightgown about his park. The memoirs of the count of Fernan Nuñez give a shocking picture of his deathbed.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public ___domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
Ancestors
| Ferdinand VI of Spain | Father: Philip V of Spain |
Father's father: Louis, the Grand Dauphin |
Father's father's father: Louis XIV of France |
| Father's father's mother: Maria Theresa of Spain | |||
| Father's mother: Maria Anne of Bavaria |
Father's mother's father: Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria | ||
| Father's mother's mother: Adelaide Henriette of Savoy | |||
| Mother: Maria Luisa of Savoy |
Mother's father: Victor Amadeus II of Savoy |
Mother's father's father: Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy | |
| Mother's father's mother: Marie Jeanne Baptiste de Savoie-Nemours | |||
| Mother's mother: Anna of Orléans |
Mother's mother's father: Philippe I of Orléans | ||
| Mother's mother's mother: Henrietta Anne Stuart |
External links
- Ferdinand VI from Joan's Mad Monarchs series