Manuel de Godoy

From Freepedia

Manuel de Godoy (May 12, 1767 – October 7, 1851), Duke of Alcudia, was a Spanish statesman. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1792 to 1797 and 1801-08. He was a lover of Queen Maria Luisa of Parma, wife of King Charles IV. The Queen and Godoy held most of the political power in Spain during the reign of Charles IV. Failing to save the life of Louis XVI, who was guillotined in 1793, he declared war against the French republic, which resulted disastrously for Spain. To secure peace, he negotiated the Treaty of Basel, for which he was severely criticized. Godoy was removed from office in 1797, then reappointed in 1801. Godoy, the King, and the Queen prepared to escape to Mexico in 1808 after Napoleon's troops invaded Spain. Their flight was disrupted by an insurrection at Aranjuez, and the King was forced to imprison the hated Minister to save his life. Napoleon summoned him to Bayonne where he signed Charles's act of abdication in favor of his son Ferdinand VII. In a meeting with Napoleon at Bayonne, Charles IV surrendered the crown on May 5, 1808.

The latter part of his life was spent at Rome and, after 1830, in Paris in straitened circumstances. He received back part of his confiscated property in 1847, together with his titles. Godoy died in Paris, October 7, 1851.

Items

• Godoy wrote Memorias Criticas apologéticas para la historia del reinado del Señor don Carlos IV de Bourbon which were published in English (London, 1836) and in French by Esménard (Paris, 1836).

• The painting La Maja Desnuda by Francisco de Goya, which depicts a fully nude reclining woman, was once in his personal collection. It is believed by many scholars to portray a young mistress of de Godoy.

Works

• Ovila y Otera, Vita política y militar de D. M. Godoy, (Madrid, 1844)
• D'Auvergne, Godoy, The Queen's Favorite, (Boston, 1913)