, 1767 Born in Acquaviva Palace in
Caserta, where the royal family lived before the
Royal Palace of Caserta was built, he was the fifth son of
Charles III of Spain and
Maria Amalia of Saxony. A humanist devoted to arts, he bore a striking resemblance to his elder brother Charles IV. At the death of his uncle
Ferdinand VI of Spain, who he never met, his parents, brothers Charles and
Gabriel, and sisters
Maria Luisa and
Maria Josefa departed for Spain where his father ruled as Charles III. Aged 39, he married on August 25, 1795,
María Amalia of Spain, 16-year-old daughter of his brother Charles IV in a double wedding where Maria Amalia's younger sister,
Maria Luisa married
Louis of Bourbon-Parma. She died 3 years later in childbirth after giving birth to a dead son. He supported his nephew
Prince Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, and profoundly disliked
Manuel Godoy. He headed the
Junta Suprema de Gobierno in 1808, in the absence of his brother and nephew, when they
tried to humor Napoleon in Bayonne. During the
Peninsular War he lived with the rest of the Royal Family under house arrest at the
Château de Valençay. After the war he served in several high functions. He was a fervent supporter of
absolutism, organizing support for the restoration of the
absolute monarchy. (right), next to
Louis I of Etruria. == Arms ==