Charles IV of Spain

Charles IV
Portrait by Francisco Goya, 1789
King of Spain (more...)
Reign	14 December 1788 – 19 March 1808
Predecessor	Charles III
Successor	Ferdinand VII
Chief ministers	See list The Count of Floridablanca (1788-1792) The Count of Aranda (1792-1792) The Prince of the Peace (1792-1798) Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis (1798-1799) Mariano Luis de Urquijo (1799-1799) Pedro Cevallos (1799-1808) Gonzalo O'Farrill (1808-1808)
Born	11 November 1748 Palace of Portici, Portici, Naples
Died	20 January 1819(1819-01-20) (aged 70) Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Papal States
Burial	El Escorial
Spouse	Maria Luisa of Parma ​ ​ (m. 1765; died 1819)​
Issue	Carlota Joaquina, Queen of Portugal and Brazil Infanta María Amalia María Luisa, Queen of Etruria Ferdinand VII, King of Spain Infante Carlos, Count of Molina María Isabel, Queen of the Two Sicilies Infante Francisco de Paula
Names Spanish: Carlos Antonio Pascual Francisco Javier Juan Nepomuceno José Januario Serafín Diego de Borbón y Sajonia
House	Bourbon
Father	Charles III of Spain
Mother	Maria Amalia of Saxony
Religion	Catholic Church
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Charles IV (Spanish: Carlos Antonio Pascual Francisco Javier Juan Nepomuceno José Januario Serafín Diego de Borbón y Sajonia; 11 November 1748 – 20 January 1819; also written as Charles IIII) was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808.

The Spain inherited by Charles IV gave few indications of instability,^[1] but during his reign, Spain entered a series of disadvantageous alliances and his regime constantly sought cash to deal with the exigencies of war. He detested his son and heir Ferdinand, who led the unsuccessful El Escorial Conspiracy and later forced Charles's abdication after the Tumult of Aranjuez in March 1808, along with ousting Charles's widely hated first minister Manuel Godoy. Summoned to Bayonne by Napoleon Bonaparte, who forced Ferdinand VII to abdicate, Charles IV also abdicated, paving the way for Napoleon to place his older brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne of Spain. The reign of Charles IV turned out to be a major negative turning point in Spanish history.^[2][3]