CHRONOLOGY - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 434

simultaneous marriage of her younger
sister Luisa Fernanda to a French prince
precipitate an international crisis (the
“Affair of the Spanish Marriages”), due to
the competing interests of Great Britain
and France.

lated by the disgust of the intellectuals
and labor leaders with this closed system,
emerges during the 1880s.

1864
Narváez, supported by conservatives, inten-
sifies authoritarian and Catholic policies
and provokes a united front of opposition
by liberals.

1851
Spanish treaty (Concordat) with the Vatican
grants the Catholic Church extensive
powers in education and censorship in
return for Rome's abandonment of claims
to confiscated ecclesiastical property.

1864-66
Attempts by Spain to reassert its dominance
in former colonial areas continue. Claims
on Peruvian offshore islands are followed
by a naval war with Chile. These activi-
ties have no positive outcome.

1853-61
Peter V, king of Portugal, succeeds his
mother, Maria II, after she and other
members of the royal family die in an
epidemic. He is succeeded, after a short,
uneventful reign, by his brother Louis.

1868
Following the death of Narváez an upsurge
of liberal activity weakens the position of
a discredited conservative administra-
tion. The queen's infatuation with Carlos
Marfori, an actor whom she has ap-
pointed as minister of state, provokes an
outburst of scandalous newspaper arti-
cles. That diminishes respect for her
among the military. Uprisings in Septem-
ber, led by generals Francisco Serrano
and Juan Prim, bring on a full-scale rev-
olution. When forces loyal to her are de-
feated Isabella II flees to France. Under
the presidency of Serrano and the guid-
ing influence of Prim, a provisional gov-
ernment is established, and it quickly
repeals much conservative legislation
and diminishes the power of the
church.

1854-63
Spain experiences a period of military coups
( pronunciamientos ) in which control of
government alternates among Leopoldo
O'Donnell, Baldomero Espartero, and
Ramón Narváez.

1861
Spain reoccupies Santo Domingo on His-
paniola. After a period of internal unrest
and economic disruption, it abandons the
territory in 1865.

1861-89
During the reign of Louis I, king of Portugal,
political stability is maintained by a com-
pact between the conservatives and liber-
als who manage the vote in such a way
as to hold a parliamentary majority and
control of the government in alternating
periods. A republican opposition, stimu-

1869
After a debate in the newly summoned con-
stituent Cortes it is decided to preserve
the monarchy in Spain. Serrano, now re-