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and France. Charles was championed by Spanish conservatives and
their ideological peers in Austria and Russia. Within the country, the
Carlists drew their strength from the northern regions (the Basque
provinces, Catalonia, and Aragon), which had a long history of autono-
mist ambition.
In nearly five years of war (1834-39) the material assistance pro-
vided by the French Foreign Legion and the volunteers of the “British
Legion” proved more valuable to Isabella's camp than the moral sup-
port of the conservative monarchs was to Carlos. Although the Carlist
field commanders were often more skilled and energetic than their
opponents, they finally became estranged from their political colleagues
and demanded a negotiated settlement. The rebels were allowed to lay
down their arms and go home in peace, while their officers were con-
firmed in their commissions. Carlos withdrew to Austria without for-
mally renouncing his claims.
An even more complex set of dynastic follies enveloped Portugal
during this period. The royal family had fled to Brazil in 1807 to escape
the Napoléonic invasion. Following the ouster of the French, a regency
council ruled the country until 1820. In that year Portuguese liberals,
inspired by the Riego uprising in Spain, deposed the council, proclaimed
a democratic constitution, and demanded the return of the absentee
king. Leaving his elder son, Pedro, to govern Brazil, John VI returned
to Portugal with his younger son, Miguel. Although the king replaced
the constitution with a more moderate one in 1823, conservatives
remained discontented. The absolutist faction, which rejected a consti-
tution of any sort, looked to Miguel as its leader. He attempted a coup
against his father in 1824 and after its failure was banished to Austria.
On the death of John VI in 1826, Pedro, by now emperor of an inde-
pendent Brazil, succeeded to the Portuguese throne. He decided to
remain in Brazil and hand over the sovereignty of Portugal to his seven-
year-old daughter, Maria da Glória (Queen Maria II). Pedro reaffirmed
the British-style constitution but sought to appease conservatives by
offering his brother, Miguel, the regency during the minority of Maria
da Glória, on the condition that Miguel marry her as a gesture of com-
mitment. Miguel at first seemed willing to accept this arrangement,
returned to Lisbon in 1827 and took an oath of loyalty. But he soon
rallied his old supporters and early in 1828 persuaded a majority of the
parliament to repudiate the young queen and proclaim him King
Miguel I. The stage was now set for a civil war, pitting liberal backers of
the constitutional monarch against the champions of absolutism, who
declared the female succession to be invalid and the whole religious
and social tradition of Portugal to be at stake. In this conflict the liberal
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