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of newly discovered lands outside of Europe
between Spain and Portugal (T
REATY
OF
T
ORDESILLAS
, revised in 1497). Although
endlessly denounced as the most corrupt
and amoral of Renaissance popes, Alexander
VI was not without redeeming virtues and
occasional manifestations of a reforming
spirit. His greatest weakness was his support
for the political adventures of his son Cesare,
whose schemes collapsed after the death of
Alexander VI in 1503.
Alfonso XII
(1857-1885)
king of Spain
The son of I
SABELLA
II and her consort,
Francisco de Asís, Alfonso accompanied his
mother into exile in 1868. The queen
renounced her rights to the throne in his
favor in 1870, and while the youth attended
schools in France and Britain, royalists
strove to restore the monarchy during the
subsequent period of turmoil in Spain. In
1875 Alfonso XII returned to his homeland
with the aid of a number of generals who
saw him as the solution that divided their
country the least. He presided over the reso-
lution of the Second Carlist War and the
first Cuban rebellion. Throughout his reign
Alfonso continued to be a conciliator, work-
ing for the establishment of a stable society
in an era of growing disruption both at
home and abroad. An affable and outgoing
young man, he gained popularity among
the common people that helped to counter-
balance the incessant rivalries between Lib-
erals and Conservatives. The king's first
marriage to his cousin Mercedes ended trag-
ically within a few months. His second wife,
Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria,
bore him two daughters, presenting the pos-
sibility of a renewed dispute over female
King Alfonso XII
(Library of Congress)
succession echoing that which had divided
the country in the 1830s. The premature
death of Alfonso XII in the 10th year of his
reign threatened to bring on a political crisis
avoided by the posthumous birth of a male
successor. Although a promising young sov-
ereign, a tubercular affliction and his consci-
entious determination to carry out his duties
despite their impact on his health doomed
him to be merely a transitional figure.
Alfonso XIII
(1886-1941)
king of Spain
The posthumous son of A
LFONSO
XII, he
was born a king and passed his childhood
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