xon line of his
mother. When young he was fond of wrestling with the strongest
countrymen he could find. In character he was not malignant, but he was
intellectually torpid, and of a credulity which almost passes belief.
His wife, Maria Luisa of Parma, his first cousin, a thoroughly coarse
and vicious woman, ruled him completely, though he was capable of
obstinacy at times. During his father's lifetime he was led by her into
court intrigues which aimed at driving the king's favourite minister,
Floridablanca, from office, and replacing him by Aranda, the chief of
the "Aragonese" party. After he succeeded to the throne in 1788 his one
serious occupation was hunting. Affairs were left to be directed by his
wife and her lover Godoy (q.v.). For Godoy the king had an unaffected
liking, and the lifelong favour he showed him is almost pathetic. When
terrified by the French Revolution he turned to the Inquisition to help
him against the party which would have carried the reforming policy of
Charles III. much further. But he was too slothful to have more than a
passive part in the direction of his own government. He simply obeyed
the impulse given him by the queen and Godoy. If he ever knew his wife's
real character he thought it more consistent with his dignity to shut
his eyes. For he had a profound belief in his divine right and the
sanctity of his person. If he understood that his kingdom was treated as
a mere dependence by France, he also thought it due to his "face" to
make believe that he was a powerful monarch. Royalty never wore a more
silly aspect than in the person of Charles IV., and it is highly
credible that he never knew what his wife was, or what was the position
of his kingdom. When he was told that his son Ferdinand was appealing to
the emperor Napoleon against Godoy, he took the side of the favourite.
When the populace rose at Aranjuez in 1808 he abdicated to save the
minister. He took refuge in France, and when he and Ferdinand were both
prisoners of Napoleon's, he was with difficulty restrained from
assaulting his son. Then he abdicated in favour of Napoleon, handing
over his people like a herd of cattle. He accepted a pension from the
French emperor and spent the rest of his life between his wife and
Godoy. He died at Rome on the 20th of January 1819, probably without
having once suspected that he had done anything unbecoming a king by
divine right and a gentleman.
See _Historia del Reinado de Carlos IV._
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