1. Manuel Godoy's unmatched power ended in 1808 with the Tumult of Aranjuez, which forced him into a long exile.
26 Facts About Manuel Godoy
1. 2.
Manuel Godoy was born in Badajoz as the youngest child of Jose de Manuel Godoy y Caceres-Ovando, regidor of Badajoz for the "estado noble", and Antonia Alvarez de Faria, of noble Portuguese extraction.
3.
In 1784, at the age of 17, Manuel Godoy moved to Madrid where he entered the Guardia de Corps.
4.
Manuel Godoy quickly became a favourite of Charles IV and of his wife, Queen Maria Luisa.
5.
Manuel Godoy's appointment seems to have been accomplished with the full acceptance of King Charles IV who, lacking talent for governing, was happy to employ a competent and trustworthy stand-in.
6.
In 1792 Manuel Godoy was made Duke of la Alcudia with grandeeship and a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece the following year.
7.
Manuel Godoy was the daughter of Antonio de Tudo y Alemany, Brigadier of the Royal Spanish Armies, Governor of the Royal Place of Buen Retiro, and his wife Catalina Cathalan y Luecia.
8.
Manuel Godoy received a financial settlement as part of the marriage agreement, but his mistress continued to live in the same house as his wife.
9.
Manuel Godoy was removed from the office of prime minister in 1797 and elevated to the position of Captain-General.
10.
Manuel Godoy was baptised at the Escorial with Charles IV and Maria Luisa standing as godparents.
11.
Napoleon wrote to King Charles IV telling him that Manuel Godoy was the de facto King of Spain and that he was Maria Luisa's lover.
12.
In 1804 Manuel Godoy was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
13.
Later that year, Manuel Godoy negotiated the Treaty of Fontainebleau with Napoleon, which eliminated Portugal from the list of nations and divided the country.
14.
Manuel Godoy was awarded the "Principality of the Algarves", with Alentejo and Algarve, under the protectorate of the Spanish King.
15.
Supporters of Ferdinand spread the story that Manuel Godoy had sold Spain to Napoleon.
16.
Two days later, Manuel Godoy was found; Charles had Manuel Godoy's property confiscated and then imprisoned him in the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odon, a property owned by his wife Maria Teresa.
17.
Manuel Godoy summoned Carlos, Maria Luisa, and Fernando to meet him for a conference at Bayonne.
18.
Manuel Godoy spent the next few years living in exile with Charles, Maria Luisa, his daughter Carlota Luisa, his mistress Pepita, and their sons.
19.
Manuel Godoy refused to allow his parents or Godoy to return to Spain and had Pope Pius VII exile Godoy and his mistress to Pesaro.
20.
Manuel Godoy petitioned the Emperor Franz I of Austria for asylum in Vienna, but Ferdinand forbade it.
21.
Manuel Godoy was allowed to return to Rome, but to preserve appearances, Pepita and her sons moved to Genoa.
22.
Five days later, Charles IV wrote to Manuel Godoy asking him to vacate the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, only weeks before Charles himself died in Naples.
23.
Manuel Godoy did not allow Godoy's daughter Carlota to marry into a sovereign house, but did agree to her marriage in 1821 to Don Camillo Ruspoli, the younger son of a Roman princely family.
24.
The Pope made him 1st Principe di Paserano, but Manuel Godoy went to live in Paris in 1832, where they lived in somewhat straitened circumstances.
25.
In 1836 and 1839 Manuel Godoy published Memorias del Principe de la Paz, his memoirs.
26.
Manuel Godoy's body was buried first in the Church of Saint-Roch, but the following year was transferred to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, where it rests today.