Bayonne Abdications

The Bayonne Abdications took place on May 5 and 6, 1808 in the French city of Bayonne. It is the name by which the successive renunciations of the throne are known by Ferdinand VII of Spain, who returned to his father the crown obtained with the mutiny of Aranjuez, and by Charles IV, who the day before had ceded these rights to the French emperor. Napoleon, who a month later appointed his brother as king of Spain and the Indies, who reigned under the name of Joseph I.

The resignations have been considered forced, but some historians have pointed out that neither Charles IV nor Ferdinand VII were up to the task of facing Napoleon's pressures and threats. Some authors have stated that Charles IV and Ferdinand VII were "kidnapped" by Napoleon, but others do not use this term to refer to what happened in Bayonne.

The abdications were not recognized either in Spain or in Spanish America by the "patriots" and the explosion of rejection of the new king Joseph I and loyalty to the captive Ferdinand VII were, according to François-Xavier Guerra, "general in all the places of the monarchy", although there were Spaniards, especially among the enlightened elite, who supported him for what they were initially called "traitors" or "sworn", and later "Josefinos" or, disparagingly, "Frenchified". The Spanish "patriots" called Joseph I "the intruder king." A few days after he abruptly left Madrid on July 31 as a result of the French defeat in the Battle of Bailén, the Council of Castile declared Bayonne's resignations null and void and on August 24 proclaimed him king in absentia to Ferdinand VII. Subsequently, on January 14, Great Britain, the main enemy of the First French Empire, recognized Ferdinand VII as king of Spain in a treaty. Thanks to the direct intervention of theGrande Armée Personally commanded by Napoleon, Joseph I recovered the throne that he would maintain until June 1813. As there were Spaniards who supported him, the Spanish War of Independence also had a civil war component.

Background: Napoleon's intervention in Spain

The moment when Napoleon decided to openly intervene in the Monarchy of Charles IV, an ally of the French Republic since the signing of the Treaty of Basel in 1795, has been the subject of debate. Miguel Artola has placed it after the plot of El Escorial discovered on October 27, 1807 - the frustrated attempt of the Prince of Asturias Fernando to put an end to the government of the "favorite" Manuel Godoy and probably force his father to abdicate the Crown of Spain to him - because it demonstrated to the Emperor how unstable his southern ally was - whose foreign policy, on the other hand, he had been mediating since 1801 -. The French historian Thierry Lentz states the same: «It is probably at this time when the final decision to intervene in Spain, and not only to choose between Charles and Ferdinand, took shape." The French ambassador François de Beauharnais, who had been involved in the plot and who wrote to the emperor, could also influence the decision: "It is solely up to His Imperial Majesty that the The Spanish nation awaits its salvation and it can be assured that throughout the kingdom there are only warm friends of France.

In his captivity on the island of Saint Helena, Napoleon will write: «We could not leave Spain behind us, at the disposal of our enemies. It was necessary to chain her, by choice or by force, to our system. «The Spanish nation despised her government; she cried out for the good of regeneration. She could hope to perform it without shedding blood; "the dissensions of the royal family had stained it with general contempt," he also wrote. Thierry Lentz has indicated that the idea of intervening in Spanish politics was also influenced by "a feeling of superiority with respect to a kingdom that was taken little seriously." serious... This tragicomic Spain was summed up, in the French spirit, in a country characterized by religious obscurantism, the vanity of the nobility, the poverty and ignorance of the people... The worst thing is that these feelings could be found word for word in the numerous reports that reached the emperor's office.

Artola has pointed out that at that time Napoleon did not consider replacing the Bourbons but rather annexing the Spanish "provinces" north of the Ebro, transferring the Franco-Spanish border to this river, as in the times of the Carolingian Empire - operation which would be completed with the marriage of Prince Ferdinand with a princess from his family but which would not take place due to Luciano Bonaparte's refusal to give his consent to the chosen one being his eldest daughter Charlotte. To carry out his plan to dismember Spain, Napoleon took advantage of the opportunity offered by the Treaty of Fontainebleau, signed on the same day that the "El Escorial plot" was discovered, which allowed a French army to cross Spain to conquer the Kingdom of Portugal. Although on November 30, Marshal Junot had already entered Lisbon, between December 22, 1807 and February 6, 1808, three new Army corps commanded by the marshals crossed the Franco-Spanish border. Dupont, Moncey and Duhesme. On February 20, Marshal Joachim Murat was appointed lieutenant general of the French troops that were in Spain (between 80,000 and 100,000 men).

Meanwhile Napoleon tried to be well informed of what was happening in the country. An assistant of his that he had sent to Spain told him upon his return on December 20: «Spain, in its misfortunes, look to His Majesty. [Napoleon I] as the only one who can save her; It is hoped that he will deign to take the Prince of Asturias under his protection, choose a wife for him and free Spain from the tyranny that oppresses it... You cannot imagine the ruin in which Spain finds itself. Charles IV at the end of February 1808 under the title Species and proposed questions, Napoleon "discovered his game", in the words of Miguel Artola, and suggested exchanging Portugal for the border provinces with France. To seal the agreement, he proposes the reestablishment of "a pact equivalent to the old family pact... and even more perfect."

The "chaos", in Artola's words, caused by the events known as the "Mutiny of Aranjuez" - the deposition of Godoy and the abdication of Charles IV in favor of the heir to the throne, Fernando - is what Finally, Napoleon decided to replace the Bourbons with a member of his family. "The annexation of part of the kingdom no longer made sense, because the emperor could not trust Ferdinand after his reprehensible efforts to dethrone his father and his cruelty." shown with Godoy. It was only possible to dispense with the House of Bourbon and apply in Spain the system followed in other places, that is, placing a member of Napoleon's family on the throne," stated Emilio La Parra López.

Apparently it was his minister Talleyrand who first advised him to make that determination. In a Memoir that he gave to Napoleon he told him: «There is only one branch of the house of Bourbon on the throne, that of Spain which, placed behind our backs when it comes to confronting the powers of Germany, will be always threatening... The time has come to declare that the last house of Bourbon has ceased to reign... A prince of the imperial house occupying the throne of Spain would complete the system of the Empire... An army of 30,000 men would suffice for all this. The minister Jean-Baptiste Nompère de Champagny, after the "Aranjuez mutiny", presented Napoleon with an extensive report, in the drafting of which the emperor himself participated, in which he concluded: "I have exposed V.M. the circumstances that force you to make a big decision. Politics advises it, justice authorizes it, the unrest in Spain forces necessity. V.M. "It must, therefore, provide for the security of the Empire and save Spain from the English influence."

To meet the emperor: Ferdinand VII's trip to Bayonne

As soon as he acceded to the throne, Ferdinand VII sent the Duke of Parque to complement Marshal Joachim Murat, lieutenant general of the French troops located in Spain, but he did not do the same when on March 24 Ferdinand VII made his triumphal entry. In Madrid, not even the French ambassador François de Beauharnais greeted him. Nor did Napoleon send him any notes. In fact, no French military or civil authority treated him as "Majesty" but rather as "His Royal Highness", the same formula they had used to address him when he was Prince of Asturias, which, according to Emilio La Parra López, "It was very revealing about the attitude of France" and "very worrying for him, aware that the maintenance of his crown depended on the recognition of the French emperor. Obtaining it was, consequently, his obsession." On March 26, Fernando wrote to the French ambassador: "My intentions are the happiness of seeing S.M.I. and R. [His Imperial and Royal Majesty, i.e. Napoleon] and follow his advice. A week later, on April 2, the Council of Castile published a statement in which it reiterated that the French were in Spain "to execute the plans agreed upon with H.M. against the common enemy" [England] and announced that anyone who "with the least excess" disturbs "this friendly and reciprocal correspondence" would be punished. On the other hand, Fernandina propaganda continued to affirm that the imperial army had entered Spain to protect the new king from the actions of the "godoyistas." But at that time Napoleon had already decided to replace the Bourbons with a member of his family, although he had not told it even to his closest collaborators. Nor to his lieutenant in Spain, Marshal Murat.

On April 3, Ferdinand VII informed Murat that he was going to meet Napoleon, who the day before had announced that he would soon be in Spain. «Dealing personally with Napoleon was vital for Ferdinand, because he not only urgently needed his recognition, but also counteracted the unfavorable reports about him that were reaching the emperor and prevented the possible movements of Charles IV. In Ferdinand's entourage it was known - or at least it was suspected - that Charles IV had protested his resignation from the throne. to Aranjuez, a note in which he declared that he had been forced to renounce the Crown, "to avoid greater evils and the shedding of the blood of my beloved vassals." And on March 27 he had written a letter to Napoleon in which he asked for his protection and explained that he had abdicated "by force of circumstances and when the noise of weapons and the clamor of a mutinous guard made me well aware that It was necessary to choose between life and death, which would have been followed by that of the Queen." Historian Emilio La Parra López comments: "With the language of the Old Regime, the former king came to describe what happened as a coup d'état. » The letter sent to Napoleon said the following:

Lord my brother: V.M. will certainly know with pity the events of Aranjuez and its results and will not see with indifference a king who, forced to give up the crown, comes to put himself in the arms of a great monarch, his ally, totally subordining himself at the disposal of the only one who can give him his happiness, that of his whole family and that of his vassal faithful.
I have not renounced my son's favor, but by the force of circumstances, when the noise of the weapons and the clamors of a subservient guard made me quite aware of the need to choose life or death...
I was forced to give up; but I have taken the resolution to conform to everything I want to dispose of us and of my luck, the Queen and the Prince of Peace [Manuel Godoy].

On April 4, the Infante Carlos María Isidro de Borbón left Madrid, accompanied by three Grands of Spain - the Dukes of Frías and Medinaceli and the Count of Fernán Núñez - to prepare the meeting with the Emperor, but the On April 8, they had already arrived in Tolosa (Guipúzcoa), after passing through Valladolid, Burgos and Vitoria, without having had any news of Napoleon's whereabouts. The only thing that was known was that on April 2 he had left Paris in the direction of Bayonne. On April 7, a special envoy of Napoleon, General Anne Jean Marie René Savary, had arrived in Madrid, who informed Ferdinand VII that the emperor had placed his father Charles IV under his protection and that it was imperatively necessary that they were seen. The mission that Napoleon had entrusted to General Savary was to gain the trust of Ferdinand VII - hence why he used the address "Majesty" when he met him - and to take him to Bayonne.

On April 10, Ferdinand VII left Madrid hoping to meet Napoleon in Burgos - he had previously appointed a Supreme Government Board chaired by his uncle, Infante Antonio Pascual de Borbón. He was accompanied by a large entourage led by the three members of his private cabinet - Escoiquiz, and the Dukes of Infantado and San Carlos - and by a single member of the government, the Secretary of the Office of State Pedro Cevallos. They were escorted by French troops under the command of General Savary. On April 12, the delegation arrived in Burgos where the king made a triumphal entry acclaimed by the crowd, as had already happened in other places along the route, but Napoleon was not there as usual. I expected. So they resumed the trip and the next day they arrived in Vitoria. The emperor was not there either. A former minister of Charles IV Mariano Luis de Urquijo, who had traveled from Bilbao, warned Ferdinand VII that, based on what the French press said, Napoleon's plan was to end the Bourbon dynasty. The king and his advisors hesitated, but the guarantees given to them by General Savary – who also threatened to unleash hostilities if they did not go to Bayonne – induced them to continue the journey. When Urquijo returned to Bilbao he wrote: "everyone is blind and walking towards inevitable ruin." Other people had also tried to dissuade them but also without success. Nor did they pay attention to the report that the Government Junta sent to the king from Madrid in which it complained that the French troops "exhaust all the income and resources of our impoverished treasury.", verifying unbearable annoyances and humiliations to the people" and in which the desire of "the Nation", which until that moment had managed to contain "the efforts of the Government", "to preserve its independence from all foreign authorities" was also set out.

Ferdinand VII wrote a letter to Napoleon, which Savary personally took to Bayonne, in which he told him that Charles IV's abdication had been free and spontaneous and showed his loyalty to him. The letter ended like this: «I therefore ask V.M.I. and R. effectively put an end to the situation of distress in which your silence has placed me, and dissipate, through a favorable response, the lively anxieties that my faithful vassals would suffer with the duration of the uncertainty. Napoleon's response was "very harsh," according to Emilio La Parra López. In the letter that Savary gave him on April 18 - "it was the first time that he addressed Fernando directly, to whom at no time did he grant the treatment of "majesty" - he said: "As a Sovereign neighbor, I must find out what happened. before recognizing this abdication... If the abdication of King Charles is spontaneous and he has not been forced into it by the insurrection and mutiny that occurred in Aranjuez, I have no difficulty in admitting it and in recognizing V.A.R. King of Spain. I therefore wish to discuss this topic with Her... I hesitate between various ideas that have to be clarified. In the letter she also made reference to the role of Ferdinand VII in the El Escorial plot, reminding her "how sacred the rights of the Throne are." To the surprise of Napoleon himself, who had taken measures to prevent Ferdinand VII from returning to Madrid, his response was complete submission to him - the letter was headed with the formula "Lord my brother" -, and in it he communicated to him who left immediately for Bayonne. He abandoned Vitoria on April 19, although his departure tried to be prevented by a crowd that distrusted the French. The king assured them that his journey to meet "his ally the emperor" would have "the happiest consequences."

Meanwhile, Murat, after Fernando VII had left Madrid, pressured the Governing Board to free Manuel Godoy, take him to France and thus influence the spirit of the kings and fathers. The release took place on April 20, given the Junta's fear of Murat's reaction, as well as the conviction that this would benefit King Ferdinand's cause with Napoleon. Godoy was handed over to the French and would arrive in Bayonne on April 26. Likewise, Murat, on the 16th, informed the Board that Emperor Napoleon did not recognize any other king than Charles IV and that he was going to publish a proclamation in which he indicated that his abdication had been forced. However, the Board responded that it would not acknowledge until Carlos himself told it and requested the secrecy of said resolution. Immediately, Murat reached an agreement with Charles IV, who from El Escorial, where Murat had taken him, wrote to Napoleon, putting himself in his hands, and to his brother Antonio, president of the Junta, with the retraction of his abdication and the confirmation. of the members of the Governing Board as established by his son Fernando. On April 22, the kings and fathers embarked on the trip to Bayonne.

Abdications of Bayonne

At noon on April 20, Ferdinand VII arrived in Bayonne, having spent the night in Irun. No envoy of the emperor had come out to meet him at the border as protocol determined. He was taken to the mayor's office building where his brother, the Infante Carlos, was already present, and both Fernando and the members of his entourage did not think it was the appropriate place as the residence of a monarch. Shortly afterwards he ate with Napoleon at the Château de Marracq and at no time did he address him with the term "Your Majesty" or even with that of "Royal Highness" - about this first meeting Napoleon wrote to Talleyrand: "I have not said not a single word; He is indifferent to everything, very material, he eats four times a day and has no idea about anything »―. In the afternoon, General Savary appeared at the mayor's office building to inform him that the emperor "had irrevocably decided that the Bourbon dynasty would not reign in Spain and that his own would succeed in its place." Both the king and the infant Charles and all his entourage were very surprised. The secretary of the Cevallos Office wrote to the Madrid Government Board: Napoleon "does not want any Bourbon to reign... He acts with such threats and with such an imperious and unprecedented tone that it cannot be transferred to paper."

On April 30, ten days after Ferdinand VII, Charles IV and his wife María Luisa de Parma arrived in Bayonne - Napoleon had had them under his protection in El Escorial and both Murat and the new French ambassador Count of La Forest had given Charles IV to understand that the emperor intended to restore him to the throne of Spain, or so he had believed. Unlike what happened with Ferdinand VII, they had been completed by an envoy of the emperor as soon as they crossed the border and when they entered Bayonne there was a ringing of bells and one hundred and one cannon salutes as established by protocol. They were taken to the Government Palace, a more appropriate residence than the mayor's office building where Fernando and his entourage were staying. And a few hours after his arrival, a hand-kissing ceremony was held, attended by all the greats of Spain who had accompanied Ferdinand. «The different treatment accorded by Napoleon to Charles IV and Ferdinand VII was expressive enough. He welcomed the first one like a king; He did not consider the second one as such," commented Emilio La Parra López.

The following day, May 1, the king and father had lunch with Napoleon, a lunch that was also attended by Manuel Godoy, who had been released from his prison by French troops and had arrived in Bayonne on April 26. During the same period, Napoleon asked Charles IV to call his son and "require" him to "by a written act, signed in his hand, return the Crown to him." «It would not be good for me to do it, because I am not his father nor his King, but only a Sovereign friend and ally of VV.MM. However, if he deems it appropriate to impose greater respect on his lost son, I am ready to accompany him and assist him in this serious step, which is inevitable," the emperor added. Charles IV immediately fulfilled the order and called the "Prince of Asturias" to his presence and demanded the document of his resignation from the throne. The next day Fernando delivered it. In it he said: "I am ready, given the circumstances in which I find myself, to renounce my crown in favor of Your Majesty." But he set two conditions: that the resignation be made in Madrid before the Cortes and that if Charles IV finally did not wish to reign or return to Spain, he would govern the kingdom as his lieutenant. In the reply letter, actually written by Napoleon, Charles IV refuted these conditions: «I am king by the right of my parents; my abdication is the result of force and violence; I therefore have nothing to receive from you, nor can I consent to any board meeting, a new foolish suggestion from the men who accompany you.

On May 4, Charles IV, acting as the true king of Spain, promulgated a decree dated in Bayonne by which he named "Lugar-Lieutenant General of the King" and president of the Government Board "our beloved brother the great Duke of Berg [Murat] who at the same time commands the troops of our ally, the Emperor of the French." In reality, Charles IV was acting at the dictate of Napoleon, who two days before had ordered Murat to send the rest to Bayonne. of the Spanish royal family (the infante Francisco de Paula de Borbón, 14 years old; the infanta María Luisa de Borbón (queen of Etruria); and the infante Antonio Pascual de Borbón, brother of Charles IV and whom Ferdinand VII had left at the head of the Government Board after leaving Madrid to go out to meet Napoleon).

In the letter that Napoleon sent to Murat on May 2, he revealed his plans: «I am very happy with King Charles and the Queen, who are very happy here. I destined them to Compiègne. Destination of the king of Naples to reign in Spain. I will give you the kingdom of Naples or that of Portugal. At the time of writing the letter, Napoleon was unaware of the anti-French uprising that had occurred in Madrid on May 2 and that was going to start the Spanish War of Independence - two hundred French soldiers had been killed. He found out on the afternoon of May 5 through a letter that Murat had sent him in which he informed him that the "revolt" had been crushed and in retaliation more than a thousand "insurgents" had been shot. According to the witnesses present, when Napoleon read the letter he flew into a rage and quickly went to Charles IV's quarters. "Look what I receive from Madrid, I can't explain it," the emperor told him.

After reading Murat's letter, Charles IV called his sons Fernando and Charles to his presence. According to Thierry Lentz, "the scene that followed was even more amazing than those seen until then." Emilio La Parra López completely agrees: the scene "could not have been more painful." «There were very harsh reproaches, especially from the queen to Fernando; Charles IV declared himself incapable of continuing to wear the crown, the infant Charles supported his brother Fernando with a heartfelt hug that sounded like a farewell, and the latter remained silent the entire time, which made Napoleon extremely uncomfortable. The emperor intervened, addressing Ferdinand: «This massacre can only be the work of a party that you cannot repudiate, and I will never recognize as king of Spain the one who first broke the alliance that, for so long, united it. to France, ordering the murder of French soldiers." And then he issued an ultimatum: "If by midnight you have not recognized your Father as your legitimate King and you do not let Madrid know, you will be treated as a rebel. ». When Ferdinand had left, Napoleon told Charles IV that if he did not wish to reign he would become "master of Spain" and would give him asylum in his and V.M.'s States. He will make me renounce his people. Immediately, Marshal Gérard Duroc, the emperor's assistant, and Manuel Godoy, on behalf of the kings and fathers, began to draft a treaty by which Charles IV ceded his rights to the Spanish Crown to Napoleon with only two conditions: the maintenance of the territorial integrity of the monarchy and the continuity of the Catholic religion as the only one of the kingdom, which Napoleon accepted. The treaty also established the emperor's commitment to welcome Charles IV, his wife and Godoy in France and to pay them in installments. monthly the amount of 30 million reais for their maintenance. Napoleon also transferred ownership of the Château de Chambord to Charles IV. In the treaty, which was actually a private act that did not comply with the required diplomatic forms, the emperor was recognized as "the only one who, to the point that the things, [could] restore order.

I've had good to give my vassal loved ones the last test of my paternal love. His happiness, the tranquility, prosperity, preservation and integrity of the domains which the divine providence had placed under my Government, have been during my reign the only objects of my constant unveilments. How many providences and measures have been taken from my exaltation to the throne of my elder augusts, all have been directed to such a just end, and have not been able to address another. Today, in the extraordinary circumstances in which I have been placed and I see myself, my conscience, my honor and the good name that I must leave to posterity, they compulsibly demand from me that the last act of my Sovereignty only be directed to the expressed end, namely, to the tranquility, prosperity, security and integrity of the monarchy of whose throne I stand, to the greater happiness of my vassals of both hemispheres.
Thus, by a signed and ratified treaty, I have yielded to my ally and expensive friend the Emperor of the French all my rights over Spain and Indias; having agreed that the crown of the Spains and Indias must always be independent and integral, which has been and has been under my sovereignty, and also that our sacred religion must be not only the dominant one in Spain, but also the only one to observe in all the domains of this monarchy. You will have it understood and so you will communicate it to the other councils, to the courts of the kingdom, heads of the provinces both military and civil and ecclesiastical, and to all the justices of my peoples, in order that this last act of my sovereignty be notorious to all in my domains of Spain and Indias, and that you move and concur that the provisions of my dear friend are to conserve,
Given in Bayonne in the imperial palace called the Government on May 8, 1808. I the King [Carlos IV]. To the Acting Governor of my Council of Castile.

Gazeta de Madrid, Friday, May 20, 1808.

Before midnight on May 5, Ferdinand VII gave the emperor a copy of the letter that he intended to send to his father dated the following day in which he renounced the crown in his favor, "wishing that V.M. I can enjoy it for many years. The latter a trait of "black humor" or an "act of revenge", according to Emilio La Parra, "when he knew that he had already ceded it [the crown] to Napoleon." Like his father, Ferdinand VII also signed a treaty with Napoleon by which the emperor undertook to pay the "Prince of Asturias" - this would be the treatment that would be given to Ferdinand - an alimony of 500,000 francs, plus an income of 600,000. On the way to the château de Valençay where they would remain imprisoned, Fernando, his uncle Antonio and his brother Carlos signed a proclamation in Bordeaux on May 12 in which they exhorted the Spaniards to remain "calm", "hoping for their happiness from the wise dispositions and the power of the Emperor Napoleon." A French journalist wrote in a counter-revolutionary newspaper published in London: "it is a new example of a royal family debased, extinguished and destroyed." He described Fernando as "foolish and reckless." On May 18 they arrived in Valencay where Talleyrand, owner of the château, was waiting for them. For his part, Napoleon had sent a letter to Murat, his lieutenant. in Spain, in which he told him: "Destiny the king of Naples [Joseph Bonaparte] to reign in Madrid." The French historian Thierry Lentz has commented: Joseph Bonaparte "was actually going to abandon the slopes of Vesuvius for an even more capricious volcano."

The interregnum

On May 10, Napoleon wrote to his older brother Joseph Bonaparte, king of Naples since 1806 by his appointment, in which he informed him that he was going to transfer to him the rights of the Spanish Crown that he in turn had just received from Charles IV and Ferdinand VII:

The nation, through the Council of Castile, asks me for a king. It is to you who fate this crown: Spain is not what the kingdom of Naples; it is 11 million inhabitants, more than 150 million incomes, without having the immense incomes and possessions of all the Americas. It is a crown that, for others, establishes you in Madrid three days from France, which covers totally one of its borders. Being in Madrid, you are in France; Naples is the end of the world. I therefore wish that immediately after you have received this letter, you leave the regimence to whom you wish, the command of Marshal Jourdan, and that you go to Bayonne.

When what happened in Bayonne became known in mid-May 1808, the anti-French rebellion spread throughout Spain, while the new King Joseph I would not arrive in Madrid until the end of July. This "interregnum", according to historian Miguel Artola, was "the first Napoleonic error." «At this time, when the existence of a strong Government, capable of maintaining order, was most necessary, the maximum authority is the general in chief of the French armies [Murat], a power foreign to the country, and who, in addition, is sick and does not take care of the government. The people - abandoned by their kings, who have abdicated -, without the new monarch - who will not arrive until July 20 -, find themselves, for almost two months, facing a strange and unexpected interregnum, facing an empty throne. The increasingly frequent and distressing dispatches from the French ambassador in Madrid, Count de La Forest, asking Napoleon to speed up the process had no effect. «When José arrives it will be too late. The abandoned nation has had time to decide for itself about its future, and its response is war," concludes Artola.

On May 25, Napoleon made a proclamation to the Spanish in which he indicated that he was not going to reign in Spain, reaffirming the call for an assembly of notables in Bayonne and confirming Murat in his position.

...Spanish: After a long agony your nation was going to perish. I've seen your evils and I'm going to remedy them... Your princes have given me all their rights to the crown of the Spains; I do not want to reign in your provinces... and I will make you enjoy the benefits of a reform without you experiencing brokenness, disorders and convulsions.
Spanish: I have called a general assembly of the representatives, the provinces and the cities. I myself want to know your desires and your needs while at the same time ensuring a Constitution that reconciles the holy and healthy authority of the Sovereign with the liberties and privileges of the people.
Spanish: remember what your parents have been, and look at what you have come. It is not your fault, but the evil government that governed you. I want my memory to reach your last grandchildren and to exclaim: it is the regenerator of our homeland.

Bayona, May 25, 1808.

On June 4, the emperor issued a decree in Bayonne in which he named his brother Joseph as king of Spain. The "Assembly of Bayonne" convened by Napoleon (with an attendance of 91 of the 150 notables planned) debated the draft Constitution prepared by him and, with few rectifications, approved between June 15 and 30, 1808, the Constitution, called the Statute of Bayonne. King Joseph swore it on July 7 and entered Spain on July 9. He arrived in Madrid on July 20, but was only in the capital for eleven days since he had to leave it due to the victory of the "patriots", defenders of the rights of Ferdinand VII, in the battle of Bailén. A few days later, on August 11, the Council of Castile invalidated the abdications of Bayonne, and on August 24, Ferdinand VII was proclaimed king in absentia in Madrid. Subsequently, on January 14 In 1809, Great Britain recognized Ferdinand VII as king of Spain in a treaty.