Bourbons

(French form; Borbones in Spanish; Borboni in Italian), royal dynasty which ruled in France in the years 1589-1792, 1814-15, and 1815-30; in Spain in the years 1700-1808, 1814-68, and 1874-1931; in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Kingdom of Naples) in the years 1735-1805 and 1814-60; also a dynasty of Dukes of Parma and Piacenza which ruled in the years 1748-1802 and 1847-59.

The first representative of the dynasty, Henry IV, who reigned from 1589 to 1610, pursued a policy of strengthening French absolutism. This policy was continued by his successor Louis XIII, who reigned from 1610 to 1643. The reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715) marked the culmination of absolutism. Under Louis XV (1715-74) signs of a crisis of absolutism appeared. In France the Bourbons were deposed in 1792 during the Great French Revolution, and Louis XVI was executed in 1793. The restoration of 1814-30 revived the Bourbon dynasty in the persons of Louis XVIII (1814—15, 1815-24) and Charles X (1824-30). After the July Revolution of 1830 the French throne was held by Louis Philippe (1830-48), a representative of the Orleanist branch—a junior branch of the Bourbons—which was overthrown by the Revolution of 1848.

Louis XIV’s grandson Philip, under the name of Philip V (1700-24, 1724-46), established the Spanish branch of the Bourbons which held the throne until 1931, when the revolution in Spain led to the proclamation of a republic. Philip V’s sons, who came into possession of the Neapolitan Kingdom in 1735 and the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza in 1748, founded the Neapolitan and Parma branches of the Bourbons. Representatives of the Parma and Neapolitan Bourbons lost the throne in the years 1859-60, during the revolutionary unification of Italy.