This is a list of monarchs of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, a dominion started with the

dynastic union A dynastic union is a type of union in which different states are governed beneath the same dynasty, with their boundaries, their laws, and their interests remaining distinct from each other. It is a form of association looser than a personal un ...

of the

Catholic Monarchs of Spain The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile () and King Ferdinand II of Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the '' de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, ...

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II, also known as Ferdinand I, Ferdinand III, and Ferdinand V (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of ...

and

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

. The

regnal number Regnal numbers are ordinal numbers—often written as Roman numerals—used to distinguish among persons with the same regnal name who held the same office, notably kings, queens regnant, popes, and rarely princes and princesses. It is common t ...

s follow those of the rulers of Asturias, León, and Castile. Thus,

Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo de Borbón y Borbón; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as ''El Pacificador'' (Spanish: the Peacemaker), was King of Spain from 29 D ...

is numbered in succession to

Alfonso XI of Castile Alfonso XI (11 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes ...

Forerunners

The following seven lineages were eventually united by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. *

Kings of the Visigoths The Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Spain or Kingdom of the Goths () was a barbarian kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to the W ...

* Kings of Asturias *

Kings of Navarre This is a list of the kings and queens of Pamplona, later Navarre. Pamplona was the primary name of the kingdom until its union with Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain ...

* Kings of León * Kings of Galicia *

Kings of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

Kings of Castile This is a list of kings regnant and queens regnant of the Kingdom and Crown of Castile. For their predecessors, see List of Castilian counts. Kings and Queens of Castile Jiménez dynasty House of Ivrea / Burgundy The following dyna ...

Although Aragon and Castile continued to be separate, they were ruled together until the

Nueva Planta decrees The Nueva Planta decrees (, , ) were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V of Spain, Philip V, the first House of Bourbon, Bourbon Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain, during and shortly after the end of the War of the Spani ...

House of Trastámara (1479–1516)

Under Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, their royal dynasties were united into a single line.

Historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

of Spain generally treats this as the formation of the Kingdom of Spain, but officially speaking, the two kingdoms continued with their own separate institutions for more than two centuries. It was not until the

of 1707–1716 that the two lands were formally merged into a single state.

House of Habsburg (1516–1700)

Following the deaths of Isabella (1504) and Ferdinand (1516), their daughter Joanna inherited the Spanish kingdoms. However, she was kept prisoner at Tordesillas due to an alleged mental disorder. As Joanna's son,

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

(the future

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Charles V), did not want to be merely a regent, he proclaimed himself king of Castile and Aragon jointly with his mother. Subsequently, Castilian and Aragonese ''Cortes'' recognized him as co-monarch along with his mother. Upon her death, he became sole King of Castile and Aragon, and the thrones were left permanently united to

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

and successors. Traditional numbering of monarchs follows the Castillian crown; i.e. after King Ferdinand (II of Aragon and V of Castile ''jure uxoris'' as husband of Queen of Castille Isabella I), the next Ferdinand was numbered VI. Likewise,

takes his number following that of

rather than that of

Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfons el Magnànim in Catalan language, Catalan) (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfons V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfons I) from 1442 until his ...

, the prior Spanish monarch with that name. In the year 1700, Charles II died. His will named the 16-year-old Philip, Duke of Anjou, the grandson of Charles's sister

Maria Theresa of Spain Maria Theresa of Spain (; ; 10 September 1638 – 30 July 1683) was Queen consort of France, Queen of France from 1660 to 1683 as the wife of King Louis XIV. She was born an Infante, Infanta of Spain and Portugal as the daughter of King Philip IV ...

, as his successor to the whole

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

. Upon any possible refusal of the undivided Spanish possessions, the Crown of Spain would be offered next to Philip's younger brother Charles, Duke of Berry, or, next, to

Archduke Charles of Austria Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen (; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the youn ...

.Kamen, Henry. "Philip V of Spain:: The King who Reigned Twice", p.6. Published by Yale University Press, 2001. Both claimants, both Charles of Austria and Philip, had a legal right to the Spanish throne because Philip's grandfather, King

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

and Charles's father,

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; ; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia, and List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Rom ...

, were sons of Charles II's aunts,

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

and Maria Anna. Philip claimed primogeniture because Anne was older than Maria Anna. However, Philip IV had stipulated in his will the succession should pass to the Austrian Habsburg line, and the Austrian branch also claimed that

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

, Philip's grandmother, had renounced the Spanish throne for herself and her descendants as part of her marriage contract. This was countered by the French claim that it was on the basis of a dowry that had never been paid. After a long council meeting where the Dauphin spoke up in favour of his son's rights, it was agreed that Philip would ascend the throne. Following this, the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

broke out and

Archduke Charles Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen (; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the youn ...

was also proclaimed king of Spain, as Charles III, in opposition to Philip V. He was proclaimed in Vienna, and also in Madrid in the years 1706 and 1710. Charles renounced his claims to the Spanish throne in the

Treaty of Rastatt The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between Kingdom of France, France and Archduchy of Austria, Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Margraviate of Baden, Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between bo ...

of 1714, but was allowed the continued use of the styles of a Spanish monarch for his lifetime. Philip ascended the Spanish throne but had to renounce his claim to the throne of France for himself and his descendants.

Disputed claimant of the House of Habsburg

House of Bourbon (1700–1808)

House of Bonaparte (1808–1813)

The only monarch from this dynasty was

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 *Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) * Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

, imposed by his brother

Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

after Charles IV and Ferdinand VII had abdicated. The title used by Joseph I was ''King of the Spains and the Indias, by the Grace of God and the Constitution of the State''. He was also later given all of the titles of the previous kings. A government in opposition to the French was formed in

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

on 25 September 1808, which continued to recognize the imprisoned Ferdinand VII as king. This government was diplomatically recognized as the legitimate Spanish government by Britain and other countries at war with France.

House of Bourbon (1813–1868)

Charles IV's eldest son was restored to the throne. Again, the title used was ''king of Castile, Leon, Aragon,… by the Grace of God''.

House of Savoy (1870–1873)

After the Spanish Revolution of 1868 deposed Isabella II, while a new monarch was sought, a provisional government and a regency headed by Francisco Serrano y Domínguez from 8 October 1868 until 2 January 1871 was established. Amadeo was elected as king and the new title used was ''King of Spain, by the Grace of God and will of the nation''.

Spanish Republic (1873–1874)

House of Bourbon (1874–1931)

Isabella II's eldest son was restored to the throne as she had abdicated in his favour in 1870. Unlike previous Spanish rulers, the restored Bourbons led as

constitutional monarch Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

Spanish Republic (1931–1939)

Dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939–1975)

On 1 October 1936, General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

was proclaimed "Leader of Spain" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Caudillo de España'') in the parts of Spain controlled by the Nationalists (''nacionales'') after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

broke out. At the end of the war, on 1 April 1939, Franco took control of the whole of Spain, ending the Second Republic. The 36-year period that followed would be officially called the ''Estado Español'', or the Spanish State. Although Franco proclaimed the restoration of the monarchy in 1947, he did not allow the pretender,

Juan, Count of Barcelona Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona (Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg; 20 June 1913 – 1 April 1993), was a claimant to the Spanish throne as Juan III. He was the third son and designated heir of King Alfonso XIII of ...

, to take the throne. Instead, 22 years later, in 1969, he declared as his successor

Juan Carlos Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until his abdication on 19 June 2014. In Sp ...

, Prince of Spain and son of the Count of Barcelona. This succession took place upon Franco's death in 1975, when Juan Carlos became King of Spain. A three-year transition to democracy followed during which the apparatus of the Franco government was gently dismantled and preparations for a new system, from 1978, were laid.

House of Bourbon (1975–present)

Alfonso XIII's claim descended (due to his two eldest sons' renunciations) to his third son, Juan of Bourbon, Count of Barcelona, who was passed over in favour of his eldest son, whose title is King of Spain. The Count of Barcelona formally renounced his claims in favour of his son in 1977, two years after Franco's death and Juan Carlos's accession. Juan Carlos abdicated in favor of his son

Felipe VI Felipe VI (; Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed For ...

, who became king on 19 June 2014, with Felipe's older daughter,

Leonor Leonor or Léonor is the Spanish form of the given name Eleanor. People bearing the name include: * Leonor Acevedo Suárez (1876–1975), Argentine translator and mother of Jorge Luis Borges * Leonor Allende (1883–1931), Argentine writer and j ...

, next in succession.

Timeline of Spanish monarchs

ImageSize=width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea=top:10 bottom:30 right:60 left:20 AlignBars=justify DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1474 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor=unit:year increment:100 start:1500 ScaleMinor=unit:year increment:25 start:1500 Colors= id:canvas value:rgb(1,1,1) id:tr value:yellow id:ha value:green id:bo value:red id:bn value:rgb(0.5,0.5,1) id:sa value:rgb(0.85,0.35,0) id:eon value:black Backgroundcolors=canvas:canvas BarData= barset:Rulers bar:eon PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(0,-5) bar:eon color:eon from:1474 till: 1555 color: tr text:

House of Trastámara The House of Trastámara (Spanish, Aragonese and Catalan: ) was a royal dynasty which first ruled in the Crown of Castile and then expanded to the Crown of Aragon from the Late Middle Ages to the early modern period. They were an illegitimate ...

from:1556 till: 1700 color: ha text:

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

from:1700 till: 1808 color: bo text:

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

shift:(0,15) from:1808 till: 1813 color: bn text: Bonaparte shift:(0,0) from:1813 till: 1868 color: bo text: House~of Bourbon shift:(0,15) from:1870 till: 1873 color: sa text:

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

shift:(0,0) from:1874 till: 1931 color: bo text: House~of Bourbon from:1975 till: 2025 color: bo text: House~of Bourbon width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:Rulers from: 1474 till: 1504 color:tr text: Isabel I from: 1475 till: 1516 color:tr text: Fernando II and V from: 1504 till: 1555 color:tr text:

Juana I Joanna of Castile (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), historically known as Joanna the Mad (), was the nominal queen of Castile from 1504 and queen of Aragon from 1516 to her death in 1555. She was the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile ...

from: 1506 till: 1506 color:tr text: Felipe I from: 1516 till: 1556 color:ha text: Carlos I from: 1556 till: 1598 color:ha text: Felipe II from: 1598 till: 1621 color:ha text: Felipe III from: 1621 till: 1665 color:ha text:

Felipe IV Philip IV (, ; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the ...

from: 1665 till: 1700 color:ha text:

Carlos II Charles II (6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700) was King of Spain from 1665 to 1700. The last monarch from the House of Habsburg, which had ruled Spain since 1516, he died without an heir, leading to a European Great Power conflict over the succ ...

from: 1700 till: 1724 color:bo text:

Felipe V Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the history of the Spanish mo ...

from: 1724 till: 1724 color:bo text:

Luis I Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish language, Spanish form of the originally Germanic language, Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese language, Portuguese and G ...

from: 1724 till: 1746 color:bo text:

from: 1746 till: 1759 color:bo text:

Fernando VI Ferdinand VI (; 23 September 1713 – 10 August 1759), called the Learned (''el Prudente'') and the Just (''el Justo''), was King of Spain from 9 July 1746 until his death in 1759. He was the third ruler of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty. He was the ...

from: 1759 till: 1788 color:bo text: Carlos III from: 1788 till: 1808 color:bo text:

Carlos IV Charles IV (; 11 November 1748 – 20 January 1819) was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808. The Spain inherited by Charles IV gave few indications of instability, but during his reign, Spain entered a series of disa ...

from: 1808 till: 1808 color:bo text:

Fernando VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

from: 1808 till: 1813 color:bn text:

José I '' Dom'' Joseph I (; 6 June 1714 – 24 February 1777), known as the Reformer (Portuguese: ''o Reformador''), was King of Portugal from 31 July 1750 until his death in 1777. Among other activities, Joseph was devoted to hunting and the opera. H ...

from: 1813 till: 1833 color:bo text:

from: 1833 till: 1868 color:bo text:

Isabel II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

from: 1870 till: 1873 color:sa text:

Amadeo I Amadeo I (; 30 May 184518 January 1890), also known as Amadeus, was an Italian prince who reigned as King of Spain from 1870 to 1873. The only king of Spain to come from the House of Savoy, he was the second son of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy an ...

from: 1874 till: 1885 color:bo text:

from: 1886 till: 1931 color:bo text:

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

from: 1975 till: 2014 color:bo text:

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until Abdication of Juan Carlos I, his abdic ...

from: 2014 till: 2025 color:bo text:

barset:skip

Notes

References

External links

Monarchs of Spain (700–present)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Spanish Monarchs

*List

Monarchs A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority an ...