Editing Alfonso XII (section)

==Paternity, early life, and exile==
Alfonso was born in [[Madrid]] as the eldest son of the reigning Queen [[Isabella II of Spain|Isabella II]] on 28 November 1857. His official father, Isabella's husband [[Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz|Francisco de Asís]], has been generally viewed as effeminate, impotent or homosexual, leading writers to question his biological paternity. There is speculation that Alfonso's biological father may have been Enrique Puigmoltó y Mayans, a captain of the guard.<ref>Juan Sisinio Pérez Garzón, Isabel II: Los Espejos de la Reina (2004)</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2025}} Others have assigned the fatherhood to Federico Puig Romero, a [[colonel]] who was murdered under unclear circumstances in 1866.<ref>{{cite web |title=Maria Nieves Michavila presenta un libro sobre la paternidad del hijo de la reina Isabel II |date=11 February 2016|url=https://www.levante-emv.com/horta/2016/02/11/maria-nieves-michavila-presenta-libro-12458899.html}}</ref> The relationship of the queen with Puigmoltó was so much of a public hearsay at the time that Francisco de Asís initially refused to attend the baptism ceremony of Alfonso (the heir apparent), though he was eventually forced to do so.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://revistaaportes.com/index.php/aportes/article/viewFile/60/48|title=Influencias en la imagen pública y privada de una reina: Isabel II (1833–1868)|first=María Inmaculada|last=Bermúdez Ruíz-Cabello|journal=Aportes|issn=0213-5868|issue=83|volume=28|year=2013|pages=129}}</ref>

These rumours were used as political propaganda against Alfonso by the [[Carlists]], and he came to be widely nicknamed "Puigmoltejo" in reference to his supposed father.<ref>[[Jaime Ignacio del Burgo|Burgo Tajadura, Jaime Ignacio del]] (2008). ''Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia'', p. 242: "A few months later, on the night of November 28 at 10:15, the queen gave birth to a child, who in time would be Alfonso XII, to whom the tongues, more or less deridingly, gave the name of Puigmoltejo". {{ISSN|0034-0626}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=El puñal del godo en la familia Borbón |date=30 June 2017|url=https://www.elespanol.com/opinion/tribunas/20170629/227597240_12.html}}</ref> His mother's accession had created a second cause of instability, the [[Carlist Wars]], where the supporters of [[Infante Carlos, Count of Molina|Don Carlos, Count of Molina]] as King of Spain rose to have him enthroned.

In addition, within the context of the post-Napoleonic restorations and revolutions which engulfed Europe and the Americas, both the Carlistas and the Isabelino conservatives were opposed to the new Napoleonic constitutional system. Much like in Britain, which subtracted itself from the liberal constitutional process, Spanish conservatives wanted to continue with the traditional Organic Laws, such as the [[Fuero Juzgo]], the Novísima Recopilación and the [[Siete Partidas|Partidas of Alfonso X]]. This led to a third cause of instability, the independence of most of the American possessions, recognized between 1823 and 1850.

When Queen Isabella II and her husband were forced to leave Spain by the [[Glorious Revolution (Spain)|Revolution of 1868]], Alfonso accompanied them to Paris. From there, he was sent to the [[Theresianum]] in Vienna to continue his studies. On 25 June 1870, he was recalled to Paris, where his mother abdicated in his favour, in the presence of a number of Spanish nobles who had tied their fortunes to those of the exiled queen. He assumed the name Alfonso XII, for although no king of united Spain had borne the name "Alfonso", the Spanish monarchy was regarded as continuous with the more ancient monarchy represented by the 11 kings of [[Kingdom of Asturias|Asturias]], [[Kingdom of León|León]] and [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]] also named [[Alfonso]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Alphonso|display=Alphonso s.v. Alphonso XII.|volume=1|page=736}}</ref>