Editing Ferdinand VII (section)

==First reign and abdication==
[[File:Royal Monogram of King Fernando VII of Spain.svg|thumb|160px|Royal Monogram]]
[[File:Constitucion Cadiz 1812.png|thumb|left|200px|[[Spanish Constitution of 1812|Constitution of 1812]]]]

Following a [[Tumult of Aranjuez|popular riot at Aranjuez]], Charles IV abdicated in March 1808.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=267}} Ferdinand ascended the throne and turned to Napoleon for support. He abdicated on 6 May 1808, and thereafter Napoleon kept Ferdinand under guard in France for six years at the [[Château de Valençay]].<ref>{{harvnb|Carr|1982|pages= 79–85}}</ref> Historian [[Charles Oman]] records that the choice of Valençay was a practical joke by Napoleon on his former foreign minister [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord|Talleyrand]], the owner of the château, for his lack of interest in Spanish affairs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Oman|first=Charles|author-link=Charles Oman|year=1902|title=A History of the Peninsular War|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.278497/2015.278497.A-History#page/n79/mode/2up|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|page=56}}</ref>

While the upper echelons of the Spanish government accepted his abdication and Napoleon's choice of his brother [[Joseph Bonaparte]] as king of Spain, the Spanish people did not. Uprisings broke out throughout the country, marking the beginning of the [[Peninsular War]].{{sfn|Clarke|1906|pages=12–13}} Provincial [[Junta (Peninsular War)|juntas]] were established to control regions in opposition to the new French king.  After the [[Battle of Bailén]] proved that the Spanish could resist the French, the [[Council of Castile]] reversed itself and declared null and void the abdications of Bayonne on 11 August 1808. On 24 August, Ferdinand VII was proclaimed king of Spain again, and negotiations between the council and the provincial juntas for the establishment of a Supreme Central Junta were completed. On 14 January 1809 the British government acknowledged Ferdinand VII as king of Spain.<ref>{{harvnb|Carr|1982| pages= 85–90}}</ref>