Alfonso XIII of Spain Biography

Alfonso XIII of Spain, also known as El Africano, was the King of Spain from his birth in 1886 until the establishment of the Second Republic in 1931. The posthumous son of Alfonso XII, he grew up alongside two elder sisters under the regency of their mother, María Cristina. Although he felt quite disconnected from the court life from the very beginning, he took full authority as the king on his sixteenth birthday in 1902. During his reign, Alfonso continued the system of rotating the governments which led to political instability. His popularity also suffered due to the poor situation of the popular classes, Catalan nationalism, and consequences of the Rif War. However, his tremendous courage in dealing with a plot to assassinate him on his wedding day in 1906 won him considerable admiration all over Spain. Although Alfonso had seven children with his wife Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, he later left her to have relationships with several mistresses and fathered numerous illegitimate children. In April 1931, he was forced to leave the country though he refused to abdicate the throne. Ten years later, he died at a hotel in Rome, at the age of 54.