v26_1388 - 4 reales 1811 Madrid VG.2078

SPAIN - KINGDOM OF SPAIN - JOSEPH NAPOLEON

(6/06/1808-11/12/1813)

French troops commanded by Murat invaded Madrid on May 1, 1808. On May 2, "Dos de Mayo" immortalized by Goya, the people rose up. The repression is terrible. On the 5th, by the Treaty of Bayonne, Charles IV abdicated and Ferdinand VII renounced the throne. On June 6, Napoleon chose his brother Joseph to reign over Spain. It was the start of the Spanish Civil War which was Napoleon I's first defeat. On December 11, 1813, the Treaty of Valençay returned the crown to Ferdinand VII, who had been a prisoner since 1808..