v35_0627 - Monnaie obsidionale de 5 pesetas 1809 Tarragone VG.2145

SPAIN - FERDINAND VII - SIEGE OF TARRAGONA

(1809)

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. The resistance is organized in Spain against the French under the direction of local juntas as in Tarragona. The city was stormed by the troops of Marshal Suchet in 1811. On December 11, 1813, the Treaty of Valençay returned the crown to Ferdinand VII who had been a prisoner since 1808.