GODOY, MANUEL DE duke of Alcudia and Prince of the Peace, Spanish royal favourite and minister. Born of a noble family of Estremadura at Badajoz on May 12, 1767, he entered the Guardia de Corps in 1784. His handsome, foolish face captivated Maria Luisa of Parma, and when King Charles III. died in 1788, Godoy's fortune was soon made. By the influence of the queen, he was promoted in the army with scandalous rapidity, made duke of Alcudia, and in 1792 minister under the premiership of Aranda, whom he succeeded in dis placing by the close of the year. In 1798, his unpopularity and the intrigues of the French Government led to his temporary retirement, without, however, any diminution of the king's per sonal favour. In 18o1 he returned to office, and until 1807 he was the executant of the disastrous policy of the court. In the third period of his public life (1807-08), he was desperately striving for his place between the aggressive intervention of Napoleon on the one hand, and the growing hatred of the nation, organized around Ferdinand, the prince of Asturias, on the other. A popular outbreak at Aranjuez on March 17, 1808, led to his arrest. Imprisoned by Ferdinand, he was released by order of Napoleon. He joined the royal family at Bayonne and remained with them until Charles IV. died at Rome in 1819, having sur vived his queen. After the death of Ferdinand VII., in Godoy returned to Madrid, and failing to secure the restoration of his property confiscated in 1808, lived on a small pension granted him by Louis Philippe. He died in Paris on Oct 4, 1851.
As a favourite Godoy is remarkable for his hold on the affection of his sovereigns. Latterly he was supported rather by the husband than by the wife. He got rid of Aranda by adopt ing, in order to please the king, a policy which tended to bring on war with France. When the war proved disastrous, he made the Peace of Basle, and was created Prince of the Peace for his serv ices. Then he helped to make war with England. The disasters which followed only made him dearer to the king. The queen endured his flagrant infidelities. In his private life, Godoy was profligate, profuse and childishly ostentatious. The policy of his Government was financially ruinous, and the best that can be said for him is that he was good-natured, and tried to restrain the Inquisition and the purely reactionary parties.