MARIA CHRISTINA, queen of Spain, b. April 27, 1806, was a daughter of Francis I., king of the two Sicilies. In 1829 she became the fourth wife of Ferdinand VII. of • Spain; who in 1830 restored the law by which, in default of male issue, the right of inheritance was given to females, and in October Of that year the queen g,ave birth to a daughter, Isabella II., ex-queen of Spain. The Spanish liberals gladly embraced the cause of the queen, rejoicing to see the dreaded Don Carlos, Ferdinand's brother, further removed from probable succession to the throne. Ferdinaud died Sept. 29, 1833, and by his testament his widow was appointed guardian of her children—the young queen Isabella and the infanta Maria Louisa, now duchess de Montpensier—and also regent, till the young queen should attain the age of 18 years. A civil war broke out, the adher ents of Don Carlos seeking to place him on the throne. The event of this war, which continued till 1840, was long doubtful, and Spain was fearfully desolated by contending artnies; but the queen-mother seemed indifferent to everything except the company of don Fernando Mufioz, one of the royal body-guard, whom she made her chamberlain, and with whom she was ttnited, in December, 1833, in a morganatic marriage, which, however, was kept secret, whilst her connection with him was no secret. She had la children by him. A conspiracy, which broke out on the night of Aug. 13, 1836, exposed
Munoz to great danger, and led the queen-mother to concede a constitution to Spain. Her practice as regent was to adopt the course agreeable to the minister of the day, and thus her government was despotic under one ministry and liberal under. another. She contrived, however, upon many occasions to embarrass the proceedings of her more liberal or constitutional ministers; but when she sanctioned by her signature the law respecting the Ayuntamientos (q.v.), a popular commotion ensued, and she gave to the new printe minister Espartero (q.v.), Oct. 10, 1840, a renunciation of the regencv, and retired io France, but continued to interfere from her retirement in the affairs of .pain. After the fall of Espartero she returned to Madrid in 1843, and in October, 1844, her marriage with Muiloz, who was now made duke of Rianzares, was solemnized. Her • participations in the schemes of Louis Philippe as to the marriage of her daughters, in 1846, and the continual exercise of all her influence in a manner unfavorable to constitu tional liberty, made her the object of great dislike to the whole liberal party in Spain. At length, in July, 1854, a revolution expelled her from the country, and she again took refuge in France, but returned to Spain in 1864, only to retire again in 1868. She died August, 1878.