ESPARTERO, BALDOMERO, PRINCE (PRNCIPE) DE VERGARA

born Oct. 27, 1793, Grantula, Spain died Jan. 8, 1879, Logroo also called (from 1839) Duke (duque) De La Victoria, or (from 1837) Count (conde) De Luchana, byname The Peacemaker Of Spain, Spanish El Pacificador De Espaa Spanish general and statesman, victor in the First Carlist War, and regent. The son of working-class parents, Espartero entered the army at age 15 and fought with Spanish forces in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars and in the rebellious Americas. On the death of Ferdinand VII he showed himself a strong supporter of the queen regent Mara Cristina and enthusiastically joined the forces opposed to Don Carlos (Carlos Mara Isidro de Borbn). He was made commander in chief and, for his victory over the Carlists at the Battle of Luchana (December 1836), was created Count de Luchana. Later he opened up the negotiations that led to the Convention of Vergara (1839) and ended the civil war. This success earned Espartero the popular sobriquet the Peacemaker of Spain and the title Duke de la Victoria. He had begun to dabble in politics in 1836; on his return to Madrid (1840) he became head of the government and selected a cabinet of ministers who agreed with his progressive ideas. Mara Cristina preferred to resign the regency (October 1840) rather than accept his program of reforms. Espartero was then himself appointed regent by the Cortes (May 1841), or Spanish parliament. Espartero's regency revealed his faulty understanding of politics. The progressive party was not united, and when Agustn Argelles was appointed tutor to young Isabella II by the Cortes, Mara Cristina's protests from Paris gained the support of the moderates. Generals Concha and Diego de Lon attempted to seize Isabella in September 1841, and the severity with which Espartero crushed their rebellion made his government unpopular. A republican revolt in 1842 was put down with equal harshness. In 1843 Generals Ramn Narvez and Francisco Serrano rose against Espartero and obliged him to flee to England, where he lived until 1849, when he returned to Spain and lived in retirement at Logroo. Espartero made his reappearance in politics in 1854 to share control of the government with General Leopoldo O'Donnell during the so-called bienio progresista. He finally retired in 1856 and did not even intervene when Isabella II was dethroned (1868). Subsequently (1875) he was awarded the title Prince de Vergara, together with the style of royal highness, by King Amadeus.