Prince or Princess of Asturias () is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent, or heir presumptive to the Spanish Crown.
According to the Spanish Constitution of 1978:
The title originated in 1388, when King John I of Castile granted the dignitywhich included jurisdiction over the territory of Asturias – to his first-born son Henry. In an attempt to end the dynastic struggle between the heirs of Kings Peter I and Henry II of Castile, the principality was chosen as the highest jurisdictional lordship the King could grant that had not yet been granted to anyone. The custom of granting unique titles to royal heirs had already been in use in the Crown of Aragon (Prince of Girona) and the kingdoms of England (Prince of Wales), and France (Dauphin of Viennois). The title, therefore, had two purposes: to serve as a generic title to name the heir apparent or heir presumptive, and as a specific title to apply to the prince who was first in the line of succession when the King transmitted to him the territory of the principality, with its government and its income.
When the Bourbons acceded to the Spanish throne in 1705, the title was retained following the decisive help of Castile to the house in the War of the Spanish Succession. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Spanish Constitution of 1812 (European year of revolutions) with consent of its counterparties ascribed the title to the heir of the Crown. The Constitutions within the following decades temporarily removed the synonymy between the title and position as heir to the Crown; before being reinstated and recited in the second half of the 19th century, first half of the 20th century, and on the restoration of the monarchy (under parliamentary predominance) in 1978.
History
The jurisdictional lordships, forms of governmentnot of ownership or possession, which were consolidated in the 14th and 15th centurieswere subrogations<!--This term is too academic or obscure for the average reader. I skimmed the WP article on subrogation, and read the Merriam-Webster on-line definition, and could not figure out what meaning was intended here. Perhaps another term (word) could be found, or another WP article to which a link could be made.--> of the royal power for the administration of towns, usually those with geographical or structural difficulties that generated income. From King Alfonso XI the rulers created these lordships to give to their allies a proper way to maintain their position and to be able to govern and administer areas that were otherwise difficult to take care of with the traditional channels of the monarchy. From its origins<!--The origins of WHAT?-->, there have been buying and selling operations. These lordships were unique: they were territories that in remote times formed the Kingdom of Asturias, the one identified with the origins of the monarchy.
When Rodrigo died without an heir in 1333, he bequeathed his domains to Henry, Count of Trastámara and illegitimate half-brother of King Peter I, during whose reign a "true civil war"in the words of Luis Suárez Fernándeztook place in Asturias de Oviedo because a group of knights settled in small dominions believed that the consolidation of the "states" that were being occupied by the Count of Trastámara (in a civil war against the King), would affect their power. Henry, once King, ceded the counties to his illegitimate son Alfonso Enríquez. During the reign of his half brother King John I, the Count of Noreña and Gijón revolted against him several times; for this reason, the King decided to confiscate the counties and incorporate them to the Crown, promising in a document dated 18July 1383 that they would always remain part of the royal demesne.
Creation of the Principality
[[File:Enrique III de Castilla (Museo del Prado).jpg|220px|thumb|left|Imaginative portrait of King Henry III of Castile, by Calixto Ortega, 1848. He was the first Prince of Asturias, proclaimed in 1388.
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On 8 July 1388 the Treaty of Bayonne was signed between John of Lancaster and King JohnI of Castile, establishing the final dynastic reconciliation after the assassination of King PeterI. By this treaty, the Duke of Lancaster and his wife Constance renounced all their rights over the Castilian throne on behalf of the marriage of their daughter Catherine to the first-born son of King JuanI of Castile, the future HenryIII, who was granted as heir the dignity of Prince of Asturias.
The premature death of John I and the minority of HenryIII prevented the institutional and juridical conformation of the principality while Alfonso Enríquez rebelled again after obtaining his freedom by royal decree. Besieged by the King's troops, he submitted to the arbitration of King Charles VI of France, who imposed on the count the return of the territories he held in Asturias. The territory was subdued, and his royal status was confirmed.
In the early days of its creation, the title of Prince of Asturias was not just a simple honorific title, as it included control of the territory of Asturias. The Prince ruled it in representation of the King and was able to appoint judges, mayors, etc. King JohnII by decree dated in Tordesillas on 3March 1444 declared the conversion of the principality into a jurisdictional lordship, linking the cities, towns, and places of Asturias deOviedo with their rents and jurisdictions to the Majorat of the heirs of the Crown; however, this document was in some case disobeyed and ignored by the Asturian towns as it went against their traditional fueros. On 31May of that same year the future HenryIV tried to make the Majorat effective and remember Oviedo and the twenty-one principal Asturian villages that rightfully belonged to his lordship even though he had not "executed or used [the principality] because of my minority and the great debates and scandals that have taken place in these kingdoms".
With the legal conformation, the duality principality–lordship was recovered and would last under the jurisdiction of the Prince until the time of Catholic Monarchs, who limited the scope of the title, making it merely honorary; this decision was upheld by the members of the House of Habsburg and the House of Bourbon until the present day.
250px|thumb|right|Education of Prince John, by [[Salvador Martínez Cubells 1877. John was the only son of the Catholic Monarchs and heir of all their domains during his lifetime.]]
Although all the heirs of the Crown of Castile have traditionally been considered Princes of Asturias, not all had a formal act by which the jurisdictional lordship was granted; strictly speaking, the only Princes of Asturias were Henry, during 1388–1390, Enrique, during 1444–1453, Isabella during 1468–1474, and John, briefly during 1496–1497. In the periods in which no prince was proclaimed, the Principality did not disappear but was directly governed by the monarch, to whose treasury were sent the jurisdictional rents. In 1496 there was an attempt to revive the principality by Royal Letter dated 20May, in which the monarchs, "wishing to observe the ancient custom" of their Kingdomsan allusion to Aragongave to Prince John the rents and jurisdictions of the Asturian places that had previously reverted to the Crown, reserving to them the majority of the judges<!--Reserving to WHOM, or to WHAT?--> and the condition of not alienating his patrimony.
Decadence under the Habsburgs
With Prince John the title was added to a list of titles used by the Hispanic monarchy, the heir adding the titles of Prince of Asturias, Girona (1496), Spain, and the New World. The imperialist aspirations are observed in the new title of the heir of the Catholic Monarchs: "Prince of these Kingdoms, Prince of the Spains and the New World" (Príncipe de estos Reynos, Príncipe de las Españas y del Nuevo Mundo). The title lives from that moment a time of partial decadence with the establishment of the House of Habsburg on the Spanish throne; Only during the reign of PhilipIV was a proper ceremony introduced for the Prince's oath as heir. The commission responsible for the writing of the new constitution, equating the Crown Prince with the Prince of Asturias, proposed that the Cortes should recognize him immediately after announcing his birth and that upon reaching the age of 14, the prince should swear before the Cortes the defence of the Catholic faith, the preservation of the Constitution, and obedience to the King.
- Art. 201. The first-born child of the King will be titled Prince of Asturias. [...]
- Art. 206. The Prince of Asturias cannot leave the Kingdom without the consent of the Cortes, and if he leaves without it, he will remain for the same fact excluded from the succession to the Crown. [...]
- Art. 208. The Prince of Asturias, Infantes and Infantas and their children and descendants who are subjects of the King, cannot contract marriage without [the king's] consent and that of the Cortes, under penalty of being excluded from the succession to the Crown. [...]
- Art. 210. The Prince of Asturias will be recognized by the Cortes with the formalities that will prevent the regulation of the internal Government of them.<!--WHAT formalities? What does "prevent the regulation of the internal Government of them" mean? Who, or what, is "them"?-->
- Art. 211. This recognition will be made in the first courts held after his birth.
- Art. 212. The Prince of Asturias, upon reaching the age of 14, will take the following oath before the Cortes: "N. (name), Prince of Asturias, I swear by God and by the Holy Gospels, that I will defend and preserve the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman religion, without allowing any other in the Kingdom; That I will keep the Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy, and that I will be faithful and obedient to the King. So help me God."
The synonymy of the title "Prince of Asturias" with the heir of the throne was eliminated in the constitutions of 1837 and 1845, instead referring to the "immediate heir to the crown" (Article20 of the Constitution of 1837) and "immediate successor to the Crown", " immediate successor, "and" first-born son of the King " (articles 39, 47, and 61 of the Constitution of 1845).
The royal decree of 30May 1850 attributes to the "immediate successors to the Crown", according to the Constitution of the Monarchy, without distinction of men or women," the continued use of "Prince of Asturias". Queen Isabella II gave birth to a daughter, Isabella, on 20 December 1851 and as a result of this decree, the newborn received the title of "Princess of Asturias". Isabella would lose this title with the birth of her brother, the future Alfonso XII, in 1857.
The Constitution of 1869 kept the traditional denomination of Prince of Asturias due to the influence of the Asturian politician José Posada Herrera. Alfonso XII ascended the throne in 1874 following the end of the brief First Spanish Republic and as the infanta Isabella was the immediate heir to the Crown after her brother Alfonso, she once again became "Princess of Asturias" by royal order of 25March 1875, applying the doctrine of 1850 by granting the title of Princess without distinguishing between male or female successor. The subsequent Constitution of 1876 omitted the title again from its provisions, similar to the constitutions of 1837 and 1845. The decree stated that any other immediate successor, male or female, had to be granted the title. the new liberal government of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta was limited to restoring the principles of the decree of 1850, granting the title of Princess of Asturias to Infanta María de las Mercedes in a royal decree dated 10March 1881.
Current democracy
With the restoration of the monarchy in 1975, the Royal Decree of 21January 1977, supported by the Provincial Delegation of Oviedo, ordered that the son of King Juan Carlos I, Prince Felipe, bear the title of Prince of Asturias, in addition to those titles traditionally appertaining to the heir of the throne. The process culminated in the promulgation of the Constitution of 1978, whose article57 says that the Crown Prince will be Prince of Asturias and can use the other titles linked to his person, symbolically embodying the Spanish dynastic union. and holds the titles inherent to that position, recognized in the article57.1 of the Constitution, with origins in 1351, 1387, 1353, and 1418, respectively.
- Prince of Viana, as the heir of Kingdom of Navarre,
Upon reaching the age of majority, she or he must take an oath before the to faithfully carry out her duties, to keep and enforce the Constitution and laws, and to respect the rights of citizens and autonomous communities, as well as show fidelity to the King, according to Article61 of the constitution. The current titular of the Principality is Leonor, who took that dignity on 19June 2014, when her father, King Felipe VI, ascended to the throne following the abdication of her grandfather Juan Carlos I.
| 1424
| 1425
| Displaced by the birth of brother
|-
| 80px
| Henry<br/>(1425–1474)
| 1425
| 1454
| Ascended the throne as Henry IV
|-
| 80px
| Joanna<br/>(1462–1530)
| rowspan=4 | Henry IV
| Father
| 1462
| 1464
| Disinherited in favour of half-uncle
|-
| 80px
| Alfonso<br/>(1453–1468)
| rowspan=2 | Half-brother
| 1464
| 1465
| Proclaimed King in the Farce of Ávila
|-
| 80px
| Isabella<br/>(1451–1504)
| 1468
| 1470
| Disinherited in favour of half-niece
|-
| 80px
| Joanna<br/>(1462–1530)
| Father
| 1470<br/>Prince of Spain since 1969.<br/>Ascended the throne as Juan Carlos I
|-
| 80px
| Felipe<br/>(born 1968)
| Juan Carlos I
| Father
| 1977
| 2014
| Ascended the throne as Felipe VI
|-
| 80px
| Leonor<br/>(born 2005)
| Felipe VI
| Father
| 2014
| Present
| Incumbent
|}
See also
- Asturias
- Asturias, Cebu, Philippines
- Prince of Spain
- Princess of Asturias (by marriage)
- Monarchy of Spain
- Prince of Asturias Awards
- Príncipe de Asturias Peak
- Spanish aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias
- List of titles and honours of the Spanish Crown
Notes
References
Bibliography
- , n° XII.
External links
- The title of Prince of Asturias (in Spanish) abc.es
- La Numeración de los Principes de Astrurias