King of Spain (1808–33). He succeeded to the throne after the forced abdication of his father, Charles IV, and was in turn forced by the French to abdicate in favour of Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, spending the years of the Peninsular War in prison in France. Known as ‘The Desired One’, he was released in 1814 and restored to the throne. He abolished the liberal constitution of 1812 and instituted his own absolutist rule, relying on the support of the Church and the army. The loss of the colonies in America (Spanish–South American Wars of Independence) deprived the government of a major source of income, and his troops mutinied. The revolutionaries held him practically a prisoner until 1823, when French forces came to his aid. Restored to power, he carried out a bloody revenge on the insurgents.