Christina Maria

Christina Maria, Regent of Spain, was born in 1806, being the daughter of Francis I. of Naples. She married Ferdinand VII. of Spain in 1829, and on his death, four years later, became regent for her infant daughter Isabella. She soon found herself opposed by the Carlists, and Espartero, having defeated them, headed a movement against the sovereign, who had made herself disliked by her marriage with Fernando Munoz, an officer of the guards, and by her tyrannical conduct. After the rising of Narvaez in 1843 she returned to Madrid, and remained there till 1854, when O'Donnell and Espartero combined to put an end to her influence. She retired to France, and died at her villa near Havre in 1878.