Napoleon I, Manuscript Document Signed ("Np"), one page, 9 x 7 inches, Bayonne, May 9, 1808. To Monsieur (A.M.) Mollien, Minister of the Public Treasury in Paris.
"Monsieur Mollien, I have concluded a secret treaty with King Charles [of Spain]. I am only writing you therefore, to let you know the arrangements which concern you: 1. You are to see to it that this Prince is paid in twelve monthly instalments, beginning May 1st, an annual sum of 30 million reals, as the yearly allotment to a Chief of State; 2. You are to pay all his children 400,000 francs per year; there are five of them, I believe. Therefore, that will come to two million which, together with the 7,500,000 francs to be paid to King Charles, will total 9,500,000 francs which you will have to pay yearly. These 9,500,000 francs must definitely be paid to them, but they are not to appear on the budget. They are to be shown as a loan which will be repaid by Spain. It is probable that I will give an additional 500,000 to the Prince [Ferdinand] of the Asturias; that would make the total 10 million francs. All these sums will be repaid by Spain…."
Spain was officially a French ally but after the Spanish fleet was destroyed at Trafalgar (Oct. 26, 1805), and after the Jena campaign of 1806, calling for the Spanish people to rise up against un unnamed enemy, Napoleon was under no illusions. Spain was ruled by Charles IV (1748-1819) the last surviving Bourbon king in Europe. Weak and vacillating, he was completely dominated by his wife, Maria Luisa, and her favorite, Manuel de Godoy. Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias and heir to the throne, feared that Godoy planned to exclude him from the succession and, in the fall of 1807, wrote a letter to Napoleon asking for his support. His appeal was discovered and he was arrested and charged with trying to overthrow his father and forced to write a humiliating letter of apology.
Using as an excuse the terms of the Franco-Spanish alliance which permitted France to send reinforcements to Portugal through Spain, Napoleon sent 55,000 troops into Spain in January 1808. The Spanish court, including Charles, Ferdinand, and Godoy, tried to escape but were stopped by a mob and Charles was forced to abdicate in favor of Ferdinand. The French ignored Ferdinand and opened negotiations with Charles, who was persuaded to write a letter that he had been forced to abdicate against his will. Unaware of this and having received an invitation to come to Bayonne by Napoleon, who assured Ferdinand that he would acknowledge him as King as long as the abdication had been of Charles' own will, Ferdinand arrived in Bayonne on April 20. Soon after arriving, he was informed that Napoleon had decided that the Bourbon dynasty in Spain should be replaced by a French prince, and when Ferdinand refused to abdicate, Charles was summoned to Bayonne. On May 6th, Ferdinand was finally "persuaded" to return the throne to Charles, only to discover that Charles had abdicated on May 5th in favor of Napoleon.
On May 9th, Napoleon sent instructions to his Minister of the Public Treasury to make monthly payments to Charles and his children, including, probably, Ferdinand, who, interestingly enough, did not give up all claims to the Spanish throne until the next day, assuring, we suppose, that he would receive the 500,000 francs mentioned by Napoleon in this letter. Ferdinand would be imprisoned for the next seven years. As word got out to Spaniards of what had transpired at Bayonne, a series of uprisings began. Rather than solving Napoleon's problems in Spain, Bayonne was just the beginning.
Estimated Value $15,000-UP
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