European History: Carlos V and Napoleon I
With Carlos IV in power, the figure of the mayor was going to be replaced by that of Governor, who ultimately was going to perform the same functions as the previous position. With the new king also a new prior to Monastery also arrived, this was Fray Isidro de Jesús, appointed by Carlos IV himself. In the year 1789 a new governor, Vicente Pedrosa Seijas, also chosen by the king and in charge among other things to raise taxes was chosen. 1792 was the year in which the Royal Site of San Lorenzo formally established as a new population that had its own civil, criminal and administrative jurisdiction. Carlos IV died on March 19, 1808 and immediately happened on the throne his son, Fernando VII, who had to face enough conflicts.
The s. XIX began in a very complicated way for Spain, and the first conflict we found at this stage is the invasion of Spain by Napoleon’s troops, which would give way to the so -called War of Independence between Spain and France. The French troops entered the northern Spain with the express permission of the previous king, Carlos IV, who signed a Fontainebleu treaty, for which he went with France and gave the right of passage to his troops for the French invasion ofPortugal. Napoleon saw this as an opportunity to expand, so he decided to occupy the Spanish territories as he passed through them, but on May 2, 1808 the Spanish military revolted and the war began. Napoleon’s troops swept everything that were put ahead, and having a large army, prepared and with strong international alliances, advanced without major problem, but when they entered Madrid, they found a great resistance, with the captainsDaoiz and Velarde. The French siege continued throughout Spain, and when they arrived in San Lorenzo de El Escorial they did what they had been doing with all those cities through which they passed. The monastery was taken from Spain and burned enough buildings in the municipality.
The jeron monks who resided there were forced to leave the building, so in the municipality they begin to recruit soldiers to fight Napoleon’s troops, which were more prepared, but even so, due to the French defeat in the battle ofBailén, Napoleon was forced to intervene in the conflict since his brother, José Bonaparte Rey of Spain imposed by him, leaves the country.
Then, King is proclaimed again to Fernando VII, but the Spanish joy would not last long, since Napoleon would return with his troops to Spain in a conflict that lasted 6 years, from 1808 to 1814. The French troops swept what they were put ahead, first swept the town of El Escorial and then the real site, forcing the inhabitants to flee to nearby towns of the Sierra. As for the monastery, it was not going to be less, it was razed and looted, works of art, books, jewels … etc. José Bonaparte’s decision was to somehow unite the Villa and the Royal Site, causing the position of Mayor Mayor to serve the two locations.
As the years passed, calmly after the War of Independence, San Lorenzo de El Escorial was growing more and more in terms of population, and more and more leisure is being a place where the high classes passed the summers, withoutlose that historical essence that characterizes it.
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