Charles III (Spain)

Charles III 1716-88, king of Spain (1759-88) and of Naples and Sicily (1735-59), son of Philip V and Elizabeth Farnese . Recognized as duke of Parma and Piacenza in 1731, he relinquished the duchies to Austria after Spain reconquered (1734) Naples and Sicily in the War of the Polish Succession . His reign in Naples was beneficent. In 1759 he succeeded his half brother, Ferdinand VI, to the Spanish throne, Naples and Sicily passing to his third son, Ferdinand (later Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies). Charles at first was neutral in the Seven Years War , but after concluding the Family Compact of 1761 with France, he involved Spain in the war in time to share France's defeat. By the Treaty of Paris of 1763 he ceded Florida to England but received Louisiana from France. Territorial disputes with Portugal in the Río de la Plata region were settled by the Treaty of San Ildefonso (1777). In the American Revolution, Charles entered (1779) the war on the American side and by the Treaty of Paris of 1783 regained Florida and Minorca. Spain prospered under the rule of Charles, who is regarded as the greatest Bourbon king of Spain and one of the "enlightened despots." His reign is noted for economic and administrative reforms and for the expulsion of the Jesuits (1767). Charles was ably assisted by Aranda , Floridablanca , Campomanes, and Jovellanos. He was succeeded by his son Charles IV.

Charles III (1716–88) King of Spain (1759–88) and of Naples and Sicily (1735–59), son of Philip V and Elizabeth Farnese. He conquered Naples and Sicily in 1734, and inherited the Spanish crown from his half-brother Ferdinand VI. He handed Naples and Sicily to his son Ferdinand, who ruled as Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. Charles was a highly competent ruler. He encouraged commercial and agrarian reform, and brought the Spanish Catholic Church under state control, expelling the Jesuits in 1767. Allied with France in the Seven Years' War, he received Louisiana in 1763. His son succeeded him as Charles IV.