Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat) There is no record of Goya's thoughts during this period. He completed the series during a period recuperating from illness, possibly lead poisoning, when he was in considerable mental and physical pain, and withdrew from public life. "Witches' Sabbath" is believed to be a rather bitter, but silent, protest against the royalists and clergy who had retaken control of Spain after the Peninsular War of 1807–14. Advocates of the Enlightenment had sought to redistribute land to the peasants, to educate women, publish a vernacular Bible and, by replacing superstition with reason, put an end to the Inquisition. Witch hunting, seen
Spanish succession issue of 1789 Spanish succession issue of 1789 Spanish succession issue of 1789 was a series of debates and decisions, taking place and adopted prior, during and after the Cortes sittings. They were initiated by king Carlos IV, who suggested that the succession law in force be altered; the change would consist of giving preference to females of main descendant line over males of collateral lines. The proposal was accepted and formally adopted as Cortes’ petition to the king, but a corresponding law was not published until 1830, which triggered a dynastical conflict and a series of civil wars. The question whether the