María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba the House of Osuna. The Duchess' relationship with famed Spanish painter Francisco Goya and her somewhat eccentric personality have contributed greatly to a continuing interest in her life during the two centuries since her death. Goya executed several well-known portraits of the duchess, most of them during his stay at Sanlúcar de Barrameda (one of the Andalusian country seats of the House of Medina-Sidonia), shortly after the death of her husband, the Duke of Alba, who was also Duke of Medina Sidonia, in 1796. Goya's accompaniment of the recently widowed Duchess combined with certain innuendo expressed in his portraits of
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