Leading up to the war, Queen Isabella II abdicated the throne in 1868, and the unpopular Amadeo I, son of the King of Italy, was proclaimed King of Spain in 1870. In response, the Carlist pretender, Carlos VII, tried to earn the support of various Spanish regions by promising to reintroduce various area-specific customs and laws. The Carlists proclaimed the restoration of Catalan, Valencian and Aragonese fueros (charters) which had been abolished at the beginning of the 18th century by King Philip V in his unilateral Nueva Planta decrees.