Charles IV of Spain

Charles was the second son of Charles III and his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony. He was born in Naples (11 November 1748), while his father was King of Naples and Sicily. His elder brother Don Felipe was passed over for both thrones, due to his learning disabilities and epilepsy. In Naples and Sicily, Charles was referred to as the Prince of Taranto. He was called El Cazador (meaning "the Hunter"), due to his preference for sport and hunting, rather than dealing with affairs of state. Charles is considered by historian Stanley G. Payne as "good-hearted but weak and simple-minded".

Following Napoleon's deposing of the Bourbon dynasty, the ex-King, his wife, and former prime minister Godoy were held captive in France first at the château de Compiègne and three years in Marseille (where a neighborhood was named after him). After the collapse of the regime installed by Napoleon, Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne. The former Charles IV drifted about Europe until 1812, when he finally settled in Rome, in the Palazzo Barberini. His wife died on 2 January 1819, followed shortly by Charles, who died on 19 January of the same year. At the time of his death Charles was visiting his brother Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies in Naples. Sir Francis Ronalds included a detailed description of the funeral in his travel journal.

Charles IV married his first cousin Maria Louisa, the daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma, in 1765. The couple had fourteen children, seven of whom survived into adulthood: