The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Alfonso XII, king of Spain
1857–85, king of Spain (1874–85), son of Isabella II. He went into exile with his parents at the time of the revolt of the Carlists in 1868 and was educated in Austria and England. In 1870 his mother abdicated her rights in his favor, and in 1874 he was proclaimed king. Supported by Martínez de Campos and Cánovas del Castillo, he consolidated the monarchy, winning greater popularity for it than it had enjoyed under his mother or grandfather, Fernando VII. He was a victim of the cholera epidemic of 1885. His widow, Maria Christina (1858–1929), was regent during the minority of his posthumous son, Alfonso XIII.
