Francisco de Asís Martín Melgar y Rodríguez Carmona, 1. Count of Melgar del Rey (31 August 1849 – 3 March 1926), was a Spanish Carlist politician. He is known as political secretary of the Carlist king Carlos VII and one of the late 19th century party leaders. He is also noted as author of memoirs, which together with his massive personal archive are an invaluable source on Carlist history of the era.
Family and youth
The Melgar family originated from Aragon. Francisco's paternal grandfather, Jorge Martín, left his native Zaragoza and settled in Madrid.Matias Fernández García, Parroquias madrileñas de San Martín y San Pedro el Real: algunos personajes de su archivo, Madrid 2004, , p. 134 His son and Francisco's father, Manuel Martín Melgar (1806-1883),El Siglo Futuro 05.03.83, available here already as a young man grew to low-range administrative positions at the court; in 1827 he was nominated fiscal in Real Academia de TeologiaGuía de litigantes y pretendientes 1827, p. 18, available here and in 1831 he became Bibliotecario de Cámara of Francisco de Paula, the youngest brother of Fernando VII.Colección Legislativa de España. Consejo de Estado, Madrid 1884, p. 797, available here He remained loyal to Infante Francisco during the First Carlist War, in the 1840s passing to entourage of his vehemently liberal son, Infante Enrique.Jules Antoine Taschereau, Revue rétrospective, ou, Archives secrètes du dernier gouvernement [1830-1848]: recueil non périodique, Paris 1848, p. 462, available here In 1848 confirmed as royal secretary,Guía de forasteros en Madrid 1850, p. 246, available here during década moderada he broke with the court following political disagreements.Diario de las sesiones de Cortes 1850, p. 272, available here He dedicated himself to law careerJurisprudencia civil: colección completa de las sentencias dictadas por el Tribunal Supremo en recursos de nulidad, casación civil é injusticia notoria y en materia de competencias desde la organización de aquéllos, Madrid 1871, pp. 260-261, available here, also Sentencias del Tribunal supremo de justicia vol. 2, Madrid 1873, p. 556, available here and acted as representative of local Madrid Catholic establishments, retaining the honorary title of secretario primero del gobierno.in 1865 he was active as secretary of Sacramental de San Isidro, San Pedro, San Andrés y Ánimas Benditas, see La Esperanza 14.09.66, available here Over time Manuel Melgar assumed an increasingly conservative stand; in the 1860s he approached the neocatólicos, together with them nearing the Carlists later on. In 1870 he became vice-president of the Madrid Junta Provincial Católico-Monarquica,La Regeneración 01.07.70, available here a Carlist-dominated grouping.by some plainly named Carlist, see B. de Artagan [Reynaldo Brea], Políticos del carlismo, Barcelona 1912, p. 57
Manuel Melgar was married three times;he was first married to Josefa Rodríguez, then to María del Carmen Rodriguez and finally to Josefa Hernandez. According to one source, Francisco was born to Manuel Martín Melgar and Josefa Hernandez (not María Rodriguez), which appears to be either a mistake or a very odd case, Fernández García 2004, p. 134 his second wife was María del Carmen Rodriguez Carmona.along her paternal line she was also related to Aragon, daughter of Manuel from Zaragoza and María Carmen from Valencia, Fernández García 2004, p. 134 It is not clear how many children the couple had: different sources suggest there might have been threeFernández García 2004, p. 134 of fivenamed Ventura and Concepcción, El Siglo Futuro 05.03.83 siblings. Francisco was born as the second oldest son,after Manuel, born 1832, Fernández García 2004, p. 134 all raised in fervently Catholic ambience."familia de arraigados sentimientos católicos", Francisco de Paula Oller, Album de Personajes Carlistas con sus Biografias, volume II, Barcelona 1888, vol. 2, p. 203 None of the sources consulted provides information where he received his childhood and early teen education. In 1864 he entered Universidad Central and pursued a double curriculum, studying both at Facultad de Filosofia y Letras and at Facultad de Derecho.Agustín Fernández Escudero, El marqués de Cerralbo (1845-1922): biografía politica [PhD thesis], Madrid 2012, p. 25 During his academic years he was exposed mostly to Liberal thought of his professors, like Castelar, Montero, Salmerón and Moret,Francisco Melgar, Veinte años con Don Carlos. Memorias de su secretario, Madrid 1940, p. 8 though he forged friendship with conservatively minded students like Enrique de Aguilera, the future marqués de Cerralbo.Fernández Escudero 2012, p. 25 He graduated in 1868 in both law and letters.Fernández Escudero 2012, p. 26, Melgar 1940, pp. 7-8
Family life of Francisco Melgar remains rather obscure; neither he in his memoirs nor any of the scholars offers any meaningful insight into his personal matters. Next to nothing is known about his wife, Jeanne Trampus,in one of his private letters Melgar made an obscure and mysterious confession that "por ese bien [of Spain] me resuelvo al horrendo sacrificio de casarme", Juan Ramón Andrés Martín, El caso Feliú y el dominio de Mella en el Partido Carlista en el período 1910-1912, [in:] Espacio, Tiempo y Forma. Serie V: Historia Contemporánea 10 (1997), p. 108 born probably in Triesteapart from the US, currently her name is recorded mostly in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, close to Venice where Melgar lived in 1880-1900, compare namespedia service and married in Paris in 1906. According to Melgarone scholar claims that Melgar was misogynic, as in his memoirs he bemoaned, apart from his own wife, also the wife of Ramón Nocedal and Berthe de Rohan, Fernández Escudero 2012, pp. 99–100. This claim should be approached with caution, as his memoirs contain also a very warm and friendly portrait of Doña Margarita de Borbón-Parma she was mentally ill and developed maniac behavior;Fernández Escudero 2012, p. 448 She deceased before her husband; their daughter, Carmen Melgar Trampus (1907-1990), became a nun.ABC 10.02.71, available here Their son, Francisco Carlos Melgar Trampus,see Melgar, Francisco (1903-1971) entry [in:] datos.bne service, available here as a youngster serving as secretary to the Carlist claimant Don Jaime,Mundo Gráfico 31.01.23, available here engaged in Madrid Carlist structures of the 1920s;leading the Madrid branch of unofficial Carlist "La Protesta" movement in the 1920s, Jordi Canal, El carlismo. Dos siglos de contrarrevolución en España, Madrid 2000, , p. 285 in the 1930s he was the Paris correspondent of Estampa and As,mostly fashion, leisure and especially sports correspondence, compare As 28.01.35, available here or Estampa 18.03.33, available here in the 1940s active in the Francoist press; in the 1950s he acknowledged Don Juan as legitimate Carlist heir and entered his Consejo Privado.ABC 13.12.56, available here Author of a few books on Carlism,especially Pequeña historia de las guerras carlistas (Madrid 1958) and El noble final de la escisión dinástica (Madrid 1964) in the 1960s he wrote as a columnist to ABC.ABC 09.12.66, available here, ABC 04.06.66, available here His son, Jaime Melgar Botassi, worked as translator.and was 3. count of Melgar del Rey, see Boletín Oficial del Estado 05.05.73, available here Currently the condado rests with Francisco's great-grandson, Francisco Melgar y Gómez de Olea Botassi y Naveda.who is 4. count of Melgar del Rey, see Boletín Oficial del Estado 22.01.83, available here
Early Carlist engagements
Inheriting late conservative outlook of his father, Melgar engaged in a number of initiatives confronting secular tide of the 1868 Glorious Revolution. In 1869 he was among founders of La Armonia,Antonio Jiménez-Landi, La Institución Libre de Enseñanza y su ambiente: Los orígenes de la Institución, Barcelona 1996, , p. 197 a cultural society promoting Catholic orthodoxy as the backbone of public education.Begoña Urigüen, Orígenes y evolución de la derecha española: el neo-catolicismo, Madrid 1986, , 9788400061579, pp. 215-6 The same year he co-founded Juventud Católica"academia científico-literaria, compuesta exclusivamente de jóvenes católicos resueltos a defender la unidad reliriosa en España, cualesquiera quesean las opiniones meramente políticas que cada uno profese", José Andres Gallego, La politica religiosa en España, Madrid 1975, pp. 14, 45 and become treasurer of its Junta Superior,Urigüen 1986, p. 365 apart from engaging in other confessional bodies.he was member of Claustro de Profesores de los Estudios Católicos en Madrid in facultad de derecho as auxiliar, Urigüen 1986, p. 568 He mixed with neocatólicos, tended to side with Nocedal in controversies with the Carlist claimant Carlos VIIUrigüen 1986, p. 495 and by some scholars is considered a neo himself,Víctor Manuel Arbeloa Muru, Clericalismo y anticlericalismo en España (1767-1930): Una introducción, Madrid 2011, , p. 277 but in his later years Melgar spoke about the Neo-Catholics with disregard if not sheer contempt.except Candido Nocedal, whom he respected and admired, Melgar 1940, pp. 9-10