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Bourbon dynasty

Bourbon dynasty

7.8
A European royal family that ruled France and later Spain and southern Italy
  • proper noun
translation icon : dinastía Borbón
  • The last Habsburg, Charles II, died in 1700, and as Louis XIV of France had wished, the French Duke of Anjou was proclaimed Philip V, King of Spain and the first member of the new Bourbon dynasty.

Examples

  • In the late Spanish colonial period, the French Bourbon dynasty took the throne of Spain in 1700 from the Austrian Hapsburgs and promoted reform throughout the empire in order to make the colonies function more efficiently in the interest of Spain.

    Academic text (2013)
  • With the ascendancy of the French Bourbon dynasty to the Spanish throne in 1700 and the expansion of Atlantic world commerce, Cuba grew in population, wealth, and productivity in the eighteenth century.

    Academic text (2013)
  • After the War of Spanish Succession, the accession of the Bourbon dynasty, Buckle suggests, virtually reduced Spain to a province of France (2: 63).

    Academic text (2004)
  • The Bourbon dynasty ruled France for over two centuries, significantly influencing European politics during that time.

  • King Louis XVI was a prominent member of the Bourbon dynasty, which faced major challenges during the French Revolution.

  • The Bourbon dynasty's reign in Spain began in 1700 and was marked by various reforms and conflicts throughout the empire.

Synonyms

dynasty
vsBourbon dynasty
96 5.3

A family whose members lead a country or group for many generations

is an instance of that series, naming one European family's rule in specific countries
Bourbon
vsBourbon dynasty
27 9.1

A royal family that ruled France, Spain, and parts of Italy

has identical meaning but uses the fuller historical phrase
royal house
vsBourbon dynasty
2 4.7

A family of kings and queens who rule a country now or in the past

is this particular European family ruling France and parts of Italy and Spain

Surface Forms

Morphology

Bourbon + dynasty

The phrase is directly compositional: a proper name (Bourbon) plus 'dynasty' yields 'the succession of rulers from the Bourbon family', which a learner who knows both constituents can readily infer. This proper-name + noun construction is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish, French) and follows standard noun modification patterns, so it is transparent to B1 learners who know the words.

Etymology

Bourbon dynasty comes from a family from a town called Bourbon. When that family became kings, their long family 'rule' was called a dynasty, so the phrase now means the royal family who 'ruled' France and other lands.