Ferdinand VI of Spain

Biographical information
Gender	Male
Ethnic group	Spanish
Eye color	Black
Hair color	Black
Born	1713, Spain
Title(s)	King of Spain
Also known as	Melancholy Spanish Monarch
Statistics
Affiliation	Spanish people Spanish Monarchy
Behind the scenes
First appearance	On Stranger Tides
Latest appearance	On Stranger Tides
Portrayer	Sebastian Armesto

"I have a report. The Spanish have located the Fountain of Youth. I will not have some melancholy Spanish Monarch—a Catholic—gain eternal life!"

―King George II

Ferdinand VI was King of Spain during the Age of Piracy. Young, dashing, the arrogance of authority, Ferdinand was privileged, a Catholic said to be divinely chosen by God to lead the Spanish people. His reign as the ruler of the Spanish Monarchy proved peaceful, as the melancholy Spanish monarch avoided involving Spain in any European conflicts, and moderate changes to Spain were initiated under the king, including reforms of the Spanish Royal Navy.

By 1750, an enigmatic figure, unknown by any name other than The Spaniard, was the one agent that Spanish King Ferdinand had never known to fail. When an ancient sailor was caught in a captain and fisherman's nets off the coast of Spain, the castaway told them a story that he insisted that the king needed to hear, and they sailed straight for the royal city of Cádiz, and rushed to the royal palace. Through the words of the old castaway, Ferdinand thought he might be able to achieve what his forefathers only dreamed of—immortality. Ferdinand kneeled down next to the ancient man, who was found to be clutching a two-hundred-year-old book, the logbook from the Santiago, a Spanish vessel that vanished two centuries before, which told of explorer Ponce de León's fabled discovery of the long-lost Fountain of Youth. A perilous adventure ensued as King Ferdinand turned to The Spaniard, who used the old ship's log in a quest to destroy the Fountain.

Biography

Early life

Some time after his accession to the throne of Spain in 1746, King Ferdinand took residence the royal palace in Cádiz, Spain.

Quest for the Fountain of Youth

"No, I told you! Ponce de León died two hundred years ago."
"Aye, but he died searching for something, didn't he?"
"The Fountain of Youth. How soon can you sail?"
"With the tide."

―Captain, Fisherman, King Ferdinand and The Spaniard

In 1750, two fishermen arrived to Ferdinand's royal palace with an old sailor who claimed to have sailed with Ponce de León, a Spanish Conquistador who died two hundred years ago in search for the Fountain of Youth. The sailor gave Ferdinand a logbook of Ponce de León's ship, the Santiago. Looking through the contents of the logbook, Ferdinand discovered an archaic symbol in one of its pages. Right then, he realized that the legends of the Fountain of Youth were true.

Ferdinand in his palace.

A devoted Catholic, Ferdinand believed that only a soul should be immortal, not the human body. Realizing how great a damage could occur for the Catholic Church if the Fountain was discovered, he sent his most trusted agent, known as "The Spaniard", to find and destroy the Fountain. Ferdinand gave the Spaniard three galleons and a loyal crew for the task.

Some time later, King George II would learn of the Spanish's discovery through his ministers and attempted to recruit Captain Jack Sparrow to guide an expedition to the Fountain, which soon failed in the pirate's escape. But King George didn't realize that Ferdinand sent his men to destroy the Fountain, rather than to gain immortality. In the end, Ferdinand's plan was successful and the Fountain was destroyed by the Spaniard's men, who returned to Spain once their assignment was completed.

Personality and traits

Young, dashing, the arrogance of authority, the Spanish King Ferdinand was privileged, said to be divinely chosen by God to lead the Spanish people. Through the words of one man, Ferdinand thought he might be able to achieve what his forefathers only dreamed of—immortality. A melancholy Spanish monarch and sworn enemy of the British Empire, King Ferdinand was all the less like George Augustus: religious and concerned about the welfare of his people, without any apparent interest for exotic food and the collection of very high taxes.

As a devoted Catholic, when Ferdinand became aware that the Fountain of Youth indeed existed as Juan Ponce de León originally claimed, he immediately send "The Spaniard" to destroy it due his beliefs that only God could grant eternal life instead of the "pagan waters" of the Fountain. In fact, Ferdinand believed that a human body couldn't be immortal: just its soul could be granted with eternal life.

Behind the scenes

Spanish King Ferdinand was first mentioned in the 2011 reference book Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide, prior to making his first appearance in the junior novelization for the film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Sebastian Armesto portrayed King Ferdinand in the film.

Along with George II of Great Britain, Ferdinand VI of Spain was the first historical monarch that appear in Pirates of the Caribbean film series.

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for On Stranger Tides, King Ferdinand's only line was "The Fountain of Youth. How soon can you sail?" The only difference with the script compared to what appeared in the final cut of the film was an additional line to the Spanish captain and fisherman about the ancient sailor, "What is this?"

An unnamed king of Spain, the husband of Queen Inez Luisa Gabriella di Savoia, was mentioned in Terry Rossio's 2012 screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell No Tales. However, since the proposed story was intended to be set during the seventh year of the Seven Years' War, it's more than likely the king wasn't meant to be Ferdinand but his historical successor, Charles III of Spain, who was the King of Spain in that period of time. In the final version of the story for Dead Men Tell No Tales, the undead Capitán Armando Salazar of the Spanish Navy justifies his cruel actions "by rule of the King" in the film and its tie-in materials. It is unknown if the mentioned King was meant to be Ferdinand or one of his predecessors, due to Salazar having served the Spanish Navy many years prior to the events of Dead Men Tell No Tales, set in 1751.

King Ferdinand in LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game.

In the non-canonical LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, Ponce de León's logbook was stolen from the Spanish by Angelica, but not before Ferdinand took from it the map with the route to the Fountain of Youth. In the same game, Ferdinand is depicted as having brown hair and no shaven beard.

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization) (First appearance)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide

External links

• Ferdinand VI on Wikipedia