day after the popular explosion of the Second of May, was forced to join Charles and Ferdinand in Bayonne. Antonio wrote to Gil that the junta should continue as it had been, but Murat demanded to preside over it. Most of the members accepted this on May 4, but Gil did not. He turned in his resignation a few days later. After the Battle of Bailén (July 18–22, 1808), in which the French were defeated and forced to withdraw from Madrid, Gil de Taboada was again sworn in as a member of a governing junta, this time the Junta Suprema Central. This occurred on September 29, 1808 in Aranjuez. When the French reoccupied the capital, they required an oath of allegiance to Joseph Bonaparte, as King Joseph I of Spain. Gil, now an octogenarian, refused. There were calls that he be prosecuted for his refusal, but Joseph rejected that, saying that such a valiant old man should not be molested. When Gil de Taboada died the following year, the French garrison of Madrid accorded him the funeral honors of a man of high dignity. References Artola, Miguel. La España de Fernando VII. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1999: 58-70. González de Canales, Fernando. Catálogo de Pinturas del Museo Naval. Ministerio de Defensa. Madrid, 2000. Martínez-Valverde y Martínez, Carlos. Enciclopedia General del Mar. Garriga. 1957. External links Brief biography Viceroys of Peru Viceroys of New Granada Captain generals of the Navy 1730s births 1809 deaths People from Lalín 1780s in the Viceroyalty of New Granada 1790s in the Viceroyalty of Peru Date of death missing Date of birth unknown 18th-century Peruvian people 18th-century Spanish people