Unification of the Kingdom of Spain: Part II. November 26, 1504 the death of Queen Isabella I of Castile.

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Carlos I of Spain, Charles V, Ferdinand and Isabella, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Empire, Isabella I of Castile, Isabella of Spain, Joanna of Castile, Philip II of Spain, Unification of Spain

Philipp of Habsburg was the son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I by his first wife Mary, Duchess of Burgundy in her own right. Philipp was less than four years old when his mother died, and upon her death, he inherited the greater part of the Duchy of Burgundy and the Burgundian Netherlands as Philippe IV. In 1496, his father arranged for him to marry Joanna of Castile, second daughter of Fernando II-V and Isabella I, rulers of Aragon and Castile respectively.

At Isabella’s death on November 26, 1504 and the crown of Castile passed to their daughter Joanna, by the terms of their prenuptial agreement and Isabella‘s last will and testament, and her husband Fernando lost his monarchical status in Castile. Joanna’s husband Philipp of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy became de jure uxoris King of Castile, as Felipe I, but died in 1506, and Joanna ruled in her own right.

Isabella I, Queen of Castile.

In 1504, after a war with France, Fernando became King of Naples as Ferdinand III, reuniting Naples with Sicily permanently and for the first time since 1458. In 1506, as part of a treaty with France, Fernando (aged 54) married Germaine of Foix of France (aged 18). Germaine’s father was Jean of Foix, Viscount of Narbonne and son of Queen Eleanor of Navarre. Her mother, Marie of Orléans, was the sister of King Louis XII of France. Sadly, Fernando’s only son and child of this union, Juan, Prince of Girona born on May 3, 1509, but died shortly after birth. (Had the child survived, the personal union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile would have ceased.) In 1512, Fernando became King of Navarre by conquest.

As mentioned, Fernando II, lost his monarchical status in Castile although his wife’s will permitted him to govern in Joanna’s absence or, if Joanna was unwilling to rule herself, until Joanna’s heir (Infante Carlos) reached the age of 20.

Fernando refused to accept this, therefore he minted Castilian coins in the name of “Fernando and Joanna, King and Queen of Castile, León and Aragon,” and, in early 1505, persuaded the Cortes that Joanna’s “illness is such that the said Queen Doña Joanna our Lady cannot govern”. The Cortes then appointed Ferdinand as Joanna’s guardian and the kingdom’s administrator and governor.

Fernando II-V, King of Aragon and Castile.

Joanna’s husband, Philipp of Habsburg was unwilling to accept any threat to his chances of ruling Castile and also minted coins in the name of “Felipe and Joanna, King and Queen of Castile, Léon and Archdukes of Austria, etc.” In response, Ferdinand embarked upon a pro-French policy, marrying Germaine de Foix, niece of Louis XII of France (and his own great-niece), in the hope that she would produce a son to inherit Aragon and perhaps Castile.

Fernando’s remarriage merely strengthened support for Felipe and Joanna in Castile, and in late 1505, the pair decided to travel to Castile. Leaving Flanders on January 10, 1506, their ships were wrecked on the English coast and the couple were guests of Henry, Prince of Wales, (later Henry VIII) and Joanna’s sister Catherine of Aragon at Windsor Castle. They weren’t able to leave until April 21, by which time civil war was looming in Castile.

Felipe apparently considered landing in Andalusia and summoning the nobles to take up arms against Ferdinand in Aragon. Instead, he and Joanna landed at A Coruña on April 26, whereupon the Castilian nobility abandoned Fernando en masse. Fernando met Felipe at Villafáfila on 27 of June 1506 for a private interview in the village church. To the general surprise Ferdinand had unexpectedly handed over the government of Castile to his “most beloved children”, promising to retire to Aragon. Felipe and Fernando then signed a second treaty secretly, agreeing that Joanna’s “infirmities and sufferings” made her incapable of ruling and promising to exclude her from government and deprive the Queen of crown and freedom.

Felipe I, King of Castile, Duke of Burgundy and Archduke of Austria.

Joanna, Queen of Castile.

Fernando promptly repudiated the second agreement the same afternoon, declaring that Joanna should never be deprived of her rights as Queen Proprietress of Castile. A fortnight later, having come to no fresh agreement with Felipe, and thus effectively retaining his right to interfere if he considered his daughter’s rights to have been infringed upon, he abandoned Castile for Aragon, leaving Felipe to govern in Joanna’s stead.

Felipe’s death

By virtue of the agreement of Villafáfila, the procurators of the Cortes met in Valladolid, Castile on July 9, 1506. On 12 July, they swore allegiance to Felipe I and Joanna together as King and Queen of Castile and León and to their son Carlos as their heir-apparent. This arrangement only lasted for a few months.

On September 25, 1506, Felipe died after a five-day illness in the city of Burgos in Castile. The official cause of death was typhoid fever. The general opinion publicly declared was that his father-in-law Fernando II, who had always disliked his foreign Habsburg origins and with whom he never wanted to share power, had had him poisoned by “bocado.” Joanna was pregnant with their sixth child, a daughter named Catherine (1507–1578), who later became Queen of Portugal as the spouse of King João III of Portugal (1521-1557).

Fernando II and Joanna met at Hornillos, Castile on July 30, 1507. Fernando then constrained her to yield her power over the Kingdom of Castile and León to himself. On August 17, 1507, three members of the royal council were summoned – supposedly in her name – and ordered to inform the grandees of her father Fernando II’s return to power: “That they should go to receive his highness and serve him as they would her person and more.” However, she made it evident that this was against her will, by refusing to sign the instructions and issuing a statement that as queen regnant she did not endorse the surrender of her own royal powers.

Nonetheless, she was thereafter queen in name only, and all documents, though issued in her name, were signed with Fernando’s signature, “I the King”. He was named administrator of the kingdom by the Cortes of Castile in 1510, and entrusted the government mainly to Archbishop Cisneros. He had Joanna confined in the Royal Palace in Tordesillas, near Valladolid in Castile, in February 1509 after having dismissed all of her faithful servants and having appointed a small retinue accountable to him alone. At this time, some accounts claim that she was insane or “mad”, and that she took her husband’s corpse with her to Tordesillas to keep it close to her.

Fernando II ended his days embittered: his second marriage to Germaine de Foix had failed to produce a surviving male heir, leaving his daughter Joanna as his heiress-presumptive. Fernando resented that upon his death, Castile and Aragon would effectively pass to his foreign-born-and-raised grandson Carlos to whom he had transferred his hatred of Felipe I. He had hoped that his younger grandson and namesake, Archduke Ferdinand who was Carlos I’s brother and had been born and raised in Castile, would succeed him. Fernando named Ferdinand as his heir in his will before being persuaded to revoke this bequest and rename Joanna and Carlos as his heirs-presumptive instead.

When Fernando II died in 1516, the Kingdoms of Castile and León, and Aragon and their associated crowns and territories/colonies, would pass to Joanna I and her son as King Carlos I. With Carlos still in Flanders, Aragon was being governed after Fernando II’s death by his bastard son, Alonso de Aragón. Meanwhile, Castile and León, already subjects of Joanna, were governed by Archbishop Cisneros as regent. A group of nobles, led by the Duke of Infantado, attempted to proclaim the Archduke Ferdinand as King of Castile but the attempt failed.

Carlos I/Karl V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Duke of Burgundy and Archduke of Austria.

In October 1517, seventeen-year-old Carlos I arrived in Asturias at the Bay of Biscay. On November 4, he and his sister Eleanor met their mother Joanna at Tordesillas – there they secured from her the necessary authorisation to allow Carlos to rule as her co-King of Castile and León and of Aragon. Despite her acquiescence to his wishes, her confinement would continue. The Castilian Cortes, meeting in Valladolid, insulted Carlos by addressing him only as Su Alteza (Your Highness) and reserving Majestad (Majesty) for Joanna. However, no one seriously considered rule by Joanna a realistic proposition.

In 1519, Carlos I now ruled the Kingdom of Aragon and its territories and the Kingdom of Castile and León and its territories, in personal union. In addition, that same year Carlos was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Karl V. The kingdoms of Castile and Aragon (and Navarre) remained in personal union. Carlos I is recognized as the first king of a United Spain. It is interesting to note that during the regency of Fernando II-V, many called him the King of Spain as distinct from his daughter Joanna, “queen of Castile”. Despite Carlos ruling over the main Spanish kingdoms, the crowns of the Kingdoms of Castile and León and Aragon were still ruled in personal union of the king and were not legally united into a single Kingdom of Spain until the Bourbon King Felipe V in the early 18th century.

Felipe V signed the Decreto de Nueva Planta in 1715. This new law revoked most of the historical rights and privileges of the different kingdoms that formed the Spanish Crown, especially the Crown of Aragon, unifying them under the laws of Castile, thus unifying Spain under one legal system.

Carlos I eventually abdicated as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in favour of his brother Ferdinand, and the personal union with the Spanish kingdoms was dissolved. In Spain Carlos’s son became the new Spanish king as Felipe II.

The Unification of the Kingdom of Spain: Part I.

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Ferdimand II of Aragon, Ferdinand and Isabella, Henry IV of Castile, House of Aviz, House of Trastámara, Isabella of Spain, Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom of Spain

The history of Spain reaches back into antiquity and the era of the Roman Empire. After the demise of Rome the Iberian Peninsula fractured into many kingdoms. Even as late as the 15th century, the most important among all of the separate Christian kingdoms that made up the old Hispania were the Kingdom of Castile (occupying northern and central portions of the Iberian Peninsula), the Kingdom of Aragon (occupying northeastern portions of the peninsula), and the Kingdom of Portugal occupying the far western Iberian Peninsula.

The death of King Henrique IV of Castile in 1474 set off a struggle for power called the War of the Castilian Succession (1475–1479). Contenders for the throne of Castile were Henrique IV’s one-time heir Joanna la Beltraneja, supported by Portugal and France, and Henrique’s half-sister Isabella of Castile, supported by the Kingdom of Aragon and by the Castilian nobility. The setting of the succession was a step in unifying Aragon and Castile into the Kingdom of Spain.

Isabella, Queen of Castile

Isabella was born on April 22, 1451 in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, to King Juan II of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal, daughter of João, Constable of Portugal, (of the Aviz dynasty) the youngest surviving son of King João I of Portugal, and his half-niece and wife, Isabella of Barcelos, the daughter of his half-brother Afonso of Barcelos, the Duke of Braganza, an illegitimate son of the king.

At the time of her birth, Isabella was second in line to the throne after her older half-brother the future King Henrique IV of Castile. Henrique was 26 at the birth of his half-sister Isabella and was married to Queen Blanche II of Navarre but the union was childless and later annulled due to Henrique’s impotence. Another younger brother Alfonso of Castile was born two years later on November 17, 1453, lowering her position to third in line. When her father died in 1454, her half-brother ascended to the throne as King Henrique IV of Castile. Isabella and her brother Alfonso were left in King Henrique’s care. Isabell, her mother, and Alfonso then moved to Arévalo.

Henrique IV made a number of attempts throughout his reign to arrange a politically advantageous marriage for his much younger sister. The first attempt was when the six-year-old Isabella was betrothed to Fernando of Aragon and Navarre, son of Juan II of Aragon and Navarre (a cadet branch of the House of Trastámara) and his second wife, Juana Enriquez de Córdoba, 5th Lady of Casarrubios del Monte the daughter of Fadrique Enríquez de Mendoza and Mariana Fernández de Córdoba y Ayala, 4th Lady of Casarrubios del Monte, she was a great-great granddaughter of Alfonso XI of Castile.

In March 1453, before the annulment between King Henrique IV of Castile from Queen Blanche II of Navarre was finalised, there is no record of negotiations for the new marriage between Henrique IV and Joan of Portugal, sister of the king Alfonso V of Portugal. The first marital approaches were made in December of that year, although the negotiations were long and the proposal wasn’t definitively agreed until February 1455. The wedding was celebrated in May 1455, but without an affidavit of official bull authorizing the wedding between them, they were first cousins (their mothers were sisters) and second cousins (their paternal grandmothers were half-sisters). On February 28, 1462, the queen gave birth to a daughter Joanna la Beltraneja, whose paternity came into question during the conflict for succession to the Castillian throne when Henrique IV died.

In 1468, at the age of only 14, Alfonso, the brother of Henrique IV and Isabella, died, most likely from the plague (although poison and slit throat have been suggested). His will left his crown and place in the succession to his sister, Isabella. Henrique IV agreed to exclude Joanna la Beltraneja from the succession, due to her questionable parentage, and to recognize Isabella as his official heir.

Fernando II, King of Aragon

Infante Fernando of Aragon married Infanta Isabella, on October 19, 1469 in Valladolid, Kingdom of Castile and Leon. Isabella also belonged to the royal House of Trastámara, and the two were cousins by descent from Juan I of Castile. They were married with a clear prenuptial agreement on sharing power, and under the joint motto “tanto monta, monta tanto”.

Isabella became Castile’s next monarch when King Henrique IV died in 1474. However, the succession was not settled. After the death of King Henrique IV, war broke out in Castile. Joanna la Beltraneja was supported by Portugal, while the eventual winner, Henrique’s half-sister Isabella I of Castile, had the support of Aragon. France initially supported Joanna, yet in 1476, after losing the Battle of Toro, France refused to help Joanna, further and in 1478 signed a peace treaty with Isabella.

Fernando II and Isabella I, King and Queen of Castile and Aragon

Upon Isabella’s succession to the throne of Castile, she ruled jointly with her husband, Fernando of Aragon who succeeded his father as King Fernando II of Aragon in 1479,

Their marriage united both crowns and set the stage for the creation of the Kingdom of Spain, at the dawn of the modern era. That union, however, was a union in title only, as each region retained its own political and judicial structure. Pursuant to an agreement signed by Isabella and Fernando on January 15, 1474, Isabella held more authority over the newly unified Spain than her husband, although their rule was shared. Together, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon were known as the “Catholic Monarchs” (Spanish: los Reyes Católicos), a title bestowed on them by Pope Alexander VI.

Legal Succession: Elizabeth I of England & James VI of Scotland: Part 2

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Catherine Gray, Elizabeth I of England, Henry VIII, Isabella of Spain, James I of England, Lord Beauchamp, Philipe II of Spain

As I mentioned previously James VI, King of Scots was the heir of Elizabeth I of England via the principle of primogeniture. Even though he did eventually become King James I of England it wasn’t as cut and dried as it seems. Henry VIII had barred the Scottish line in his will and an Act of Succession. There was also a law on the books barring foreigners from inheriting property. Some ministers thought to get around that last rule by claiming that Scotland was a part of England as many Scottish kings had paid homage to English kings which demonstrated that Scotland was a fiefdom of England.

If James VI of Scotland was barred from the succession who else were the possible heirs to Elizabeth’s throne? One was Lady Catherine Gray the younger sister of the ill-fatted 9 day Queen, Jane Gray. She was the senior heir of Henry VIII’s sister Mary. Catherine Gray married Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, a descendant of King Edward III of England. They married and had their first son, Edward, Lord Beauchamp, and this infuriated Queen Elizabeth who often feared that those who saw her rule as illegitimate would replace her on the throne with one of these hires.

For that reason Elizabeth had Catherine and the Earl of Hertford thrown in the Tower of London. Evidently they were not watched too much because they were able to have another child, Thomas, while imprisoned in the tower. Since the only witness that this marriage had actually occurred had died, Elizabeth considered the marriage illegal and had the couple separated and Lord Beauchamp was considered illegitimate. However, after Catherine’s death in 1568 many considered Lord Beauchamp to be Elizabeth’s heir.

Another candidate was Infanta Isabella of Spain, daughter of King Felipe II of Spain and Princess Elizabeth de Valois of France. Infanta Isabella had a stronger claim to the throne than Elizabeth I. As we have seen the Tudor dynasty descends from a third marriage of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son of King Edward III of England. At first the children of that union were born illegitimate but later legitimized with no succession rights. Isabella, on the other hand, descended from the first two legal marriages of John of Gaunt.

John of Gaunt’s first marriage was to Blanch of Lancaster (a descendent of King Edward I of England) and their daughter, Philippa, married King John I of Portugal. From them descended Isabella of Portugal wife of Holy Roman Emperor Karl V (Carlos I of Spain) the grandparents of Infanta Isabella of Spain. John of Gaunt’s second marriage to Infanta Constance of Castile produced a daughter, Catherine, who married her cousin, King Enrique III of Castile. Catherine of Lancaster’s great-granddaughter Catherine of Aragon, first of the six wives of Henry VIII of England, was named after her. From this line descends the Kings of Spain culminating in the English heir, Isabella of Spain.

By the end of 1602 when it became apparent that Elizabeth I was dying the need for her to name her successor was crucial. The problem was that not many wanted to point out to the queen that she was dying, it had also become treason to discuss the succession issue!

Stay tuned for Part III!

Carlos II and the War of the Spanish Succession

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Carlos I of Spain, Carlos II of Spain, Duke of Anjou, Ferdinand III, Ferdinand of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor, Inbreeding, Isabella of Spain, Joanna of Castile, Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Catile, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Spain, Louis XIII of France, Louis XIV of France, Philip of Austria, War of the Spanish Succession

HM King Felipe V of Spain 

Last week I examined the lineage of King Carlos II of Spain (1665-1700). Because of his inbreeding he had many physical and metal difficulties and despite two marriages he never fathered and heir leaving the succession to the Spanish throne contested by the major European powers. In this post I will examine the genealogical aspect to the War of the Spanish Succession and I won’t delve too deeply into the political aspect except only when it is necessary.

In 1700 when Carlos II died Spain was still a major European power so the vacancy to the throne left two rival dynasties, the French royal house of Bourbon and the Austrian house of Habsburg, eager to claim the prize of the crown of Spain. One branch of the Habsburg family had ruled Spain since Philipp the Fair (Felipe I) mounted the throne of Castile in 1506. The French house of Bourbon claimed the throne from their descent from Felipe III of Spain (1578-1621). King Louis XIV of France and Navarre had a strong claim to the Spanish crown being a grandson of Felipe III. However, with the rules of male preferred primogeniture, Louis XIV’s son, Louis, the Grand Dauphin (1661-1711) actually had the better claim being the nephew of King Carlos II via his eldest sister, Maria Theresa, wife of Louis XIV. Since the Grand Dauphin was also heir to the throne of France he would have united the crowns of France and Spain creating an enormously powerful empire which would have dominated Europe. To the other powers of Europe this was not acceptable.

The Habsburg heir to the Spanish throne was Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (1658-1705) who was the grandson of Felipe III of Spain via his younger daughter, Maria Anna of Spain, who was also the second wife of King Felipe IV of Spain. Leopold was married to his cousin Margaret Theresa of Spain (1651-1673) sister to King Carlos II. If Leopold I had become king of Spain this would have reunited the great Empire held by Holy Roman Emperor Karl V who was also King Carlos I of Spain (1516-1558). This too was unacceptable to the European powers. Even though Carlos II and Leopold I were both from the Hapsburg dynasty the French Bourbons, Louis the Grand Dauphin specifically, held the better claim in that both Louis XIV and his son were descended via older daughters of the Spanish kings than were their Hapsburg rivals. Since both Louis the Grand Dauphin and Leopold I were unacceptable a compromise had to be found.

Both Leopold and Louis XIV were willing to pass their claims to others in their respective dynasties. Louis desired his grandson, Philippe Duc d’Anjou (1683-1746, second son of the Grand Dauphin to succeed to the crown of Spain. The Duc d’Anjou was even favored by Carlos II (the struggle to solve this problem occurred prior to the kings death). Leopold desired that the Spanish crown would go to his younger son, Archduke Karl of Austria. Even those these options reduced the likelihood that the Spanish crown would be united to either France or the Holy Roman Empire neither were acceptable to the other European powers specifically King William III of England and Scotland, Stadholder of the Netherlands.

A candidate was finally found which all parties could agree on. He was not a member of either the Hapsburg or Bourbon dynasty, he was a member of the German Wittelsbach family of Bavaria. Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, (1692-1699) was the son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (1679-1726) and his first wife, Maria Antonia of Austria. Joseph Ferdinand’s mother, Maria Antonia of Austria, was the daughter of Leopold I and a maternal granddaughter of King Felipe IV of Spain. Carlos II formally recognized Joseph Ferdinand as his heir and Joseph was given the title Prince of Asturias, the title typically held by the heir to the Spanish crown. This matter of the Spanish crown was not settled for long. On February 3, 1699 the young Prince of Asturias died at the age of seven. There were rumors that he had been poisoned.

This left the major powers all scrambling once again. Treaties were made up signed and ignored. At one point the succession was agreed to go to Archduke Karl as long as Spain’s Italian possessions were not included. The Austrians were not happy with this option. In Spain feelings were mixed as to who their next king should be but they did not want their Spanish possessions in Italy to be divided. However, many statesmen within Spain favored the Duc d’Anjou. Carlos II made a Will bequeathing the crown to the Duc d’Anjou and stipulated that should the Duc d’Anjou inherit the French throne the succession would pass to his brother, Charles Duc de Berri. After the Duc de Berri the Archduke Karl was in line for the succession.

When Carlos II died in 1700 the Duc d’Anjou was proclaimed King of Spain as Felipe V (1700-1746). In violation of one of the treaties all of the Spanish territories in Italy went to Felipe. Despite agreements with England, France placed pressure on England by cutting them off from Spanish trade. With the death of the exiled King James II-VII of England and Scotland in France, Louis recognized his son, James, as the rightful King James III-VIII of England and Scotland. This greatly angered William III. The Austrians were also angered by the inclusion of the Italian territories in the Spanish succession and within the year sent troops into Milan headed by Prince Eugene of Savoy.

War broke out in 1701 and was to last until 1714. Leopold I died in 1705 and was succeeded as Emperor by his eldest son Josef I (1705-1711). In 1711 when Josef I died his brother, Archduke Karl, Austrian claimant to the Spanish throne, succeed as Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. With the possibility of Karl become King of Spain this created the same problem, of uniting the two Empires, that had been so unacceptable to the majority of the European powers in the first place. England found themselves in a precarious position in that their  ally, Karl VI, was in a position they thoroughly opposed.  Because of this change of circumstances the war was ended. In signing the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 Felipe V was recognized as King of Spain and renounced his place in the succession for the french Crown for himself and his descendant. This renunciation has ripple effects through today as the heir of the Spanish descendants of Felipe V, Louis Alphonse, Duc d’Anjou, claims the vacant French throne on the grounds that the Treaty of Utrecht violated French laws governing the succession.

https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/pretenders-to-the-throne-france-part-i/

https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/pretenders-to-the-throne-france-part-ii/

The lineage of Carlos II of Spain

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Carlos I of Spain, Carlos II of Spain, Duke of Anjou, Ferdinand III, Ferdinand of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor, Inbreeding, Isabella of Spain, Joanna of Castile, Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Catile, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Spain, Louis XIII of France, Louis XIV of France, Philip of Austria, War of the Spanish Succession

HM King Carlos II of Spain 

Today I want to look at the genealogy of King Carlos II of Spain (1661-1700). If any royal person is a victim of too many dips into the gene pool it is him. Going back only a few generations, to his 8 great-grandparents we see 6 of them are all from the Habsburg dynasty and the final 2 are from the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty. If we go back one generation further it gets much worse.

The Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon married into each other’s dynasties for generations. King Fernando II of Aragon (Fernando V of Castile) (1452-1516) was a first cousin to his wife Queen Isabelle I of Castile (1451-1504) and these two monarchs that united Spain were both the results of inter-cousin marriages of their forbears. When Fernando and Isabelle’s daughter, Joanna (1479-1555) married the Habsburg heir, Philipp (Felipe) (1478-1506), you would think bringing in new blood would have helped the Spanish line, while it did in the short term it was a problem in the long term. Every single one of his 64 great-great-great-great-great grandparents is a descendant of, or connect to, the marriage of Joanna of Spain and Philipp of Austria.

In 1516 Karl of Austria inherited Spain upon the death of his maternal grandfather King Fernando V-II of Castile-Aragon as King Carlos I of Spain (1500-1558) and in 1519 he succeeded his paternal grandfather Emperor Maximilian I as Holy Roman Emperor Karl V, making him one of the most powerful emperors since the time of Charlemagne. Technically, Karl was co-monarch of Spain along with his mother, who by that time had slipped into insanity after the death of her husband. Karl married his maternal first cousin Infanta Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539). In 1556 Karl abdicated all of his thrones and the Spanish and Italian crowns went to his eldest son Felipe II of Spain (1527-1598) and the Holy Roman Empire and Austrian titles went to his brother Ferdinand (1503-1564).

This seemed to have created a new problem genealogically speaking. For the next several generations the Spanish and Austrian branches of the Habsburg family intermarried with one another at what we today would find rather disturbing rate. For example, King Felipe III of Spain (1578-1621) was the son of King Felipe II of Spain and his 4th wife who was also his niece, Archduchess Anne of Austria (1549-1580). Now Anne of Austria’s mother, Marie of Spain (1528-1603) was the sister of King Felipe II of Spain, and was a first cousin to her husband, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II (1527-1576). Maximilian II himself was the product of an intermarriage also. His father, Emperor Ferdinand I, was a younger brother of Holy Roman Emperor Karl V, King of Spain, as we have seen, but Ferdinand married a cousin from the Hungarian branch of the Habsburg family.

Felipe III of Spain continued the practice of marrying into the Austrian branch of the Habsburg family. He married princess Margaret of Austria (1584-1611) who was the product of a uncle-niece union. Margaret’s mother, Marie of Bavaria (1551-1608) was the daughter of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria (1528-1579) and Archduchess Anne of Austria (sister to Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II). Marie of Bavaria’s husband was her uncle Archduke Karl II of Austria, Duke of Styria (1540-1590). Is your head spinning yet? Marie and Karl had 15 children but we will be concerned only with three: Margaret (1584-1611), the wife of Felipe III of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (1578-1637) and Archduke Leopold of Austria, Duke of Tyrol (1586-1632).

Felipe III and Archduchess Margaret had eight children, of whom five survived into adulthood. Only three concern us here. Anne of Austria (1601-1666), Felipe IV of Spain (1605-1665) and Marie Anne of Austria (1606-1646). Anne married King Louis XIII of France and Navarre (1601-1643) and were the parents of King Louis XIV of France and Navarre (1638-1715) and it was from this union stems the Bourbon claim to the Spanish throne. Felipe IV married twice. His first wife was Elisabeth de Bourbon-France (1602-1644) sister to King Louis XIII. Their daughter, Infanta Marie Therese of Spain (1638-1683) married her first cousin Louis XIV of France, strengthening the French royal house’s claim to the Spanish throne.

Felipe IV’s first wife, Elisabeth died in 1644, and their son, Infante Balthasar Carlos, died in 1646 leaving Felipe without an heir. He chose as his second wife his niece (but of course!), Archduchess Mariana of Austria (1634-1696), the daughter of Felipe IV’s sister Infanta Marie Anne of Spain and her first cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III (1608-1657). Felipe IV and Archduchess Marie Anne of Austria had two children that concern us here: Margaret Theresa and Carlos. Before I mention Carlos I will mention his sister, Infanta Margaret Theresa. Infanta Margaret Theresa married her cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (1640-1705), who was the son of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III and his second wife, Archduchess Marie of Austria, who was his niece being the product of the union of her father’s brother, Archduke Leopold of Austria, Duke of Tyrol and Claudia de Medici (wow, new blood!). From this union would stem the claims to the Spanish throne of both the Bavarian and Habsburg dynasties.

Carlos II of Spain suffered from this inbreeding. He was born physically and mentally disabled, and disfigured. He suffered from mandibular prognathism and he was was unable to chew. His tongue was so large that it was difficult for him to speak and to be understood. It was reported that he drooled. Medical historians suggest that he suffered from an endocrine disease acromegaly, and that his lineage may have contributed to rare genetic disorders such as combined pituitary hormone deficiency and distal renal tubular acidosis. He married twice. His first wife was his French cousin, Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689). His second wife was Maria Anna of Neuburg (1667-1740) a member of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty. He left no heir and it is more than likely Carlos was impotent or sterile.

His death left a vacancy for the Spanish throne. He left the throne to his great-nephew, Prince Philippe de Bourbon, Duc D’Anjou who became King Felipe V of Spain. However there were other claimants to the Spanish throne and the death of King Carlos II lead to the War of the Spanish Succession which I will recount in next Monday’s look at royal genealogy.