May 26, 1135: King Alfonso VII of King of Castile, León and Galicia is crowned Emperor of Spain.

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Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre, Alfonso the Battler, Emperor of Spain, Imperator totius Hispaniae, King Alfonso VII of Castile, Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom of Galicia, Kingdom of León, Queen Urraca of Castile, Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona, Spanish Empire, The Second Crusade

Alfonso VII (March 1, 1105 – August 21, 1157), called the Emperor, he became the King of Galicia in 1111 and King of Castile and León in 1126. Alfonso, born Alfonso Raimúndez, first used the title Emperor of All Spain, alongside his mother Urraca, once she vested him with the direct rule of Toledo in 1116. Alfonso later held another investiture in 1135 in a grand ceremony reasserting his claims to the imperial title. He was the son of Urraca, Queen of León and Raymond of Burgundy, the first of the House of Ivrea to rule in the Iberian peninsula.

Raymond of Burgundy (c. 1070-1107) was the ruler of Galicia from about 1090 until his death. He was the fourth son of Count William I of Burgundy and Stephanie, and her name is all that is known about her.

Alfonso’s Mother was Urraca (1079-1126) called the Reckless was Queen of Castile, León and Galicia in her own right from 1109 until her death. She claimed the imperial title as suo jure Empress of All Spain and Empress of All Galicia. Born in Burgos, Urraca was the eldest and only surviving child of Alfonso VI of León with his second wife Constance of Burgundy; for this, she was heir presumptive of the Kingdoms of Castile and León.

Urraca, the Reckless, Queen of Castile, León and Galicia

As queen, Urraca rose to the challenges presented to her and her solutions were pragmatic ones, according to Reilly, and laid the foundation for the reign of her son Alfonso VII, who in spite of the opposition of Urraca’s lover Pedro González de Lara succeeded to the throne of a kingdom whole and at peace at Urraca’s death in 1126. The queen’s reign also served as the legal precedent for the reigns of future queens.

In 1111, Diego Gelmírez, Bishop of Compostela and the count of Traba, crowned and anointed Alfonso as King of Galicia in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. He was a child, but his mother had (1109) succeeded to the united throne of León-Castile-Galicia and desired to assure her son’s prospects and groom him for his eventual succession. By 1125 he had inherited the formerly Muslim Kingdom of Toledo. On March 10, 1126, after the death of his mother, he was crowned in León and immediately began the recovery of the Kingdom of Castile, which was then under the domination of Alfonso I the Battler, King of Aragon and Navarre. By the Peace of Támara of 1127, the Battler recognised Alfonso VII as King of Castile.

Emperor of Spain

On May 26, 1135, Alfonso VII was crowned “Emperor of Spain” (Imperator totius Hispaniae) in the Cathedral of León. With this title he probably wished to assert his authority over the entire peninsula and his absolute leadership of the Reconquista. He appears to have striven for the formation of a national unity which Spain had never possessed since the fall of the Visigothic kingdom.

Imperator totius Hispaniae is a Latin title meaning “Emperor of All Spain”. In Spain in the Middle Ages, the title “emperor” (from Latin imperator) was used under a variety of circumstances from the ninth century onwards, but its usage peaked, as a formal and practical title, between 1086 and 1157. A vague tradition had always assigned the title of emperor to the sovereign who held León. Sancho the Great considered the city the imperiale culmen and minted coins with the inscription Imperator totius Hispaniae after being crowned in it. Such a sovereign was considered the most direct representative of the Visigothic kings, who had been themselves the representatives of the Roman Empire.

Alfonso VII, King of Castile, León and Galicia

The imperial title signalled at various points the king’s equality with the rulers of the Byzantine Empire and Holy Roman Empire, his rule by conquest or military superiority, his rule over several ethnic or religious groups, and his claim to suzerainty over the other kings of the peninsula, both Christian and Muslim. The use of the imperial title received scant recognition outside of Spain and had been little more than a flourish of rhetoric. By the thirteenth century the imperial title had become largely forgotten.

The elements he had to deal with could not be welded together. The weakness of Aragon enabled him to make his superiority effective. After Afonso Henriques recognised him as liege in 1137, Alfonso VII lost the Battle of Valdevez in 1141 thereby affirming Portugal’s independence in the Treaty of Zamora (1143). In 1143, he himself recognised this status quo and consented to the marriage of Petronila of Aragon with Ramon Berenguer IV, a union which combined Aragon and Catalonia into the Crown of Aragon.

When Pope Eugene III preached the Second Crusade, Alfonso VII, with García Ramírez of Navarre and Ramon Berenguer IV, led a mixed army of Catalans and Franks, with a Genoese–Pisan navy, in a crusade against the rich port city of Almería, which was occupied in October 1147. A third of the city was granted to Genoa and subsequently leased out to Otto de Bonvillano, a Genoese citizen. It was Castile’s first Mediterranean seaport.

In 1151, Alfonso VII signed the Treaty of Tudilén with Ramon Berenguer. The treaty defined the zones of conquest in Andalusia in order to prevent the two rulers from coming into conflict. Six years later, Almería entered into Almohad possession. Alfonso was returning from an expedition against them when he died on 21 August 1157 in Las Fresnedas, north of the Sierra Morena.

Legacy

Alfonso was at once a patron of the church and a protector, though not a supporter of, the Muslims, who were a minority of his subjects. His reign ended in an unsuccessful campaign against the rising power of the Almohads. Though he was not actually defeated, his death in the pass, while on his way back to Toledo, occurred in circumstances which showed that no man could be what he claimed to be — “king of the men of the two religions.” Furthermore, by dividing his realm between his sons, he ensured that Christendom would not present the new Almohad threat with a united front.

Family

In November 1128, he married Berenguela, the daughter of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, the daughter of Gilbert I of Gévaudan and Gerberga of Provence.

According to a description of Berenguela, “She was a very beautiful and extremely graceful young girl who loved chastity and truth and all God-fearing people.”

She died in Palencia, and was buried at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Their children were:
* Ramón, living 1136, died in childhood
* Sancho III of Castile (1134 – 1158)
* Fernando II of León (1137 – 1188)
* Constance (c.1138 – 1160), married Louis VII of the Franks
* Sancha (c. 1139 – 1179), married Sancho VI of Navarre
* García (c. 1142 – 1145/6)
* Alfonso (1144/1148-c. 1149)

In 1152, King Alfonso VII married Richeza of Poland, the daughter of Ladislaus II the Exile, the High Duke of Poland and ruler of Silesia, and his wife Agnes of Babenberg, daughter of Margrave Leopold III of Austria and half-sister of King Conrad III of Germany.

Their Children were:

1. Fernando (1153 – 1157), possibly named like his older brother because he was never expected to survive[17]
2. Sancha (1155 – 1208), the wife of Alfonso II of Aragón.

Alfonso also had two mistresses, having children by both. By an Asturian noblewoman named Gontrodo Pérez, he had an illegitimate daughter, Urraca (1132 – 1164), who married García Ramírez of Navarre, the mother retiring to a convent in 1133. Later in his reign, he formed a liaison with Urraca Fernández, widow of count Rodrigo Martínez and daughter of Fernando García de Hita, having a daughter Stephanie the Unfortunate (1148 – 1180), who was killed by her jealous husband, Fernán Ruiz de Castro.

April 22, 1451: Birth of Queen Isabella I of Castile.

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Carlos I of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Henry IV of Castile, House of Trastámara, Infanta Joanna la Beltraneja, Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom of Spain, Philip I of Austria, Prince of Asturias, Princess of Asturias, Queen Isabella I of Castile

Isabella I (April 22, 1451 – November 26, 1504) was Queen of Castile from 1474 and Queen consort of Aragon from 1479, reigning over a dynastically unified Spain jointly with her husband Fernando II.

Isabella I,

Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, to King Juan II of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal on April 22, 1451. At the time of her birth, she was second in line to the throne after her older half-brother Infante Enrique of Castile. Enrique was 26 at that time and married, but childless. Isabella’s younger brother Alfonso of Castile was born two years later on November 17, 1453, lowering her position to third in line.

Infante Enrique, Prince of Asturias celebrated had his marriage to Blanche of Navarre in 1440, when he was 15 years old. Blanche of Navarre Was the daughter of John II of Aragon and Blanche I of Navarre.

The Cardinal Juan de Cervantes presided over the official ceremony. The marriage had been agreed in 1436 as part of the peace negotiations between Castille and Navarre.

Enrique alleged that he had been incapable of sexually consummating the marriage, despite having tried for over three years, the minimum period required by the church. Other women, prostitutes from Segovia, testified that they had had sexual relations with Enrique, which is why he blamed his inability to consummate the marriage on a curse.

Enrique IV, King of Castile

Enrique’s claim of “permanent impotence” only affected his relations with Blanche. Blanche and Enrique were cousins, and he was also a cousin of Joan of Portugal, whom he wanted to marry instead. Therefore, the reason he used to seek the annulment was the sort of curse that only affected his ability to consummate this one marriage, and would not cause any problems for him with other women. Pope Nicholas V corroborated the decision in December of the same year in a papal bull and provided a papal dispensation for Enrique’s new marriage with the sister of the Portuguese king.

When Isabella’s father, King Juan II died on July 20, 1454 her half-brother ascended to the throne as King Enrique IV of Castile. Isabella and her brother Infante Alfonso were left in King Enrique IV’s care. Isabella, her mother, and Alfonso then moved to Arévalo.

Infanta Joan of Portugal was the the posthumous daughter of King Duarte of Portugal and his wife Infanta Eleanor of Aragon, the daughter of Fernando I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque. The wedding was celebrated in May 1455, but without an affidavit of official bull authorizing the wedding between them, although 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 Infanta Joanna la Beltraneja. On May 9, 1462, Joanna was officially proclaimed heir to the throne of Castile and created Princess of Asturias. Enrique had the nobles of Castile swear allegiance to her and promise that they would support her as monarch.

Infanta Joanna la Beltraneja, Princess of Asturias.

These were times of turmoil for Isabella. The living conditions at their castle in Arévalo were poor, and they suffered from a shortage of money. Although her father arranged in his will for his children to be financially well taken care of, King Enrique did not comply with their father’s wishes, either from a desire to keep his half-siblings restricted, or from ineptitude. Even though living conditions were difficult, under the careful eye of her mother, Isabella was instructed in lessons of practical piety and in a deep reverence for religion.

Some of Isabella’s living conditions improved once they moved to Segovia. She always had food and clothing and lived in a castle that was adorned with gold and silver. Isabella’s basic education consisted of reading, spelling, writing, grammar, history, mathematics, art, chess, dancing, embroidery, music, and religious instruction. She and her ladies-in-waiting entertained themselves with art, embroidery, and music. She lived a relaxed lifestyle, but she rarely left Segovia since King Enrique forbade this.

In early 1460s, Castilian nobles became dissatisfied with the rule of King Enrique IV and believed that Queen Joan’s child (Joanna, Princess of Asturias) had not been sired by Enrique. Propaganda and rumour, encouraged by the league of rebellious nobles, argued that her father was Beltrán de la Cueva, a royal favorite of low background whom Henry had elevated to enormous power and who, as suggested by Alfonso de Palencia and others, may have been Enrique’s lover. This resulted in giving Infanta Joanna, Princess of Asturias the name “Juana la Beltraneja”, which has stuck with the girl throughout history. If Joanna was illegitimate, the next in line was Alfonso. If she was legitimate—which is entirely possible—then Alfonso and, ultimately, his famous sister Isabella were both usurpers. Considering Isabella’s impact on world history, this question has fascinated historians for centuries.

The question of Isabella’s marriage was not a new one. She had made her debut in the matrimonial market at the age of six with a betrothal to Infante Fernando of Aragon, the younger son of King Juan II of Aragon and Navarre (whose family was a cadet branch of the House of Trastámara) and Juana Enriquez de Córdoba, 5th Lady of Casarrubios del Monte. At that time, the two kings, Enrique IV and Juan II, were eager to show their mutual love and confidence and they believed that this double alliance would make their eternal friendship obvious to the world. This arrangement, however, did not last long.

In 1465, an attempt was made to marry Isabella to King Alfonso V of Portugal, Enrique IV’s brother-in-law. Through the medium of the Queen and Count of Ledesma, a Portuguese alliance was made. Isabella, however, was wary of the marriage and refused to consent.

A civil war broke out in Castile over King Enrique IV’s inability to act as sovereign. Enrique now needed a quick way to please the rebels of the kingdom. As part of an agreement to restore peace, Isabella was to be betrothed to Pedro Girón Acuña Pacheco, Master of the Order of Calatrava and brother to the King’s favourite, Juan Pacheco. In return, Don Pedro would pay into the impoverished royal treasury an enormous sum of money. Seeing no alternative, Enrique IV agreed to the marriage. Isabella was aghast and prayed to God that the marriage would not come to pass. Her prayers were answered when Don Pedro suddenly fell ill and died while on his way to meet his fiancée.

In 1464 the league of nobles with the Representation of Burgos controlling Isabella’s younger brother, Alfonso, forced Enrique IV to repudiate Joanna and recognize Alfonso as his official heir. Alfonso then became Prince of Asturias, a title previously held by Joanna. Enrique agreed to the compromise with the stipulation that Alfonso someday marry Joanna, to ensure that they both would one day receive the crown.

However, in 1468 at the age of only 14, Alfonso suddenly died. The cause of death is not known, but it likely to have been an illness such as consumption or plague (although it is rumored that he had been deliberately poisoned by his enemies).

When King Enrique IV had recognised Isabella as his heir-presumptive on September 19, 1468, he had also promised that his sister should not be compelled to marry against her will, while she in return had agreed to obtain his consent. It seemed that finally the years of failed attempts at political marriages were over.

There was talk of a marriage to Edward IV of England or to one of his brothers, probably Richard, Duke of Gloucester,(future Richard III); but this alliance was never seriously considered. Once again in 1468, a marriage proposal arrived from Alfonso V of Portugal. Going against his promises made in September, Enrique IV tried to make the marriage a reality. If Isabella married Alfonso, Enrique IV’s daughter Joanna, would marry Alfonso’s son Juan II of Portugal and thus, after the death of the old king, Juan II and Joanna could inherit Portugal and Castile. Isabella refused and made a secret promise to marry her cousin and very first betrothed, Fernando of Aragon.

On May 10, 1475, King Afonso V of Portugal invaded Castile and married Joanna in Plasencia, 15 days later, making her Queen of Portugal.

On October 18, 1469, the formal betrothal took place. Because Isabella and Fernando were second cousins, they stood within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity and the marriage would not be legal unless a dispensation from the Pope was obtained. With the help of the Valencian Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI), Isabella and Fernando were presented with a supposed papal bull by Pius II (who had died in 1464), authorizing Fernando to marry within the third degree of consanguinity, making their marriage legal. Afraid of opposition, Isabella eloped from the court of Enrique IV with the excuse of visiting her brother Alfonso’s tomb in Ávila. Fernando, on the other hand, crossed Castile in secret disguised as a servant. They were married immediately upon reuniting, on October 19, 1469, in the Palacio de los Vivero in the city of Valladolid.

Fernando II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile

When Isabella came to the throne in 1474, upon the death of King Enrique IV of Castile was in a state of despair due to her brother Enrique’s reign. It was not unknown that Enrique IV was a big spender and did little to enforce the laws of his kingdom. It was even said by one Castilian denizen of the time that murder, rape, and robbery happened without punishment. Because of this, Isabella needed desperately to find a way to reform her kingdom.

Queen Isabella reorganized the governmental system, brought the crime rate to the lowest it had been in years, and unburdened the kingdom of the enormous debt her brother had left behind. Isabella’s marriage to Fernando II of Aragon in 1469 created the basis of the de facto unification of Spain. Her reforms and those she made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond the borders of their united kingdoms.

Isabella and Fernando are known for completing the Reconquista, ordering conversion or exile to their Jewish and Muslim subjects, and for supporting and financing Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage that led to the opening of the New World and to the establishment of Spain as a major power in Europe and much of the world for more than a century. Isabella, granted together with her husband the title “the Catholic” by Pope Alexander VI, was recognized as a Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 1494.

In later years Isabella and Fernando were consumed with administration and politics over the Empire they had forged; they were concerned with the succession and worked to link the Spanish crown to the other rulers in Europe. By early 1497, all the pieces seemed to be in place: The son and heir Infanta Juan, Prince of Asturias, married a Habsburg princess, Archduchess Margaret of Austria, establishing the connection to the Habsburgs. The eldest daughter, Isabella of Aragon, married King Manuel I of Portugal, and the younger daughter, Joanna of Castile, was married to a Habsburg prince, Archduke Philipp of Habsburg, the son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife, Duchess Mary of Burgundy. These marriages were one of a set of family alliances between the Habsburgs and the Trastámaras designed to strengthen both against growing French power.

However, Isabella’s plans for her eldest two children did not work out. Her only son, John of Asturias, died shortly after his marriage. Her daughter Isabella of Aragon, whose son Miguel da Paz died at the age of two, died in childbirth. Queen Isabella I’s crowns passed to her third child Joanna and her son-in-law, Philip who is recognized as King Felipe I.

Isabella did, however, make successful dynastic matches for her two youngest daughters. The death of Isabella of Aragon created a necessity for Manuel I of Portugal to remarry, and Isabella’s third daughter, Maria of Aragon, became his next bride. Isabella’s youngest daughter, Catherine of Aragon, married England’s Arthur, Prince of Wales, but his early death resulted in her being married to his younger brother, King Henry VIII of England.

Isabella officially withdrew from governmental affairs on 14 September 14, 1504 and she died that same year on November 26 at the Medina del Campo Royal Palace. She had already been in decline since the deaths of her son Prince Juan of Asturias in 1497, her mother Isabella of Portugal in 1496, and her daughter Princess Isabella of Asturias in 1498.

She is entombed in Granada in the Capilla Real, which was built by her grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Carlos I of Spain), alongside her husband Ferdinand, her daughter Joanna and Joanna’s husband Felipe I; and Isabella’s 2-year-old grandson, Miguel da Paz (the son of Isabella’s daughter, also named Isabella, and King Manuel I of Portugal). The museum next to the Capilla Real holds her crown and scepter.

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.

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

Tags

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.