November 22, 1602: Birth of Elisabeth of France, Queen of Spain

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Élisabeth of France, Balthasar Carlos, Catalan Revolt, Catherine de Médici, Charles Emmanuel of Savoy, Felipe IV of France, King Henri IV of France, Louis XIII of France, Louis XIV of France, Maria Theresa of Spain, Philip Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont, Regent

Elisabeth of France (November 22, 1602 – October 6, 1644) was Queen of Spain from 1621 to her death and Queen of Portugal from 1621 to 1640, as the first spouse of King Felipe IV. She served as regent of Spain during the Catalan Revolt in 1640-42 and 1643–44.

Elisabeth, Madame Royale, was born at the Château de Fontainebleau on November22, 1602. She was the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici. According to the court, her mother showed a cruel indifference to her, because she had believed the prophecy of a nun who assured her that she would give birth to three consecutive sons.

Shortly after her birth, she was betrothed to Philip Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont, son and heir of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, by Infanta Catherine Michaela of Spain, a daughter of King Felipe II of Spain. Philip Emmanuel died in 1605.

As a daughter of the King of France, she was born a Fille de France. As the eldest daughter of the king, she was known at court by the traditional honorific of Madame Royale. The early years of Madame Royale were spent under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a quiet place away from the Parisian court in which she shared education and games with her legitimate siblings and the bastard children that her father had from his constant love affairs.

Besides the Dauphin, (future King Louis XIII) the other Enfants de France (Henri IV’s legitimate children) were Christine Marie, later Duchess of Savoy; Nicholas Henri, Duke of Orléans, who died in infancy; Gaston, Duke of Orléans; and Henrietta Maria, later Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland. When King Henri IV was assassinated outside the Palais du Louvre in Paris on May 14, 1610, her brother the Dauphin (with whom Elisabeth had a very close relationship) succeeded him to the throne as King Louis XIII of France under the Regency of their mother Marie de’ Medici.

When Elisabeth was ten years old, in 1612, negotiations were begun for a double marriage between the royal families of France and Spain; Elisabeth would marry the Prince of Asturias (the future Felipe IV of Spain) and her brother Louis XIII the Spanish Infanta Anne.

Marriage

After her proxy marriage to the Prince of Asturias and Louis XIII’s proxy marriage to the Infanta Anne, Elisabeth and her brother met their respective spouses for the first time on November 25, 1615 on the Pheasant Island in the river Bidassoa that divides France and Spain between the French city of Hendaye and the Spanish city of Fuenterrabía.

This was the last time Louis would see his sister. In Spain, Elisabeth’s French name took on the Spanish form of Isabel. The religious ceremony took place in the Saint Mary Cathedral in Burgos. At the time of her marriage, the thirteen-year-old Isabel became the new Princess of Asturias.

This marriage followed a tradition of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with royal marriages. The tradition went back to 1559 with the marriage of King Felipe II of Spain with the French princess Elisabeth of Valois, the daughter of King Henri II of France, as part of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border was painted by Peter Paul Rubens as part of his Marie de’ Medici cycle.

Queen

Elisabeth was renowned for her beauty, intelligence and noble personality, which made her very popular in Spain.

In 1621, by the time of the birth of the couple’s first child, the couple had ascended to the throne of Spain upon the death of Felipe III of Spain. The new queen of Spain was aware that her husband had mistresses.

Elisabeth herself was the subject of rumors about her relations with the noted poet Peralta (Juan de Tassis, 2nd Count of Villamediana), who was her gentleman-in-waiting.

She was regent of Spain during the Catalan Revolt and supported the Duke of Nochera against the Count-Duke of Olivares in favor of an honorable withdrawal from the Catalan Revolt.

Prior to 1640, the queen does not appear to have had much influence over state affairs, which was largely entrusted to Olivares. Elisabeth did not get along with Olivares, who reportedly assisted her spouse in his adultery and prevented her from achieving any political influence and once famously remarked, when she presented a political view to the king, that priests existed to pray as well as queens existed to give birth.

Between 1640 and 1642, Elisabeth served as regent for the king in his absence during the Catalan revolt and was given very good marks for her efforts. She was reputed to have influenced the fall of Olivares as a part of a “women’s conspiracy” alongside the duchess of Mantua, Ana de Guevara, María de Ágreda and her chief lady-in-waiting Luisa Manrique de Lara, Countess Paredes de Nava.

The fall of Olivares made the king consider her his only political partner, and when the king left again for the front in 1643, Elisabeth was again appointed regent assisted by Juan Chumacero Carrillo y Sotomayor. Her second regency was also given good reviews, and she was credited by the king for her efforts to provide vital supplies for the troops as well as for her negotiations with the banks to provide finances for the army, offering her own jewelry as security. It was rumored that she was intending to follow the example of queen Isabella the Catholic and lead her own army to retake Badajoz.

The Queen died in Madrid on October 6, 1644 at the age of forty-one, leaving two children: Balthasar Carlos and Maria Theresa. After her death, her husband married his niece Mariana of Austria.

Elisabeth’s last child, Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain, would later become queen of France as the wife of her nephew, the future Louis XIV. Unlike her husband and sister-in-law, she would not see the wedding that cemented the peace between her homeland and adopted country, Spain; the countries would be at war until 1659.

One of her great-grandsons, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, became King Felipe V of Spain, and through him, Elisabeth is an ancestor of the subsequent Spanish monarchs

May 14, 1643: Death of Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre. Part I.

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Charles d'Albert, Henri IV of France, Henri of Condé, Jeanne III d'Albret, king James I-VI of England and Scotland, Louis XIII of France, Marie de' Medici, Palace of Fontainebleau, Prince de Condé, Queen and Regent of France., Queen of Navarre, the Grand Falconer of France

Louis XIII, also known as Louis the Just; (September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643) was King of France from 1610 to 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown.

Young Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre.

Born at the Palace of Fontainebleau, Louis XIII was the eldest child of King Henri IV of France And Navarre and his second wife Marie de’ Medici. As son of the king, he was a Fils de France (“son of France”), and as the eldest son, Dauphin of France. His father HenrI IV was the first French king of the House of Bourbon, having succeeded his second cousin, Henri III (1574–1589), in application of Salic law.

Louis XIII’s paternal grandparents were Antoine de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme, and Jeanne III d’Albret, Queen of Navarre. His maternal grandparents were Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, the youngest daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Anna of Bohemia and HungarY.

Eleonora de’ Medici, his maternal aunt, was his godmother. As a child, he was raised under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat.

The ambassador of King James I-VI of England, Scotland and Ireland to the court of France, Sir Edward Herbert, who presented his credentials to Louis XIII in 1619, remarked on Louis’s extreme congenital speech impediment and his double teeth:

his words were never many, as being so extream [sic] a stutterer that he would sometimes hold his tongue out of his mouth a good while before he could speak so much as one word; he had besides a double row of teeth, and was observed seldom or never to spit or blow his nose, or to sweat much, ‘tho he were very laborious, and almost indefatigable in his exercises of hunting and hawking, to which he was much addicted.

Louis XIII ascended the throne in 1610 upon the assassination of his father, May 14, 1610 and his mother Marie de’ Medici acted as his Regent. Louis XIII was considered to have become of age at thirteen (1614). Although his coming-of-age technically ended Marie’s Regency, she remained the de facto ruler of France. His mother did not give up her position as Regent until 1617, when he was 16. Marie maintained most of her husband’s ministers, with the exception of Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, who was unpopular in the country.

Marie de’ Medici, Queen and Regent of France.

As regent Marie came to rely increasingly on Concino Concini, an Italian who assumed the role of her favourite, and was widely unpopular because he was a foreigner. This further antagonized Louis XIII’s cousin, Henri, Prince of Condé (1588–1646) who launched another rebellion in 1616. Huguenot leaders supported Condé’s rebellion, which led the young Louis XIII to conclude that they would never be loyal subjects. Eventually, Condé and Queen Marie made peace via the Treaty of Loudun, which allowed Condé great power in government but did not remove Concini. With growing dissatisfaction from nobles due to Concini’s position, Queen Marie, with Louis’s help, imprisoned Condé to protect Concini, leading to renewed revolts against the Queen and Concini.

Henri, Prince of Condé

In the meantime, Charles d’Albert, the Grand Falconer of France, convinced Louis XIII that he should break with his mother and support the rebels. Louis staged a palace coup d’état. As a result, Concini was assassinated on April 24, 1617. His widow Leonora Dori Galigaï was tried for witchcraft, condemned, beheaded, and burned on July 8, 1617, and Marie was sent into exile in Blois. Later, Louis conferred the title of Duke of Luynes on d’Albert.

Charles d’Albert, Duke of Luynes soon became as unpopular as Concini had been. Other nobles resented his monopolisation of the King. Luynes was seen as less competent than Henri IV’s ministers, many now elderly or deceased, who had surrounded Marie de’ Medici.

The Thirty Years’ War broke out in 1618. The French court was initially unsure of which side to support. On the one hand, France’s traditional rivalry with the House of Habsburg argued in favour of intervening on behalf of the Protestant powers (and Louis’s father Henri IV of France had once been a Huguenot leader). On the other hand, Louis XIII had a strict Catholic upbringing, and his natural inclination was to support the Holy Roman Emperor, the Habsburg Ferdinand II.

The French nobles were further antagonised against Charles d’Albert, Duke of Luynes by the 1618 revocation of the paulette tax and by the sale of offices in 1620. From her exile in Blois, Marie de’ Medici became the obvious rallying point for this discontent, and Armand Jean du Plessis, the Bishop of Luçon (who became Cardinal Richelieu in 1622) was allowed to act as her chief adviser, serving as a go-between Marie and the King.

In 1621 Louis XIII was formally reconciled with his mother. Charles d’Albert, Duke of Luynes was appointed Constable of France, after which he and Louis XIII set out to quell the Huguenot rebellion. The siege at the Huguenot stronghold of Montauban had to be abandoned after three months owing to the large number of royal troops who had succumbed to camp fever. One of the victims of camp fever was, Charles d’Albert, Duke of Luynes who died in December 1621.

Following the death of Luynes, Louis determined that he would rule by council. His mother returned from exile and, in 1622, entered this council, where Condé recommended violent suppression of the Huguenots.

Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre

Spain was constantly interfering in the Valtellina, which angered Louis, as he wanted to hold possession of this strategically important passageway. (In these years the French kingdom was literally surrounded by the Habsburg realms, for the Habsburgs were Kings of Spain as well as Holy Roman Emperors. In addition, the Spanish and Holy Roman empires included the territories of today’s Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, and northern Italy.)

Charles de La Vieuville Superintendent of Finances was also chief adviser to King Louis XIII. Charles de La Vieuville held similar views toward Spain as the king, and who advised Louis to side with the Dutch via the Treaty of Compiègne. However, La Vieuville was dismissed by the middle of 1624, partly due to his bad behaviour (during his tenure as superintendent he was arrogant and incompetent) and because of a well-organized pamphlet campaign by Cardinal Richelieu against his council rival. Louis XIII needed a new chief advisor; Cardinal Richelieu would be that counsellor.

Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu

Cardinal Richelieu played a major role in Louis XIII’s reign from 1624, determining France’s direction over the course of the next eighteen years. As a result of Richelieu’s work, Louis XIII became one of the first examples of an absolute monarch. Under Louis and Richelieu, the crown successfully intervened in the Thirty Years’ War against the Habsburgs, managed to keep the French nobility in line, and retracted the political and military privileges granted to the Huguenots by Henry IV (while maintaining their religious freedoms). Louis XIII successfully led the important Siege of La Rochelle. In addition, Louis had the port of Le Havre modernised, and he built a powerful navy.

On 24 November 1615, Louis XIII married Anne of Austria, daughter of Felipe III of Spain, his wife Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.

The couple were second cousins, by mutual descent from Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. This marriage followed a tradition of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with royal marriages. The tradition went back to the marriage of Louis VII of France and Constance of Castile.

Anne of Austria (Spain)

The marriage was only briefly happy, and the King’s duties often kept them apart. After twenty-three years of marriage and four stillbirths, Anne finally gave birth to a son on 5 September 1638, the future Louis XIV.

Many people regarded this birth as a miracle and, in show of gratitude to God for the long-awaited birth of an heir, his parents named him Louis-Dieudonné (“God-given”). As another sign of gratitude, according to several interpretations, seven months before his birth, France was dedicated by Louis XIII to the Virgin Mary, who, many believed, had interceded for the perceived miracle.

However, the text of the dedication does not mention the royal pregnancy and birth as one of its reasons. Also, Louis XIII himself is said to have expressed his scepticism with regard to the miracle after his son’s birth. In gratitude for having successfully given birth, the queen founded the Benedictine abbey of the Val-de-Grâce, for which Louis XIV himself laid the cornerstone of its church, an early masterpiece of French Baroque architecture.

May 10, 1774: Death of King Louis XV of France & Navarre. Part I.

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Emperor Peter I of Russia, Henry IV of France, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, King Louis XVI of France, King of Navarre, le Bien-Aimé, Louis XIII of France, Louis XV of France., Peter the Great, Philippe II Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, The Beloved

Louis XV (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France and Navarre from September 1, 1715 until his death on May 10, 1774.

Young Louis XV, King of France and Navarre.

Ancestry

Louis XV was the great-grandson of Louis XIV and the third son of the Louis, Duke of Burgundy (1682–1712), and his wife Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, the eldest daughter of Duke Vittorio-Amedeo II of Savoy and of Anne-Marie d’Orléans. Louis XV’s mother Anne-Marie d’Orléans was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV, and Henrietta of England. As the maternal grandmother of King Louis XV, Henrietta of England also brought in more blood from the House of Bourbon as the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France, the youngest daughter of Henri IV of France (Henri III of Navarre) and his second wife, Marie de’ Medici.

Louis, Duke of Burgundy, father of Louis XV.

Louis XV’s father, Louis, Duke of Burgundy was the eldest son of the young 21-year-old Dauphin, Louis, who would later be called le Grand Dauphin, and his wife, Maria-Anna-Victoria of Bavaria. Louis, le Grand Dauphin was the eldest son of Louis XIV of France and Navarre and his first wife, Infanta Maria-Theresa of Spain, born an Infanta of Spain and Portugal at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, she was the daughter of Felipe IV-III, King of Spain and Portugal and his wife Elisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici.

Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, mother of Louis XV.

Maria-Anna-Victoria of Bavaria, the wife of Louis, le Grand Dauphin, was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand-Maria, Elector of Bavaria and his wife Princess Henriette-Adelaide of Savoy. Her maternal grandparents were Vitoria-Amedeo I, Duke of Savoy and Christine-Marie of France, the second daughter of Henri IV of France and Marie de’ Medici, thus her husband the dauphin was her second cousin.

Louis, le Grand Dauphin, Grandfather of Louis XV.

Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, Grandmother of Louis XV.

Louis XV was a great-great-great grandson of the first French Bourbon King, Henri IV and a descendent through his eldest son Louis XIII. However, as we’ve seen, Louis XV also descended from Henri IV through all three of his daughters, Elisabeth, Christine-Marie and Henrietta-Maria.

Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, great-grandfather of Louis XV.

Infanta Maria-Theresa of Spain and Portugal, Archduchess of Austria, great-grandmother of Louis XV.

Becoming Heir to the Throne

Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on February 15, 1710 during the reign of his great-grandfather, Louis XIV. When he was born, he was created the Duke of Anjou. The possibility of his becoming King seemed very remote; King Louis XIV’s oldest son and heir, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, Louis’s father (Louis, Duke of Burgundy) and his elder surviving brother (Louis, Duke of Brittany) were ahead of him in the succession.

However, the Grand Dauphin died of smallpox on April 14, 1711. On February 12, 1712 the mother of Louis, Marie-Adélaïde, was stricken with measles and died, followed on February 18, by Louis’s father, the former Duke of Burgundy, who was next in line for the throne. On March 7, it was found that both Louis and his older brother, (also named Louis) the former Duke of Brittany, who was now the new Dauphin, had the measles. The two brothers were treated in the traditional way, with bleeding. On the night of 8–9 March, the new Dauphin died from the combination of the disease and the treatment. The governess of Louis, Madame de Ventadour, would not allow the doctors to bleed Louis further; he was very ill but survived and was now the new dauphin and sole heir to his great-grandfather’s throne. When Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715, Louis, at the age of five, inherited the throne and became King Louis XV of France and Navarre.

Regency

The Ordinance of Vincennes from 1374 required that the kingdom be governed by a regent until Louis XV reached the age of thirteen. The title of Regent was given to his nearest relative, his cousin Philippe II, the Duke of Orleans, son of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, (brother of Louis XIV) and his wife, Elisabeth-Charlotte of the Palatinate, daughter of Charles I Ludwig, Elector Palatine of the Simmern branch of the House of Wittelsbach, and Landgravine Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel.

Philippe II, the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France

Elisabeth-Charlotte of the Palatinate is directly related to several iconic European monarchs. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Stuart was a Scottish and later English princess, daughter of King James VI-I of England, Scotland and Ireland and she was the granddaughter of Mary I, Queen of Scots. Her first cousin became George I, the first Hanover King of Great Britain. Through her daughter, Élisabeth-Charlotte d’Orléans who married Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate was the great-grandmother of Archduchess Marie-Antoinette of Austria the wife of King Louis XVI of France and Navarre.

The Regent and Louis XV

In February 1717, when Louis XV reached the age of seven, he was taken from his governess Madame Ventadour and placed in the care of François de Villeroy, the 73-year-old Duke and Maréchal de France, named as his governor in Louis XIV’s will of August 1714. Villeroy instructed the young King in court etiquette, taught him how to review a regiment, and how to receive royal visitors.

Louis XV’s guests included the Russian Tsar Peter I the Great in 1717; contrary to ordinary protocol, the two-meter-tall Tsar picked up Louis and kissed him. Louis also learned the skills of horseback riding and hunting, which became the great passion of the young King. In 1720, following the example of Louis XIV, Villeroy had the young Louis dance in public in two ballets at the Tuileries Palace on February 24, 1720, and again in The Ballet des Elements on December 31, 1721. The shy Louis evidently did not enjoy the experience; he never danced in another ballet.

Tsar Peter I of Russia holding King Louis XV of France

End of the Regency

On June 15, 1722, as Louis XV approached his thirteenth birthday, the year of his majority, he left Paris and moved back to Versailles, where he had happy memories of his childhood, but where he was far from the reach of public opinion. On 25 October, Louis was crowned King at the Cathedral of Reims. On February 15, 1723, the king’s majority was declared by the Parlement of Paris, officially ending the regency. In the beginning of Louis’s reign, the Duke of Orleans continued to manage the government, and took the title of Prime Minister in August 1723, but while visiting his mistress, far from the court and medical care, Orleans died in December of the same year. Following the advice of his preceptor Fleury, Louis XV appointed his cousin Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, to replace the late Duke of Orléans as prime minister.

Young Louis XV, King of France and Navarre

This date in History: September 5, 1638. Birth of King Louis XIV of France and Navarre.

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Anne of Austria, Francoise d'Aubigne, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Louis XIII of France, Maria Theresa of Spain, Marquise de Maintenon, Palace of Versailles, Philip III of Spain, Philip IV of Spain

(Personal note: I cannot do justice to the life of Louis XIV in this single post. Therefore I’ll just focus on aspects of his personal life).

Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715), known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil), was King of France and Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death on September 1st 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV’s France was a leader in the growing centralisation of power.

Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, the eldest daughter of King Felipe III-II of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan and his wife Margaret of Austria (the daughter of Archduke Carl II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I).

He was named Louis Dieudonné (Louis the God-given) and bore the traditional title of French heirs apparent: Dauphin. At the time of his birth, his parents had been married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631. Leading contemporaries to regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Hence the name Louis Dieudonné.

Anne of Austria, Queen Consort of France.

Louis XIV’s relationship with his mother, Anne of Austria, was uncommonly affectionate for the time. Contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is highly likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis’ journal entries, such as:

“Nature was responsible for the first knots which tied me to my mother. But attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood.”

It was his mother who gave Louis his belief in the absolute and divine power of his monarchical rule.

Maria Theresa of Spain Wife of Louis XIV

Maria Theresa of Spain (September 10, 1638 – July 30, 1683), was the daughter of King Felipe IV of Spain and Elisabeth of France (the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici). As a member of the House of Austria, Maria Theresa an Infanta of Spain and was entitled to use the title Archduchess of Austria. She was known in Spain as María Teresa de Austria and in France as Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche.

Maria Theresa of Spain

In 1658, as war with between France and Spain began to wind down, a union between the two royal families was proposed as a means to secure peace. Maria Theresa and the French king were double first cousins: Louis XIV’s father was Louis XIII of France, who was the brother of Maria Theresa’s mother, while her father was brother to Anne of Austria, Louis XIV’s mother.

The negotiations for the marriage contract were intense. Eager to prevent a union of the two countries or crowns, especially one in which Spain would be subservient to France, the diplomats sought to include a renunciation clause that would deprive Maria Theresa and her children of any rights to the Spanish succession.

This was eventually done but, by the skill of Cardinal Mazarin and his French diplomats, the renunciation and its validity were made conditional upon the payment of a large dowry. As it turned out, Spain, impoverished and bankrupt after decades of war, was unable to pay such a dowry, and France never received the agreed upon sum of 500,000 écus.*

A marriage by proxy to the French king was held in Fuenterrabia. Maria Theresa and her father, Felipe IV and the entire Spanish court accompanied the bride to the Isle of Pheasants on the border in the Bidassoa river, where Louis and his court met her in the meeting on the Isle of Pheasants on June 7, 1660, and she entered France. On June 9, the marriage took place in Saint-Jean-de-Luz at the recently rebuilt church of Saint Jean the Baptist. After the wedding, Louis wanted to consummate the marriage as quickly as possible. The new queen’s mother-in-law (and aunt) arranged a private consummation instead of the public one that was the custom. On August 26, 1660, the newlyweds made the traditional Joyous Entry into Paris.

Maria Theresa was very fortunate to have found a friend at court in her mother-in-law, unlike many princesses in foreign lands. She continued to spend much of her free time playing cards and gambling, as she had no interest in politics or literature. Consequently, she was viewed as not fully playing the part of queen designated to her by her marriage.

Queen Maria Theresa became pregnant in early 1661, and a long-awaited son was born on November 1, 1661. Louis XIV and his wife Maria Theresa of Spain had six children. However, only one child, the eldest, survived to adulthood: Louis, le Grand Dauphin, known as Monseigneur.

Despite evidence of affection early on in their marriage, Louis was never faithful to Maria Theresa. He took a series of mistresses, both official and unofficial. Among the better documented are Louise de La Vallière (with whom he had 5 children; 1661–67), Bonne de Pons d’Heudicourt (1665), Catherine Charlotte de Gramont (1665), Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan (with whom he had 7 children; 1667–80), Anne de Rohan-Chabot (1669–75), Claude de Vin des Œillets (1 child born in 1676), Isabelle de Ludres (1675–78), and Marie Angélique de Scorailles (1679–81), who died at age 19 in childbirth. Through these liaisons, he produced numerous illegitimate children, most of whom he married to members of cadet branches of the royal family.

Maria Theresa is frequently viewed as an object of pity in historical accounts of her husband’s reign, since she had no choice but to tolerate his many love affairs. As time passed, Maria Theresa also came to tolerate her husband’s prolonged infidelity with Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan. The king left her to her own devices, yet reprimanded Madame de Montespan when her behaviour at court too flagrantly disrespected the queen’s position.

Maria Theresa died at the early age of 44 from complications from an abscess on her arm. Upon the death of Maria Theresa Louis XIV remarked that she had never caused him unease on any other occasion.

Second Marriage

Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon (November 27, 1635 – April 15, 1719) was the second wife of King Louis XIV of France. She was known during her first marriage as Madame Scarron, and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon. Her marriage to the king was never officially announced or admitted, and thus she was never considered queen of France. Even so, she was very influential at court, and was one of the king’s closest advisers.

Owing to the disparity in their social status, the marriage was morganatic, meaning that Madame de Maintenon was not openly acknowledged as the King’s wife and did not become queen. No official documentation of the marriage exists, but that it took place is nevertheless accepted by historians.

Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon

Louis proved relatively more faithful to his second wife, Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon. He first met her through her work caring for his children by Madame de Montespan, noting the care she gave to his favorite, Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine. The king was, at first, put off by her strict religious practice, but he warmed to her through her care for his children.

When he legitimized his children by Madame de Montespan on December 20, 1673, Françoise d’Aubigné became the royal governess at Saint-Germain. As governess, she was one of very few people permitted to speak to him as an equal, without limits. It is believed that they were married secretly at Versailles on or around October 10, 1683 or January 1684. This marriage, though never announced or publicly discussed, was an open secret and lasted until his death.

Historians have often remarked upon Madame de Maintenon’s political influence, which was considerable. She was regarded as the next most powerful person after the king, considered the equivalent of a prime minister after 1700.

Without an official position as queen, she was more easily approached by those wishing to have influence with the king. He would not always consult her on more important matters, though. Her judgment was not infallible and mistakes were undoubtedly made: replacing Catinat by Villeroi in 1701 may be attributed to her, but not entire policies (according to Saint-Simon, certainly not the policy with regard to the Spanish Succession). Madame de Maintenon used her power for personal patronage.

* Incidentally, this was part the reason the grandson of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa inherited the Spanish throne as Felipe V in 1700 after the death of Maria Theresa’s younger half-brother, Carlos II, and the War of the Spanish Succession, founding the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon, which has reigned with some interruption until present time.

The long reigns of Louis XIV of France & Navarre and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

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Anne of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Empire, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Kingdom of France, Longest reign, Louis XIII of France, Louis XIV, Philip III of Spain, Queen Elizabeth II, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Today is the anniversary of the death King Louis XIV of France and Navarre.

Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715), known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil), was King of France and Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death on September 1st 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV’s France was a leader in the growing centralisation of power.

Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, the eldest daughter of King Felipe III of Spain and his wife Margaret of Austria (the daughter of Archduke Carl II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I).

Since the anniversary of his birth is on September 5, I will do a more in depth analysis of his life then. Until then I want to mention an interesting bit of trivia concerning the longest reign of Louis XIV and the long reign of the United Kingdom’s current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

Louis XIV reigned from May 14, 1643 to September 1, 1715 totaling 72 years, 3 months, 18 days on the throne. In order for Queen Elizabeth II to beat that record by one day (72 years, 3 months 19 days) and become longest reigning monarch in European history, she will need to remain on the throne until May 26, 2024, which is 4 years, 8 months and 25 days away.

At that time Elizabeth II will be 98 years, 1 month and 5 days old. Considering Her Majesty’s health is robust, this is entirely within the realm of possibility! Long may she continue to reign!

Charles II: Anniversary of his birth and restoration.

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Charles I of England, Charles II, Charles II of England and Scotland, Declaration of Breda, English Civil War, Henri IV of France, Henrietta Maria de Bourbon, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Ireland, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Louis XIII of France, Louis XIV, Oliver Cromwell

On this date in history: May 29, 1630. The birth of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland. On this date in history, May 29, 1660 the restoration of Charles II.


The future Charles II was born at St James’s Palace on May 29, 1630. His parents were Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland) and Henrietta Maria de Bourbon of France, the youngest daughter of Henri IV, King of France and Navarre and Marie de’ Medici. This made Henrietta Maria the sister of the French king Louis XIII and aunt of Louis XIV. Charles was their second child. Their first son was Charles James, Duke of Cornwall born and died on March 13, 1629.


Charles was baptized in the Chapel Royal, on June 27, 1630 by the Anglican Bishop of London, William Laud. The three kingdoms were experiencing great religious diversity at this time. England was predominantly Anglican, while Scotland was staunchly Presbyterian and Ireland was dominantly Catholic. He was brought up in the care of the Protestant Countess of Dorset, though his godparents included his maternal uncle Louis XIII and his maternal grandmother, Marie de’ Medici, the Dowager Queen of France, both of whom were Catholics. With his mother being Catholic this would heavily influence Charles throughout his life.

Upon his birth Charles automatically became inherited the titles Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay. When he became eight he was designated Prince of Wales, though he was never formally invested. Despite never being formally vested with that title he was officially referred to as the Prince of Wales and is counted as one of the 21 heirs to the throne that borne that prestigious title.


At the end of the Second English Civil (1648–1649) his father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on January 30, 1649. Shortly thereafter the monarchy was officially abolished in England. Charles was publicly proclaimed King Charles II of Scotland on February 5, 1649 in Edinburgh. On the Isle of Jersey on February 17, 1649 in the Royal Square in St. Helier the former Prince of Wales was proclaimed King. Despite the Parliament of Scotland proclaiming Charles II king, England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth, and the country was a de facto republic, led by Oliver Cromwell.


The new king was still willing to fight for his crown. The Parliamentary Army proved to be the greater force and Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. Life was difficult for the king-in-name-only as finances were slim and he relied on the good graces of others.


A political crisis followed the death of Cromwell in 1658. Cromwell’s son, Richard, ruled as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. Richard’s regime soon collapsed and as the three kingdoms teetered on the brink of anarchy, General George Monck, Governor of Scotland under the Cromwells, believed the only one that could restore order was the King. Monck marched south with his army from Scotland and communications with Charles began.

On April 4, 1660, Charles II released the Declaration of Breda, which made known the conditions of his acceptance of the Crown of England, Scotland and Ireland. Monck organised the Convention Parliament, which met for the first time on April 25, 1660. On May 8, 1660, the Convention Parliament declared that King Charles II had reigned as the lawful monarch since the execution of Charles I in January 1649. Charles returned from exile on May 23, 1660. On May 29, 1660, the populace in London acclaimed him as king. It was his 30th Birthday. A new era had begun.

Henri IV was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on February 27, 1594.

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Anne of Brittany, Catholic League, Duke of Guise, Henry II of France, Henry III of France, Henry IV of France & Navarre, House of Bourbon, Huguenot, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Navarre, Louis XIII of France, Salic Law, War of the Three Henries, Wars of Religion

On this date in History: Henri IV was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on February 27, 1594.

Henri IV (December 13, 1553 – May 14, 1610), also known by the epithet “Good King Henry”, was King of Navarre (as Henri III) from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, another branch of the Capetian dynasty (through Louis IX, as the previous House of Valois had been through Philippe II). He was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.

Henri was born in Pau, the capital of the joint Kingdom of Navarre with the sovereign principality of Béarn. His parents were Queen Joan III of Navarre (Jeanne d’Albret) and her consort, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme. Although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henri was raised as a Protestant by his mother, who had declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henri joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion. On June 9, 1572, upon his mother’s death, the 19-year-old became King of Navarre.

At Queen Joan III’s death, it was arranged for Henri to marry Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici. The wedding took place in Paris on August 18, 1572 on the parvis of Notre Dame Cathedral.

Henri became heir presumptive to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of François, Duke of Anjou, brother and heir to the Catholic Henri III of France who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Because Henri of Navarre was the next senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, King Henri III of France had no choice but to recognise him as the legitimate successor. Salic law barred the king’s sisters and all others who could claim descent through only the female line from inheriting. Since Henri of Navarre was a Huguenot, the issue was not considered settled in many quarters of the country, and France was plunged into a phase of the Wars of Religion known as the War of the Three Henries. Henri III of France and Henri III of Navarre were two of these Henries.

The third was Henri I, Duke of Guise, (the eldest son of François, Duke of Guise, and Anna d’Este. His maternal grandparents were Ercole II d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, and Renée of France, herself the second daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany) who pushed for complete suppression of the Huguenots and had much support among Catholic loyalists. The Catholic League accepted Henri, Duke of Guise because of his staunch Catholicism, despite his claim to the throne being in contention with the Salic Law for his claimed descent from Louis XII of France, his great-grandfather, was through the female line. Political disagreements among the parties set off a series of campaigns and counter-campaigns that culminated in the Battle of Coutras.

In December 1588, Henri III of France had Henri I of Guise murdered, along with his brother, Louis Cardinal de Guise. Henri III thought that the removal of Guise would finally restore his authority. Instead, however, the populace were horrified and rose against him. In several cities, the title of the king was no longer recognized. His power was limited to Blois, Tours, and the surrounding districts. In the general chaos, the king relied on King Henri of Navarre and his Huguenots.

The two kings were united by a common interest—to win France from the Catholic League. Henri III acknowledged the King of Navarre as a true subject and Frenchman, not a fanatic Huguenot aiming for the destruction of Catholics. Catholic royalist nobles also rallied to the king’s standard. With this combined force, the two kings marched to Paris. The morale of the city was low, and even the Spanish ambassador believed the city could not hold out longer than a fortnight. But Henri III was assassinated shortly thereafter (August 2, 1589) by a fanatical monk.

When Henri III died, Henri of Navarre nominally became king of France. The Catholic League, however, strengthened by support from outside the country—especially from Spain—was strong enough to prevent a universal recognition of his new title. Most of the Catholic nobles who had joined Henri III for the siege of Paris also refused to recognize the claim of Henri of Navarre, and abandoned him. He set about winning his kingdom by military conquest, aided by English money and German troops. Henri’s Catholic uncle Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, was proclaimed king by the League, but the Cardinal was Henri’s prisoner at the time. Henri was victorious at the Battle of Arques and the Battle of Ivry, but failed to take Paris after besieging it in 1590.

When Cardinal de Bourbon died in 1590, the League could not agree on a new candidate. While some supported various Guise candidates, the strongest candidate was probably the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, the daughter of Felipe II of Spain, whose mother Elisabeth had been the eldest daughter of Henri II of France. In the religious fervor of the time, the Infanta was recognized to be a suitable candidate, provided that she marry a suitable husband.

The French overwhelmingly rejected Felipe II’s first choice, Archduke Ernest of Austria, the Emperor’s brother, also a member of the House of Habsburg. In case of such opposition, Felipe indicated that princes of the House of Lorraine would be acceptable to him: the Duke of Guise; a son of the Duke of Lorraine; and the son of the Duke of Mayenne. The Spanish ambassadors selected the Duke of Guise, to the joy of the League. But at that moment of seeming victory, the envy of the Duke of Mayenne was aroused, and he blocked the proposed election of a king.

The Parlement of Paris also upheld the Salic law. They argued that if the French accepted natural hereditary succession, as proposed by the Spaniards, and accepted a woman as their queen, then the ancient claims of the English kings would be confirmed, and the monarchy of centuries past would be nothing but an illegality. The Parlement admonished Mayenne, as Lieutenant-General, that the Kings of France had resisted the interference of the Pope in political matters, and that he should not raise a foreign prince or princess to the throne of France under the pretext of religion. Mayenne was angered that he had not been consulted prior, but yielded, since their aim was not contrary to his present views.

Despite these setbacks for the League, Henri remained unable to take control of Paris.

On July 25, 1593, with the encouragement of his great love, Gabrielle d’Estrées, Henri permanently renounced Protestantism and converted to Roman Catholicism—in order to obtain the French crown, thereby earning the resentment of the Huguenots and his former ally Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was said to have declared that Paris vaut bien une messe (“Paris is well worth a mass”), although there is some doubt whether he said this, or whether the statement was attributed to him by his contemporaries. His acceptance of Roman Catholicism secured the allegiance of the vast majority of his subjects.

Since Reims, the traditional location for the coronation of French kings, was still occupied by the Catholic League, Henri IV was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on February 27, 1594. He did not forget his former Calvinist coreligionists, however and was known for his religious tolerance. In 1598 he issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted circumscribed toleration to the Huguenots.

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.