Carlos II (also called Charles II) was the king of Spain from 1665 to 1700. He was part of the Hapsburg family, and the last of them to rule Spain. The Hapsburgs were very powerful and were one of the longest lasting monarchical families, and therefore possessed a great ego. They chose to keep their family lines "pure," and continually married and inbred. This culminated with a sickly, grotesque, funky dude named Carlos II. This guy was so messed up that his deformed Hapsburg-inherited chin prevented him from being able to chew on his own. Very deserving of a breeding fail. He was ill nearly all his life, and his weakened state along with his country's steadily declining power made Spain an attractive opportunity for invasion for foreign rulers. The great powers of the time were, as described by AP Euro teacher extraordinaire Greg Kloes, "lickin' their chops." Louis XIV of France, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, and other powerful monarchs of the time patiently waited until Carlos' death (FINALLY) and began The War of Spanish Succession in 1701. Carlos II (like the smelly, old sickly guy that he was) left his empire to the French Philip, which caused the other powers of Europe to fear a unification of France and Spain, and a significant disruption of the balance of power. The war ended with the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt, as the balance of power was maintained when Philip became Philip V of Spain but couldn't claim the French throne and unite the empires.
I still think this is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteHabsburg, not Hapsburg
ReplyDeleteBoth are acceptable spellings, you idiot.
ReplyDeleteThe Habsburgs did not marry close relatives because of some delusion about keeping their blood-lines "pure". This is a common misconception. Believe it or not, their reasons were very practical: to keep land, power, wealth & influence in the family. Medieval European history is littered with examples of what happens when a Royal/Noble family marries off children into other Royal/Noble families - basically, such unions produce children who can lay claim to another country's throne - the Hundred Years War is such an example, as is the War of Spanish Succession. The Spanish Habsburgs were a branch of the family Habsburg that ruled the Holy Roman Empire, which later became the Austrian Empire & subsequently the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Holy Roman Emperors were, by technicality, Emperors elect, which meant that a group of Princes (called Electors, all of whom ruled small Duchies, Principalities, etc. of their own) had to approve the Emperor's rule before he was crowned. As long as the Habsburg family remained powerful, the succession to the throne remained hereditary. This paranoia about loss of influence lead to incestuous marriages. But even Charles II was not the culmination of such disastrous inbreeding - even worse off genetically than him was his sister's daughter, Maria Antonia of Austria (Electress of Bavaria). Maria Antonia was the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I & his niece - King Charles II of Spain's full-blood sister - Margaret Theresa of Spain (interestingly, she is the child featured in Velázquez's masterpiece "Las Meninas"). Margaret Theresa died after several miscarriages left her weakened. her daughter, Maria Antonia, was the only child to survive into adulthood. Paintings of the time show a rather odd looking girl...
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