Some things are better left inbred!

It hath been a long time since my previous post. I have been in a flurry of activity since that time, between traveling, working, and schooling. Now I feel as though I can release my breath and write again. The past several months have been a definite wild ride. Ending my life in England was but an easy one, though much to my own chagrin I had become accustomed to some of the English idiosyncrasies and vernacular. Something my friends definitely poke fun at me for and are trying to exorcise out of me. Now I am back in school, something at my age that I had hoped would be done. I am happy to be back in a way, however, the stress of school and midterms have overwhelmed me, such that I had neglected many aspects of my life. Midterms are finally over. Thank goodness, as I feel human again and take care of the neglected ares of my life.

On this day in history about 312 years ago, the death of Charles II of Spain had started the War of the Spanish Succession.


Charles II was born on November 6, 1661, a very long awaited male heir to the throne of Spain. His parents were uncle and niece, Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria. Charles II was unfortunately a very intellectually limited and suffering from many undesirable traits, as a result of centuries of inbreeding, something that Spanish Habsburgs are well-known for. Instead of having 8 great-grandparents, he had 6, instead of 16 great-great grandparents, he had 10, and even worse, instead of having 32 great-great-great grandparents, he had only 10. So much for keeping it in the family.

As a result, poor Charles (contemporarily known as Charles II the Hexed/Bewitched) was very limited and prone to fits of aggression. His jaw was much longer than his teeth giving him an exaggerated piranha look (look up Habsburg jaw, a problem found in Marie Antoinette as well), an extremely long tongue which made it difficult for him to talk and it was hard for him to walk.  He was treated as a babe in arms, until the age of 10, and his tutors did not want to overtax him with schooling or education affairs, so he was largely left uneducated. His mother acted as his regent for much of his reign. Due to Charles' limitations, he was never an effective leader of his country, his mother served as regent for many years, as had his capable illegitimate half-brother John of Austria. Though few had any expectations of him, he was still expected to marry and reproduce.

His first wife, a particularly beautiful French princess, was Marie-Louise of Orleans, a niece of Louis XIV. Charles married her in 1679 in a glittering ceremony. It is very likely that Charles was impotent and could not reproduce, much to Marie Louise's sadness, she died at the age of 26 in 1689.

His second wife,  Maria Anne of Neuberg, was chosen for her family's history of fertility, but she too remained childless.

As the American historians Will and Ariel Durant put it, Charles II was "short, lame, epileptic, senile, and completely bald before 35, he was always on the verge of death, but repeatedly baffled Christendom by continuing to live." (Will and Ariel Durant, The Age of Louis XIV (1963))

Charles II died at the age of 38 on November 1, 1700, thus igniting the War of Spanish Succession (which I will continue in the next blog post)