King Charles II of Spain

King Charles II of Spain

-El Hechizado / the Bewitched-

“Of no man is it more true to say that in his beginning was his end; from the day of his birth, they were waiting for his death.”

John Langdon-Davies, Historian

In this first edition of “Kings and Things”, we will be discussing the life, times, and reign of King Charles II of Spain, the infamous monarch whose genetic abnormalities and physical deformities, as a result of generations of royal inbreeding, led to the sudden demise of the once prosperous Spanish Habsburgs and catapulted Europe into a major dynastic conflict.

Born on November 6, 1661, in Madrid, Spain, as the only surviving son of King Philip IV of Spain and his wife Mariana of Austria, Charles was destined to inherit the massive Spanish Empire upon his father’s death. This empire, which stretched from modern-day Spain to Italy, the Netherlands, and most of the Americas, was among the wealthiest and most powerful empires at the time, and it was administered by one of the most influential royal families in history: the Habsburgs.

As their power grew, the Habsburgs began to engage in more and more strategic marriages. However, the Habsburg policy of marrying for power eventually became their downfall. Once the Habsburgs came to rule most of Europe, it became apparent that marrying into any other royal family would only diminish their power. As such, to maintain as much prestige as possible and retain the “nobility” of their bloodline, the Habsburgs began nearly 200 years of intermarrying and inbreeding, all of which culminated in the birth of King Charles II of Spain.

As a result of generations of inbreeding, Charles II’s ancestry, or more appropriately “incestry”, was complex to say the least. To start, his mother and father, who were married at the ages of 14 and 44, respectively, were uncle and niece. Further, his maternal grandmother was also his paternal aunt, his paternal grandparents were simultaneously his maternal great-grandparents, and all of his great-grandparents were descended from the same two people, Philip the Handsome and Joanna of Spain. In a typical 6^th Generation family tree, one should have 32 ancestors (2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, etc.); Charles only had 29, and of those, only 5 of them did not share the same two common ancestors, Joanna and Philip.

Because of this, Charles II had an inbreeding coefficient of approximately 0.25, which means that 25% of his genes were identical by common descent. For some perspective, the founder of the Spanish Hapsburg Dynasty, Philip the Handsome, had an inbreeding coefficient of roughly 0.025. It is believed that such frequent and consistent inbreeding over several generations led to the manifestation of defective, recessive genes in Charles II.

The most profound abnormality Charles suffered from was an extreme form of mandibular prognathism (an inherited condition wherein the lower jaw grows faster and extends further than the upper jaw). This condition was characteristic of most Habsburgs, so much so that it’s often referred to as “the Habsburg Jaw.” His rows of teeth were incapable of meeting, and his tongue was too large, meaning that it was physically impossible for him to fully close his mouth. This led to difficulty eating, swallowing, and talking, and it’s recorded that he wasn’t able to talk until the age of four.

Elsewhere, he arguably suffered even more. For instance, his cranium never fully closed around his brain. He was also illiterate, as his mother and advisors didn’t feel that it was necessary to educate him, and none of them even believed he would survive past infancy. He endured violent hallucinations, convulsions, and gastrointestinal issues. He couldn’t walk independently until the age of 8, and even then he fell after a short time because his legs couldn’t support his own weight. Because of this, he most often walked with a cane, or was carried around even into early adulthood. During his youth, Charles was ravaged by rubella, chickenpox, smallpox, measles, and dental illnesses, yet he miraculously survived. However, these illnesses left behind permanent marks, such as rashes and scars on his face. He also likely suffered from several hereditary illnesses, such as Pituitary Hormone Deficiency Disorder and Renal Tubular Acidosis, which stunted his development and caused him immense pain. He was also famously quoted as “short, lame, epileptic, senile, and completely bald before 35, always on the verge of death, but repeatedly baffling Christendom by continuing to live.”

Charles’ family, in particular his mother, were steadfast in their desire to prolong his life and ensure that he could provide an heir to the dying throne. When his father died in 1665, Charles became King at the perfectly qualified age of 3. During this time, and for most of his reign, Charles’ mother ruled in his place as his authoritative regent, leaving Charles in the care of the most frightening people imaginable: 17^th Century doctors. Charles was eventually married twice, both times to people he had never met before. His first marriage was to Marie Louise d’Orléans, the granddaughter of King Louis XIII of France. Not only was Charles too ill to attend his own wedding, but Marie was so repulsed by his appearance that she described him as “so ugly as to cause fear.” Despite his attempts to show affection towards Marie, the marriage proved childless, and Marie ended up dying suddenly after falling off of a horse.

Following Marie’s death in 1689, Charles remarried, this time to Maria Anna of Neuberg, a Pro-Austrian noblewoman who was descended from a family renowned for its fertility (she had 11 older siblings). However, there was no way to bear Charles any children, as he was genetically impotent and infertile. Although, in typical historical fashion, it was believed that Charles was bewitched, or possessed, and thus was infertile as a result. To rectify this, Charles’ mother developed the bright idea of ordering that the long-decomposing body of his father, King Philip IV, be exhumed. Then, Charles was forced to sleep next to the disinterred and decaying corpse of his father, in hopes of curing his infertility. Ultimately, and obviously, this tactic didn’t work.

Without an heir and on the verge of death, Charles finally succumbed and died on November 1, 1700, just five days before his 39^th birthday. In his will, Charles named King Louis XIV of France’s grandson, Phillip of Anjou, as his heir. Fearing that Europe would be dominated solely by the French, the Austrian Habsburgs, English, Prussians, and several other minor powers banded together, plunging Europe into the War of the Spanish Succession and forever modifying the landscape of European politics.

In the end, Phillip of Anjou became Phillip V of Spain, but it was declared that the territories of Spain and France could not be inherited by the same monarch, as dynastic claims became secondary to preserving the balance of power. Nonetheless, Charles II’s unfortunate story remains a cautionary tale as to why “keeping the bloodline pure” may not be the smartest way to preserve your dynasty’s survival.