Charles II of Spain , 6 November 1661 to 1 November 1700, was the last ruler of Habsburg Spain. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the war that followed his death, his reign has traditionally been viewed as one of managed decline. However, many of the issues he faced pre-dated his succession, while he left a Spanish Empire that remained largely intact.
For reasons still debated, Charles experienced extended periods of ill health throughout his life. From the moment he became king at the age of three in 1665, the succession was a prominent consideration in European politics. Historian John Langdon-Davies summarised his life as follows: "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".
Although he married twice, neither union produced children, and on his death in November 1700, Charles was succeeded by the 16-year-old Philip of Anjou, grandson of his elder half-sister Maria Theresa and Louis XIV of France. However, the question of who inherited the crown was less important than the division of his territories, and failure to resolve the issue through diplomacy led to war in 1701.
Personal details
Born on 6 November 1661, Charles was the only surviving son of Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria, who were uncle and niece. While European nobility commonly married within the same extended family to retain property, the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs were unusual in the extent to which they followed this policy. Of eleven marriages contracted by Spanish monarchs between 1450 and 1661, the vast majority contained some element of consanguinity, while Philip and Mariana were one of two unions between uncle and niece. One suggestion is this policy may have been partially driven by Spanish or "blood purity" statutes enacted in the early 16th century, which remained in use until the 1860s.
Inter-marriage accentuated the so-called 'Habsburg jaw', a physical characteristic common in both Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs. One contemporary reported this was so pronounced in Charles that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing, leading to frequent stomach problems. A 2019 study based on an analysis of Habsburg portraits concluded this feature was likely due to a recessive trait; however, in the absence of genetic material, such claims remain speculative.
The degree to which inbreeding was responsible for his ill-health is also unclear and disputed. Neither his elder sister, Margaret Theresa of Spain, or Maria Antonia, the daughter of the marriage to her uncle Leopold, suffered the same health problems. Based on contemporary accounts, Charles may have had combined pituitary hormone deficiency and distal renal tubular acidosis. However, other studies argue his issues were more likely due to a herpetic infection incurred as an infant, while his autopsy report showed symptoms associated with hydrocephalus.
After his birth, he was entrusted to the royal governess Mariana Engracia Álvarez de Toledo Portugal y Alfonso-Pimentel. Under her careful supervision, he survived childhood attacks of measles, chickenpox, rubella and smallpox, any one of which was then potentially fatal. He also had rickets, which left him unable to walk unaided until he was four and compelled him to wear leg braces until the age of five. Suggestions that Charles was left largely uneducated until his teens appear to be incorrect; Ramos del Manzano, a professor at the University of Salamanca and legal expert, was appointed his tutor when he was six. From the age of 12, he received lessons in music from Juan del Vado and in mathematics by Jose Zaragoza, Professor at the Colegio Imperial de Madrid, whom he later commissioned to carry out a number of engineering projects in Spain.
The extent of his alleged physical and mental disabilities is hard to assess, since very little is known for certain and much of what is suggested is either unproved or incorrect. While prone to illness, he was extremely active physically and contemporaries reported he spent much of his time hunting. One often cited example of his alleged mental incapacity is the period he spent sleeping with his father's disinterred body; this was in fact done under instructions from Mariana, whose doctors advised this would help him produce an heir. Although he was reputedly subject to bouts of depression, his participation in government and reports from his council and foreign observers such as the French ambassador Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquess of Torcy, indicate his mental capacities remained intact.