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Jan 10, 2024 · Updated February 17, 2024. King Charles II of Spain suffered from numerous physical and cognitive disabilities due to generations of inbreeding, and since his genetics seemingly rendered him infertile as well, the Spanish Habsburg dynasty came to an end when he died in 1700.
- William Delong
Charles II of Spain [a] (6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700) was King of Spain from 1665 to 1700. The last monarch from the House of Habsburg, which had ruled Spain since 1516, neither of his marriages produced children, and he died without a direct heir.
- King Charles’ Autopsy Was Sensationalized. People loved to speculate about Charles’ poor health during his lifetime, and rumors abounded as to the cause of El Hechizado’s deformities.
- Superstition About King Charles’ Health Problems. Though Charles’ impotence was almost certainly due to his inbreeding, various people were called to court to try to figure out the “true cause.”
- Inbreeding Made Charles’ Family Tree Complicated. Charles’ father was Philip IV of Spain, and his mother was Mariana. The two were paternal cousins, as well as uncle and niece.
- Maria Ana Was an Inspiration for One of Victor Hugo’s Novels. The French novelist Victor Hugo, who wrote classics like Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, depicted the life of Maria Anna in a play called Ruy Blas.
The Spanish Habsburgs’ reign lasted two centuries, until the 38-year-old Charles II, a king whose manifold health woes and infertility scholars often attribute to severe inbreeding, died in...
Apr 14, 2009 · April 14, 2009. • 7 min read. On November 1st, 1700, an entire dynasty of kings came to a crashing end with the death of Charles II of Spain. Charles had neither a pleasant life nor a...
May 3, 2023 · Then, it simplifies to: FI = (0.5)3 X ( 1 ) + (0.5)3 X ( 1 ) = 0.25. In other words, Charles II was moderately more inbred than the average among the offspring from brother-sister matings! Over time this sort of process would result in radically increased inbreeding coefficients.
Ewen Callaway. 19 April 2013. King Charles II of Spain was physically and mentally disabled, infertile — and extremely inbred. When he died in 1700, aged 38, so did the male line of the...
