Charles II of Spain

Charles II (Carlos Segundo) of Spain (November 6, 1661 – November 1, 1700) was king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily, nearly all of Italy (except Piedmont, the Papal States and Venice), and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from Mexico to the Philippines. Charles was the only surviving son of his Habsburg predecessor, King Philip IV of Spain and his second Queen (and niece), Mariana of Austria, another Habsburg. His birth was greeted with joy by the Spaniards, who feared the disputed succession which could have ensued if Philip IV had left no male heir.

Related Topics:
November 6 - 1661 - November 1 - 1700 - Spain - Naples - Sicily - Italy - Spain's overseas Empire - Mexico - Philippines - Habsburg - Philip IV of Spain - Mariana of Austria

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Carlos Segundo is known in Spanish history as El Hechizado ("The Bewitched") from the popular belief — to which Charles himself subscribed — that his physical and mental disabilities were caused by "sorcery" rather than the much more likely cause: centuries of inbreeding within European families (in which first cousin and uncle/niece matches were commonly used to preserve a prosperous family's hold on its multifarious territories) — especially the Spanish Habsburgs. Still, the king was exorcised, and the exorcists of the kingdom were called upon to put straight questions to the devils they cast out. His great-great-great grandmother, Juana II, La Loca, mother of the greatest of the Habsburgs — the Spanish King Charles I who was also Holy Roman Emperor Charles V — became completely insane early in life; the fear of a taint of insanity ran through the Habsburgs.

Related Topics:
Spanish Habsburgs - Exorcised - Juana II - Charles I - Holy Roman Emperor - Charles V

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Charles II was the last of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, physically disabled, mentally retarded and disfigured (possibly through affliction with mandibular prognathism). His tongue was so large that his speech could barely be understood, and he frequently drooled. He may also have suffered from the bone disease acromegaly. Charles was sadly weak in mind and body, barely able to walk and speak. He was treated as virtually an infant in arms until he was ten years old. Fearing the frail child would be overtaxed, he was left entirely uneducated, and his indolence was indulged to such an extent that he was not even expected to be clean. When his brother John of Austria the Younger, a natural son of Philip IV, obtained power by exiling the queen mother from court, he insisted that at least the king's hair should be combed.

Related Topics:
Mentally retarded - Disfigured - Mandibular prognathism - Acromegaly - John of Austria the Younger

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The only touch of manhood shown by Charles was a taste for shooting, which he occasionally indulged in the preserves of the Escorial.

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