Charles II (of Spain)
Charles II of Spain, who reigned from 1665 until his death in 1700, became king at a mere four years of age following the death of his father, King Philip IV. His reign was heavily impacted by the physical and mental disabilities he suffered, attributed largely to generations of inbreeding within the Habsburg family. These disabilities included a protruding jaw, chronic illness, and significant emotional challenges, which made him largely unable to govern effectively. The period of his minority was marked by dominance from the Queen Mother, Mariana de Austria, against a backdrop of economic troubles and military conflicts, notably the War of Devolution initiated by Louis XIV.
Charles II’s marital life was notably troubled; his first wife, Marie Louise, bore no children due to his impotence, and her death led to further political complications involving his second wife, Maria Anna. His inability to produce an heir became a critical issue, leading to significant political maneuvering regarding the succession of the Spanish crown. Ultimately, Charles's will designated Philip of Anjou as his successor, igniting the War of Spanish Succession, which reshaped the political landscape of Europe. His death not only marked the end of Habsburg rule in Spain but also initiated a significant shift in power dynamics, with the emergence of the Bourbon dynasty and the rise of England as a leading power. Charles II's reign serves as a cautionary tale reflecting the consequences of dynastic practices and the complexities of succession in a declining empire.
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Charles II (of Spain)
King of Spain, r. 1665-1700
- Born: November 6, 1661
- Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
- Died: November 1, 1700
- Place of death: Madrid, Spain
Charles II, who suffered serious mental and physical disabilities as a result of generations of close marriages in the Habsburg Dynasty, ruled the vast but rapidly declining Spanish Empire. Although married twice, Charles produced no heirs, which created the problem of the Spanish Succession. European powers negotiated treaties to partition the empire upon his death in an attempt to maintain a balance of power and preclude war.
Early Life
Charles II became king of Spain at the age of four upon the death of his father, King Philip IV (r. 1621-1665). Because of generations of consanguineous marriages within the Habsburg family, Charles suffered severe physical and mental disabilities. Among the physical problems that plagued him was a severe underbite because of the protruding “Habsburg jaw.” The protrusion made it impossible to chew properly, so he suffered from chronic indigestion. He also had a large tongue, suffered bouts of epilepsy, rashes, and dizziness, had poor eyesight and had ulcers on his legs, and his hearing became impaired. He suffered from melancholy, lacked normal emotional development, and was extremely superstitious. Charles II was not weaned until he was four years old, about the same time that he learned to walk; this was only after his father’s death.
The will of Philip IV set up a Regency Council that was to be headed by the Queen Mother, Mariana de Austria , until Charles was fourteen years old. The king’s minority, dominated by the Queen Mother and her favorites, coincided with several economic problems and military setbacks for Spain in European wars. Less than two years into his reign, Louis XIV attacked the Spanish Netherlands in the War of Devolution (1667-1668) to claim his wife’s inheritance. His wife, Marie-Thérèse, was the oldest daughter of Philip IV, thus Louis and Charles were brothers by marriage. This war led Louis and Austrian Habsburg emperor Leopold I to create a secret partition treaty in 1668 to dispose of the Spanish Empire upon the death of Charles. Leopold I would gain Spain, Milan, and the colonies in the Americas, while Louis would obtain the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Navarre, Franche-Comté, and the Philippines. The fate of the Spanish Empire upon the death of Charles II would be a recurring issue.
On November 6, 1675, Charles officially came of age, and the Regency Council established by Philip’s will expired. The Queen Mother tried to have Charles sign a document extending the regency two years, but he refused. Poorly educated, the pawn of factions, caught up in stifling court etiquette, and lacking the capacity to govern, Charles was to embark on “ruling” in his own name. One problem for Charles and his mother was the political ambitions of John of Austria , an illegitimate son of Philip IV and Charles’s half brother.
Life’s Work
Once Charles II reached his teenage years, it became important to discuss prospective brides, and this led to a heightening of factional tensions with the bringing forth of French and Austrian “candidates.” John had suggested as a possible bride the daughter of Philippe I, the duke of Orléans of the Bourbon Dynasty, Marie Louise, whom he believed would counterbalance the Queen Mother’s influence. This sat well with Louis XIV and with Charles, who fell in love with Marie Louise. The Queen Mother’s candidate, the Austrian princess, Maria Antonia, was only six years old, which was a major drawback because the production of an heir was paramount and the Spanish could not wait until she reached reproductive age.
John’s death on September 17, 1679, allowed the Queen Mother to be reconciled with Charles and to help reassert his influence. Marie Louise, pretty, vivacious, and charming, married Charles in 1679, but the marriage was childless because Charles was impotent. As queen of Spain, Marie Louise had to attend with Charles an auto-da-fé (act of faith) on June 30, 1680, in Madrid. The king and queen attended, for an entire hot summer day, the burning to death at the stake of nineteen individuals, and witnessed numerous others receiving lesser penalties. The royal couple sat almost motionless and expressionless, with only short breaks for meals, as the elaborate spectacle played out before them.
Ten years later, Marie Louise had put on a tremendous amount of weight and died from possible poisoning, on February 12, 1689. Just ten days after her death, the Spanish council sent Charles a note requesting that he marry and produce heirs. Maria Anna of Bavaria-Neuburg was selected in May of 1689, but there was extreme difficulty in getting her to Spain because of war in Europe and because of bad weather. The marriage was finalized within the year. The new queen came from a large family and felt compelled to find places for her relatives, which resulted in quarrels between her and the Queen Mother over government positions. During the struggles, Charles was caught in the middle, as his mother and his wife sought his support. The queen became withdrawn and depressed, but her fortunes appeared to improve when the Queen Mother died in May of 1696.
The Treaty of Rijswijk (1697) allowed the Spanish Succession issue to re-emerge, especially after Charles became ill around February or March, 1698. The Spanish called him El Hechizado (the bewitched), a characterization with which Charles agreed. Some clergy felt compelled to ask the devil the circumstances of Charles’s bewitching. Louis and William III of Orange, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland and leader of the Netherlands, negotiated the First Treaty of Partition on October 11, 1698, which apportioned the vast Spanish Empire. Joseph Ferdinand, electoral prince of Bavaria, became king of Spain and the Austrians and French gained territory. The Spanish were outraged, and Charles signed a will designating the young electoral prince as his sole heir, seeking to keep the Spanish Empire intact. After Ferdinand died in 1699, Louis XIV and William III produced a Second Treaty of Partition (March 25, 1700), which was more complicated than the first. The Austrian candidate, Archduke Charles, would become king of Spain as Charles III (and, later, Holy Roman Emperor as Charles VI), and the French would gain Naples, Sicily, and Lorraine. They then exchanged Naples and Sicily for Savoy-Piedmont. The duke of Lorraine would be given Milan.
Once again, this arrangement upset Spanish sensibilities, and the Spanish council, on June 6, 1700, rejected the treaty, deciding instead to keep the empire under a single ruler and offer it to the prince who was best able to protect its territorial integrity. Because of pressure from Spanish clergy, Charles signed a will on October 2, 1700, presenting the entire empire to Louis XIV’s grandson, Philip of Anjou, and then to the duke of Berry if Philip did not accept. If both French candidates rejected the will, it was to be offered to Archduke Charles. Contemporary gossip held that Charles visited the graves of his ancestors in the palace basement to ask for their pardon for such a heinous act—offering the French the Spanish Empire. Charles did not have long to live, and the bizarre act of placing freshly killed animals on his body to keep him warm did not suffice to prevent his death on November 1, 1700.
Significance
Spanish history during the seventeenth century presents a cautionary tale of the consequences of consanguineous marriages and the failure to make needed reforms; both were especially true during the reign of Charles II. His death and the accession of Philip of Anjou as Philip V (r. 1700-1724, 1724-1746) marked the end of the Habsburg rule of Spain, the beginning of the Bourbon Dynasty, and the start of the War of Spanish Succession (1700-1714).
The Spanish desire to preserve the territorial integrity of Spain’s vast empire and prevent its division through the designation of Philip of Anjou as heir by Charles’s will, and Louis’s acceptance of the will, stand as the immediate causes of the war of succession. Although Philip retained the Spanish throne, the war ended with a partition, as all the major participants received some territorial or commercial concessions. Austrian Habsburg emperor Charles VI (r. 1711-1740) gained Naples, Sardinia, Milan, Tuscan ports, and the Spanish Netherlands.
The major shift in the “balance of power” in Europe was England’s emergence as the preeminent power, eclipsing France, which was financially exhausted and having to relinquish significant territories—Nova Scotia and Newfoundland—to England. The Spanish accorded to England the asiento contract to supply Spanish colonies with slaves, and enabled the English to have greater trade, legitimate and illegitimate, with the Spanish American possessions. A declining empire “ruled” by a physically and mentally defective king who clung to a strong sense of duty along with a lack of effective government ministers was a combination that proved too much for Spain to overcome.
Bibliography
Frey, Linda, and Marsha Frey, eds. The Treaties of the War of the Spanish Succession. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995. An excellent reference source with short articles on Charles, his will, other European rulers, and the partition treaties.
Kamen, Henry. Empire: How Spain Became a World Power, 1492-1763. New York: Harper Collins, 2003. An excellent analytical survey of Spain’s rise to global prominence, placing the reign of Charles within the broader context of Spanish history and underscores how his reign was an important turning point.
Langdon-Davies, John. Carlos: The King Who Would Not Die. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963. An entertaining, if not overly critical, biography of Charles, which focuses on the king’s personality and the intrigues at court rather than on government policy.
Lynch, John. The Hispanic World in Crisis and Change, 1598-1700. Oxford, England: Blackwell, 1992. The importance of Charles’s reign for Spain’s possessions in the Americas is a strong feature of this analytical study.
Pierson, Peter. The History of Spain. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999. A noted historian explains the significance of Charles’s reign for Spain and Europe.