Charles II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Portrait by Juan Carreño de Miranda, 1685
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Reign | 17 September 1665 – 1 November 1700 |
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Predecessor | Philip IV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Philip V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regent | Mariana of Austria (1665–75) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain |
6 November 1661||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 1 November 1700 Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain |
(aged 38)||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Burial | El Escorial | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Consorts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
House | Habsburg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Father | Philip IV of Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mother | Mariana of Austria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Signature |
Charles II of Spain (Spanish: Carlos II; 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700) was the last Habsburg ruler of Spain. His realm included Southern Netherlands, Italian territories, several cities in north Africa and Spain's overseas empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies. Known as "the Bewitched" (Spanish: el Hechizado), he is noted for his extensive physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities and his consequent ineffectual rule.
He died in 1700, childless and heirless, with all potential Habsburg successors having predeceased him. In his will, Charles named as his successor the almost 17-year-old Philip, Duke of Anjou, grandson of the reigning French king Louis XIV and his first wife, Charles' half-sister Maria Theresa of Spain. Because the other European powers viewed the prospective dynastic relationship between France and Spain as disturbing the balance of power in Europe, the War of the Spanish Succession ensued shortly after his death.
Charles was born in the Spanish capital, Madrid, the son of Philip IV of Spain and his second wife, Mariana of Austria (also known as Maria Anna). As the only surviving male heir of his father's two marriages, Charles was named Prince of Asturias, the title given to the person first in line to the Spanish throne.
The Spanish branch of the Habsburg royal family was noted for extreme consanguinity. Well aware that they owed their power to fortunate marriages, they married between themselves to protect their gains. Philip and Mariana were actually uncle and niece; therefore, Charles was not only their son, but was also Mariana's first-cousin and Philip's great-nephew.