The Black Von Scrolls

This is a cobbled together family tree which I compiled in my notebook of Philip IV of Spain. I should call this “Philip IV: It’s Complicated.” He was connected to some extremely important figures of European history… Joanna The Mad was his great-great-great grandmother, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, was his great-great grandfather. Not to mention his daughter married the french king Louis XIV. After you look at his many lavish portraits, it’s not hard to imagine Marie Antoinette’s decadent life (also a Habsburg) about 75 years later. However my focus is not on France, but Spain and the end of the Spanish Habsburg line.

OK, I’m going to try and go through this quick: Philip IV married his first wife, Isabella of France, at age 10. Together they had five children, most who died as babies/infants. Two offspring survived; Balthazar Charles (Carlos) and the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain. Balthazar Charles was meant to be the next king of Spain, but he died at age 16 (smallpox), leaving no heir for Spain. Meanwhile via Philip’s philandering (there were many), his mistress, the actress Maria Inés Caledrón, bore him a son, eventually called John of Austria the Younger. Apparently it was many years before Philip was aware of his illegitimate heir. I’ll get back to him later. Then Philip’s wife, Isabella, died, age 42.

So without an heir, Philip needed to marry again. Originally promised to her first cousin, Balthazar Carlos, Philip’s sister’s daughter, Mariana of Austria, was chosen as Philip’s second wife. He married her at age 15, she was just 4 years older than her step-daughter, Infanta Maria Theresa. Diego Velázquez paints a portrait of each, here and here.  

Of the five children Mariana birthed, two survived; Margaret Theresa of Austria and the future king of Spain, Charles II. Margaret was promised to her uncle, Leopold I (Mariana’s brother). Charles was closely looked after because he was unable to chew and was a sickly and disabled child.

Philip IV died in 1665. His first daughter, had moved to France and married Louis XIV (The Sun King), the longest reigning king in French history. Margaret moved to Austria and married Uncle Leopold I. Charles became king and at age 18, married Marie Louis D’Orleáns. Although they tried to have children, Charles was most likely impotent from all of his disabilities, and Marie Louis died from depression ten years later. Charles, wanting an heir, marries again to a Palatinate princess, Maria Anna of Neuberg. She bore him no children and this caused terrible controversy over the Habsburg’s future hold in Spain. Meanwhile, Philip’s illegitimate son, John of Austria the Younger, staged a palace coup and claimed the thrown in 1677 until he died in 1679. Charles II was an ineffective ruler and constantly on the verge of death. His mother, Mariana of Austria, died of breast cancer in 1696, and Charles II, finally died in 1700 without an heir, which ended the line for the Spanish Habsburgs. 

Bonkers.