Why “Charles the Bewitched” Was the Last of the Spanish Habsburgs

Physical and mental infirmities from decades of inbreeding plagued Charles II

Portraits of Charles II of Spain around age 8 and 25 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The House of Habsburg was a royal powerhouse. Members of the family sat on the thrones of Europe from 1273 until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. The Habsburgs adopted a unique approach for maintaining…