Charles II of Spain

Charles II
Portrait of Charles II by Juan Carreño de Miranda, c. 1685
King of Spain (more...)
Reign	17 September 1665 – 1 November 1700
Predecessor	Philip IV
Successor	Philip V
Regent	Mariana of Austria (1665–1675)
Born	(1661-11-06)6 November 1661 Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Crown of Castile, Spain
Died	1 November 1700(1700-11-01) (aged 38) Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Crown of Castile, Spain
Burial	Monasterio del Escorial
Spouses	Marie Louise d'Orléans ​ ​ (m. 1679; died 1689)​ Maria Anna of Neuburg ​ ​ (m. 1689)​
House	Habsburg
Father	Philip IV of Spain
Mother	Mariana of Austria
Religion	Catholic Church
Signature

Charles II of Spain^[a] (6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700) was King of Spain from 1665 to 1700. The last monarch from the House of Habsburg which had ruled Spain since 1516, he died without children, leading to a European conflict over his successor.

For reasons that are still debated, Charles experienced extended periods of ill health throughout his life. As a consequence, who would inherit his throne was a prominent consideration in European politics from the moment he became king at the age of four. Historian John Langdon-Davies wrote that "...from the day of his birth, they were waiting for his death".^[1]

The two main candidates were the Austrian Habsburg Archduke Charles, and 16-year-old Philip of Anjou, grandson of Maria Theresa of Spain and Louis XIV of France. Shortly before his death in November 1700, Charles named Philip his heir, but the acquisition of an undivided Spanish Empire by either France or Austria threatened the European balance of power. Failure to resolve these issues through diplomacy resulted in the 1701 to 1714 War of the Spanish Succession.

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