Category Archives: Current Monarchies

Mary of Woodstock (England)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

A depiction of Mary of Woodstock from the Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Destined to be a nun, Mary of Woodstock was born at Woodstock Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, on March 11, 1278. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so Mary was called “of Woodstock”. Mary was the ninth but the fourth surviving daughter and the twelfth or thirteenth of the 14 – 16 children of Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, the first of his two wives. Mary’s paternal grandparents were Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Toledo and King of León, and Galicia and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale in her own right.

Early fourteenth-century manuscript showing Mary’s parents King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s parents had 14 – 16 children. Only five daughters and one son survived to adulthood. The eleven siblings of Mary listed below were those who were named and survived infancy for at least a couple of months.

Mary’s paternal grandmother Eleanor of Provence, wife of King Henry III; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s paternal grandmother Eleanor of Provence, Queen of England, the widow of King Henry III, intended to retire to Amesbury Priory, a Benedictine monastery in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. Amesbury Priory was a religious community with a nunnery of more than seventy nuns, mostly from noble families, and a monastery with about twenty-five men, serving as priests or monks. Eleanor of Provence suggested that two of her granddaughters keep her company and devote their lives to God by becoming Benedictine nuns. Mary, the eldest daughter of King Edward I who was not yet betrothed in marriage, and her cousin Eleanor of Brittany, daughter of Eleanor of Provence’s daughter Beatrice of England and Jean II, Duke of Brittany were selected. Mary’s mother Eleanor of Castile was strongly against her young daughter being sent off to become a nun. However, King Edward I sided with his mother, and with great reluctance, Eleanor of Castile agreed.

Eleanor of Brittany, three years older than Mary, entered Amesbury Priory in 1281, and her cousin Mary entered in 1285. In August 1285, on the Feast of the Assumption, seven-year-old Mary and thirteen daughters of English nobles were consecrated as future nuns. Mary was formally veiled as a nun in December 1291 when she was thirteen years old. King Edward I and his wife Queen Eleanor visited their daughter Mary in 1286, 1289, and 1290. In 1291, King Edward I visited three times: in February 1291, for the burial of his mother Eleanor of Provence, in September 1291, and again in December 1291 when Mary took her vows as a nun.

Mary lived in comfort in private quarters at Amesbury Priory. In the early 1280s, Mary’s grandmother Eleanor of Provence built a suite of rooms at the priory where she would live with her two granddaughters in a style befitting royalty. Eleanor of Provence arrived at Amesbury Priory in 1286 and lived there until she died in 1291 when she was buried at the priory. By order of her father, during the rest of her life, Mary received an extremely generous allowance, double the amount needed to provide entire households for two knights. She also received a double quota of clothing and a special right to wine from the Southampton docks.

In November 1290, Eleanor of Castile, Mary’s mother, died. Only six of Edward I and Eleanor’s children, five daughters and one son, were still living. The only son, the future King Edward II, was the youngest child and just six years old. King Edward I had to be worried about the succession, and a second marriage with sons would ensure the succession. On September 10, 1299, 60-year-old King Edward I married 17-year-old Margaret of France, daughter of  King Philippe III of France and his second wife Marie of Brabant.

Mary had three half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Margaret of France:

Despite living in a style that befitted a princess, Mary followed the daily routine of a nun,  communal prayer throughout the day and night, private religious reflection, and silence during the day. Although nuns were not allowed to leave their convents except for necessary business, Mary, as the king’s daughter, was an exception. She was allowed to leave Amesbury Priory to visit her family and go on pilgrimages. On several occasions, Mary was enlisted by the priory’s abbess to represent the priory in negotiations with her father.

Mary died on May 29, 1332, aged 54, and was buried in Amesbury Priory church near her grandmother Eleanor of Provence, but all the graves and tombs have been lost. Amesbury Priory was disbanded and the priory church was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 during the reign of King Henry VIII. The priory and its land were then granted to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, later Duke of Somerset, the brother of Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII’s third wife. Some priory buildings were destroyed and others were reused to form a house for the Seymours. The house was rebuilt in 1660 – 1661 and became known as Amesbury Abbey.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan, 2013. Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-28-1290-death-of-eleanor-of-castile-first-wife-of-king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 22 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Edward I of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 22 October 2022].
  • Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
  • Mary of Woodstock (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Woodstock (Accessed: October 22, 2022).
  • Мария Вудстокская (2021) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%92%D1%83%D0%B4%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: October 22, 2022).
  • Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.
  • Wilson-Lee, Kelcey, 2019. Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Princesses of King Edward Longshanks. New York: Pegasus.

Carlos II, King of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Carlos II, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlos II, King of Spain was the last Spanish king from the House of Habsburg. He had physical and mental conditions probably caused by the continued inbreeding of the House of Habsburg. When Carlos died without children, the Spanish House of Habsburg became extinct. Carlos II, King of Spain was born on November 6, 1661, at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, located at the site of today’s Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. He was the youngest of the five children and the third but the only surviving of the three sons of Felipe IV, King of Spain and his second wife Mariana of Austria, who were uncle and niece, an example of inbreeding. Carlos’ paternal grandparents were Felipe III, King of Spain and Margaret of Austria, both children of parents who were an uncle and his niece, and were first cousins once removed and second cousins. Carlos’ maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria and his first wife Maria Anna of Spain who were first cousins.

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage. They wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Seven of Carlos II’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation. See the family tree of the ancestors of Carlos II, King of Spain at Wikipedia: Ancestors of Charles II of Spain.

Carlos had four siblings but only one survived childhood. Five days before Carlos’ birth, Felipe Prospero, his nearly four-year-old elder brother and heir to the throne died. He had been ill for quite some time, suffered from epilepsy, and was frequently ill, probably due to the generations of inbreeding. At birth, Carlos was the heir to the Spanish throne and was titled Prince of Asturias, the title of the heir to the Spanish throne.

Carlos’ only surviving full sibling Margarita Teresa in mourning for her father; Credit: Wikipedia

Carlos’ siblings:

Carlos had eight half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Elisabeth of France who died in 1644, at the age of forty-one, after miscarrying a son. All but one of Carlos’ half-siblings had died before he was born. Only his half-sister Maria Theresa who married King Louis XIV of France survived childhood. The death in 1646 of Balthasar Carlos, Carlos’ half-brother and heir to the Spanish throne, caused King Felipe IV to marry for a second time, in search of a male heir.

Carlos’ only surviving half-sibling Maria Theresa who married King Louis XIV of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlos’ half-siblings:

  • Maria Margarita of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1621)
  • Margarita Maria Catalina of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1623)
  • Maria Eugenia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1625 – 1627)
  • Isabella Maria of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1627)
  • Balthasar Carlos of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1629 – 1646), died at age 16 from smallpox
  • Francisco Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (born and died 1634)
  • Maria Ana Antonia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1636)
  • Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1638 – 1683), married King Louis XIV of France, had six children but only one son survived childhood, the House of Bourbon, the reigning house of Spain from 1700 to today, descends from this marriage

Carlos II’s mother Queen Mariana who served as Regent of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

In early September 1665, Carlos’ father King Felipe IV began to feel unwell. His stools were bloody which meant he may have had dysentery. After great suffering, Felipe IV, King of Spain, aged 60, died on September 17, 1665, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid. Carlos’ mother Queen Mariana was appointed Regent for her nearly four-year-old son, now Carlos II, King of Spain. In his will, Felipe IV had ordered the creation of a government commission consisting of carefully selected important people from politics, the church, and society to assist Mariana in her role as Regent of Spain.

King Carlos II as a child, circa 1666; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. However, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Because of his physical condition, the superstitions of the time caused him to be considered bewitched and he was given the nickname El Hechizado – the bewitched one. Carlos was subjected to unsuccessful medical attempts at healing, mystical practices, and religious exorcisms. Carlos was educated by the Jesuit priest Juan de Mariana, however because of his developmental disability, both physically and mentally, he only received a basic education. Carlos’ condition showed clear signs of the long-time inbreeding of the House of Habsburg.

King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw) which can be seen in this painting; Credit – Wikipedia

King Carlos II reached legal age on November 6, 1675, his 14th birthday, and legally could take over the government. Carlos wanted to appoint his elder illegitimate half-brother Juan José of Austria (1629 – 1679), the only illegitimate son of King Felipe IV of Spain to be acknowledged by his father, as his chief minister. Juan José had been trained and served in military command and political administration. However, Carlos’ mother Queen Mariana persuaded her son to extend her regency. In 1677, King Carlos II’s illegitimate half-brother Juan José of Austria marched on Madrid and took power with the help of the Spanish nobility. Queen Mariana left the court and lived at the Alcázar of Toledo. However, Mariana remained influential during her son’s reign, until she died in 1696.

Carlos’ illegitimate half-brother, Don Juan José of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

After the 1678 Peace of Nijmegen was signed between France and Spain, a marriage was arranged between 17-year-old Carlos II, King of Spain and 16-year-old Marie Louise of Orléans, the eldest niece of King Louis XIV of France and daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Henrietta of England. King Louis XIV was married to Carlos II’s half-sister Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, who was also his double first cousin. Carlos II was also a was a first cousin of Louis XIV and Louis wanted to have his brother-in-law/first cousin, weakened by years of inbreeding in the House of Habsburg, under French influence. Having no daughter, King Louis XIV offered his elder niece Marie Louise as a bride for Carlos. Thinking to the future, Louis XIV knew that if Marie Louise and Carlos II could have a child who would become the monarch of Spain, then French influence would remain. If Marie Louise and Carlos II did not have children, Louis XIV’s own line could inherit the Spanish throne. Louis XIV’s wife Maria Theresa was the elder surviving of two daughters of King Felipe IV of Spain and had senior succession rights after her half-brother King Carlos II of Spain. Even though the French ambassador to Spain wrote that Carlos “… is so ugly as to cause fear, and looks ill”, Carlos’ appearance and condition were considered irrelevant to the political benefits. Marie Louise of Orléans was distressed by the arranged marriage and spent most of her time crying.

On August 30, 1679, Carlos and Marie Louise were married via a proxy marriage at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France with Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, a cousin of the bride, standing in for the groom. Arranging the marriage was one of the last acts that Juan José of Austria did as chief minister because he died on September 17, 1679, perhaps by poison. For the rest of his life, King Carlos II, fully aware of his inability to govern the Kingdom of Spain, appointed well-qualified people to the most important positions. On November 19, 1679, Marie Louise married Carlos II in person in Quintanapalla, near Burgos, Spain. Carlos fell in love with Marie Louise but she had a lonely life at the Spanish court. She found the court etiquette very confining and was distressed over not having children.

Carlos II’s first wife Marie Louise of Orléans; Credit – Wikipedia

The childless marriage last ten years. One day after taking a ride on horseback, Marie Louise began to feel strong pain in her stomach. She died the next day, aged 26, on February 12, 1689, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid in Spain and was interred in Chapel IX of the Pantheon of the Infantes at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. Although many reasons were considered as causes of Marie Louise’s death including poison, it is most likely that she died from appendicitis, a fatal infection until the mid-nineteenth century when the advent of anesthesia and new surgical techniques allowed for successful appendectomies.

Carlos II’s second wife Maria Anna of Neuberg; Credit – Wikipedia

The lack of an heir to the Spanish throne and concerns over Carlos II’s health made a second marriage urgent. Carlos’ mother Queen Mariana selected twenty-two-year-old Maria Anna of Neuburg, daughter of Philipp Wilhelm, Count Palatine and Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg, Duke of Jülich-Berg, and Elector Palatine based on the family’s history of fertility. Maria Anna’s mother Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt was pregnant twenty-three times and fourteen of the seventeen children born reached adulthood. The proxy wedding was held on August 28, 1689, in Ingolstadt, Duchy of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. Maria Anna arrived in Spain in the spring of 1690. Carlos II and Maria Anna of Neuberg were married in person on May 14, 1690, in the Church of the Convent of San Diego, within the complex of the Royal Palace of Valladolid in Spain.

As the years passed, it became increasingly clear that King Carlos II would never have an heir. It seemed that Carlos was almost certainly infertile and his autopsy did reveal he had only one atrophied testicle. During her marriage Maria Anna claimed to be pregnant on several occasions and encouraged Carlos to undergo treatments to increase his fertility, making it clear the failure to produce an heir was not her fault.

In 1698, Carlos II became seriously ill and seemed likely to die. Because Carlos was childless, the closest heirs were from the Habsburgs who ruled in Austria or the French House of Bourbon. The acquisition by either Austria or France of the undivided Spanish Empire would change the European balance of power. Negotiations took place immediately to attempt to resolve the issue without another war. The 1698 Treaty of The Hague negotiated by France, Great Britain, and the Dutch Republic would make six-year-old Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria the heir to the Spanish throne, with Spain’s European possessions divided between France and Austria. Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria was the grandson of Carlos’ full sister Margarita Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. However, the Spanish did not agree with this. Carlos published his will naming Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria as his heir but stipulating that he would inherit an undivided Spanish Empire. In February 1699, Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria died from smallpox, and the Treaty of The Hague was a useless piece of paper.

In September 1700, Carlos became ill again, and by September 28, 1700, was no longer able to eat. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the only child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain, Carlos’ half-sister, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, in his will, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos’ half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor.

Tomb of Carlos II, King of Spain; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Carlos II, King of Spain died on November 1, 1700, five days before his thirty-ninth birthday at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain. He was buried in the Pantheon of Kings in the Royal Crypt of the Monastery of El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. Carlos II was succeeded by his half-sister’s grandson Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in the Kingdom of Spain today.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Charles II of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Maria Anna of Neuburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_of_Neuburg> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Marie Louise d’Orléans – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Louise_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. Carlos II de España – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_II_de_Espa%C3%B1a> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iv-king-of-spain-filip-iii-king-of-portugal/> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/mariana-of-austria-queen-of-spain/> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant from Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on March 15, 1275, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, Margaret of England was the sixth but the third surviving daughter and the tenth of the 14 – 16 children of Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, the first of his two wives. Margaret’s paternal grandparents were Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Toledo and King of León, and Galicia and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale in her own right.

Margaret’s parents had 14 – 16 children. Only five daughters and one son survived to adulthood. The eleven siblings of Margaret listed below were those who were named and survived infancy for at least a couple of months. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth. For instance, Margaret’s sister Joan was born in Acre (now in Israel) while her parents were on a crusade, and was called Joan of Acre.

Early fourteenth-century manuscript showing Margaret’s parents King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret’s parents Edward and Eleanor had a loving marriage and were inseparable throughout their married life. King Edward I is one of the few English kings of this period to apparently be faithful to his wife. Eleanor accompanied her husband on crusade and other military campaigns. Because her parents were often away, Margaret lived with her siblings in her own household at the royal court.

Margaret and her husband Jean II, Duke of Brabant, among the statues in the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium; Credit – By Mappo – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=120610127

At an early age, Margaret’s father betrothed her to the future Jean II, Duke of Brabant, the son of Jean I, Duke of Brabant and Margaret of Flanders. The Duchy of Brabant consisted of much of present-day Belgium and part of present-day the Netherlands. Today, the title of Duke or Duchess of Brabant is the title of the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. On July 8, 1290, at Westminster Abbey in London, England, Margaret and Jean, both fourteen years old, were married. For two years after their marriage, Margaret and Jean lived in England. In 1292, they settled in the Duchy of Brabant. Margaret was unhappy at the Brabant court and unhappy in her marriage. She was forced to accept her husband’s mistresses and their illegitimate children who were raised at court along with Margaret’s only child.

Margaret and Jean had one son:

Four months after her marriage, Margaret’s mother Eleanor of Castile died. Only six of Edward I and Eleanor’s children, five daughters and one son, were still living. The only son, the future King Edward II, was the youngest child and just six years old. King Edward I had to be worried about the succession, and a second marriage with sons would ensure the succession. On September 10, 1299, 60-year-old King Edward I married 17-year-old Margaret of France, daughter of  King Philippe III of France and his second wife Marie of Brabant.

Margaret had three half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Margaret of France:

On May 3, 1294, Jean I, Duke of Brabant, Margaret’s father-in-law was seriously wounded in a jousting tournament and died. He was succeeded by his son as Jean II, Duke of Brabant and Margaret became Duchess of Brabant. In 1307, Margaret’s father King Edward I of England died and was succeeded by Margaret’s younger brother King Edward II. In January 1308, Margaret and her husband traveled to Boulogne, France, where King Edward II married Isabella of France, daughter of King Philippe IV of France and Joan I, Queen of Navarre in her own right. Margaret and Jean also attended King Edward II’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on February 25, 1308.

In 1311, Margaret’s husband Jean II, Duke of Brabant became ill. Because of his illness, Jean II wanted to ensure peace with France so that his son would have a peaceful transition of power. Jean II arranged a marriage for his eleven-year-old son to eight-year-old Marie of Évreux, the granddaughter of King Philippe III of France, and the niece of King Philippe IV, the current King of France. The young couple was married in 1311. Exactly one month after signing the Charter of Kortenberg, basically a constitution for the Duchy of Brabant that provided among other things, a representative council, Margaret’s husband Jean II, Duke of Brabant died, aged 37, on October 27, 1312, in Tervuren, Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium. He was interred at the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula in Brussels, Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium.

Interior of the Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula; Photo © Susan Flantzer

Margaret saw the birth of all her grandchildren, including Jeanne, Duchess of Brabant, who succeeded her father Jean III, Duke of Brabant in 1355 due to the deaths of all her brothers. Margaret’s exact death date is unknown. She died most likely in the Duchy of Brabant, sometime after March 11, 1333. On that date, fifty-eight-year-old Margaret sent a letter to her nephew King Edward III of England. After March 11, 1333, her name disappears from the historical record. Margaret was interred with her husband at the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula in Brussels, Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium but where they were buried in the cathedral is now unknown.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. John III, Duke of Brabant – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_III,_Duke_of_Brabant> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_of_England,_Duchess_of_Brabant> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2013. Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-28-1290-death-of-eleanor-of-castile-first-wife-of-king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Edward I of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Marguerite d’Angleterre (1275-1333) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_d%27Angleterre_(1275-1333)> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Jean II de Brabant — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_II_de_Brabant> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
  • Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
  • Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.
  • Wilson-Lee, Kelcey, 2019. Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Princesses of King Edward Longshanks. New York: Pegasus.

Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein; Credit – lgt.com

Philipp Erasmus Alois Ferdinand Maria Sebaldus was born in Zurich, Switzerland on August 19, 1946. He was the second of the five children and the second of the four sons of Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein and Countess Georgina von Wilczek (Gina).

Prince Franz Josef II and Princess Gina with their four eldest children – Nora (seated next to her mother) and (left to right, standing) Prince Nikolaus, Prince Philipp, and Prince Hans-Adam; Credit – lux-arazzi.blogspot.com

Philipp has four siblings:

Prince Philipp attended elementary school in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and then attended two secondary schools, the Schottengymnasium in Vienna, Austria, and the Lyceum Alpinum in Zuoz, Switzerland. He studied history at the Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms University in Bonn, then in West Germany, and now in Germany. Philipp received a Ph.D. in social sciences from the University of Basel in Switzerland. His thesis was on Liechtenstein’s economic history during the 18th century.

Prince Philipp married Isabelle de l’Arbre de Malander at their wedding; Credit – http://www.noblesseetroyautes.com/

Prince Philipp married Isabelle de l’Arbre de Malander on September 11, 1971, at the Abbaye Notre Dame de la Cambre in Brussels, Belgium. Isabelle is from Belgium and the daughter of Jean-Baptiste de l’Arbre de Malander and Guillemette Grassal. Even though she is not royal, Isabelle has a royal connection. Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians, the wife of Albert I, King of the Belgians, born Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, is her godmother.

They had three sons:

  • Prince Alexander of Liechtenstein (born 1972), married Astrid Barbara Kohl, had one daughter
  • Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein (born 1974), unmarried
  • Prince Rudolf Ferdinand of Liechtenstein (born 1975), married İlhan Tılsım Tanberk, had two daughters and one son

Prince Philipp worked in banking and finance. In 1979 Philipp became chairman of the board of the Liechtensteinische Landesbank, owned by the Liechtenstein government. In 1981, he became a member of the board of directors of The Liechtenstein Global Trust, owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein through The Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation. Since 1998, Philipp has been chairman of the board of directors of The Liechtenstein Global Trust.

Isabelle and Philipp arrive at the 2014 wedding of Prince Amedeo of Belgium and Elisabetta Maria Rosboch Von Wolkenstein

Philipp and his family lived in Basel, Switzerland, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and London, England before moving to France, where he worked in private banking. Philipp and his wife Isabelle do not undertake official duties on behalf of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein. They live in Vaduz, Liechtenstein and Paris, France, and are often seen at royal events in Europe.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Philipp de Liechtenstein (2021) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_de_Liechtenstein (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philipp_of_Liechtenstein (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Saad719, ~ (2021) Wedding of Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein, 1971, The Royal Watcher. Available at: https://royalwatcherblog.com/2021/09/11/wedding-of-prince-philipp-of-liechtenstein-1971/ (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Svenja (2014) Luxarazzi 101: Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein, Luxarazzi. Available at: http://www.luxarazzi.com/2014/01/luxarazzi-101-prince-philipp-of.html (Accessed: November 18, 2022).

Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Mariana of Austria was the second wife of her uncle Felipe IV, King of Spain, and Regent of Spain for her son Carlos II, King of Spain from 1665 – 1675. Born Maria Anna of Austria (she was called Mariana after her marriage to Felipe IV) on December 24, 1634, in Wiener Neustadt, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire, now in Austria, she was the second of the six children and the elder of the two daughters of first cousins Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria and his first wife Maria Anna of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Portugal. Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria and his first wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. Mariana’s maternal grandparents were Felipe III, King of Spain and Margaret of Austria.

Mariana, on the right, with her brother Ferdinand, circa 1636; Credit Wikipedia

Mariana had five siblings but only two of her siblings survived childhood:


Mariana’s parents Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III and Maria Anna of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

When Mariana was twelve-years-old her 39-year-old mother died. On May 12, 1646, Mariana’s pregnant mother Maria Anna suddenly felt ill with a fever and heavy bleeding. She died the next morning, and her unborn child, a girl named Maria, was delivered by cesarean section but she lived only a few hours.

In 1648, Mariana’s father married sixteen-year-old Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Tyrol, daughter of Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and Claudia de’ Medici. A year later, Maria Leopoldine died in childbirth giving birth to Mariana’s half-brother who died at the age of fourteen:

In 1650, Mariana’s father made a third marriage to 21-year-old Eleonora Gonzaga, born a Princess of Mantua, Nevers, and Rethel. Eleanora was the daughter of Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, the heir of the Duchy of Mantua, and his wife and cousin Maria Gonzaga, heiress to the Duchy of Montferrat.

Mariana had four half-siblings from her father’s marriage to Eleonora Gonzaga but only two survived childhood:

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and they wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. In 1646, continuing the Habsburg practice of intermarriage, King Felipe IV of Spain, Mariana’s uncle, the brother of her mother, arranged a marriage for his son and heir Balthasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias with his first cousin Mariana. However, Balthasar Carlos died three months later from smallpox, leaving his father with no male heir.

Mariana’s uncle and husband Felipe IV, King of Spain, circa 1644; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1644, Elisabeth of France, the wife of King Felipe IV of Spain, weakened by her multiple pregnancies and miscarriages, died at the age of forty-one, after miscarrying a son. After the death of his son Balthasar Carlos in 1646 left King Felipe IV with no male heir, he arranged to marry his son’s former fiancée Mariana. As Mariana was still young, the marriage was delayed. On October 7, 1649, the 44-year-old Felipe IV married his 14-year-old niece Mariana in Navalcarnero, outside Madrid, Spain. Of course, this marriage led to more inbreeding in the House of Habsburg.

Mariana and Felipe IV had five children but only two survived childhood:

Mariana and King Felipe IV’s son King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw); Credit – Wikipedia

The Spanish House of Habsburg would end with the reign of Mariana and Felipe IV’s physically and mentally disabled son Carlos II, King of Spain. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation. Seven of his eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. See the family tree of the ancestors of Carlos II, King of Spain at Wikipedia: Ancestors of Charles II of Spain. Carlos II’s Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw, was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. He did not learn to walk until he was eight and was unable to be educated as befitted the heir to the throne.

In early September 1665, Mariana’s husband Felipe IV began to feel unwell. His stools were bloody which meant he may have had dysentery. After great suffering, Felipe IV, King of Spain, aged 60, died on September 17, 1665, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, located at the site of today’s Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. He was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Mariana was appointed Regent for their nearly four-year-old son Carlos II, King of Spain. In his will, Felipe IV ordered the creation of a government commission consisting of carefully selected important people from politics, the church and, society to assist Mariana in her role as Regent of Spain. Although Mariana ceased to be Regent when her son Carlos II reached the age of 14 on November 6, 1675, due to Carlos’ physical and mental issues, Mariana remained an influential figure during his reign, until her death.

The Mariana Islands, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, were named after Mariana. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first Europeans to see the islands while on a Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation under Magellan’s command. In 1667, Spain formally claimed the islands as a colony and established a capital on the largest island, Guam. The following year, Mariana approved the establishment of a Jesuit mission on the islands under Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores and Saint Pedro Calungsod. After the 1898 Spanish-American War, the Mariana Islands were ceded to the United States. Today, Guam is a United States territory and the Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth of the United States. The deepest trench in the Earth’s oceans, located to the southeast of the Mariana Islands, owes its name to Queen Mariana.

Mariana in her later years, circa 1683–1693; Credit – Wikipedia

Mariana survived her husband by thirty-one years, dying on May 16, 1696, at Uceda Palace in Madrid, Spain, at the age of sixty-one, probably from breast cancer. She was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Tomb of Queen Mariana of Spain; Credit – De AldanaN – Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15342544

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Charles II of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain> [Accessed 18 November 2022].
  • Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_III,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iv-king-of-spain-filip-iii-king-of-portugal/> [Accessed 18 November 2022].
  • Mariana de Austria (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_de_Austria (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Mariana of Austria (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_of_Austria (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Maria Anna von Österreich (1634–1696) (2021) Wikipedia (German). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_von_%C3%96sterreich_(1634%E2%80%931696) (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Prince Wenzel of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Prince Wenzel of Liechtenstein; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Franz Josef Wenceslaus Georg Maria, known as Prince Wenzel was born on November 19, 1962, in Zürich, Switzerland. He was the youngest of the five children and the youngest of the four sons of Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein and Countess Georgina von Wilczek (Gina).

Wenzel had four elder siblings:

Prince Wenzel on a 1970 postage stamp; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1982, Prince Wenzel entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England. A year later, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards, an infantry regiment of the British Army. Wenzel studied medicine at the University of Friborg and the University of Zurich, both in Switzerland. At the time of his death, he worked as an intern at Rorschach Hospital in Rorschach, Saint-Gallen Canton, Switzerland, thirty-five miles from Vaduz, Liechtenstein, where he was living in the guest house at Vaduz Castle, the residence of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein.

On February 28, 1991, Prince Wenzel’s butler tried to wake him as usual via phone, but Wenzel did not answer the phone. The butler became concerned and upon entering the bedroom, he found Wenzel dead in his bed at the age of 28. Wenzel’s body was taken to the coroner at the Court of Justice in Saint-Gallen. We can presume there was an autopsy, but the Princely Family of Liechtenstein kept silent and remains silent about the cause of death.

There has been a lot of speculation about the cause of Prince Wenzel’s death. Two stopwatches and an anesthesia mask were found on Wenzel’s bedside table. There have been speculations that Wenzel attempted a temporary cessation of breathing or a medical experiment that went awry. Suicide was another speculation. However, the night before, Wenzel had dined with his eldest brother Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein who commented, “I still can’t believe it, The night before we had talked so extensively about his plans!”

Prince Wenzel’s coffin; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Prince Wenzel’s funeral was held on March 6, 1991, at Vaduz Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St. Florin, in Vaduz, the capital of the Principality of Liechtenstein. Among the royalty who attended were Felipe, Prince of the Asturias (later King Felipe VI of Spain), Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, Archduchess Walburga of Austria, Archduchess Regina of Austria (wife of Archduke Otto of Austria, Head of the House of Habsburg), Prince Max of Bavaria and his wife (later Duke and Duchess in Bavaria), Erich, Hereditary Count von Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg (later Prince von Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg) and representatives of the families of the former monarchies of Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse, and Yugoslavia.

Prince Wenzel’s coffin being taken from Vaduz Cathedral to The Princely Crypt; Credit – The Esoteric Curiosa

Prince Wenzel was interred in The Princely Crypt, located next to Vaduz Cathedral near his parents Prince Franz Josef II and Princess Gina, who both died in 1989, within twenty-six days of each other.

Tomb of Prince Wenzel; Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • A mysterious end! the demise of Prince Wenzel von und zu Liechtenstein (2010) The Esoteric Curiosa. Available at: http://theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com/2010/10/mysterious-end-demise-of-prince-wenzel.html (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015) Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/franz-josef-ii-prince-of-liechtenstein/ (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Franz Josef Wenzel de Liechtenstein (1962–1991) (2021) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Josef_Wenzel_de_Liechtenstein_(1962%E2%80%931991) (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Prince Franz Josef of Liechtenstein (1962–1991) (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Franz_Josef_of_Liechtenstein_(1962%E2%80%931991) (Accessed: November 18, 2022).

Alfonso of England, Earl of Chester

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Alfonso as portrayed in an early 14th-century genealogical roll of the Kings of England; Credit – Wikipedia

If Alfonso had survived his father Edward I, King of England, England would have had a King Alfonso. Alfonso, Earl of Chester was born on November 24, 1273, in Bayonne, Duchy of Gascony, now in France. His parents were taking a break in the Duchy of Gascony before returning to England, which they had left in 1270 to participate in the 9th Crusade or Lord Edward’s Crusade in the Holy Land. Alfonso was named for his mother’s half-brother King Alfonso X of Castile and León. Queen Eleanor persuaded her half-brother to come to Gascony to serve as godfather at Alfonso’s baptism. Alfonso’s paternal grandparents were Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. His maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Toledo and King of León, and Galicia and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale in her own right.

Alfonso was the third son and the ninth of the 14 – 16 children of Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, the first of his two wives. At the time of his birth, Alfonso was the second surviving son as his eldest brother John had died in 1271. In 1274, Alfonso’s elder brother Henry died, leaving Alfonso as the only son of King Edward I. He was the heir apparent to the English throne throughout his short life. There is no evidence that Alfonso was formally created Earl of Chester, although he was styled as Earl of Chester.

Alfonso’s parents had 14 – 16 children but only five daughters and one son survived to adulthood. The eleven siblings of Alfonso listed below were those who were named and survived infancy for at least a couple of months. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth. For instance, Alfonso’s sister Joan was born in Acre (now in Israel) while her parents were on crusade and was called Joan of Acre.

Early fourteenth-century manuscript showing Alfonso’s parents King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Alfonso’s parents Edward and Eleanor had a loving marriage and were inseparable throughout their married life. King Edward I is one of the few English kings of this time period to apparently be faithful to his wife. Eleanor accompanied her husband on crusade and other military campaigns. Because his parents were often away, Alfonso had his own household. In 1281, Alfonso was betrothed to Margaret of Holland, the daughter of Floris V, Count of Holland and Beatrice of Flanders.

South Ambulatory of Westminster Abbey, to the right of the main altar, where Alfonso is buried

On August 19, 1284, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, Alfonso died at the age of ten. He was interred in the south ambulatory between the Chapel of Edward the Confessor and the Chapel of St. Benedict, to the right of the main altar at Westminster Abbey in London, England. Alfonso’s fiancée Margaret died the following year. On April 25, 1284, four months before Alfonso’s death, Queen Eleanor gave birth to her last child, a son, the future King Edward II who succeeded his father King Edward in 1307.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Alphonso, Earl of Chester – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonso,_Earl_of_Chester> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2013. Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-28-1290-death-of-eleanor-of-castile-first-wife-of-king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Edward I of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Alphonse d’Angleterre — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_d%27Angleterre> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Альфонсо, граф Честер — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%84%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BE,_%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84_%D0%A7%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

Besides being King of Spain, Felipe was also King of Portugal (from 1621 to 1640) and King of Sardinia, King of Naples, King of Sicily, Duke of Milan, Duke of Lothier, Duke of Brabant, Duke of Limburg, Duke of Luxemburg, Count Palatine of Burgundy, Count of Flanders, Count of Hainaut and Count of Namur from 1621 until he died in 1665.

Felipe Domingo Víctor de la Cruz was born on April 8, 1605, at the Royal Palace of Valladolid in Valladolid, Spain. He was the eldest of the four sons and the third, but the second surviving of the eight children of Felipe III, King of Spain and Margaret of Austria. His paternal grandparents were Felipe II, King of Spain and his fourth wife and niece Anna of Austria. Felipe IV’s maternal grandparents were Karl II, Archduke of Austria-Styria and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria. As the heir to the Spanish throne, Felipe was titled Prince of Asturias.

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage, and wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently. Of the eleven marriages of Spanish monarchs between 1450 and 1661, nearly all contained some element of consanguinity, marriages between very closely related people. Felipe IV’s parents, King Felipe III and Margaret of Austria, both children of parents who were an uncle and his niece, were first cousins once removed and second cousins, adding to more inbreeding.

Felipe with his elder sister Ana María Mauricia: Credit – Wikipedia

Felipe IV had seven siblings, but only four survived childhood. His elder sister Ana María Mauricia, better known as Queen Anne of France, married King Louis XIII of France. They were the parents of King Louis XIV of France. When Felipe IV was ten years old, his mother died at the age of twenty-six from childbirth complications eleven days after giving birth to her eighth child.

Felipe IV’s siblings:

An assassination caused an early marriage for Felipe IV. On May 14, 1610, King Henri IV of France was assassinated by a Catholic zealot François Ravaillac, and his nine-year-old son ascended the French throne as King Louis XIII. The widowed Queen, Marie de’ Medici, was appointed Regent for her son. During this period, there were struggles in France between the Catholics and the Protestants (French Huguenots). The new Regent, Marie de’ Medici, promoted a strong alliance with the Spanish monarchy and favored Catholicism over Protestantism. To strengthen this bond, she arranged the marriages of her son King Louis XIII to Felipe IV’s elder sister Ana María Mauricia and her eldest daughter Elisabeth of France to the future King Felipe IV of Spain.

Felipe IV’s first wife, Elisabeth of France; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 13, 1615, at the Louvre Palace in Paris, France, both young couples were married by proxy and soon, Elisabeth and her brother Louis XIII left Paris to meet their respective spouses. On Pheasant Island in the Bidassoa River that divides France and Spain, the two couples first met and the brides were exchanged. On November 25, 1615, at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Burgos, Spain, 13-year-old Elisabeth married 10-year-old Felipe in a religious ceremony.

Because of the couple’s young age, the marriage was not consummated. When Elisabeth’s father-in-law, King Felipe III, became ill, the marriage was consummated, and Elisabeth quickly became pregnant. King Felipe III died on March 31, 1621, and was succeeded by his 16-year-old son as King Felipe IV of Spain and King Filip III of Portugal

Felipe IV & Elisabeth’s only child to survive to adulthood, Maria Theresa, at age 14; Credit – Wikipedia

Felipe and Elisabeth had eight children, but only their youngest child survived to adulthood. Besides having so many children die young, Elisabeth had three miscarriages. Her husband probably transmitted a venereal disease he had contracted with one of his mistresses to Elisabeth. This may explain the miscarriages and the many dead infants.

  • Maria Margarita of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1621)
  • Margarita Maria Catalina of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1623)
  • Maria Eugenia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1625 – 1627)
  • Isabella Maria of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1627)
  • Balthasar Carlos of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1629 – 1646), died at age 16 from smallpox
  • Francisco Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (born and died 1634)
  • Maria Ana Antonia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1636)
  • Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1638 – 1683), married King Louis XIV of France, had six children, but only one son survived childhood

Elisabeth was aware of Felipe IV’s mistresses. There were rumors about her relationship with the diplomat Juan de Tassis, 2nd Count of Villamediana, her gentleman-in-waiting. Throughout her marriage, Elisabeth suffered in silence over the deaths of her children and her miscarriages. The fact that Felipe IV’s mistresses gave him children – it has been estimated that Felipe IV was the father of at least thirty illegitimate children – made Elisabeth feel even worse. Her feelings are evident in her letters to her brother King Louis XIII and sister-in-law Queen Anne of France. Weakened by her multiple pregnancies and miscarriages, Elisabeth died at the Royal Alcázar in Madrid, Spain, on October 6, 1644, at the age of forty-one, after miscarrying a son. She was buried in the Pantheon of the Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Mariana of Austria, Felipe IV’s niece and second wife; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1646, continuing the Habsburg practice of intermarriage, Felipe IV arranged a marriage for his son and heir, Balthasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias, with his first cousin Mariana of Austria, the daughter of King Felipe IV’s sister Maria Anna and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III. However, Balthasar Carlos died three months later from smallpox, leaving his father no male heir. Three years later, on October 7, 1649, 44-year-old Felipe IV married his son’s former fiancée, his 14-year-old niece Mariana of Austria, adding to more inbreeding.

Felipe IV and Mariana had five children, but only two survived childhood:

Felipe IV and Mariana’s son King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw); Credit – Wikipedia

The Spanish House of Habsburg would end with the reign of Carlos II, King of Spain, Felipe IV and Mariana’s physically and mentally disabled son. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation. Seven of his eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. See the family tree of the ancestors of Felipe IV’s parents, Felipe III and his wife, at Wikipedia: Family Tree of Felipe III of Spain.

Carlos II’s Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw, was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. He did not learn to walk until he was eight and never was educated as befitted the heir to the throne. Carlos II died at the age of thirty-eight. Neither of his two marriages produced children, so Carlos was succeeded by 16-year-old Philip of Anjou, the  French grandson of his elder half-sister Maria Theresa of Austria and King Louis XIV of France.  He reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Spanish king of the House of Bourbon, which is still the reigning house of Spain.

Felipe IV in 1656 by Diego Velázquez; Credit – Wikipedia

Felipe IV, King of Spain is best remembered for his patronage of the arts, including supporting such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648), one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history. In 1640, Felipe IV lost the Kingdom of Portugal, which the King of Spain had held since 1580. The Portuguese House of Braganza came to power in Portugal after deposing the Spanish Habsburg dynasty in the Portuguese Restoration War, resulting in João, 8th Duke of Braganza becoming King João IV of Portugal. During the reign of Felipe IV, the Spanish Empire reached approximately 4.7 million square miles/12.2 million square kilometers in area. However, in other aspects, the Spanish Empire was in decline, and Felipe IV’s inability to achieve successful domestic and military reform was part of the reason.

In early September 1665, Felipe IV began to feel unwell. His stools were bloody, which meant he may have had dysentery. After great suffering, Felipe IV, King of Spain, aged 60, died on September 17, 1665, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, located at the site of today’s Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. He was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Tomb of Felipe IV, King of Spain; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Felipe IV’s second wife Mariana of Austria was appointed Regent for their three-year-old son, Carlos II, King of Spain. Due to Carlos’ physical and mental issues, Mariana remained an influential figure during his reign, until her death. She survived her husband by thirty-one years, dying on May 16, 1696, at Uceda Palace in Madrid, Spain, at the age of sixty-one.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Mariana of Austria – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_of_Austria> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Philip IV of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_IV_of_Spain> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. Felipe IV de España – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felipe_IV_de_Espa%C3%B1a> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, S., 2019. Elisabeth of France, Queen of Spain, Queen of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/elisabeth-of-france-queen-of-spain/> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Felipe III, King of Spain, King of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iii-king-of-spain/> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Joan of Acre, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Joan of Acre; Credit – Wikipedia

Joan of Acre (also called Joanna) was born in April 1272, in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem, now in Israel, while her parents were on the 9th Crusade or Lord Edward’s Crusade in the Holy Land. She was the fifth but the second surviving daughter and the seventh but the second surviving of the 14 – 16 children of Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, the first of his two wives. Eleanor’s paternal grandparents were Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Toledo and King of León, and Galicia and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale in her own right.

Joan’s parents had 14 – 16 children. Only five daughters and one son survived to adulthood. The eleven siblings of Joan listed below were those who were named and survived infancy for at least a couple of months. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth. For instance, Joan was born in Acre (now in Israel) while her parents were on a crusade, and was called Joan of Acre.

Early fourteenth-century manuscript showing Joan’s parents King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

When Joan was born, her paternal grandfather King Henry III was still alive. In September 1272, Edward, Eleanor, and their five-month-old daughter Joan left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, Edward received the news that his father had died on November 16, 1272, and that he was King of England. Joan was left in the County of Ponthieu (now in France) to be raised by Eleanor’s mother Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale in her own right. In 1279, Joan was sent to England after the death of her grandmother who had treated Joan so indulgently that her parents found that she was completely spoiled.

When Joan arrived in England, her father King Edward I was already planning her marriage to Hartmann of Habsburg, a son of Rudolf I, King of Germany. Through the marriage, Edward and Rudolf wanted to resume the traditional alliance of their two kingdoms against the Kingdom of France. However, the marriage of Joan and Hartmann never took place. Hartmann drowned when his ship crashed into a rock while sailing on the Rhine River in 1281.

Gilbert de Clare, stained glass window at Tewkesbury Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia

King Edward I arranged another marriage for Joan with Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, and probably the most powerful English baron. Gilbert was twenty-nine years older than Joan and had been previously married to Alice de Lusignan, the half-niece of King Henry III, but the marriage was annulled in 1285, although the couple had lived apart for years. Gilbert had supported King Edward I in the Second Barons War and had been the Regent of England between the death of King Henry III and King Edward I’s return from the Holy Land. Because Gilbert was a powerful baron, King Edward I sought to bind Gilbert and his assets to the Crown. According to the marriage contract, their joint possessions and Gilbert’s extensive lands could only be inherited by a direct descendant. If the marriage was childless, the lands would pass to any children Joan may have from another marriage. On April 30, 1290, 18-year-old Joan of Acre married 47-year-old Gilbert de Clare.

Joan and Gilbert had four children:

Joan’s stepmother, Margaret of France, Queen of England, a statue at Lincoln Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

When Joan’s mother Eleanor of Castile died in 1290, only six of her children, five daughters and one son, were still living. The son, the future King Edward II, was the youngest child and only six years old. King Edward I had to be worried about the succession, and a second marriage with sons would ensure the succession. On September 10, 1299, 60-year-old King Edward I married 17-year-old Margaret of France, daughter of  King Philippe III of France and his second wife Marie of Brabant.

Joan had three half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Margaret of France:

Memorial to Gilbert de Clare in Tewkesbury Abbey; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Joan and Gilbert lived mostly away from the royal court which displeased Joan’s father King Edward I. The couple’s marriage lasted only five years. Gilbert died on December 7, 1295, aged 52, at Monmouth Castle in Wales and was buried at Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire, England. After the death of Gilbert, the de Clare lands came to Joan who took the vassal oath to her father for the lands.

Joan was only twenty-three when Gilbert died and she fell in love with Ralph de Monthermer, a squire in the service of the de Clare family. After Joan persuaded her father to knight Ralph, they secretly married in 1297. King Edward I had arranged a third marriage for Joan to Amadeus V, Count of Savoy, and had even set a wedding date. After Joan confessed to her father that she was secretly married, King Edward I had Ralph arrested and imprisoned at Bristol Castle. Because of the intervention of Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, King Edward I relented and released Ralph from prison. On August 2, 1297, Ralph took the vassal oath to King Edward I as Earl of Gloucester and Earl Hertford by right of wife (jure uxoris). He managed to win the favor of his father-in-law and keep it until the end of King Edward I’s reign.

Joan and Ralph had four children:

Ralph took an active part in King Edward I’s Scottish Wars. He fought at the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298 when the English defeated William Wallace and also took part in the campaigns of 1301, 1303, 1304, and 1306. For his service, King Edward I awarded Ralph with the Scottish title of Earl of Atholl, confiscated from John Strathbogie, 9th Earl of Atholl.

Joan of Acre’s burial site; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Joan died on April 23, 1307, at Clare Castle in Clare, Suffolk, England at the age of 35. She was buried at Clare Priory in Clare, Suffolk, England, established in 1248 by Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester, the father of Joan’s first husband. The cause of Joan’s death is unknown, but possibly she died during childbirth, a common cause of death at the time.

Joan’s widower Ralph de Monthermer married for a second time to Isabella le Despenser, daughter of Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester and Isabella de Beauchamp. This was another secret marriage, made without the permission of King Edward II, Joan’s brother, but a year later Edward II forgave his former brother-in-law. Ralph and his second wife had no children. Ralph de Monthermer survived his first wife Joan by eighteen years, dying on April 5, 1325, at the age of fifty-five.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

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Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain, Queen of Portugal

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain, Queen of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

Archduchess Margaret of Austria was the wife of Felipe III, King of Spain who was also Filipe I, King of Portugal. Born on December 25, 1584, in Graz, Duchy of Styria, now in Austria, Margaret was the eleventh of the fifteen children and the seventh of the nine daughters of Karl II, Archduke of Austria-Styria and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria. Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. Margaret’s maternal grandparents were Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria.

Margaret had fourteen siblings:

Margaret and Felipe III’s grandson, King Carlos II of Spain, had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw); Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret and her sisters were not considered beauties. The Habsburg jaw, (mandibular prognathism) a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw, was evident in all the sisters.

In 1596, Francisco de Mendoza, Admiral of Aragon, a Spanish nobleman, arrived at the court in Graz to obtain portraits of three daughters of Karl II, Archduke of Austria-Styria: Gregoria, Eleanor, and Margaret, who were potential brides for Felipe, Prince of Asturias, the son and heir of Felipe II, King of Spain. Felipe, Prince of Asturias preferred the portrait of Margaret but his father chose Gregoria because she was the oldest of the three sisters.

Preparations began for the wedding celebrations, which were going to be held in Milan, the capital of the Duchy of Milan, under the rule of the House of Habsburg. On September 17, 1597, Felipe, Prince of Asturias arrived at the court of his future father-in-law in Graz. At this time, sixteen-year-old Gregoria, Felipe’s intended bride, was seriously ill. In addition to the Habsburg jaw, Gregoria had several serious physical disabilities. She died three days after Felipe’s arrival. After the death of her sister, Margaret became betrothed to Felipe. However, because of her young age, the wedding was delayed.

Felipe III, King of Spain in 1600; Credit – Wikipedia

In the meantime, Felipe II, King of Spain died on September 13, 1598, and his twenty-year-old son succeeded him as Felipe III, King of Spain. Besides being King of Spain, Felipe III was also King of Portugal, King of Sardinia, King of Naples, King of Sicily, and Duke of Milan. On April 18, 1599, at Valencia Cathedral in Valencia, Spain, 21-year-old Felipe III married 14-year-old Margaret of Austria. Felipe and Margaret, both children of parents who were an uncle and niece, were first cousins once removed and also second cousins, adding to more inbreeding in the House of Habsburg.

Margaret and Felipe III’s two eldest surviving children, the future King Felipe IV and the future Queen Anne of France, wife of King Louis XIII of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret and Felipe III had eight children, including King Felipe III’s successor King Felipe IV and Ana María Mauricia (better known as Queen Anne of France) who married King Louis XIII of France. They were the parents of King Louis XIV of France.

Like many women of the House of Habsburg, Queen Margaret was a skilled politician. Queen Margaret, Maria of Austria (Felipe’s maternal grandmother and paternal aunt, and the widow of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II), and Maria’s daughter Archduchess Margaret of Austria, a Poor Clare nun, were a powerful Catholic and pro-Austrian faction in the court of King Felipe III.

Tomb of Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain, Queen of Portugal; Credit – www.findagrave.com

On October 3, 1611, at the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain, Margaret died at the age of twenty-six from childbirth complications eleven days after giving birth to her eighth child Alonso who lived for only one year. Margaret was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Felipe III never remarried. He survived his wife by ten years, dying in Madrid, Spain on March 31, 1621, two weeks before his forty-third birthday, due to erysipelas, a bacterial skin infection. He was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

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