Charles II of Spain
Charles II of Spain, also known as El Hechizado, or the Bewitched, 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. Charles became king at the age of four, but for reasons that are still debated, he experienced extended periods of ill health throughout his life. This made the question of his successor central to European diplomacy for much of his reign, historian John Langdon-Davies writing that "...from the day of his birth, they were waiting for his death". 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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