House of Habsburg (1516–1700)
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Following the deaths of Isabella (1504) and Ferdinand (1516), their daughter Joanna inherited the Spanish kingdoms. However, she was kept prisoner at Tordesillas due to an alleged mental disorder. As Joanna's son, Charles I (the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), did not want to be merely a regent, he proclaimed himself king of Castile and Aragon jointly with his mother. Subsequently, Castilian and Aragonese Cortes recognized him as co-monarch along with his mother. Upon her death, he became sole King of Castile and Aragon, and the thrones were left permanently united to Philip II of Spain and successors. Traditional numbering of monarchs follows the Castillian crown; i.e. after King Ferdinand (II of Aragon and V of Castile jure uxoris as husband of Queen of Castille Isabella I), the next Ferdinand was numbered VI. Likewise, Alfonso XII takes his number following that of Alfonso XI of Castile rather than that of Alfonso V of Aragon, the prior Spanish monarch with that name.[citation needed]
Name | Lifespan | Reign start | Reign end | Notes | Family | Image |
Charles I
|
24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558 (aged 58) |
14 March 1516 |
16 January 1556 (39 years, 10 months and 2 days) |
Son of Joanna and Philip I of Castile Nominally co-monarch with Joanna till 1555, while she was confined |
Habsburg |
 |
Philip II
|
21 May 1527 – 13 September 1598 (aged 71) |
16 January 1556 |
13 September 1598 (42 years, 7 months and 28 days) |
Son of Charles I |
Habsburg |
 |
Philip III
|
14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621 (aged 42) |
13 September 1598 |
31 March 1621 (22 years, 6 months and 18 days) |
Son of Philip II |
Habsburg |
 |
Philip IV
|
8 April 1605 – 17 September 1665 (aged 60) |
31 March 1621 |
17 September 1665 (44 years, 5 months and 17 days) |
Son of Philip III |
Habsburg |
 |
Charles II
|
6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700 (aged 38) |
17 September 1665 |
1 November 1700 (35 years, 1 month and 15 days) |
Son of Philip IV |
Habsburg |
 |
In the year 1700, Charles II died. His will named the 16-year-old Philip, Duke of Anjou, the grandson of Charles's sister Maria Theresa of Spain, as his successor to the whole Spanish Empire.[1] Upon any possible refusal of the undivided Spanish possessions, the Crown of Spain would be offered next to Philip's younger brother Charles, Duke of Berry, or, next, to Archduke Charles of Austria.[2]
Both claimants, both Charles of Austria and Philip, had a legal right to the Spanish throne because Philip's grandfather, King Louis XIV of France and Charles's father, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, were sons of Charles II's aunts, Anne and Maria Anna. Philip claimed primogeniture because Anne was older than Maria Anna. However, Philip IV had stipulated in his will the succession should pass to the Austrian Habsburg line, and the Austrian branch also claimed that Maria Theresa, Philip's grandmother, had renounced the Spanish throne for herself and her descendants as part of her marriage contract. This was countered by the French claim that it was on the basis of a dowry that had never been paid.[3]