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Charles II 1661-1700
Last Habsburg King of Spain

Born in Madrid, he was the younger son and successor in 1665 of Philip IV. During his minority (1665-75) his mother, Queen Mariana of Austria, acted as regent. In 1690 he joined the League of Augsburg and went to war against Louis XIV in the Grand Alliance (1688-97). The weak, indolent end-product of Habsburg inbreeding, he was childless despite two marriages, and bequeathed the Crown to Philip of Anjou (Philip V), grandson of Louis XIV. The prospect of a union of the Crowns of Spain and France under the House of Bourbon precipitated the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-13).