Carlos, Prince of Asturias (8 July 1545 – 24 July 1568) was the son of King Philip II of Spain by his first wife Maria Manuela of Portugal, daughter of John III of Portugal.
Carlos was born at Valladolid, and his mother died a month after his birth. The young Infante Carlos was delicate and deformed. He grew up proud, willful, and insolent, and soon began to show signs of mental instability as a young adult. Many of his physical and psychological...
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Carlos, Prince of Asturias (8 July 1545 – 24 July 1568) was the son of King Philip II of Spain by his first wife Maria Manuela of Portugal, daughter of John III of Portugal.
Carlos was born at Valladolid, and his mother died a month after his birth. The young Infante Carlos was delicate and deformed. He grew up proud, willful, and insolent, and soon began to show signs of mental instability as a young adult. Many of his physical and psychological afflictions may stem from the inbreeding common to the House of Habsburg and the royal houses of Portugal and Spain. Carlos had only four great-grandparents instead of the maximum of eight and his parents had the same coefficient of coancestry (1/8) as if they were half siblings. He had only six great-great-grandparents, instead of the maximum 16, his maternal grandmother and his paternal grandfather were brother and sister, his maternal grandfather and his paternal grandmother were also brother and sister, and his two great-grandmothers were...
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