Editing Charles II of Spain (section)

==Succession conflict and death==
[[File:Marie Louise d'Orléans by Mignard wearing the Fleur-de-lis (showing her dignity as a Grand daughter of France) and the Spanish crown.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689)|Marie Louise of Orléans]], Charles' first wife]]

Marie Louise was blamed for Charles' failure to produce an heir, while primitive fertility treatments gave her severe intestinal problems.{{sfn|García-Escudero López et al|2009|p=181}} She died in February 1689, shortly after the outbreak of the [[Nine Years' War]] with France. On the basis of her recorded symptoms, modern doctors believe her illness was almost certainly [[appendicitis]].{{efn|Despite contemporary suggestions of poison, this claim was extremely common in an era when many illnesses were poorly understood, particularly since it could rarely be disproved.}}{{sfn|Rule|2017|p=97}} A new wife was selected from a family famous for its fertility, [[Maria Anna of Neuburg]], daughter of [[Philip William, Elector Palatine]], and sister-in-law to Emperor Leopold.{{Sfn|Rommelse|2011|p=224}} 

A [[proxy marriage]] took place in August 1689 before a formal ceremony in May 1690.{{Sfn|Rule|2017|p=97}} Maria Anna also failed to produce an heir, almost certainly because Charles was by now physically incapable of doing so; his [[autopsy]] later revealed his sole remaining testicle was [[Atrophy|atrophied]].{{sfn|García-Escudero López et al|2009|p=182}} His mother died on 16 May 1696, by which time Charles' health was clearly failing, making the succession increasingly urgent. Since the Crown of Spain passed according to [[Primogeniture#Male-preference primogeniture|cognatic primogeniture]], it could be inherited through the female line. This enabled Charles' sisters [[Maria Theresa of Spain|Maria Theresa (1638–1683)]] and Margaret Theresa to pass their rights to the children of their marriages with Louis XIV and Emperor Leopold. However, to prevent a union between Spain and [[Kingdom of France|France]], Maria Theresa had renounced her inheritance rights on her marriage; in return, Louis was promised a dowry of 500,000 gold [[French écu|écus]], a huge sum that was never paid.{{sfn|Wolf|1968|p=117}}

The [[Peace of Ryswick]] which ended the Nine Years' War in 1697 was the result of mutual exhaustion, and left the issue of the succession unresolved. [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] reluctantly signed the treaty in October 1697, but viewed it as a temporary pause in hostilities.{{sfn|Meerts|2014|p=168}} Leopold and Margaret's daughter Maria Antonia had married [[Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria]], and they had a son before her death in 1692, [[Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria|Joseph Ferdinand]]. In the [[Treaty of The Hague (1698)]], France, England and the Dutch Republic attempted to impose a diplomatic solution by making him heir to the bulk of the Spanish monarchy, with France gaining [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]] and the Spanish province of [[Gipuzkoa]]. In return, Leopold's younger son [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]] was made ruler of [[Duchy of Milan|Milan]], a possession considered vital to the security of Austria's southern border.{{sfn|Ward|Leathes|2010|p=384}}

[[File:Marie-Anne de Neubourg, reine d'Espagne.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[Maria Anna of Neuburg]], Charles' pro-Austrian second wife]]

The Spanish government refused to approve any division of their territories, although they accepted Joseph Ferdinand as Charles' successor.{{sfn|Ward|Leathes|2010|p=385}} The latters' death in 1699 from smallpox led to the [[Treaty of London (1700)]], which made Archduke Charles the new heir, with Spanish possessions in Europe split between France, [[Savoyard state|Savoy]] and Austria. Charles altered his will in favour of the Archduke, but once again stipulated an undivided Spanish monarchy.{{sfn|McKay|Scott|1983|pp=54–55}}

Most of the Castilian nobility disliked Maria Anna and her German courtiers and viewed a French candidate as more likely to ensure their independence. In September 1700, Charles became ill again; by 28 September he was no longer able to eat, and [[Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero]] persuaded him to appoint Louis XIV's grandson, [[Philip V of Spain|Philip of Anjou]], as his heir.{{sfn|Hargreaves-Mawdsley|1979|pp=15–16}} He died on 1 November 1700, at age 38. The autopsy records his "heart was the size of a peppercorn; his lungs corroded; his intestines rotten and gangrenous; he had a single testicle, black as coal, and his head was full of water."{{sfn|Gargantilla |2005|p=?}} The last of these symptoms is indicative of hydrocephalus, a disease often associated with childhood measles, one of many illnesses contracted by Charles.{{sfn|Turliuc|2019|pp=76–78}}

Philip was proclaimed king of Spain on 16 November 1700, and the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] formally began on 9 July 1701.{{sfn|Falkner|2015|p=96}}