Succession woes in 18th Century Europe

EVillageProwler

Charles II of Spain, of the western branch of the Habsburg family, died childless 1 November 1700. It has been speculated that the reason for his lack of children was due to his physical disabilities from prolonged familial inbreeding. In layman’s terms, he was extremely ugly. So much so that he allegedly scared his wife.

His will stipulated that his heir shall be Philip, Duke of Anjou of the House of Bourbon. Philip was the grandson of King Louis XIV of France and his first wife, Charles’ elder half-sister, Maria Theresa of Spain of the western branch of the Habsburg family. Having a unified Spain and France would upset the balance of power in Europe, which led to the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701 with the English, Dutch and Austrians contesting Philip’s seat on the Spanish throne.

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1711-1740), was Archduke of Austria. Upon the death of Charles II of Spain, he claimed the throne of Spain. While he was able to exercise his rule in Catalonia briefly (1705-1711), he ultimately abandoned his claim to the Spanish throne to assume the imperial crown.

The first coin, a Filippo of Milan, was issued in the name of Charles, Archduke of Austria and Hungary of the eastern Habsburg branch. But, the obverse legend says “Charles III King of Spain” which is total political theater because he was never officially King of Spain. (Only Catalonia supported Charles VI’s claim as Charles III of Spain.) Moreover, in 1707, the Duchy of Milan was still officially part of the Spanish domain and thus Philip V of Spain was actually also the rightful Duke of Milan. It won’t be until 1714, with the Treaty of Rastatt, that Milan would be officially ceded to Austria. The reverse legend is also political wishful thinking, proclaiming Charles VI as Duke of Milan even though he was not (yet) that titleholder.

(The Kingdom of Spain actually had an officially Charles III, who ruled 1759-1788.)

Charles VI, HRE, died 20 October 1740 without any sons. His eldest surviving child was Maria Theresa of the eastern branch of the family. Charles secured her claim to the throne with the Pragmatic Sanction. However, he also left his daughter with a depleted treasury and a reduced, scattered and poorly trained army. After her accession, several sovereigns who had previously recognized her as heir broke their promises. Using her succession as a pretext, France, Prussia and Bavaria used this opportunity to challenge Habsburg power. Maria Theresa was initially backed by Britain, the Dutch Republic and Hanover. The conflict eventually drew in others, including Spain, Sardinia, Saxony, Sweden and Russia.

Fortunately, Maria Theresa was a much better leader than her father. After a series of wars that started with Frederick II the Great of Prussia invading Silesia and leading to the War of the Austrian Succession and ending with the Seven Years War (against Prussia), Maria Theresa was able to maintain Austrian power through negotiated settlements, alliances and events in the New World.

Bob13

@EVillageProwler - great post! Really interesting to see how the coins were used as propaganda. And, that Habsburg jaw is something else. Thanks for posting!

EVillageProwler

@Bob13 said:
@EVillageProwler - great post! Really interesting to see how the coins were used as propaganda. And, that Habsburg jaw is something else. Thanks for posting!

Glad you liked this post. Thanks for your comment!

EVillageProwler

I made some changes to the first coin (and its tag) that I think fits both the coin and the historical context. Thoughts please.

rec78

A professor one time told me that her name was actually "Theresia" Not "Theresa". Turns out that "Theresia" is the German version. Theresa is the English version. On the coin it does read as "Theresia". I did find out that there were quite a few Maria Theresa's. This is the same Maria Theresia that has been depicted on the Maria Theresia Thaler that has been produced since 1741. The date was froze after her death in 1780. The ones produced after 1780 are considered restrikes. There are many different varieties. It is estimated that over 800 million Maria Theresia Thalers were produced since 1780. I think the 800 million is low and more likely over 1 billion by now.

brg5658

Wow, that Charles portrait (painting) is a face only a mother could love.

EVillageProwler

@rec78 said:
A professor one time told me that her name was actually "Theresia" Not "Theresa". Turns out that "Theresia" is the German version. Theresa is the English version. On the coin it does read as "Theresia". I did find out that there were quite a few Maria Theresa's. This is the same Maria Theresia that has been depicted on the Maria Theresia Thaler that has been produced since 1741. The date was froze after her death in 1780. The ones produced after 1780 are considered restrikes. There are many different varieties. It is estimated that over 800 million Maria Theresia Thalers were produced since 1780. I think the 800 million is low and more likely over 1 billion by now.

Since the coin above was struck from Milan, I wrote her name in Italian.

And, yes, there are lots of restrikes of her Austrian Hall-mint Talers. They are common in very high grade.

@brg5658 said:
Wow, that Charles portrait (painting) is a face only a mother could love.

Sadly yes. The Habsburgs took 'loving oneself' to a new level!