How Did Charles II Influence Spain

Spain was influential and powerful during the eighteenth century in Europe. Charles II ruled the Spanish throne from 1665 until his death in 1700—just five days shy of his 39th birthday. Although he took the throne young, Europe anxiously awaited his death because of his declining health. Not only was he ill, he was unable to produce an heir, despite the fact he was married twice. Thomas James Dandalet accentuates the detriment that King Charles II imposed on Spain in his book Spanish Rome:
Yet in the middles of the 1690’s, an adversary far more powerful than the French and beyond the control of popes, kings, or political tradition was looming over the Spanish Empire. Charles II, “the bewitched,” was clearly ill and unlikely to produce any heirs to the Spanish throne. Subsequently, the maneuvering began between the French and the Austrian branch of the Habsburg family for the Spanish succession. (213) King Charles II’s death in 1700 marked the end of the Habsburg Dynasty in Spain. Following the King’s death, the ruling dynasty of France, the Bourbons and the Habsburgs, began dialogues on who would inherit the Spanish throne. Spain’s domain was …show more content…
From 1710 to 1711 the Alliance continued to fight the French, but suffered two detrimental setbacks. First, in 1711 Great Britain (known as England until 1707) abandoned the Grand Alliance. Second, Queen Anne made the decision to remove the Duke of Marlborough from his position so that she could engage in peace seeking negotiations with France, as a result of the negotiations, the Peace of Utrecht was reached in 1713, and the Peace of Rastatt in 1714. Both peace agreements stated that no single person could simultaneously inherit both the Spanish and French throne. In the end, Spain remained under the rule of Philip V, however, he renounced all ties with France. The French border was reset to what they were in