The Habsburg Family
Andrew Overton
The Hapsburg Family was one of the most powerful families in the world, who dominated the political landscape across Europe for much of the Medieval ages and throughout the Renaissance. The Hapsburg family ruled a large variety of different nations throughout its reign, including the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sicily, Hungary-Croatia, colonial possessions in the New World, and other nations. The Hapsburgs were an incredibly powerful royal house throughout the ages that would forever shape the world and European continent with their rulers, fights, colonies, influence, and history. The Hapsburgs got the name ‘Hapsburg’ from a fortress built in the 1020’s, in Switzerland by Count Radbot of Klettgau. …show more content…
One of the biggest issues that could have possibly lead to the extinction of the Hapsburgs was the problem of intermarrying with relatives. The Hapsburg had a major problem with inbreeding, with the Hapsburgs reportedly claiming 'The best spouse for a Habsburg is another Habsburg'. This policy, although great at keeping wealth within the family and bloodlines ‘pure’, resulted in a disastrous effect on the Hapsburg gene pool. In fact, a study of 3,000 Hapsburg family members over 16 generations carried out by the University of Santiago de Compostela suggests that inbreeding actually lead to their extinction. The Hapsburg gene pool even became so small that the last Spanish line, Charles II, possessed a genome that had him comparable to that of a child born to a brother and sister. An infamous example of the Hapsburg’s distorted features due to the problem of inbreeding would be the aptly named ‘Hapsburg Jaw’, which showcased an exceedingly large protruding jawline for most males within the Hapsburg family. The Hapsburg jaw and other similar genetic deficiencies stood in the way of effective and healthy leadership over the territories owned by the
Andrew Overton
The Hapsburg Family was one of the most powerful families in the world, who dominated the political landscape across Europe for much of the Medieval ages and throughout the Renaissance. The Hapsburg family ruled a large variety of different nations throughout its reign, including the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sicily, Hungary-Croatia, colonial possessions in the New World, and other nations. The Hapsburgs were an incredibly powerful royal house throughout the ages that would forever shape the world and European continent with their rulers, fights, colonies, influence, and history. The Hapsburgs got the name ‘Hapsburg’ from a fortress built in the 1020’s, in Switzerland by Count Radbot of Klettgau. …show more content…
One of the biggest issues that could have possibly lead to the extinction of the Hapsburgs was the problem of intermarrying with relatives. The Hapsburg had a major problem with inbreeding, with the Hapsburgs reportedly claiming 'The best spouse for a Habsburg is another Habsburg'. This policy, although great at keeping wealth within the family and bloodlines ‘pure’, resulted in a disastrous effect on the Hapsburg gene pool. In fact, a study of 3,000 Hapsburg family members over 16 generations carried out by the University of Santiago de Compostela suggests that inbreeding actually lead to their extinction. The Hapsburg gene pool even became so small that the last Spanish line, Charles II, possessed a genome that had him comparable to that of a child born to a brother and sister. An infamous example of the Hapsburg’s distorted features due to the problem of inbreeding would be the aptly named ‘Hapsburg Jaw’, which showcased an exceedingly large protruding jawline for most males within the Hapsburg family. The Hapsburg jaw and other similar genetic deficiencies stood in the way of effective and healthy leadership over the territories owned by the