Carlos The King Who Would Not Die Author:John Langdon-Davies By all rights, Carlos II of Spain should have died in his cradle; in John Langdon Davies' vivid phrase, he had died of poison 200 years before he was born. — This last of the Spanish Hapsburgs lived during the 17th century-a cruel age, beset by violence, witchcraft and court intrigue. — Generations of inbreeding had concentrated on Carlos all the ... more »heredity horrors of his family. He had the Hapsburg jaw, the inward pointing teeth which made eating an ordeal and gave rise to digestive disorders, and he was degenerate. It was obvious he would never be a "ruler", so his reign became a series of intrigue sponsored by other European interests. Married first to a princess of France, and on her death to an Austrian, he was unable to produce an heir. His death, which seemed imminent at any moment during his reign of 35 years, would plunge Europe into the War of Spanish Succession.« less