Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias

Balthasar Charles Prince of Asturias House House of Habsburg Father Philip IV of Spain Mother Elizabeth of France Born 17 October 1629(1629-10-17) Madrid, Spain Died 9 October 1646(1646-10-09) (aged 16) Zaragoza, Spain Religion Roman Catholicism

House of Habsburg Spanish line Emperor Charles V (King Charles I) Children Philip II of Spain Maria, Holy Roman Empress Joan of Spain Don John (illegitimate) Margaret of Parma (illegitimate) Philip II Children include Carlos, Prince of Asturias Isabella of Spain Catherine, Duchess of Savoy Philip III of Spain Maria of Spain Philip III Children include Anne, Queen of France Philip IV of Spain Maria Ana, Holy Roman Empress Infante Carlos Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand Philip IV Children include Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias Maria Theresa, Queen of France Margaret, Holy Roman Empress Charles II of Spain Charles II

Baltasar Carlos of Austria (Madrid, October 17, 1629 - Zaragoza, October 9, 1646). Prince of Asturias, Prince of Girona, Duke of Montblanc, Count of Cervera and Lord of Balaguer, Prince of Viana, and universal heir of all the kingdoms, states and dominions of the Spanish monarchy until his death.

Content

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   1 Life
   2 Consequences of the Death of Baltasar Carlos
   3 Baltasar Carlos and the Arts
   4 Ancestry
   5 References

Life

The only son of King Philip IV of Spain and his first wife Elizabeth of France. He was baptized on November 4, 1629 in the Parish of St. Juan, Madrid. His godparents were the Infanta Maria, future Queen of Hungary and the Infante Don Carlos, uncle of the newborn; Inés de Zúñiga y Velasco, Countess of Olivares (wife of the Count-Duke of Olivares) sat on a crystal throne during his baptism, which was said was the most precious jewel which she had viewed until then.

The Countess of Olivares, who was also Chief Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen, worked as a governess to the prince, which gave rise to comments about the control that the Count-Duke of Olivares had on the heir.

On March 7, 1632 he was sworn in before the nobility of Castile as "His Majesty's Heir" and "Prince of these kingdoms of Castille and Leon, and others that are subject to these Crowns, united and incorporated," in a ceremony held at the Monastery of San Jerónimo el Real of Madrid.

His father soon began diplomatic efforts to seek a bride: the Archduchess Mariana of Austria, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III and his paternal aunt, the Infanta Maria Anna of Austria, and therefore his cousin, being chosen. Another cousin, the daughter of his mother's sister, Henrietta Maria and her husband, King Charles I of England, Mary, the Princess Royal, was also proposed as a potential bride - but was turned down on grounds of religion, and later married Prince William II of Orange.

After the Catalan revolt of 1640 Philip IV tried to win over Aragon to raise money and men for the new war front. One of the steps taken towards this end was to bring the Prince Baltasar Carlos to be sworn as crown prince of the Kingdom of Aragón. The oath was held on August 20, 1645, when the prince was sixteen years old, in the Cathedral of the Savior, Zaragoza. This titled him as Prince of Gerona, Governor General of Aragon, Duke of Montblanc, Count of Cervera and Lord of the City of Balaguer. Meanwhile, on 13 November of that year, Baltasar Carlos was also sworn as heir to the Kingdom of Valencia.

In April 1646, Philip IV desirous that his son was sworn heir to the throne of Navarre, as he had been by Aragon the previous year, moved with him from Madrid to Pamplona, ​​where, after recognizing the privileges of the kingdom of Navarre, the ceremony was solemnly celebrated on 3 May, 1647.

After the ceremony, the royal family moved to Zaragoza. On October 5, the eve of second anniversary of the death of Queen Isabel of Bourbon, Philip IV and Baltasar Carlos attended Vespers that night in her memory. That evening, the prince was ill and the next day, Saturday October 6, he had to stay in bed while the king went to the funeral. The disease, smallpox, spread rapidly, and on Tuesday, October 9, at eight in the morning, the Archbishop of Saragossa he was given the Last Sacraments. It is said that the "Host" was exhibited until three o'clock, when it became a general procession to the Convent of Jesus, which then proceded to Our Lady of Cogullada and brought in procession to the altar of La Seo where it was surrounded by candles and prayers. At nine pm that same day, October 9, Prince Baltasar Carlos died. His remains were kept in Zaragoza until the night of October 16, when they were transferred to the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Consequences of the Death of Baltasar Carlos

The death of the prince left the monarchy without a direct male heir which caused a dynastic crisis (the only possible heir was left alive was the Infanta Maria Teresa) and the king fell into a deep unease as noted in a letter his spiritual advisor, Sister Maria de Agreda: "The prayers did not lift the spirits of our Lord for the health of my son enjoying his glory. Not agreeing owed him or us otherwise. I'm in the state that you can judge, for I have lost a child I had, so that you you saw him, I really encouraged him much in the midst of all my cares [...] have offered to God this blow, which I confess I have pierced the heart and in this state do not know if dream or truth is what happens for me. "

This letter shows the pain and despair of Philip IV, who in just five years, had lost his younger brother, the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, his wife, Elisabeth of Bourbon, and his only son and heir , Prince Baltasar Carlos.

After the death of Baltasar Carlos, Philip IV was forced to marry again for the continuity of the dynasty. The choice for a second-wife, was the fiancee of the late prince and his niece, the daughter of his sister Maria Anna, Holy Roman Empress.

Discourses on the desirability of either spouse to Philip IV began from the very death of Baltasar Carlos, given the urgency that had the question of succession. State and political reasons, and physical or natural, and could be summarized in the "dynastic capital" and sexual maturity, determined that the new king's wife should be the young Archduchess, who by that time had only twelve years of age.

In January 1647 Philip IV issued a decree with the decision to marry the Archduchess Mariana Austria. The marriage took place on October 7, 1649 in Navalcarnero. From this marriage would be born many offspring, of which only survive the Infanta Margarita Teresa, married to the Emperor Leopold I, and the future Charles II.

Baltasar Carlos and the Arts

The figure of Prince Baltasar Carlos has endured over time because of the portraits made of him by Velázquez (for example, your Prince Baltasar Carlos on horseback and Prince Baltasar Carlos hunter both in the Museo del Prado, The Prince Baltasar Carlos with a dwarf in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, or the Prince Baltasar Carlos in the ring, from the private collection of the Duke of Westminster (London), among others) and Juan Bautista Martinez del Mazo, of which the prince was a great patron ("Portrait of Prince Baltasar Carlos", dated 1635 (Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest) or "Prince Baltasar Carlos at 16 years' (Museo del Prado).

Moreover, many authors devoted their works to the young prince. For example, Diego de Saavedra Fajardo dedicates his most famous work, "Idea of a Christian Political Prince Represented in a Hundred Enterprises" (1640), to the Prince, while Baltasar Gracián dedicated to him, his work The Discreet (1646):

THE DISCREET / DE / LORENZO GRACIAN, / That public / DON Vincencio IVAN/ DE LASTANOSA. / AND / DEDICATED TO / HIS / SERENE HIGHNESS / Don Baltasar Carlos / Prince of Spain / Y / From the New World. / Licensed. / Printed in Huesca, by Iuan / Nogues, Year 1646

For his part, Quevedo dedicated to the late Prince his "Oath of His Royal Highness Prince Don Baltasar Carlos," 23 included in the Muse Clio, 1648 edition of the Spanish Parnassus. The poem was written on the occasion of the swearing in of Prince Baltasar Carlos on March 7, 1632 and, even though unfinished, is a very interesting poem by circumstances and technique that is written.

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  Baltasar Carlos with a court dwarf, by Velázquez, 1631

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  Baltasar Carlos, in his hunting attire, by Velázquez, 1635

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  Baltasar Carlos, in his riding attire, by Velázquez, c. 1635

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  Baltasar Carlos, in his hunting attire, by Martínez del Mazo, 1635

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  Prince Baltasar Carlos with the Count-Duke of Olivares outside Buen Retiro Palace, by Velázquez 1636

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  Prince Baltasar Carlos, by Velázquez 1640

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Ancestry

16. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

8. Philip II of Spain

17. Isabella of Portugal

4. Philip III of Spain

18. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

9. Anna of Austria (1549-1580)

19. Maria of Spain

2. Philip IV of Spain

20. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

10. Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria

21. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary

5. Margaret of Austria

22. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria

11. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608)

23. Anna of Austria (1528-1590)

1. Baltasar Carlos of Spain

24. Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme

12. Antoine of Navarre

25. Françoise d'Alençon

6. Henry IV of France

26. Henry II of Navarre

13. Jeanne III of Navarre

27. Marguerite de Navarre

3. Elizabeth of France

28. Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

14. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

29. Eleonora di Toledo

7. Marie de' Medici

30. = 20. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

15. Johanna of Austria

31. = 21. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary

External links

Media related to Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias at Wikimedia Commons

Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias Spanish Habsburgs Born: 17 October 1629 Died: 9 March 1646
Preceded by Philip (become Philip IV of Spain and III of Portugal)	Prince of Asturias 1629–1646	Succeeded by Philip Prospero
	Prince of Portugal 1629–1640	Succeeded by Teodósio