Consang
uinity, the act of marrying a biological relative, has been a mainstay of royal families for about as long as there have been dynasties. On paper, the idea makes perfect sense: marry a relative, keep the bloodline absolutely pure by producing children from consanguineous marriages, and if a dispute should arise within the family, have the conflicting parties get married. What could possibly go wrong?
A lot, actually. As we now know, with the modern science of genetics and the hindsight of so many royal disasters, inbreeding leads to diseases and deformities, some of which were so severe that entire dynasties were brought to their knees. In fact, some historians have even suggested that the inbreeding of European royals was a leading factor of World War I. Thank goodness it pretty much ended then.
Considering that children in royal families tended to have much higher mortality rates than the general population, it can pretty well be concluded that being royalty wasn't always all that it was cracked up to be. This list will give you some pretty good reasons to be thankful that you aren't a king or queen.
King Charles II of Spain Could Barely Speak or Eat
For hundreds of years, the Habsburgs were one of the most powerful families in all of Europe. The line began in the thirteenth century and ruled Austria, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire (which was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire) until the 1900s. Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France, was herself from the Habsburg line.
However, the royal line suffered acutely from massive inbreeding; in fact, inbreeding may have been what led to the downfall of the dynasty. In fact, one of the Habsburgs, Joanna of Castille, appears in the family tree no fewer than 14 times! The family was particularly known for what is identified as the Habsburg jaw, an oversized jawline and large tongue that made activities such as eating and speaking difficult. The last Habsburg king of Spain was Charles II, and he was so severely inbred that his “inbred quotient” was higher than if his parents had been siblings. He had such a severely oversized jawline that he was barely able to eat or speak. He was also known to drool a lot. Additionally, he was unable to walk until he was eight years old, and even then he could only walk with great difficulty. Not exactly a lady's man.
Despite being married twice, the king was unable to procreate, quite possibly an effect of his severe inbreeding of him. He died in 1700 at the age of 39, leaving behind no heir to the throne and thereby effectively ending Habsburg rule in Spain.
Joanna of Castile Slept Beside Her Husband's Corpse
Before Charles II, there was Joanna of Castile, the older sister of Catherine of Aragon. She was from the house of Trastamara, which had been engaging in cousin marriages for centuries. Her parents, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, were second cousins. The family's long tradition of inbreeding may have been at least partially the reason why Catherine couldn't bear any children. Joanna set the stage for her posterity to have their own challenges, as she married into the Habsburg line.
As a child, she was known to be intelligent, inquisitive, and somewhat moody. At age 16, she entered into an arranged marriage with the son of the Holy Roman Emperor (who was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an emperor), Philip the Handsome. Himself the product of inbreeding, he was known for being a philanderer, but Joanna was completely smitten with him.
When she ascended to the throne, due to the unpredicted deaths of her older siblings, she had a full mental breakdown, exacerbated by Philip's behavior towards her. When she found one of her mistresses, she stabbed her in the face. Still, she remained madly in love with her husband. When he died unexpectedly, she held onto his corpse and slept beside it every night.