King Charles II Of Spain Autograph Signed Manuscript.

KING CHARLES II OF SPAIN. [DON CARLOS],.

$12,500.00

Item Number: 107920

Madrid:, May 28, 1699.

Rare elaborately illuminated nobility diploma signed by King Charles II of Spain, appointing Don Martin Damian Mendizabal the title of Marquis of Torre Gines. Quarto, bound in full red contemporary velvet covered boards with two metal clasps, containing five illuminated leaves, two fully illuminated in color with the Royal coat of arms and portrait of King Charles II, text in Spanish. Signed by King Charles II,  “Yo el Rey” and additionally signed by several Royal secretaries. Bound with a printed manuscript of the Oath of Fidelity to the King of Spain with Royal stamps dated 1701 and with two autograph letters laid in, the first dated September 17, 1701 and signed by Philip V, and the second addressed to the Marquis. Exceptionally rare.

Referred to as 'the Bewitched' and 'El Hechizado', Charles II of Spain was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. He died childless in 1700 with no immediate Habsburg heir. His will named his successor as 16-year-old Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV and Charles's half-sister Maria Theresa and disputes over the inheritance led to the War of the Spanish Succession.