By the Grace of God

[SwordsMaster]

So I was browsing the internets, happily reading up some things, and eventually bumped into this article. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_monarchy_full_Titulary)

Specially curious is this part:


Juan Carlos also may have a legitimate claim to de jure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_jure) Emperor of the Romans (basileus, kaisar autokrator ton Rhomaion) as he is descended from and is the successor of Ferdinand II of Aragon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II_of_Aragon). Ferdinand received these rights as de jure Roman Emperor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Emperor) by the last will and testament of the ultimate Palaiologos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaiologos) claimant of the Byzantine Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire), Andreas Palaiologus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Palaiologus) (d. 1503)

It is funny how history works itself out.

Here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Habsburg) is another article in that vein some of you might find interesting.

And no, there really isn't much of a point to this post, except to inform our distinguished patrons.

[The Wizard]

Didn't he get them off the Latin Emperor? I seem to recall this from reading John Julius Norwich on the matter... though I might be confusing the title of king of Jerusalem with that of Roman emperor.

[SwordsMaster]

Didn't he get them off the Latin Emperor? I seem to recall this from reading John Julius Norwich on the matter... though I might be confusing the title of king of Jerusalem with that of Roman emperor.

I believe his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem comes from the claim of King of the Two Sicilies who was, at some point King of Jerusalem also.... It is interesting to see how all these titles changed places. A King of Spain, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire? That would have been funny, and probably quite a different history would have been written, and perhaps America not discovered for another 200 years...

[The Wizard]

Well, it appears that many people back in those days thought that Ferdinand of Aragon and Charles V were on the verge of liberating Jerusalem from its percieved oppressors, so, had those two heeded such words, you might not be far off...