Quote Originally Posted by {BHC}KingWarman888
Hey,


Did the Hapsburgs died out with Charles II?
Yes and no. Yes the Spainish Hapsburgs died out with Charles II. But the Austrian Hapsburgs live on to this day.

You see it goes back to Charles the I/V (I of Spain and V of the HRE). He inherited a large and sprawling domain united in the fact that he was their soveregin. You might remember him from the loading quote in M2TW.
"I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse" (Je parle espagnol à Dieu, italien aux femmes, français aux hommes, et allemand à mon cheval).
Oddly that quote relates to a language used in one the territories he ruled over.

Here is a map of his domains.


Now in 1556 (which is what the map shows). Charles retired, abdicated technically, but retirement was his aim. He split his inheritance between his son Philip and his younger brother Ferdinand. Philip was given the lions share. He became king of Spain and it's overseas empire. He was also given the kingships of Sardinia, Naples, and Sicily. Philip was also give the rule of the low countries (modern Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg), the dutchy of Milan. And lastly the Franche Comte (free county), the HRE bit of the dutcy of Burgundy. Ferdinand was given the kindships of Bohemia and Hungary, Austria, and the Imperial title. This split the dynasty.

Also for fun here is a protrait of Charles II of Spain.

Notice they don't show him standing. As he was incapable of that, or chewing (his jaw was so defromed and his tongue so large it made him barely able to speak), or reading (he was so frail they feared "over taxing" him), or bathing himself (again frailty), or using the toilet, also developmentally delayed. He was last Spainish Habsburg not because of all those faults but because he was sterile. And he's a prime example of why you shouldn't marry your niece, for 5 generations in a row.