Although they wielded tremendous power in Spain for 184 years, all was not well within the mighty House of Habsburg. Its members were plagued by unusual maladies and physical deformities, including bulbous lower lips and the excessively protruding chins now known as the 'Habsburg Jaw'. What was going on, and what can we take away from their story ourselves?

Main Source:

The Collections of Museo Del Prado: https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection

Additional Sources:

Ansede, Manuel, Research Confirms that Intermarrying Caused the ‘Habsburg Jaw’ in Spanish Royals, El Pais Online (December 2019). Retrieved from https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2019/12/03/inenglish/1575367613_121836.html [Accessed 03/2021].

Dimuro, Gina, The Habsburg Jaw And The Cost Of Royal Inbreeding, All That’s Interesting (June 2018). Retrieved from https://allthatsinteresting.com/habsburg-jaw [Accessed: 03/2021].

García-Escudero López, A, Arruza Echevarría, A, Padilla Nieva, J, Puig Giró, R., ‘Charles II: From Spell to Genitourinary Pathology’, History of Urology Vol. 62, No. 3 (2009).

Holloway, James, Royal Portraits Confirm "Habsburg Jaw" was Caused by Inbreeding, New Atlas (December 2019). Retrieved from https://newatlas.com/science/habsburg-jaw-inbreeding/ [Accessed: 03/2021].

Khan, Razib, Inbreeding and the Downfall of the Spanish Hapsburgs, Discover Magazine (April 2009). Retrieved from https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/inbreeding-and-the-downfall-of-the-spanish-hapsburgs [Accessed: 03/2021].

Turliuc MD, Cucu AI, Perciaccante A, Tosolini G, De Luca S, Costachescu B, Costea CF, ‘Hydrocephalus of King Charles II of Spain, the Bewitched King’, European Neurology Vol. 81 No. 1-2 (2019).