I have tried to find out if Spain's King Phillip had an ailment that would cause him to walk the way he did in the movie. Hard to describe except to say his legs seemed bowed and he took very small steps. Did anyone else notice this? Was this just a directors way of making him seem weak?
shareI couldn't find the answer online anywhere but if my memory is correct he suffered from rickets. It makes the bones soft and causes the leg bones to bow outward.
shareif my memory is correct he suffered from rickets
It is possibly a reference to the inbreeding of his line; the Habsburgs. While there is no record that he himself was deformed from the effects of inbreeding, his son Carlos, Prince of Asturias, definitely was. Carlos had only four great-grandparents instead of the maximum of eight, and his parents had the same coefficient of coancestry (1/8) as if they were half siblings. He had only six great-great-grandparents, instead of the maximum 16; his maternal grandmother and his paternal grandfather were siblings, his maternal grandfather and his paternal grandmother were also siblings, and his two great-grandmothers were sisters.
So devastating is inbreeding over these generations that eventually scientists from Spain’s University of Santiago de Compostela argue that inbreeding so incapacitated the Habsburgs over the centuries that by the death of King Charles II of Spain in 1700, they were virtually unable to reproduce.
From 1516 to 1700, it has been estimated that over 80% of marriages within the Spanish branch of the Habsburg dynasty were consanguineous; that is, they were marriages between close blood relatives. Most often, these unions took the form of marriages between first cousins, double-first cousins, and uncles/nieces. Conceivably as a direct result of these marriages between relatives, infant and child mortality rose to 50% among Spanish Habsburgs, much higher than the average for the period.
Regular naps prevent old age, especially if you take them while driving.
Thank you, Jaguar_001; an incredibly interesting and informative read. I, growing up in the country that used to belong to Austro-Hungarian Empire, used to know a lot about the Habsburgs, as it was taught in History class. However, for some reason, we never paid much attention to this. Perhaps because it was such a norm during the Europe's Royal families that it's accepted as the old act but not very scrutinized or its effects challenged (England's Victoria's blood line is thought to have been instrumental in origin, spreading and prominence of Hemophilia thanks to her and Albert's inbreeding).
share'Old fact', not act. Auto correct
share