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Video: From Tutankhamun to Tsarevich Alexei: Representatives of Royal Families Victims of Dynastic Marriages
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Monarchs constantly fought for the purity of blood, allowing heirs to marry only with their peers in origin. As a result, practically in every ruling family there were cases of incest and intimate relations, the victims of which were children, who with each generation more and more manifested hereditary diseases and genetic abnormalities.
Tutankhamun
The origins of the traditions of kinship ties have their roots in ancient Egypt. Only the closest relative could become the main wife of the pharaoh, in order to prevent dilution of the blood of the heirs of the god Ra. A striking example of the inheritance of a genetic disorder is the shape of Tutankhamun's skull in his sculptural images. The pharaoh's head is clearly extended upward. By the way, the beautiful Nefertiti also had a similar shape of the skull, because of which she was forced to wear high headdresses.
According to the version of Egyptian scientists, based on a combined analysis of DNA in combination with a radiological study of mummies, King Tut's father was Pharaoh Akhenaten, and his mother was his father's sister. However, not all scientists agree with this, suggesting that his father could be with equal probability, and Smenkhkara, who is the brother or son of Akhenaten.
However, the peculiar shape of the head is the lesser of the consequences of incest. Tutankhamun suffered from many diseases, including ossification of the trunk above the waist. He could not even turn his head, as he had to turn his whole body.
Charles II Bewitched
The last ruler of the Habsburg dynasty is another prime example of how dynastic marriages lead to the collapse and degeneration of the family. Genetics are ruthless, and therefore Charles II inherited many diseases.
His appearance was very remarkable: a disproportionately large head, an unnaturally protruding jaw, an incommensurably tall stature. At the same time, he was already born with a bouquet of all sorts of diseases, which his parents attributed to damage. It never occurred to them that a 25 percent inbreeding ratio could not have led to a different result.
Charles II's parents, Philip IV and his niece, Marianne of Austria, invited the best magicians to the heir to the throne to remove damage from him, but the health of the future ruler did not improve from this, but it allowed him to get the nickname Bewitched (enchanted, Obsessed). True, he managed to outlive his four older brothers and ascend the Spanish throne.
READ ALSO: Charles II - the last of the Habsburgs, or how incest led to the degeneration of an entire dynasty. >>
Leopold I
The ruler was a representative of the same Habsburg dynasty. The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire is the heir to Ferdinand III, who laid the foundation for the Austrian branch of the ruling family, and Princess Mary Anne of Spain. Leopold himself, according to historians, was in good health, but the external signs of the Habsburgs appeared.
Leopold I was distinguished by the same protruding jaw and large head. The wife of the emperor was the sister of Charles the Bewitched Margaret Teresa of Spain, who lived very little due to numerous illnesses.
Ferdinand I
The Austrian emperor saw the light of day as a result of the alliance of Franz I, the last emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and his second wife, Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Neapolitan. Both parents were representatives of the Habsburg family.
The health of the heir to the throne from childhood left much to be desired. He suffered from epilepsy and hydrocephalus. There was also talk about the ruler's mental disorders, but this was not documented anywhere.
At the same time, the ruler had a very weak character and versatile interests. He knew several languages, was keenly interested in science, played great music. However, he could not participate in official events due to frequently recurring seizures that occurred before 20 a day.
Queen Victoria
As a result of numerous closely related alliances, the heiress of the British throne became a carrier of the hemophilia gene, which she passed on, respectively, to her children. The children of Queen Victoria, thanks to whom the English family became related to many of the ruling houses of Europe, passed this gene on to their heirs.
Tsasarevich Alexey
Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a carrier of the hemophilia gene. Her parents were Duke of Hesse and Rhine Ludwig IV and Duchess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria.
The only son of the last Russian tsar fell victim to this dynastic marriage. He had to be carried in his arms almost until the age of 7. The uncle accompanied the child everywhere, not letting him out of sight and protecting him from any injuries, but even this could not save him from numerous hemorrhages in the joints.
Monarchy is associated with unlimited power, wealth and … incest. The latter is due to the fact that and to keep the power inviolable. True, dynastic marriages often had very dire consequences.
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