Tracing Inbreeding in the Royal Families of Europe Alice Vo Since we were kids, we were reminded that marrying your sister, brother, cousin is wrong. They are your family members and the union would lead to terrible consequences, both moral and physical repercussions. We are going to examine several cases of European royal families who practiced consanguineous marriages: The Spanish Habsburg Dynasty and Queen Victoria of England. The Habsburg Dynasty is known for its practice of consanguineous unions. Members of the family married among themselves to control their genes and for political alliances.This was common practice among royals because it would decrease the amount of people who fought for the throne. However, this would eventually lead to the eventual end of the Habsburg …show more content…
We calculated the inbreeding coefficient (F) and we noticed that Philip I, who founded the habsburg Dynasty had a F of 0.025. Charles II, the last member of the Dynasty had a F of 0.254 (Alvarez). It seems like a small number but this is a great increase. We noticed that F had an effect on survival. “The results indicate that inbreeding at the level of first cousin (F = 0.0625) exerted an adverse effect on survival of 17.8%±12.3” (Alvarez). Charles II had two genetic disorders: pituitary hormone deficiency and distal renal tubular acidosis. These are caused by recessive genes that were passed on to him through inbreeding and could explain his impotency. Alice Vo Thus, inbreeding is dangerous and detrimental to societal growth as shown with the collapse of the Habsburg Dynasty. It’s because it allows recessive and often dangerous gene that carry diseases to be selected from a limited gene
King Ferdinand and Isabella are known as one of the most famous couples in the world. Isabella who was the daughter of King John II of Castile and Ferdinand was the son of King John I of Aragon were married to create unity between the two kingdoms. At the time of their marriage the spanish moors were in control of a big chunk of Spain.
During the Middle Ages the Catholic Church was the epicenter of most people 's lives and it influenced them greatly, and their rulings shaped many societies. In order to encourage civil relations and less greed and bloodshed the Catholic Church installed a rule of no longer allowing divorce. For some time divorce was used in order to sever ties with your spouse when they couldn’t provide an heir, land or financial gain, or as much as another suitor. This led to many divorces and serial marriages, bloodshed and out right injustice. Some may argue that these marriages weren’t entered in with high regards to such a hefty commitment knowing that it could simply be ended whenever either spouse pleased. Coontz uses the story of King Lothar II to portray how divorce was used in order to be greedy; King Lothar II married Theutberga in order to inherit her brothers land, when he didn’t conceive with Theutberga he wanted to divorce her in order to marry his cosort Waldreda, who he did have a son with. The Catholic Church showed their strength and seriousness of their new decree and denied him the divorce from his wife three times even after accusing her of incestrial adultry, locking her away, and remarrying Waldreda. (‘The Marriage Scandal of the Millennium’ 95-98 Coontz). With the long held ban on divorce, one may conclude that if you have to stay with someone for life you better find something that will
The mindset of every living organism is to survive and reproduce. As such, it may be surprising to hear that diseases actually plays a crucial role in the survival of our predecessors. In the book Survival of the Sickest, Dr. Sharon Moalem discusses the role these hereditary disorders played in keeping our very ancestors alive. Three examples mentioned in the reading selection include hemochromatosis, diabetes, as well as favism. All the diseases I mentioned had a specific aspect, to which I found particularly appealing. In the case of hemochromatosis, I found it intriguing how the author used his own life to draw a connection between the two traits. Dr. Sharon Moalem lost his grandfather to hemochromatosis and later was diagnosed with the
During her entire rule, Elizabeth I allowed for England to reach an equilibrium in its religious affairs through “The Elizabethan Settlement”, or her religious compromise. The Book of Common Prayer, issued by the Edward VI’s advisor Thomas Cranmer, was restored by Elizabeth....
-With the ending of the Seven Years ' War in 1763, they wanted to preservation of a fragile alliance between Austria and France became a priority for Empress Maria Theresa; cementing alliances through matrimonial connections was a common practice among European royal families at the time (Editors, 2016). In 1765, after the death of French monarch Louis XV, his grandson, Louis-Auguste, heir to the French throne was pledged to marry Marie Antoinette.
The history of Charlemagne’s family and how they came to power had a large effect on how Charlemagne came to power. In the year 481 A.D, a warrior named Clovis claimed the title of King of the Franks (Abrams 185). He died in the year 511, and each of his four sons received a portion of his small Frankish empire (Abrams 185). Clovis’s death would later allow a clear passage to ensuring Charlemagne’s fate as future ruler of the Franks. Clovis’s sons, not wishing to inherit the task of being a Frankish ruler, then appointed ...
Marriages during the Renaissance shared common customs such as “crying of the banns” ceremonies, a dowry or gift for the husband’s family, special clothes, and a wedding feast. Commonly, marriages were arranged although Shakespeare’s was not. William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway followed some traditional wedding customs and disregarded others.
Reasoning: The intentions of the marriage were good. He wanted to end the feud of the two families which worked. Even though it took the
Gualtieri, a young Italian marquis, was pressured by his servants to marry. His subjects were in fear that there would not be an heir to maintain the stability of their state. Gualtieri agrees to marry, but makes it clear to his subjects that he will he will find his own wife. The marquis makes his people promise that they will not question him nor criticize his choice for a wife. “My friends, since you still persist in wanting me to take a wife; I am prepared to do it, not because I have any desires to marry, but rather in order to gratify your wishes. You will recall the promise you gave me, that no matter whom I should choose; you would rest content and honour her as your lady”, (Boccaccio 164).
The question to be discussed is whether these marriages were of convenience and how they shaped the relationships of the different races.
The literature does provide evidence for my hypothesis and also provides a clearer picture as to how frequent and to what extent the interbreeding is believed to occur. Examining these articles will introduce the new findin...
A family’s prestige and honor were very important during the early Italian republics. Certain classes of these societies were arranged to marry each other in hopes of building family alliances and raising a family’s reputation. This procedure that takes place during the Renaissance period was nothing more than arranged marital contract, that was designed to interlock family ties and ensure social hierarchy. It was often looked down upon to marry outside of your class, which is one reason Lusanna would have in contesting that Giovanni was indeed married to her and not to Marietta (A woman from his same social prestige). Once her husband Andrea died, she would need someone else to take care of her or else she would have to return to one of her male relative’s house, as was the custom of women during this era. This meant that aristocrats were expected to marry fellow aristocrats, merchants to merchants, artisans to artisans, and so on and so forth. This is seen very clearly throughout the court case of Giovanni and Lusanna. Giovanni della Casa came from a well to do family and one that had many aristocratic ties. On the other hand, Lusanna’s family came from an artisan background, which was lower on the totem pole than that of Giovanni’s. The fact that Lusanna had to have her brother Antonio plead her case to the pope in
Marriage is an important aspect in kinship. Marriage is normally understood as the linking of men and women, but this may not always be the case. An example of this is Nuer where marriages can occur between women. There are three different types of marriages; monogamy, where a man marries a woman; polygyny, where man can marry two or more women, and polyandry, where a woman can...
Leach, E.R. ‘Polyandry, Inheritance and the Definition of Marriage’, Man, Vol. 55. December, 1955, pp. 182-186. Available from:
Many women in this period would engage in “arranged” marriages which were widely accepted and indeed, one of the most practiced forms of marrying at this time. Usually a marriage of convenience rather...