Incestuous Royal Marriages

[Kataryn]

Legally Catherine of Aragon was married incestually because she as widow of one brother married the other after the first hausband's death. But that's just a formality. History has shown that Royal families did not hesitate to form very close bonds between them. While a marriage of cousin and cousin happened quite often, marriages between unles and nieces are rare - but they happened, too.

One example is the marriage of Antoinette Marie of Wuerttemberg to Ernst I. of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Marie's mother Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was the sister of the groom.

Then there are the three uncle-niece marriages of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs:

- Philipp II. married Anna of Austria, the daughter of his sister Marie.
- Archduke Charles II of Austria-Innerösterreich married Maria Anna of Bavaria, daughter of his sister Anna of Austria.
- Philipp IV. married Marianna of Austria, daughter of his sister Maria Anna.

As you can see, the last three uncle-niece-marriages happened in the House of Habsburg between 1550 and 1660 in the direct line leading to Philipp IV. of Spain and his wife Marianna of Austria. Their child is the sad, sick Don Carlos of Schillerian fame...

Not 100 years later, the House of Habsburg ended in the male line. But of course the marriage of Maria Theresia of Austria to Francis Stephan of Lorraine brought new blood into the family..

Do you know of other examples?

 

[Lenora]

I know that in Ancient Egypt the incestuous marriage to siblings was like a habit,in other words a usual practice .For example,the famous Cleopatra was married to her brother.

 

[Princess Agnes]

In Portugal there are two cases of marriages to uncles, regarding the only female monarchs.

D. Maria I (1734-1816) married her uncle, Pedro de Bragança (1717-1786) who became D. Pedro III, in 1760.

Her greatgranddaughter, D. Maria II (1819-1853) married her uncle D. Miguel (1802-1866) by proxy in 1826. This marriage was annulled in 1834. This annullment had nothing to do with the close relationship between the spouses (there had been a papal dispensation) but because it had been contracted in an attempt to end the liberal civil wars. D. Miguel didn't fulfill his part of the agreement (he was on the absolutist side) and the marriage ended being annulled. D. Maria II later married Auguste of Beauharnais in 1834 by proxy and personnally in January 1835, although he died in March that year.
She finally married Fernando de Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1816-1885) in 1836. After the birth of their first son, he became D. Fernando II.

 

[Lumutqueen]

How close do you have to be for it to count as "incestuous"?

 

[Charlotte_Aster]

How close do you have to be for it to count as "incestuous"?

Close realtives of the first degree, like sister, brother, nice, nephew, mother, father, uncle and aunt.

 

[mrsbugman]

As odd as it may seem to the world today. I know in ancient Egypt marriage between Father, and daughter. Or marriage between brother and sister was done to keep the "royal blood line". Incest is sexual relations between blood relatives that are too close to be married.

 

[Alison20]

I know that there is an uncle/niece marriage in the 'senior' Stuart line to the British Throne. I can't quite remember where it comes, but it invalidates any claim from this source, as first cousins are the closest consanguinity allowed by both English and Scots law.

 

[MAfan]

In the Spanish Royal Family it appears that such marriages were a sort of habit:
- in 1779 Infanta Maria Amalia (Carlos IV's daughter) married her paternal uncle Infante Antonio;
- in 1816 King Fernando VII married his niece Infanta Isabel of Portugal (daughter of his sister Carlota Joaquina);
- in 1829 again King Fernando VII married his niece Princess Maria Cristina of the Two Sicilies (daughter of his sister Maria Isabel);
- in 1816 Infante Carlos married to his niece Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal (daughter of his sister Carlota Joaquina);
- in 1838 Infante Carlos married to his niece and sister-in-law Infanta Teresa of Portugal (another daughter of his sister Carlota Joaquina, and sister of the above mentioned Isabel and Maria Francisca);
- in 1819 Infante Francisco de Paula (brother of Fernando VII) married to his niece Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies (daughter of his sister Isabel, and sister of the above mentioned Maria Cristina; later Francisco de Paula and Luisa's son, Francisco de Asis, married to Fernando and Maria Cristina's daughter, Queen Isabel II).

Several other descendants of these couples married among themselves.

 

[Alison20]

It has always seemed very strange to me that no-one in the Spanish RF realised a very basic biological fact, which was that marrying close relatives was not a healthy practice. This was somethat that was understood by even the most isolated and 'primitive' human societies - who made it 'taboo' for a woman to marry a man from her own family group. Perhaps they were so blinded by their belief in their superiority that they didn't think this basic fact applied to them!

 

[mrsbugman]

I agree with you Alison20. "Feelings of being superior" leads to all kinds of "unthinkable" things.

 

[Zonk]

As previously noted, the inbreeding really affected the Spanish royal house.

According to Wikipedia:

17th century European noble culture commonly matched cousin to first cousin and uncle to niece, to preserve a prosperous family's properties. Charles's own immediate pedigree was exceptionally populated with nieces giving birth to children of their uncles: Charles's mother was a niece of Charles's father, being a daughter of Maria Anna of Spain (1606–46) and Emperor Ferdinand III. Thus, Empress Maria Anna was simultaneously his aunt and grandmother.[1] This inbreeding had given many in the family hereditary weaknesses. That Habsburg generation was more prone to still-births than were peasants in Spanish villages.[2]

There was also insanity in Charles's family; his great-great-great(-great-great, depending along which lineage one counts) grandmother, Joanna of Castile ("Joanna the Mad"), mother of the Spanish King Charles I (who was also Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) became insane early in life. Joanna was two of Charles' 16 great-great-great-grandmothers, six of his 32 great-great-great-great-grandmothers, and six of his 64 great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers.


I've bolded several points. Its worth mentioning that Carlos II of Spain was noted for his "extensive physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities" which many attribute to the inbreeding.

 

[Smart]

Legally Catherine of Aragon was married incestually because she as widow of one brother married the other after the first hausband's death. But that's just a formality. History has shown that Royal families did not hesitate to form very close bonds between them. While a marriage of cousin and cousin happened quite often, marriages between unles and nieces are rare - but they happened, too.

I'm surprised no one else saw the error of this.

Catherine's marriage to Henry was based on the levirate marriage [a yibbum]. it was NOT incest. That is absurd.

I guess the post-modernism of Europe has made some forget their roots [biblical roots].

 

[COUNTESS]

You are smart, Smart. It wasn't incest and many people in Eastern Europe, many years ago, if a husband died, it was his brother's resposibility to marry the widow.

 

[KittyAtlanta]

It has to be a blood relative to be incest. (I'm only adding this to make it perfectly clear to readers who might not know the words "levirate marriage [a yibbum].")

 

[Grandduchess24]

Queen maud of Norway married her maternal cousin, haakon VII since they are both grandchildren of King Christian IX of Denmark

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine married her maternal cousin prince Heinrich of Prussia and had 3 sons, is that right?

Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe Coburg and Gotha had married firstly her cousin grand duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and had a daughter by him but died young, she secondly married her maternal cousin grand duke Cyril Vladimirovich and had two girls and one boy.

King carol II of Romania married his cousin Helen

 

[Iluvbertie]

Even though not incest I would add the most famous first cousin marriage I can think of that of Queen Victoria's to Albert. 9 children resulted.

 

[Zonk]

But where they first cousins or first once removed?

Without looking it up...the Duchess of Kent was the sister of Albert's father or Leopold? I can't remember.

 

[melissaadrian]

I'm surprised no one else saw the error of this.

Catherine's marriage to Henry was based on the levirate marriage [a yibbum]. it was NOT incest. That is absurd.

I guess the post-modernism of Europe has made some forget their roots [biblical roots].

Actually if you read the post, it said LEGALLY. Back in those times it was legally considered incest to marry ones brother's widow. Or if you're first wife died, you couldn't marry her sister. I don't think it was called incest, but considered the same thing, it was called continuity. They could get special dispensation from the Pope though to allow for it.

It was why Henry had such a horrific time divorcing Catherine. Divorces were not that uncommon. But he had recieved dispensation from the Pope, which meant her marriage to Arthur should not interfere. He recieved the dispensation on the grounds Arthur was so sick, the marriage was never consumated.Something about brother's seed entering the same womb, makes it incest back then. That is why he kept trying to force Catherine to admit she had sex with Arthur. It also didn't help her beloved nephew was the King of Spain, and didn't take kindly to his Aunt being cast aside for a commoner whore. He had a lot of control, including military custody of the Pope at one time, to make the Pope side with her.

Levirate is a Jewish concept, not a christian one. It would have held no weight in midevil European culture.

 

[Marc23]

In Portugal there are two cases of marriages to uncles, regarding the only female monarchs.

D. Maria I (1734-1816) married her uncle, Pedro de Bragança (1717-1786) who became D. Pedro III, in 1760.

And her son Pedro,"product" of uncle and niece was married to his own aunt Maria Francisca who was a sister to his mother and the other niece of his father,who was at the same time his grandfathers younger brother!

 

[PrincessKaimi]

And her son Pedro,"product" of uncle and niece was married to his own aunt Maria Francisca who was a sister to his mother and the other niece of his father,who was at the same time his grandfathers younger brother!

Yikes!

Certainly incest. In my family, if you're related - the person is tabu. No first cousins, no first cousins once removed, no second cousins - and my grandmother, in particular, belongs to a family that treasures genealogical records.

I guess if you're raised from birth with the idea that cousin marriage is expected and works, it wouldn't seem so strange.

 

[Grandduchess24]

Yes Victoria and Albert were related because victoria's mom, Victoria of Saxe Coburg saalfeld and albert's father were brother and sister and had 9 children.
Victoria then arranged marriages for her grandchildren and some great grandchildren and sometimes to each other.

 

[PrincessKaimi]

I didn't realize that Victoria and Albert were that closely related.

So, all of Queen Victoria's children were both siblings and cousins. (Mom and Dad were first cousins so technically they were both sibs and first cousins once removed).

There must still have been a strong underlying notion that nobility was "in the blood." Good breeding is probably worth something, but the broader meaning (of upbringing rather than actual genes) is even more important.

 

[Kavebear]

Hawaii definitely. Like Egypt Hawaiian royalty praticed sister and brother marriages although it was consider taboo to marry one's own children although they are few cases of this happening. Queen Keopuolani, Kamehameha's most sacred wife and niece was the epitome of incestual relations; her father and mother were half-siblings, her grandmother and grandfathers were close cousins. All Hawaiian chiefs at the end of the 1700s were cousins. But unlike the pharaohs of egypt the Hawaiian kings never show any genetic birth defects, but they did died really young and were unable to produce children.

 

[Kataryn]

It has to be a blood relative to be incest. (I'm only adding this to make it perfectly clear to readers who might not know the words "levirate marriage [a yibbum].")

AFAIK on marriage a wife became "blood of her husband" and thus "blood of her brother-in-law", so a dispens was needed in that case as well.

 

[fearghas]

I didn't realize that Victoria and Albert were that closely related.

So, all of Queen Victoria's children were both siblings and cousins. (Mom and Dad were first cousins so technically they were both sibs and first cousins once removed).

There must still have been a strong underlying notion that nobility was "in the blood." Good breeding is probably worth something, but the broader meaning (of upbringing rather than actual genes) is even more important.

First cousin marriages were once very common in Europe, regardless of social status. When people lived in small villages all their lives, rarely moving out for generations there wasnt much choice.

 

[pacomartin]

Hanoverian familial relationships with consorts

King George I married his firstcousin
King George II married his 3rd cousin 1 generation removed
Prince of Wales Frederick married his 3rd cousin 1 generation removed
King George III married his 3rd cousin
King George IV married his firstcousin
King William IV married his 3rd cousin 1 generation removed
Victoria & Edward Augustus were 3rd cousins 1 generation removed
Queen Victoria married her first cousin
King Edward VII married his 3rd cousin
King George V married his 2nd cousin 1 generation removed
King Edward VIII married "Wallis, Duchess of Windsor" after he abdicated (no known relationship)
King George VI married his 13th cousin (pretty distant for two English people) They were both descended from Henry VII.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are:
2nd cousins one generation removed through common descent from King Christian IX of Denmark (died 1906) 3rd cousins through common descent from Queen Victoria (died 1901) and Prince Albert

Prince Charles is said to have proposed to his 2nd cousin, but when she turned him down he proposed to Diana (his 7th cousin once removed).

Queen Elizabeth's consanguinity index is almost zero because of the lack of any close relationship between her parents. Prince Charles is 2.03%, or about a third of the child of first cousins. Prince William and Harry have almost 0%.

Repeated generations of first cousin marriages, can approach the index resulting from descent from an uncle/nice marriage. Particularly dangers are those involving double first cousins which is when two siblings of one family reproduce with two siblings of another family. The resulting children are related to each other through both parents' families. Double first cousins share both sets of grandparents in common. Genetically, they are as related as half-siblings.

While the immigrant Pakistani population in the UK is suffering from an advanced rate of genetic disease because of the prevalence of cousin marriages, the consanguinity index of the royals even centuries ago is fairly low.


=========
Because of the size of Britain and the plagues like the Black Death, any two people of English descent are probably no more than distant than 20-25th cousins (even if they can't prove it). A seventh cousin relationship is fairly common among the upper class. Prince William and Camilla are 7th cousins. Barack Obama and Prince Charles are 17th cousins.

Despite the fact that France and the UK are about the same population today, historically they were very different. France reached 5 million over 2000 years ago, while Britain reached 5 million roughly 400 years ago. Randomly chosen French people are less likely to be closely related. Most people of English descent in Canada and the US are from a relatively small group of immigrants.

Prince William and Catherine are at least 15th cousins from their common descent from Sir Thomas Fairfax. But the american comedian Ellen Degeneres is also descended from Sir Thomas Fairfax, so she is also a 15th cousin.

 

[pacomartin]

Affinity Incest

Actually if you read the post, it said LEGALLY. Back in those times it was legally considered incest to marry ones brother's widow. Or if you're first wife died, you couldn't marry her sister. I don't think it was called incest, but considered the same thing, it was called continuity. They could get special dispensation from the Pope though to allow for it.

It was why Henry had such a horrific time divorcing Catherine. Divorces were not that uncommon. But he had recieved dispensation from the Pope, which meant her marriage to Arthur should not interfere. He recieved the dispensation on the grounds Arthur was so sick, the marriage was never consumated.Something about brother's seed entering the same womb, makes it incest back then. That is why he kept trying to force Catherine to admit she had sex with Arthur. It also didn't help her beloved nephew was the King of Spain, and didn't take kindly to his Aunt being cast aside for a commoner whore. He had a lot of control, including military custody of the Pope at one time, to make the Pope side with her.

Levirate is a Jewish concept, not a christian one. It would have held no weight in midevil European culture.

Typically in English you refer to incest between couples related by affinity. Woody Allen and his wife, Soon Yi, who is the much younger adopted daughter if his ex girlfriend might be an example. Very often in the 16th century it was an easy way to get an annulment to petition of incest by affiliation.

Prince Arthur died after 20 weeks of marriage to Catherine of Aragon. They were healthy for most of those weeks, then they both got sick but Catherine recovered . Henry VIII was only age 10 at the time. His father petitioned the pope for a papal dispensation for permission to wave the incest by affiliation for both Henry VIII.

Prince Arthur and Catherine were observed on their wedding night to see that they coupled. These observations were normal for the time, but I doubt that they were observed in detail. The observers reported that the couple had joined, and after Arthur's death Catherine was observed for signs of pregnancy.

Henry VIII, contrary to the belief of many people, was not guilty of notable profligacy in comparison with the other monarchs of his time. But it is doubtful if Henry's married life had ever been pure, even from the first, and we know that in 1519 he had, by Elizabeth Blount, a son whom, at the age of six, he made the Duke of Richmond.


When Catherine got an inkling of what was in the Henry's mind, she made a solemn declaration that the marriage had never been consummated. From this it followed that there had never been any impediment of "affinity" to bar her union with Henry.

The king's secretary, was sent to Pope Clement VII to sue for the declaration of nullity of his union with Catherine, on the ground that the dispensing Bull of Julius II was obreptitious — i.e. obtained by false pretences.

Henry also petitioned, in the event of his becoming free, a dispensation to contract a new marriage with any woman even in the first degree of affinity, whether the affinity was contracted by unlawful connexion. This clearly had reference to Anne Boleyn.

The second petition convinced the pope that Henry had no conscientious scruples about his marriage.

It is difficult to know if he believed that the marriage violated god's law. As he seems to have been somewhat sociopathic, I am not sure he couldn't convince himself of anything.

The Catholic encyclopedia of 1917 summarizes: Looking at the last fifteen years of Henry's life, it is hard to find one single feature which does not evoke repulsion.

 

[Mirabel]

Although this was a marriage that never took place, it was rumored that Richard III intended to wed his niece, Elizabeth of York, to cement his claim to the throne.

When Richard was killed in battle, Elizabeth was married off to the victor, Henry VII.

 

[PrincessKaimi]

This whole thread is so interesting. Pacomartin, that was a great summary of Hanoverian cousin marriage! It's interesting to think how everyone is cousins (somehow) if we go back far enough. There were quite a few first cousin marriages in my own family within the last 300 years.

First cousin marriage is illegal, I think, in some of the states of the United States, but not all of them. I know there is an online group for people who are in first cousin marriages in the U.S., so even today, not everyone thinks of it as being "too close." First cousin marriage was a preferred form of marriage in many tribal societies (especially "cross cousin" marriage where a man married the daughter of his mother's brother, which kept the families allied).

 

[pacomartin]

Front page again

The issue has hit the UK papers again as Keighley MP Anne Cryer has condemned first-cousin marriages.

While there is a cumulative generational effect it is important to keep it in prospective. If Prince Charles had married his 2nd cousin as originally planned (she rejected him resulting in his marriage to Diana), we can consider the cumulative effect of the following four relationships:
(1) Queen Victoria married to her first cousin Albert (no generations removed), (2) Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip being 2nd cousins once removed via King Christian IX and Louis of Hesse, (3) QEII and PP being 3rd cousin via Victoria and Albert, (4) the hypothetical Prince William born of 2nd cousins.
All four of these relationships would still not be equivalent to being born to a first cousin marriage, but our hypothetical Princes William and Harry would probably not be quite as genetically blessed.

But, back to the Pakistani-British. One woman in the article with a daughter suffering from severe genetic disorders complains that she was forced into a first cousin marriage, and both she and her husband are products of first cousin marriages as well. If all four grandparents were products of first cousin marriages, the the sick daughter might as well have been born to half-siblings. By nearly every standard that I know of, a child born to half-siblings is a child of incest. Perhaps not quite as bad as full blooded siblings, or father-daughter incest, but still with an extremely high probability of genetic disease. The biggest problem with the Pakistani immigrants is the multi-generational attachment to the practice.