been left by the will of Charles II. of Spain. He was proclaimed at
Vienna on the 19th of September 1703, and made his way to Spain by the
Low Countries, England and Lisbon, remaining in Spain till 1711, mostly
in Catalonia, where the Habsburg party was strong. Although he had a
certain tenacity of purpose, which he showed in later life, he displayed
none of the qualities required in a prince who had to gain his throne by
the sword (see SPANISH SUCCESSION, WAR OF). He was so afraid of
appearing to be ruled by a favourite that he would not take good advice,
but was easily earwigged by flatterers who played on his weakness for
appearing independent. In 1708 he was married at Barcelona to Elizabeth
Christina of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1691-1750), a Lutheran princess who
was persuaded to accept Roman Catholicism by the assurances of
Protestant divines and of the philosopher Leibnitz, that she could
always give an Evangelical meaning to Catholic ceremonies. On the death
of his elder brother Joseph I. on the 17th of April 1711, Charles
inherited the hereditary possessions of the house of Habsburg, and their
claims on the Empire. The death of Joseph without male issue had been
foreseen, and Charles had at one time been prepared to give up Spain and
the Indies on condition that he was allowed to retain Naples, Sicily and
the Milanese. But when the case arose, his natural obstinacy led him to
declare that he would not think of surrendering any of the rights of his
family. It was with great difficulty that he was persuaded to leave
Spain, months after the death of his brother (on the 27th of September
1711). Only the emphatic refusal of the European powers to tolerate the
reconstruction of the empire of Charles V. forced him to give a sullen
submission to necessity. He abandoned Spain and was crowned emperor in
December 1711, but for a long time he would not recognize Philip V. It
is to his honour that he was very reluctant to desert the Catalans who
had fought for his cause. Some of their chiefs followed him to Vienna,
and their advice had an unfortunate influence on his mind. They almost
succeeded in arousing his suspicions of the loyalty of Prince Eugene at
the very moment when the prince's splendid victories over the Turks had
led to the peace of Passarowitz on the 28th of July 1718, and a great
extension of the Austrian dominions eastward. Charles showed an
enlightened, though not always successful, interest in the commercial