On 7 March 1632, Balthasar Carlos was sworn in before the Nobility of Castile as "His Majesty's Heir" and "Prince of these kingdoms of Castile and Leon, and others that are subject to these Crowns, united and incorporated", in a ceremony held at the Monastery of San Jerónimo el Real of Madrid.[4]
Queen Elisabeth played a significant role in Balthasar Charles's upbringing and education, encouraging the prince to develop interests in music and theatre.[12] She adored her son,[7] and he was "devotedly attached" to his mother.[13] She fell ill in October 1644 and would not allow Balthasar Charles or his sister, Maria Theresa, to approach her on her deathbed, stating, "There are plenty of Queens for Spain, but Princes and Princesses are rare".[14] She died a day later, on 6 October 1644.[15]
After the Catalan revolt of 1640, Philip IV tried to win over Aragon to raise money and men for the new war front. One of the steps taken towards this end was to bring Balthasar Charles to be sworn as Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Aragón.[19] The oath was held on 20 August 1645, when the Prince was fifteen years old, in the Cathedral of the Savior, Zaragoza,[20] and he was titled as Prince of Gerona, Governor General of Aragon, Duke of Montblanc, Count of Cervera and Lord of the City of Balaguer. Shortly after, on 13 November 1645, Balthasar Charles was also sworn as heir to the Kingdom of Valencia.[21]
In April 1646, Philip IV, wanting his son to be sworn in as heir apparent to the throne of Navarre, as he had been in Aragon the previous year, moved with him from Madrid to Pamplona,[22] where, after recognizing the privileges of the kingdom of Navarre, the ceremony was solemnly celebrated on 3 May 1646.[23]
Death
After the ceremony, the royal family moved to Zaragoza. On October 5, the eve of second anniversary of the death of Queen Elisabeth, Philip IV and Balthasar Charles attended Vespers in her memory.[24] The prince fell ill that evening and stayed in bed on October 6 while the king attended the funeral.[23] On October 7, the king wrote to his spiritual advisor, Sister Maria de Agreda, that the prince was suffering from severe fever and delirium, believed to be symptoms of smallpox.[25] The disease spread rapidly, and two days later the Archbishop of Saragossa administered the Last Sacraments.[26]
The Prince Balthasar Charles died on 9 October 1646, a few days before his seventeenth birthday.[27] His remains were kept in Zaragoza until October 16, when they were transferred to the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.[28]
Because Philip IV was left without a son or a wife and had only one legitimate daughter, Balthasar Charles's death was "a shattering blow to the monarchy".[15] The king, facing mounting pressure to remarry for the sake of securing a male heir, consented to a second marriage with his son's former bride-to-be, Mariana of Austria.[29]
Moreover, many authors dedicated their work to the young prince.[32] Examples include Diego de Saavedra Fajardo's most famous work, Idea of a Christian Political Prince represented in a Hundred Enterprises (1640), Cristóbal de Benavente y Benavides's Warnings for kings, princes and ambassadors (1643), and Baltasar Gracián'sThe Discreet (1646).[33]
^Green, Mary Anne Everett (1857). Lives of the Princesses of England. Vol. 6. London. p. 108. Retrieved 1 December 2023. ...the princess, in whom at an early age the love of Protestant principles was firmly implanted, expressed strong reluctance to be united to any but a Protestant prince.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Ayan, Carmen Sanz. "Baltasar Carlos de Austria". Real Academia de la Historia (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 December 2023.
Sources
Alonso de la Higuera, Gloria (2013). "El ceremonial de la muerte en la monarquía hispánica. El príncipe don Baltasar Carlos de Austria (1629-1646)". In Serrano, Eliseo (ed.). De la tierra al cielo. Líneas recientes de investigación en Historia Moderna ["From Earth to Heaven. Recent Lines of Research in Modern History] (PDF) (in Spanish). Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Católico. pp. 585–599. ISBN978-84-9911-234-3.
Franganillo, Alejandra (2014). "The Education of an Heir to the Throne: Isabel de Borbón and Her Influence on Prince Baltasar Carlos". In Coolidge, Grace (ed.). The Formation of the Child in Early Modern Spain. Ashgate. pp. 143–163.
The generations indicate descent from Carlos I, under whom the crowns of Castile and Aragon were united, forming the Kingdom of Spain. Previously, the title Infante had been largely used in the different realms.
Generations are numbered by male-line descent from the first archdukes. Later generations are included although Austrian titles of nobility were abolished in 1919.
* also an infante of Castile and León, Aragon, Sicily and Naples,§ also an infante of Spain and an archduke of Austria,# also an infante of Spain,‡ also an imperial prince of Brazil,¶ also a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke in Saxony,◙ also a prince of Braganza,¤ title removed in 1920 as their parents' marriage was deemed undynastic,ƒ claimant infante
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