It had been largely accepted that "Charles the Sufferer", the feeble and sickly King of Spain, would die without an heir. The nearest claimants to the Spanish Crown were the king's cousins; the Bourbon King of France, Louis XIV, and the Austrian Habsburg Leopold I, the Holy Roman Emperor. Married to Charles's Sisters, both had a strong claim. With the succession storm brewing Europe's monarchs entered into agreements in order to place themselves in favorable positions at the moment of Charles's death. Some aligning themselves with the house of Bourbon, others with that of Habsburg. Dur: 23 mins  File: .mp3