The Succession
Ferdinand was the second son born to Philip after Don Carlos, whom he had had by his first wife Maria Emanuela of Portugal. But by the time Ferdinand was born in 1571, his older brother, mentally unstable and unfit for government, had been dead for three years.
For Philip the illness and death of his firstborn were a source of great concern in regard to the succession. After Don Carlos, he had not had other sons by either of his following two marriages, but only two daughters from the third wife, Elisabeth of Valois, who had then died in childbirth just like Maria Emanuela (his second wife Mary I of England died childless): Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catherine Michelle.
To thank God for the birth of the long-awaited son, prisoners were released - as commemorated in Titian's painting (the so-called Philip II offering Don Fernando to Victory).
Read more about this topic: Ferdinand, Prince Of Asturias
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