It's no secret that West Virginia is notorious for its inbreeding, at least in the olden days. If you were a West Virginian in the 1800s, it probably wasn't uncommon for your parents to be first cousins. I think that problem has mostly been sorted out, but I haven't been to West VA since 1999, and I was at a hotel then, so I really can't say for sure. But, I digress.
That is one thing that West Virginia and modern historic Europe (and probably earlier too) have in common! The inbreeding was LUDICROUS! Monarchs wanted to ensure that the crown stayed in the family, so they set up their kids with their cousins from distant ruling kingdoms. The worst case of this was seen in Charles (or Carlos, if you will) II of Spain.
Poor Chuck. He was a sad creature. Charles was of the House of Hapsburg, an ancient ruling family of Europe. There were two groups of Hapsburgs, the Spanish and the Austrian. Charles II of Spain was of the Spanish Hapsburgs. (duh) He was born November 6, 1661 and ascended to the throne at age four. His family tree is more of a family wreath. See for yourself. (image courtesy of scienceblogs.com)
The Hapsburg family intermarried to keep the crown within its family.
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