Why did he pick some random French dude to succeed him? Why not pick somebody from Spain?

I just think he could have made a better decision.

The king can pick whoever he wants. He doesn't have follow some stupid rule book.

For geopolitical reasons.

The Habsburgs and the Bourbons intermarried so much that they were pretty much the same family.

You imagine war is avoided if you just skip the legitimate heir and appoint some rando as your successor?
Are you retarded?

>implying this literal retard could even decide what to wear

Bringing "fresh blood" into the monarchy seems like a great way to combat inbreeding.

Yes, I'm sure Louis XIV or Leopold I would care about this.

There must have been at least 1 guy in spain who was reasonably qualified.

You are trolling, right?
The two strongest monarchs in Europe were Louis XIV and Leopold. The heirs of both of them were the strongest claimants to the Spanish throne, which while decadent was still enormous.
Why do you think they would accept anyone that is not their heir on the throne?

It's not about being qualified, ya dink

Look. all I'm saying is, this was the one really important decision that he ever really got to make in his entire reign as King of Spain. He really should have put a lot of thought into it for that reason. You know, thoroughly consider every possible option before making a final decision.

>The king can pick whoever he wants.
No, he can't.
>He doesn't have follow some stupid rule book.
Yes, he does.
By this time, in 1700 and the precedent eras, absolutism as you imagine is a french thing (and even Louis XIV couldn't literally do whatever he wants). Spanish Habsburgs were never absolutist in this sense and in fact they were forced to follow all the retarded medieval rules of the different states and kingdoms. Charles' father lost Portugal and almost Catalonia, Andalusia and Naples for thinking that he could try to change the rule book. Obviously he pussied out.

Right, and he chose his grand-nephew Philippe, which was retrospectively the best decision he could have made given that he's the one who won out.

Tsst

You're retarded and therefore you imagine options that don't exist. Are you american or from some other meme republic that lost any monarchic memory if it ever had one?

And all I'm saying is that you're retarded, it's not just that you can't appoint whoever you feel like to succeed you, but that even if you did how on earth do you imagine it would work out? The claimants would just shrug and say "oh ok", the powers that would benefit from their claimant succeeding would just shrug and say "I guess that's that, too bad"
Whether it's the french or austrian crown or just the actual spanish magnates themselves everybody has something to gain from "their guy" gaining the crown, nobody would accept someone without a legitimate claim unless they were in that someone's camp

His decision didn't matter.
The inheritance would be decided by Louis and Leopold no matter what.

>and even Louis XIV couldn't literally do whatever he wants
People tend to underestimate this. Louis XIV did have constraints on his power.

>Louis XIV did have constraints on his power.
Precisely what I said, although he was probably one of the monarchs with weaker constraints of his time. Or at least his team was great at masking the constraints.

Yes, I know, user. I was agreeing with you.

If Charlie had actually cared about competence and what's best for the empire over blood ties and legal claims, he'd have started by abdicating in favor of a less retarded relative. He didn't and continued to rule in spite of his infirmity and incompetence, so the entire scenario of him picking some meritorious nobody is completely absurd before even getting into the geopolitical considerations.

>Right, and he chose his grand-nephew Philippe, which was retrospectively the best decision he could have made given that he's the one who won out.

So you're saying that Philip was probably the best choice because he was the guy who ultimately ended up winning the war? I suppose that makes sense.

I'm saying it's smarter than choosing some other guy who ends up losing.

I'm inclined to agree that that. But how did Charlie know that Philip would end up winning?

From Spain? Why? This was before nationalism. There wasn't a Spain other than the lands the monarch of Spain presided over.

Are you really this daft?

Was there something about him that made him more likely to win the war than the other guy?

Charles had the power to see the future just a little bit
Some say he's the first mutant, a forefather to the X-men you could say

>Charles had the power to see the future just a little bit

I don't think that's true. But I do feel better now, knowing that he (probably) made the right choice after all.

The Crown is an institution and it is represented by the body of the royal person. To choose someone not of the royal blood would cause the Crown to lose legitimacy.

Political stability IS whats best for the Empire.

He was retarded and didn't govern at all. Phillip II was a stateman leader and a mega bureaucrat in addition, but all Habsburgs after him had a number of people running the government, usually presided by a 'valido', a sort of unofficial prime minister while they dedicated their time to hunting and shit. Sometimes they would intervene in matters of state and remove one valido from another, usually at the insistance of this or that courtisan lobby group.

But since Carlos was retarded he was simply the kind of figurehead that signed papers as he's told. Matter of succesion was decided by the statemen and the councils, particularly the Council of Castille, according to state interests while keeping legitimate bloodline going, which at that point was either Philippe D'Anjou (and geopolitical connection with France) or the Austrian Assburger (same old shit 'Imperial' connection).

Both candidates were as legitimate by blood, but Philippe D'Anjou made way more geopolitical sense and that's why the state apparatus and the Council of Castille made Charlie sign on the dots for Philippe. He was also fond of him though.

He did and it triggered a war.