Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias [SEP] father
Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias
Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias (Felipe Próspero José Francisco Domingo Ignacio Antonio Buenaventura Diego Miguel Luis Alfonso Isidro Ramón Víctor; 28 November 1657 1 November 1661) was the first son of Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria to survive infancy. Philip IV had no male heir since the death of Balthasar Charles, his son by his first wife, Elisabeth of France, eleven years before, and as Spain's strength continued to ebb the issue of succession had become a matter of fervent
in 1658, Philip Prospero was sworn in as heir of his father and Prince of Asturias. Nevertheless, he did not enjoy good health and constantly had to carry an amulet with him, an amulet which is present in Velázquez's painting of him.
By 1659 the prime ministers of France and Spain had been negotiating an end to their countries' hostilities for two years; now that Spain had a male heir she could agree to consolidate the peace by marrying the king's eldest child Maria Theresa to the French king Louis