The Role of Inbreeding in the Extinction of a European Royal Dynasty

The kings of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty (1516–1700) frequently married close relatives in such a way that uncle-niece, first cousins and other consanguineous unions were prevalent in that dynasty. In the historical literature, it has been suggested that inbreeding was a major cause responsible for the extinction of the dynasty when the king Charles II, physically and mentally disabled, died in 1700 and no children were born from his two marriages, but this hypothesis has not been examined from a genetic perspective. In this article, this hypothesis is checked by computing the inbreeding coefficient (F) of the Spanish Habsburg kings from an extended pedigree up to 16 generations in depth and involving more than 3,000 individuals. The inbreeding coefficient of the Spanish Habsburg kings increased strongly along generations from 0.025 for king Philip I, the founder of the dynasty, to 0.254 for Charles II and several members of the dynasty had inbreeding coefficients higher than 0.20. In addition to inbreeding due to unions between close relatives, ancestral inbreeding from multiple remote ancestors makes a substantial contribution to the inbreeding coefficient of most kings. A statistically significant inbreeding depression for survival to 10 years is detected in the progenies of the Spanish Habsburg kings. The results indicate that inbreeding at the level of first cousin (F = 0.0625) exerted an adverse effect on survival of 17.8%±12.3. It is speculated that the simultaneous occurrence in Charles II (F = 0.254) of two different genetic disorders: combined pituitary hormone deficiency and distal renal tubular acidosis, determined by recessive alleles at two unlinked loci, could explain most of the complex clinical profile of this king, including his impotence/infertility which in last instance led to the extinction of the dynasty

Facteurs sévillans au XVIe siècle, d'après des lettres marchandes

B.Bennassar . Facteurs sévillans au XVIe siècle, d'après des lettres marchandes. In: Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations. 12ᵉ année, N. 1, 1957. pp. 60-70

O Tribunal do Santo Ofício da Inquisição: o suspeito é o culpado

Autoridade máxima do Tribunal do Santo Ofício, o inquisidor acumulava as funções de investigador e juiz, encerrando em suas mãos um enorme poder. Os estudos sobre o processo inquisitorial têm ressaltado que o arbítrio do juiz era muito mais amplo nesta justiça do que noutras de sua época, devido ao grande número de questões subjetivas, não resolvidas normativamente ou tratadas de forma ambígua pela legislação. Este trabalho apresenta uma análise do papel do inquisidor, suas atribuições e prerrogativas, em um tribunal que sempre primou por orientar seus processos no sentido de confirmar suas suspeitas iniciais e culpabilizar o réu

Histeria e feminilidade Histeria and femininity

Discute-se a feminilidade nos dias de hoje a partir da abertura discursiva introduzida pelos estudos sobre a histeria, de Freud. A própria definição da clínica psicanalítica é remetida às modalidades de defesa contra a posição feminina e ao que ela veicula de diferença radical, aqui associada à castração. Mediante apresentação de uma "nota" clínica, aborda-se a feminilidade frente à inscrição e à relação dos sexos, evidenciando-se a função simbólica de uma mãe. A posição feminina na transmissão é tratada pelo viés da nomeação. A pesquisa clínica sobre a histeria indica que a posição feminina submetida à castração simbólica revela-se condição da flexão do nome e produção de diferença.<br>The article discusses femininity in the contemporary world from the point of view of Freud's Studies on Histeria. The definition of the psychoanalytic clinical practice itself is referred to the modes of defense against the feminine position and the radical difference it imparts. The latter here is associated to castration. Using the presentation of a clinical "note", it approaches femininity in face of both inscription and sexual relations and highlights the symbolic function of the mother. The feminine position in transmission is treated through nomination. The clinical research on histeria indicates that the feminine position under symbolic castration reveals the conditions for the utterance of the name and for the production of difference