While I'm on this genetics role here, I stumbled across this article about the Spanish line of the Hapsburgs: Those Inbreeding Hapsburgs What intrigues me here is yet another case, perhaps the most famous, of a European royal house whose family tree is very well-known, and thus, whose history provides ready material for comparative historical-genetic research, and in this case, the research has certainly been done. The question that the Hapsburgs, and in particular the Spanish branch of the House, pose, is this: why would such a family have it in their heads to inbreed so much, when … [Read more...]