The reason for my asking is that some time ago, somebody noted that practically all the European royals (regardless of religion), excepting those of Montenegro, descend from the Catholic monarchs of Spain (i.e. Queen Isabel I of Castile and King Fernando II of Aragon), mostly through their second daughter ("Juana la Loca"). I was surprised to see, among them, Czar Peter I ("The Great") of Russia and King Maximilian I of Bavaria.
Did the RECONQUISTA monarchs perhaps descend from the famous French crusader king? I know that his mother (Queen Blanche) was born Infanta Blanca of Castile. But I'm not sure if the traffic of royal marriages went in the opposite direction, so that French royals married into the Spanish dynasties, in time for King Saint Louis IX would show up in their ancestries.
It has been said that King Maximilian II of Bavaria (while crown prince) actually wanted to name his firstborn Otto (presumably after his younger brother, who got elected as king of Greece), not Ludwig. But his son happened to share the same birthday as his grandfather, who persuaded him otherwise. Evidently August 25 was also the anniversary of the death of their French medieval namesake, arguably the most famous royal saint of all time.
It has also been said that "Mad" King Ludwig II (also known as the "Swan King") -- arguably the most famous insane monarch in European royal history -- was fascinated by another French namesake, the so-called "Sun King" Louis XIV. In fact, he had the splendor of the royal court of Versailles in mind, when designing his own castles and palaces in Bavaria.
Just what are the genealogical connections between the French and German royals? I would imagine there to be quite a few, when one is focusing on the Catholic dynasties of Germany -- notwithstanding the fact that the first three kings of Bavaria all married Protestant princesses.
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