War of Spanish Succession in the context of "Charles II of Spain"

Slavery in the Spanish American viceroyalties included the enslavement, forced labor and peonage of indigenous peoples, Africans, and Asians from the late 15th to late 19th century, and its aftereffects in the 20th and 21st centuries. The economic and social institution of slavery existed throughout the Spanish Empire, including Spain itself. Initially, indigenous people were subjected to the encomienda system until the 1543 New Laws that prohibited it. This was replaced with the repartimiento system. Africans were also transported to the Americas for their labor under the race-based system of chattel slavery. Later, Southeast Asian people were brought to the Americas under forms of indenture and peonage to provide cheap labor to replace enslaved Africans.

People had been enslaved in what is now Spain since the times of the Roman Empire. Conquistadors were awarded with indigenous forced labor and tribute for participating in the conquest of Americas, known as encomiendas. Following the collapse of indigenous populations in the Americas, the Spanish restricted the forced labor of Native Americans with the Laws of Burgos of 1512 and the New Laws of 1542. Instead, the Spanish increasingly utilized enslaved people from West and Central Africa for labor on commercial plantations, as well as urban slavery in households, religious institutions, textile workshops (obrajes), and other venues. As the Crown barred Spaniards from directly participating in the Atlantic slave trade, the right to export slaves (the Asiento de Negros) was a major foreign policy objective of other European powers, sparking numerous European wars such as the War of Spanish Succession and the War of Jenkins' Ear. Spanish colonies ultimately received around 22% of all the Africans delivered to American shores. Towards the end of the Atlantic slave trade, Asian migrant workers (chinos and coolies) in colonial Mexico and Cuba were subjected to peonage and harsh labor under exploitative contracts of indenture.

Prince George Louis of Hessen-Darmstadt (25 April 1669 – 13 September 1705) was a Field Marshal in the Austrian army. He is known for his career in Habsburg Spain, as Viceroy of Catalonia (1698–1701), head of the Austrian army in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1705) and governor of Gibraltar in 1704. He was killed during the Siege of Barcelona the following year. He was known in Spanish as Jorge de Darmstadt and in Catalan as Jordi Darmstadt.

The House of Kleist is the name of an old and distinguished Prussian noble family, originating in Pomerania, whose members obtained many important military and administrative positions within the Kingdom of Prussia and later in the German Empire. Members of the family served as officers in Prussian and German conflicts including the War of Spanish Succession, War of the Austrian Succession, Seven Years' War, Napoleonic Wars, World War I and World War II.

The poet and author Heinrich von Kleist is the most famous member of the family.

Francisco Fernández de la Cueva y Fernández de la Cueva, (Genoa, Italy, 17 November 1666 – Madrid, Spain, 28 June 1724) was the 10th Duke of Alburquerque, a Grandee of Spain, a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece from 1707, and Viceroy of New Spain from 27 November 1702 to 13 November 1710. He was viceroy during the War of Spanish Succession and his tenure as Viceroy of New Spain is commemorated in the namesake of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He was the nephew of Francisco IV Fernández de la Cueva – Colonna, (* Barcelona, 1618/1619 – † Madrid (Palacio Real) 27 March 1676), 8th Duque de Alburquerque and many other lesser titles, also a Viceroy of New Spain, (1653–1660), and Viceroy of Sicily, (1667–1670), and the son of the 9th Duke of Alburquerque, and many other lesser titles, the cadet brother of the 8th Duke, and inheritor of the titles, Melchor Fernández de la Cueva (es; fr; it) (* Madrid, 2 March 1625 – † Madrid 12 October 1686).

Elisabeth of France, also known as Isabel or Elisabeth of Bourbon (22 November 1602 – 6 October 1644) was Queen of Spain from 1621 to her death and Queen of Portugal from 1621 to 1640, as the first spouse of King Philip IV & III. She served as regent of Spain during the Catalan Revolt in 1640–42 and 1643–44. As the mother of the Queen of France Maria Theresa, wife of Louis XIV, she was the great-grandmother of the Duke of Anjou, who became king of Spain as Philip V. Through her daughter, Elisabeth is the progenitor of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon, which still rules over Spain to this day, as all future kings of Spain after the War of Spanish Succession descend from her. She's also the ancestor of the current Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Guillaume V, through both the Bourbon-Parma collateral branch of the Spanish royal family and the main branch of Bourbon dynasty.