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Maria Theresa of Spain (French: Marie Thérèse) (September 10, 1638 – July 30, 1683) was the Queen consort of France as wife of Louis XIV of France. She was the mother of the Grand Dauphin. In Spain, her name was "Infanta María Teresa de Austria". This was modified, in France, to "Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche". Another Spanish princess, her paternal aunt and mother-in-law, Anne of Austria, Queen of France, also used the Austrian archducal title, then still affected by the Spanish Habsburgs, denoting the origins of the family.
[edit] Early lifeInfanta María Teresa de Austria was born at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial as the daughter of Philip IV, King of Spain and his Queen consort, Élisabeth de France, Queen of Spain. She thus combined the blood of Philip III, King of Spain and Margarita of Austria, Queen of Spain, on her father's side, and that of Henri IV and Marie de' Medici, King and Queen of France, on her mother's side. In his turn, Philip III was the son of Philip II of Spain and Anna of Austria who was, herself, a daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain. Philip II and Maria of Spain were siblings, being both children of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Isabella of Portugal. Maria Theresa, therefore, like many Habsburgs, was the product of years and generations of royal intermarriage between cousins. Born in Spain, Maria Theresa could inherit the vast Spanish empire since there was no restriction in Spanish succession law to the accession of a Queen Regnant (unlike in France with the Salic Law). While it has been said that she would have made a very good Queen in Spain, Maria Theresa gained the reputation of being rather dull and simple as the Queen of France. [edit] In France[edit] MarriageIn 1659, as the war with France began to wind down, a union between the two Royal Families, of Spain and of France, was proposed as a means to secure peace. Such a prospect was intensely enticing to Anne of Austria, mother of Louis XIV and aunt of Maria Theresa, who desired an end to hostilities between her native country, Spain, and her adopted one, France, and who hoped this to come by her niece becoming her daughter-in-law.[1]. However, Spanish hesitation and procrastination led to a scheme in which Jules Cardinal Mazarin, the First Minister of France, pretended to seek a marriage for his master with Margaret of Savoy. When Philip IV of Spain heard of the meeting at Lyon between the Houses of France and Savoy, he reputedly exclaimed of the Franco-Savoyard union that "it cannot be, and will not be". Philip then sent a special envoy to the French Court to open negotiations for peace and a royal marriage. The negotiations for the marriage contract were intense. Eager to prevent a union of the two countries or crowns, especially one in which Spain would be subservient to France, the diplomats sought to include a renunciation clause which would deprieve Maria Theresa and her children of any rights to the Spanish succession. This was eventually done, but the renunciation and its validity was, by the skill of Mazarin and his French diplomats, made conditional upon the payment of a large dowry. As it turned out, the impoverished and bankrupt Spain after decades of war was unable to pay such a dowry, and France never received the agreed sum of 500,000 écus.[2] The young couple eventually married on June 9, 1660. Marie-Thérèse's father, Philip IV, and the entire Spanish court accompanied the bride to the Isle of Pheasants in the Bidassoa, where Louis and his court met her. Marie-Thérèse and Louis were double first-cousins. His father was Louis XIII of France, who was the brother of her mother Elisabeth of Bourbon while her father, Philip IV of Spain, was brother to Anne of Austria, his mother. [edit] Court Life
Marie-Thérèse was short and had the Habsburg lip, the unfortunate result of generations of inbreeding. While she did not suffer from the insanity or physical handicaps of some of her relatives, such as her brother Charles II of Spain, her personality had a childlike simplicity to it.[3]. This was aggravated by her never learning to speak the French language very well, and the continual irritation to those at Court caused by her Spanish accent. Days were often spent in prayer or pilgrammage with her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law was also her Spanish aunt, which meant that she spent most of her time conversing in her native tongue. She spent much of her free time playing cards and gambling, as Marie-Thérèse had no interest in politics or literature. Consequently, she was viewed as not fully playing the part of Queen designated to her by her marriage. Louis was faithful to his wife for the first year of their marriage, even going so far as to command the Grand Maréchal du Logis that "the Queen and himself were never to be set apart, no matter how small the house in which they might be lodging"[4]., but the new Queen's amiability and her undoubted virtues failed to secure her husband's regard and affection. While all Paris gloried in the good-looks of the King, Marie-Thérèse continued to put on weight with her delight in hot chocolate and to withdraw into her circle of dwarfs. It seemed Marie-Thérèse was always the last to know that her husband had found a new mistress. Despite this neglect, it is said that the King would perform his conjugal duties every night. Nonetheless, Louis' taking Louise de La Vallière as his first official mistress, caused the Queen much hurt. In later years, Louise would make a public apology for her wrongs against the Queen. Marie-Therese in her kindly fashion raised her from the floor, kissed her on the forehead and said that she had been forgiven long ago. [5] However, Marie-Thérèse grew more docile as time went by and the King continued and increased his romantic adventures. She tolerated Madame de Montespan, perhaps because La Montespan's malicious wit left her lost and baffled, but Marie-Thérèse was also too pious and too adoring of her husband to openly resent the position in which she was placed by his avowed infidelities. Moreover, in spite of his blatant unfaithfulness, he ensured that she was treated with the utmost respect befitting her position as Queen and his wife and did indeed reprimand La Montespan when she crossed the line. Eventually, the Queen acted with dignity and did not create scenes at Court. In return, the King left her to her own devices, with her chocolate, Spanish maids and collection of dwarfs. During this period, the religious Madame de Maintenon grew in favour and began to reign over the King's mind and affections. Rather than submitting to his advances and becoming his Maîtresse-en-titre, she encouraged the King to bestow more attention on his long-neglected wife, a gracious act which Marie-Thérèse repaid by lavishing kindness on the new favourite. Marie-Thérèse played little part in political affairs except for the years (1667, 1672, and 1678) in which she acted as Regent during Louis XIV's absence on campaigns on the frontier. [edit] DeathOn 30 July 1683 at Versailles, Marie-Thérèse died, not without suspicion of foul play on the part of her doctors. There is, however, no real proof that the Queen was poisoned. The accepted modern belief is that her death was caused by cancer, stemming from a large tumor under her arm. Her death caused some sadness for the King, and was quoted as saying "This is the first trouble she has ever given me".[6] Of her six children only one survived her, the Dauphin Louis, who died in 1711. Marie-Thérèse's grandson, Philippe, duc d'Anjou, would eventually come to inherit her rights to the Spanish Throne, after the death of her mentally unstable half-brother Charles II of Spain. He acceded to that throne in 1700. It is through him that her descendants now reign over Spain. [edit] Quotes
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[edit] IssueChildren of Maria Theresa of Spain
[edit] AncestorsAncestors of Maria Theresa of Spain
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