Maria Theresa of Austria (1638-1683)

Monogram.

Maria Teresa of Austria and Bourbon (French: Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche) (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, September 10, 1638-Versailles, July 30, 1683), Infanta of Spain and Portugal and, when she married Louis XIV, queen consort of France from 1660 until her death.

Biography

María Teresa de Habsburgo y Borbón was the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and his first wife Princess Isabella of France, she was the granddaughter of King Henry IV of France on her mother's side, she was the sister of King Charles II of Spain and Margarita Teresa of Austria.

Marriage

On June 9, 1660, she married Louis XIV of France, the so-called Sun King, her cousin-brother by double line, both on her father's and mother's sides. The delivery of her as the king's fiancée was formalized in Irún (Isla de los Faisanes), in an act whose preparation included the participation of Velázquez.

The wedding with the Sun King did not prevent France from attacking Spain in Flanders during the War of Return, nor in the Caribbean, supporting the pirates (filibusters and buccaneers) from the Isla de la Tortuga (French pirate base, where they were supplied with gunpowder, ammunition, etc.), coming to attack the western part of Hispaniola in French hands (Haiti), with official support until 1665, which was later reestablished.

Queen Maria Theresa led a life of isolation and sadness throughout her reign. Except for a brief regency in 1672, during the king's campaign against Holland, she did not develop any political activity.

She bore six children to the king, of whom only Luis, the so-called "Great Dauphin," survived her. A devastating illness ended her life in 1683, when she was only 44 years old.

Grandmother of the first Bourbon King of Spain

Years later his grandson, Felipe de Francia, Duke of Anjou, second son of the Great Dauphin, would be proclaimed King of Spain with the name of Felipe V as successor of Carlos II, Maria Teresa's younger half-brother, for which reason the dynastic rights of the current Spanish royal family pass through those of its predecessor and matriarch, the only daughter of King Felipe IV to currently have descendants.

Offspring

Of the six children she had with King Louis XIV of France, only the eldest, Louis, reached adulthood, probably because of consanguinity:

1. Louis de France (1661-1711), dolphin of France; known as the Great Dolphin or "Monseigneur" and father of Luis de France, Felipe V de España and Carlos de Francia;
2. Ana Isabel de France (18 November-30 December 1662);
3. Maria Ana de France (16 November-26 December 1664);
4. María Teresa de France (2 January 1667-1 March 1672);
5. Felipe Carlos de France (5 August 1668-10 July 1671), Duke of Anjou;
6. Luis Francisco de France (14 June-4 November 1672) duke de Anjou.

There is also a legend that says that the queen supposedly had a daughter with Nabo, her page of African origin. The girl, named Louise Marie Thérèse, would be hidden in a convent. Although she did exist and was known as The Black Nun of Moret, it is most likely that she was the king's daughter or even goddaughter.

Family tree

Family tree of the Infant Mary Teresa of Austria.

Titles

Real Titles
Predecessor: Ana de France	Queen Consort of France and Navarra 1660-1683	Successed by: María Leszczyńska
Predecessor: Ana de France (in 1651)	Regent de France y Navarra 1672 on behalf of her husband Louis XIV	Successed by: Philip II of Orleans (in 1715)