April 29, 1629: Louis XIII of France Appoints Cardinal Richelieu as Chief Minister of France

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Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, Chief Minister of France, Felipe IV of Spain, Gaston d'Orléans, House of Bourbon, King Louis XIII of France and Navarre, Marie de' Medici

Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (September 9, 1585 – December 4, 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as l’Éminence rouge, or “the Red Eminence”, a term derived from the title “Eminence” applied to cardinals, and the red robes they customarily wore.

In 1606 Henri IV nominated Richelieu to become Bishop of Luçon. As Richelieu had not yet reached the canonical minimum age, it was necessary that he journey to Rome for a special dispensation from Pope Paul V. This secured, Richelieu was consecrated bishop in April 1607. Soon after he returned to his diocese in 1608, Richelieu was heralded as a reformer. He became the first bishop in France to implement the institutional reforms prescribed by the Council of Trent between 1545 and 1563.

Richelieu advanced politically by faithfully serving the Queen-Mother’s favourite, Concino Concini, the most powerful minister in the kingdom. In 1616, Richelieu was made Secretary of State, and was given responsibility for foreign affairs. Like Concini, the Bishop was one of the closest advisors of Louis XIII’s mother, Marie de Médicis.

Cardinal Richelieu

The Queen had become Regent of France when the nine-year-old Louis ascended the throne; although her son reached the legal age of majority in 1614, she remained the effective ruler of the realm. However, her policies, and those of Concini, proved unpopular with many in France. As a result, both Marie and Concini became the targets of intrigues at court; their most powerful enemy was Charles de Luynes.

In April 1617, in a plot arranged by Luynes, Louis XIII ordered that Concini be arrested, and killed should he resist; Concini was consequently assassinated, and Marie de Médicis overthrown. His patron having died, Richelieu also lost power; he was dismissed as Secretary of State, and was removed from the court. In 1618, the King, still suspicious of the Bishop of Luçon, banished him to Avignon. There, Richelieu spent most of his time writing; he composed a catechism entitled L’Instruction du chrétien.

In 1619, Marie de Médicis escaped from her confinement in the Château de Blois, becoming the titular leader of an aristocratic rebellion. The King and the duc de Luynes recalled Richelieu, believing that he would be able to reason with the Queen.

Richelieu was successful in this endeavour, mediating between her and her son. Complex negotiations bore fruit when the Treaty of Angoulême was ratified; Marie de Médicis was given complete freedom, but would remain at peace with the King. The Queen-Mother was also restored to the royal council.

Richelieu continued to rise in both the Catholic Church and French government, becoming a cardinal in 1622, and Chief minister to Louis XIII of France on April 29, 1624. He retained this office until his death in 1642, when he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin, whose career he had fostered.

Cardinal Richelieu played a major role in Louis XIII’s reign from 1624, determining France’s direction over the course of the next eighteen years. As a result of Richelieu’s work, Louis XIII became one of the first examples of an absolute monarch.

Under Louis XIII and Richelieu, the crown successfully intervened in the Thirty Years’ War against the Habsburgs, managed to keep the French nobility in line, and retracted the political and military privileges granted to the Huguenots by Henri IV (while maintaining their religious freedoms). Louis XIII successfully led the important Siege of La Rochelle. In addition, Louis had the port of Le Havre modernised, and he built a powerful navy.

Richelieu sought to consolidate royal power and by restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong, centralized state. In foreign policy, his primary objective was to check the power of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain and Austria, and ensure French dominance in the Thirty Years’ War that engulfed Europe.

On November 26, 1629, he was created duc de Richelieu and a Peer of France. In the next year, Richelieu’s position was seriously threatened by his former patron, Marie de Médicis. Marie believed that the Cardinal had robbed her of her political influence; thus, she demanded that her son dismiss the chief minister.

Louis XIII was not, at first, averse to such a course of action, as he personally disliked Richelieu. Despite this, the persuasive statesman was able to secure the king as an ally against his own mother. On November 11, 1630, Marie de Médicis and the King’s brother, Gaston, duc d’Orléans, secured the King’s agreement for the dismissal.

Richelieu, however, was aware of the plan, and quickly convinced the King to repent. This day, known as the Day of the Dupes, was the only one on which Louis XIII took a step toward dismissing his minister. Thereafter, the King was unwavering in his political support for him.

Meanwhile, Marie de Médicis was exiled to Compiègne. Both Marie and the duc d’Orléans continued to conspire against Richelieu, but their schemes came to nothing. The nobility also remained powerless.

The only important rising was that of Henri, duc de Montmorency in 1632; Richelieu, ruthless in suppressing opposition, ordered the duke’s execution. In 1634, the Cardinal had one of his outspoken critics, Urbain Grandier, burned at the stake in the Loudun affair. These and other harsh measures were orchestrated by Richelieu to intimidate his enemies.

Despite suppressing French Protestants, he made alliances with Protestant states like the Kingdom of England and the Dutch Republic to achieve his goals. Though he was a powerful political figure, events such as the Day of the Dupes, or Journée des Dupes, show this power was still dependent on the king’s confidence.

An alumnus of the University of Paris and headmaster of the College of Sorbonne, he renovated and extended the institution. He was famous for his patronage of the arts, and founded the Académie Française, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language.

King Louis XIII of France and Navarre

As an advocate for Samuel de Champlain and New France, he founded the Compagnie des Cent-Associés; he also negotiated the 1632 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, under which Quebec City returned to French rule after its loss in 1629.

He is also known for being the inventor of the table knife. He was bothered by the bad mannerisms that sharp knives brought to the dining table, so in 1637 he ordered that all of the knives on his dining table have their blades dulled and their tips rounded. The design quickly spread and was popularized all around France and other countries.

Towards the end of his life, Richelieu alienated many people, including Pope Urban VIII. Richelieu was displeased by the Pope’s refusal to name him the papal legate in France; in turn, the Pope did not approve of the administration of the French church, or of French foreign policy. However, the conflict was largely resolved when the Pope granted a cardinalate to Jules Mazarin, one of Richelieu’s foremost political allies, in 1641. Despite troubled relations with the Roman Catholic Church, Richelieu did not support the complete repudiation of papal authority in France, as was advocated by the Gallicanists.

As he neared death, Richelieu faced a plot that threatened to remove him from power. The cardinal had introduced a young man named Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, marquis de Cinq-Mars to Louis XIII’s court. The Cardinal had been a friend of Cinq-Mars’s father. More importantly, Richelieu hoped that Cinq-Mars would become Louis’s favourite, so that he could indirectly exercise greater influence over the monarch’s decisions. Cinq-Mars had become the royal favourite by 1639, but, contrary to Cardinal Richelieu’s belief, he was not easy to control.

The young marquis realized that Richelieu would not permit him to gain political power. In 1641, he participated in the comte de Soissons’s failed conspiracy against Richelieu, but was not discovered. Then, the following year, he schemed with leading nobles (including the King’s brother, the duc d’Orléans) to raise a rebellion; he also signed a secret agreement with the King Felipe IV of Spain, who promised to aid the rebels. Richelieu’s spy service, however, discovered the plot, and the Cardinal received a copy of the treaty. Cinq-Mars was promptly arrested and executed; although Louis approved the use of capital punishment, he grew more distant from Richelieu as a result.

Painting by Philippe de Champaigne showing Cardinal Richelieu on his deathbed
However, Richelieu was now dying. For many years he had suffered from recurrent fevers (possibly malaria), strangury, intestinal tuberculosis with fistula, and migraine. Now his right arm was suppurating with tubercular osteitis, and he coughed blood (after his death, his lungs were found to have extensive cavities and caseous necrosis). His doctors continued to bleed him frequently, further weakening him. As he felt his death approaching, he named Mazarin, one of his most faithful followers, to succeed him as chief minister to the King.

Richelieu died on December 4, 1642, aged 57. His body was embalmed and interred at the church of the Sorbonne. During the French Revolution, the corpse was removed from its tomb, and the mummified front of his head, having been removed and replaced during the original embalming process, was stolen. It ended up in the possession of Nicholas Armez of Brittany by 1796, and he occasionally exhibited the well-preserved face.

His nephew, Louis-Philippe Armez, inherited it and also occasionally exhibited it and lent it out for study. In 1866, Napoleon III persuaded Armez to return the face to the government for re-interment with the rest of Richelieu’s body. An investigation of subsidence of the church floor enabled the head to be photographed in 1895.

Richelieu has frequently been depicted in popular fiction, principally as the lead villain in Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 novel The Three Musketeers and its numerous film adaptations.

April 13, 1747: Birth of Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

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Charles Philippe, Count of Artois, Duke of Orleans, French Revolution, House of Bourbon, House of Orléans, July Revolution, King Louis Philippe of the French, Louis Philippe II, Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre, Philippe Égalité, Reign of Terror

Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (April 13, 1747 – November 6, 1793), was a major French noble who supported the French Revolution.

Louis Philippe II was born at the Château de Saint-Cloud to Louis Philippe I, Duke of Chartres, and Louise Henriette de Bourbon. He was titled Duke of Montpensier at birth. Louis Philippe was a member of the House of Orléans, a cadet branch of the French royal family. His mother came from the House of Bourbon-Condé.

Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

When his grandfather Louis, Duke of Orléans, died in 1752, his father became the new Duke of Orléans and Louis Philippe II became Duke of Chartres. When his father died in 1785, he became Duke of Orléans and First Prince of the Blood. He was styled as Serene Highness. This put him in line for the succession to the throne immediately after Charles Philippe, Count of Artois, the youngest brother of Louis XVI.

On June 6, 1769, Louis Philippe married Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, Duchess of Orléans (1753 –1821), was the daughter of his cousin Louis Jean de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre and Princess Maria Teresa d’Este, a Princess of Modena. Her father the The were wed at the chapel of the Palace of Versailles. Her father was one of the richest men in France.

Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre

Since it was certain that his wife would become the richest woman in France upon the death of her father, Louis Philippe was able to play a political role in court equal to that of his great-grandfather Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who had been the Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV.

Unlike her husband, Louise Marie Adélaïde the Duchess of Orléans did not support the Revolution. She was a devout Catholic who supported keeping the monarchy in France, as well as following the orders of Pope Pius VI. This was the causes of one of the rifts of the couple, as their first son, Louis Philippe, the future “King of the French”, followed his father’s footsteps and joined the Jacobin faction.

During the first few months of their marriage, the couple appeared devoted to each other, but the Duke went back to the life of libertinage he had led before his marriage. The Duke was a well-known womanizer and, like several of his ancestors, such as Louis XIV and Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, had several illegitimate children.

In 1792, during the Revolution, Louis Philippe II changed his name to Philippe Égalité. He was a cousin of King Louis XVI. He actively supported the Revolution of 1789, and was a strong advocate for the elimination of the present absolute monarchy in favor of a constitutional monarchy.

Louis Philippe voted for the death of Louis XVI. The King was especially shocked by the news, stating:

“It really pains me to see that Monsieur d’Orléans, my kinsman, voted for my death.”

Death

On April 1, 1793, a decree was voted for within the Convention, including Égalité’s vote, that condemned anyone with “strong presumptions of complicity with the enemies of Liberty.”

At the time, Philippe Égalité’s son, Louis Philippe, who was a general in the French army, joined General Dumouriez in a plot to visit the Austrians, who were an enemy of France.

Although there was no evidence that convicted Égalité himself of treason, the simple relationship that his son had with Dumouriez, a traitor in the eyes of the Convention, was enough to get him and Louis Charles, Count of Beaujolais (son of Philippe Égalité and the younger brother of King Louis-Philippe I of the French) arrested on April 4, 1793, and the other members of the Bourbon family still in France on the days after.

Philippe Égalité spent several months incarcerated at Fort Saint-Jean in Marseille until he was sent back to Paris. On November 2, 1793, he was imprisoned at the Conciergerie. Tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal on November 6, he was sentenced to death, and guillotined the same day.

His son, Louis Philippe, became King of the French after the July Revolution of 1830. After Louis Philippe II, the term Orléanist came to be attached to the movement in France that favored a constitutional monarchy.

Happy Birthday to His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain

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House of Bourbon, Infanta Leonor, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Kingdom of Spain, Princess of Astuiras, Queen Sofia of Spain

Felipe VI (Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is the King of Spain. He ascended the throne on June 19, 2014 upon the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos I.

His mother is Queen Sofía, born Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark, she is the first child of King Paul of Greece and Frederica of Hanover. King Felipe VI has two elder sisters, Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, and Infanta Cristina.

His full baptismal name, Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos, consists of the names of the first Bourbon king of Spain (Felipe V), his grandfathers (Infante Juan of Spain and King Paul of Greece), his great-grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and de Todos los Santos (“of all the Saints”) as is customary among the Bourbons.

His godparents were his paternal grandfather Juan and his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain.

Additionally, he is the third cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, King Harald V of Norway, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

In 2004, Felipe married TV news journalist Letizia Ortiz with whom he has two daughters, Infanta Leonor, Princess of Astuiras (his heir presumptive) and Infanta Sofía.

In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces with military rank of Captain General, and also plays the role of the supreme representation of Spain in international relations.

Upon ascending the throne, Felipe assumed the same titles held by his father. If the former Kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre had separate naming styles, he would also be known as Felipe V of Aragon and Felipe VIII of Navarre along with Felipe VI of Castile.

Soon I will post a blog entry on the history titles of the Spanish monarch.

December 19, 1683: Birth of Felipe V, King of Spain

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Carlos II of Spain, Felipe V of Spain, Fernando VI of Spain, House of Bourbon, Louis XIV of France, Luis of Spain, Philippe of Anjou, Treaty of Utrecht, War of the Spanish Succession

Felipe V (December 19, 1683 – July 9, 1746) was King of Spain from November 1, 1700 to January 14, 1724, and again from September 6, 1724 to his death in 1746. Felipe V instigated many important reforms in Spain, most especially the centralization of power of the monarchy and the suppression of regional privileges, via the Nueva Planta decrees, and restructuring of the administration of the Spanish Empire on the Iberian peninsula and its overseas regions.

Philippe was born at the Palace of Versailles in France as the second son of Louis, Grand Dauphin, the heir apparent to the throne of France, (son of Louis XIV) and his wife Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, known as the Dauphine Victoire. He was a younger brother of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, the father of Louis XV of France. At birth, Philippe was created Duke of Anjou, a traditional title for younger sons in the French royal family. He would be known by this name until he became the King of Spain. Since Philippe’s older brother, the Duke of Burgundy, was second in line to the French throne after his father, there was little expectation that either he or his younger brother Charles, Duke of Berry, would ever rule over France.

In 1700, King Carlos II of Spain, the last Habsburg to rule Spain, died childless. His will named as successor Philippe, grandson of Charles’ half-sister Maria Theresa, the first wife of Louis XIV. Upon any possible refusal, the Crown of Spain would be offered next to Philippe’s younger brother, the Duke of Berry, then to the Archduke Charles of Austria, later Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. Philippe had the better genealogical claim to the Spanish throne, because his Spanish grandmother and great-grandmother were older than the ancestors of the Archduke Charles of Austria.

However, the Austrians maintained that Philip’s grandmother had renounced the Spanish throne for herself and her descendants as part of her marriage contract. The French claimed that it was on the basis of a dowry that had never been paid.

After a long Royal Council meeting in France at which the Dauphin spoke up in favor of his son’s rights, it was agreed that Philippe would ascend the throne, but he would forever renounce his claim to the throne of France for himself and his descendants. The Royal Council decided to accept the provisions of the will of Carlos II naming Philippe, King of Spain, and the Spanish ambassador was called in and introduced to the new king. The ambassador, along with his son, knelt before the new King Felipe V and made a long speech in Spanish, which Felipe did not understand.

First marriage

On November 2, 1701, the almost 18-year-old Felipe V married the 13-year-old Maria Luisa of Savoy, as chosen by his grandfather King Louis XIV. She was the daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, and his wife Anne Marie d’Orléans, Felipe’s first cousin once removed. The Duke and Duchess of Savoy were also the parents of Princess Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, Duchess of Burgundy, Felipe’s sister-in-law. There was a proxy ceremony at Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, and another one at Versailles on September 11.

Proclamation of Felipe V as King of Spain in the Palace of Versailles on November 16, 1700.

Felipe V’s accession in Spain provoked the 13-year War of the Spanish Succession, which continued until the Treaty of Utrecht forbade any future possibility of unifying the French and Spanish crowns while confirming his accession to the throne of Spain. It also removed the Spanish Netherlands and Spanish-controlled Italy from the Spanish monarchy.

Second Marriage

Shortly after the death of Queen Maria Luisa in 1714, the King decided to marry again. His second wife was Elisabeth of Parma, daughter of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma, and Dorothea Sophie of the Palatinate. At the age of 22, on 24 December 1714, she was married to the 31-year-old Felipe V by proxy in Parma. The marriage was arranged by Cardinal Alberoni, with the concurrence of the Princesse des Ursins, the Camarera mayor de Palacio (“chief of the household”) of the king of Spain.

On January 14, 1724, Felipe V abdicated the throne to his eldest son, the seventeen-year-old Luis, for reasons still subject to debate. One theory suggests that Felipe V, who exhibited many elements of mental instability during his reign, did not wish to reign due to his increasing mental decline. A second theory puts the abdication in context of the Bourbon dynasty.

The French royal family recently had lost many legitimate agnates to diseases. Indeed, Felipe V’s abdication occurred just over a month after the death of Philippe II, the Duke of Orléans, who had been regent for Louis XV of France.

The lack of an heir made another continental war of succession a possibility. Felipe V was a legitimate descendant of Louis XIV, but matters were complicated by the Treaty of Utrecht, which forbade a union of the French and Spanish crowns. The theory supposes that Felipe V hoped that by abdicating the Spanish crown he could circumvent the Treaty and succeed to the French throne.

In any case, Luis died on August 31, 1724 in Madrid of smallpox, having reigned only seven months and leaving no issue. Felipe was forced to return to the Spanish throne as his younger son, the later Fernando VI, was not yet of age.

During Felipe V’s second reign, Spain began to recover from the stagnation it had suffered during the twilight of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Although the population of Spain grew, the financial and taxation systems were archaic and the treasury ran deficits. The king employed thousands of highly paid retainers at his palaces—not to rule the country but to look after the royal family. The army and bureaucracy went months without pay and only the shipments of silver from the New World kept the system going. Spain suspended payments on its debt in 1739—effectively declaring bankruptcy.

Death

Felipe V was afflicted by fits of manic depression and increasingly fell victim to a deep melancholia. His second wife, Elizabeth Farnese, completely dominated her passive husband. She bore him further sons, including another successor, Carlos III of Spain. Beginning in August 1737 his affliction was eased by the castrato singer Farinelli, who, became the “Musico de Camara of Their Majesties.” Farinelli would sing eight or nine arias for the king and queen every night, usually with a trio of musicians.

Felipe V died on July 9, 1746 in El Escorial, in Madrid, but was buried in his favorite Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, near Segovia. Fernando VI of Spain, his son by his first queen Maria Luisa of Savoy, succeeded him.

September 5, 1638: Birth of Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre

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Anne of Austria, Henry IV of France and Navarre, House of Bourbon, Infanta of Spain, King of France and Navarre, Louis VII, Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Marie de' Medici, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal

Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638 in the Château deSaint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné (Louis the God-given) and bore the traditional title of French heirs apparent: Dauphin. At the time of his birth, his parents had been married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631. Leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God.

Here is some background information on his parents and his birth.

Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643) was King of France from 1610 to 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown.

Born at the Palace of Fontainebleau, Louis XIII was the eldest child of King Henri IV of France and Navarre and his second wife Marie de’ Medici. As son of the king, he was a Fils de France (“son of France”), and as the ⁷eldest son, Dauphin of France. His father Henri IV was the first French king of the House of Bourbon, having succeeded his second cousin, Henri III (1574–1589), in application of Salic law.

Louis XIII’s paternal grandparents were Antoine de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme, and Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre. His maternal grandparents were Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Eleonora de’ Medici, his maternal aunt, was his godmother. As a child, he was raised under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat.

Shortly before his ninth birthday, Louis became king of France and Navarre after his father Henri IV was assassinated. His mother, Marie de’ Medici, acted as regent during his minority. Mismanagement of the kingdom and ceaseless political intrigues by Marie and her Italian favourites led the young king to take power in 1617 by exiling his mother and executing her followers, including Concino Concini, the most influential Italian at the French court.

Louis XIII, taciturn and suspicious, relied heavily on his chief ministers, first Charles d’Albert, duc de Luynes and then Cardinal Richelieu, to govern the Kingdom of France. The King and the Cardinal are remembered for establishing the Académie française, and ending the revolt of the French nobility.

Anne of Austria (September 22, 1601 – January 20, 1666), a Spanish princess and an Austrian archduchess of the House of Habsburg, Anne was queen of France as the wife of Louis XIII, and regent of France during the minority of her son, Louis XIV, from 1643 to 1651. During her regency, Cardinal Mazarin served as France’s chief minister. Accounts of French court life of her era emphasize her difficult marital relations with her husband, her closeness to her son Louis XIV, and her disapproval of her son’s marital infidelity to her niece and daughter-in-law Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain.

Born at the Palace of the Counts of Benavente in Valladolid, Spain, and baptised Ana María Mauricia, she was the eldest daughter of King Felipe III of Spain and his wife Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.

Anne of Austria held the titles of Infanta of Spain and of Portugal (since her father was king of Portugal as well as Spain) and Archduchess of Austria. Despite her Spanish birth, she was referred to as Anne of Austria because the rulers of Spain belonged to the senior branch of the House of Austria, known later as the House of Habsburg, a designation relatively uncommon before the 19th century.

Anne was raised mainly at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid. Unusual for a royal princess, Anne grew up close to her parents, who were very religious. She was raised to be religious too, and was often taken to visit monasteries during her childhood. In 1611, she lost her mother, who died in childbirth. Despite her grief, Anne did her best to take care of her younger siblings, who referred to her with affection as their mother.

At age eleven, Anne was betrothed to King Louis XIII of France. Her father gave her a dowry of 500,000 crowns and many beautiful jewels. For fear that Louis XIII would die early, the Spanish court stipulated that she would return to Spain with her dowry, jewels, and wardrobe if he did die. Prior to the marriage, Anne renounced all succession rights she had for herself and her descendants by Louis, with a provision that she would resume her rights should she be left a childless widow.

On October 18, 1615, Louis and Anne were married by proxy in Burgos while Louis’s sister, Elisabeth of France, and Anne’s brother, Felipe IV of Spain, were married by proxy in Bordeaux. These marriages followed the tradition of cementing military and political alliances between France and Spain that began with the marriage of Felipe II of Spain to Elisabeth of Valois in 1559 as part of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis.

The couple were second cousins, by mutual descent from Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. This marriage followed a tradition of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with royal marriages. The tradition went back to the marriage of Louis VII of France and Constance of Castile. The marriage was only briefly happy, and the King’s duties often kept them apart.

Anne and Louis, both fourteen years old, were pressured to consummate their marriage in order to forestall any possibility of future annulment, but Louis ignored his bride. Louis’s mother, Marie de’ Medici, continued to conduct herself as queen of France, without showing any deference to her daughter-in-law. Anne, surrounded by her entourage of high-born Spanish ladies-in-waiting headed by Inés de la Torre, continued to live according to Spanish etiquette and failed to improve her French.

Anne began to dress in the French manner, and in 1619 Luynes pressed the king to bed his queen. Some affection developed, to the point where it was noted that Louis was distracted during a serious illness of the queen. A series of stillbirths disenchanted the king and served to chill their relations.

On March 14, 1622, while playing with her ladies, Anne fell on a staircase and suffered her second stillbirth. Louis blamed her for the incident and was angry with the Duchess of Luynes for having encouraged the queen in what was seen as negligence. Henceforth, the king had less tolerance for the influence that the duchess had over Anne, and the situation deteriorated after the death of her husband Luynes in December 1621.

Despite a climate of distrust, the queen became pregnant once more, a circumstance that contemporary gossip attributed to a single stormy night that prevented Louis from travelling to Saint-Maur and obliged him to spend the night with the queen. Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638, an event that secured the Bourbon line. At this time, Anne was 37. The official newspaper Gazette de France called the birth “a marvel when it was least expected”.

The birth of a living son failed to re-establish confidence between the royal couple. However, she conceived again fifteen months later. At Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 21, 1640, Anne gave birth to her second son, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, who later founded the modern House of Orléans. Both of her children were placed under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Lansac, who was disliked by Anne and loyal to the king and the cardinal.

August 2, 1830: Abdication of Charles X, King of France and Navarre.

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Abdication, Chamber of Deputies, Charles X of France and Navarre, Count of Artois, House of Bourbon, July Revolution of 1830, Louis Antoine, Louis XVI of France and Navarre, Louis XVIII of France and Navarre

Charles X (Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; October 9, 1757 – November 26, 1836) was King of France and Navarre from September 16, 1824 until August 2, 1830.

Charles Philippe of France was the youngest son of the Dauphin Louis and his wife, the Dauphine Marie Josèphe, at the Palace of Versailles. Dauphine Maria Josèphe was the daughter of Augustus III, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and Maria Josepha of Austria. Dauphine Maria Josèphe was the ninth of sixteen children and the fifth daughter.

Charles was created Count of Artois at birth by his grandfather, the reigning King Louis XV. As the youngest male in the family, Charles seemed unlikely ever to become king. His eldest brother, Louis Joseph, Duke of Burgundy, died unexpectedly in 1761, which moved Charles up one place in the line of succession.

At the death of his father in 1765, Charles’s oldest surviving brother, Louis Auguste, became the new Dauphin (the heir apparent to the French throne). Their mother Marie Josèphe, who never recovered from the loss of her husband, died in March 1767 from tuberculosis. This left Charles an orphan at the age of nine, along with his siblings Louis Auguste, Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, Clotilde (Madame Clotilde), and Élisabeth (Madame Élisabeth).

Louis XV fell ill on April 27, 1774 and died on May 10 of smallpox at the age of 64. His grandson Louis Auguste succeeded him as King Louis XVI of France and Navarre.

Marriage and private life

In November 1773, Charles, Count of Artois married Princess Marie Thérèse of Savoy. Princess Maria Theresa of Savoy was born at the Royal Palace in Turin during the reign of her grandfather King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia. Princess Maria Theresa of Savoy was the daughter of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, she was the couple’s third daughter and fifth child of twelve children. She was raised with her sister Princess Maria Joséphine who was three years her senior and whom she would join later as a member of the Royal House of France. Marie Joséphine of Savoy was a Princess of France and Countess of Provence by marriage to the future King Louis XVIII of France.

In 1775, Marie Thérèse gave birth to a boy, Louis Antoine, who was created Duke of Angoulême by Louis XVI. Louis-Antoine was the first of the next generation of Bourbons, as the Louis XVI and his brother, Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence had not fathered any children yet, causing the Parisian libellistes (pamphleteers who published scandalous leaflets about important figures in court and politics) to lampoon Louis XVI’s alleged impotence.

Three years later, in 1778, Charles’ second son, Charles Ferdinand, was born and given the title of Duke of Berry. In the same year Queen Marie Antoinette gave birth to her first child, Marie Thérèse, quelling all rumours that she could not bear children. We will see Princess Marie Thérèse of France shortly.

Charles was thought of as the most attractive member of his family, bearing a strong resemblance to his grandfather Louis XV. His wife was considered quite ugly by most contemporaries, and he looked for company in numerous extramarital affairs.

An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste) and Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas) Charles. supported the latter in exile. After the Bourbon Restoration in 1814, Charles (as heir-presumptive) became the leader of the ultra-royalists, a radical monarchist faction within the French court that affirmed rule by divine right and opposed the concessions towards liberals and guarantees of civil liberties granted by the Charter of 1814. Charles gained influence within the French court after the assassination of his son Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, in 1820 and eventually succeeded his brother as King Charles X of France and Navarre in 1824.

Charles X’s reign of almost six years proved to be deeply unpopular from the moment of his coronation in 1825, in which he tried to revive the practice of the royal touch. The governments appointed under his reign reimbursed former landowners for the abolition of feudalism at the expense of bondholders, increased the power of the Catholic Church, and reimposed capital punishment for sacrilege, leading to conflict with the liberal-majority Chamber of Deputies.

Charles also initiated the French conquest of Algeria as a way to distract his citizens from domestic problems, and forced Haiti to pay a hefty indemnity in return for lifting a blockade and recognizing Haiti’s independence. He eventually appointed a conservative government under the premiership of Prince Jules de Polignac, who was defeated in the 1830 French legislative election.

Charles X responded with the July Ordinances disbanding the Chamber of Deputies, limiting franchise, and reimposing press censorship. Within a week France faced urban riots which led to the July Revolution of 1830.

Masses of angry demonstrators demanded the abdication of Charles and of his descendants in July and a delegation was sent to the Tuileries Palace to force his compliance.

Charles reluctantly signed the document of abdication on August 2, 1830. Charles initially abdicated the throne to his eldest son, Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême. It is said that Louis Antoine spent the next 20 minutes listening to the entreaties of his wife (his first cousin, Marie Thérèse of France, the eldest child of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and the only member of the immediate royal family to survive the French Revolution) not to sign a similar document of abdication, while the former Charles X sat weeping. However, Louis Antoine also abdicated, in favour of his nephew, Henri, Duke of Bordeaux.

Technically the Duke of Angoulême was King Louis XIX of France and Navarre for about 20 minutes before he himself abdicated his rights to the throne to his nephew. Louis Antoine never reigned over the country, but after his father’s death in 1836, he was considered the legitimist pretender as Louis XIX. For the final time he left for exile, where he was known as the “Count of Marnes”. He never returned to France.

The boy who should have been King after Charles X was Henri, Duke of Bordeaux. He was the only son of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, the younger son of Charles X of France, and born after his father’s death in 1920. The Duke of Bordeaux’s mother was Princess Carolina of Naples and Sicily, daughter of King Francesco I of the Two Sicilies and his first wife, Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria, the tenth child and third daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain. Princess Carolina of Naples and Sicily’s parents were double first cousins. The Two Sicilies Royal Family was a branch of the Spanish House of Bourbon. The grandson of Charles X, Henri was a Petit-Fils de France. He was the last legitimate descendant in the male line of Louis XV of France.

Charles X named Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans (from the Orléans branch of the House of Bourbon descendants of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of King Louis XIV) Lieutenant général du royaume, and charged him to announce his desire to have his grandson succeed him to the popularly elected Chamber of Deputies.

Louis Philippe did not do this, in order to increase his own chances of succession. As a consequence, because the Chamber of Deputies was aware of Louis Philippe’s liberal policies and of his popularity with the masses, they proclaimed Louis Philippe as the new French king, displacing the senior branch of the House of Bourbon. For the prior eleven days Louis Philippe had been acting as the regent for the young King Henri V of France and Navarre, his fifth cousin twice removed.

Charles X and his family, including his grandson, went into exile in Britain. The young ex-king, Henri V, the Duke of Bordeaux, who, in exile, took the title of comte de Chambord, later became the pretender to the throne of France and was supported by the Legitimists.

Louis-Philippe was sworn in as King Louis-Philippe I on August 9, 1830. Upon his accession to the throne, Louis Philippe assumed the title of King of the French – a title already adopted by Louis XVI in the short-lived Constitution of 1791. Linking the monarchy to a people instead of a territory (as the previous designation King of France and of Navarre) was aimed at undercutting the legitimist claims of Charles X and his family.

Charles X died in 1836 in Gorizia, then part of the Austrian Empire. He was the last of the French rulers from the senior branch of the House of Bourbon.

November 11, 1748: Birth of King Carlos IV of Spain.

Tags

Age of Enlightenment, House of Bourbon, King Carlos III of Spain, King Carlos IV of Spain, King Felipe V of Spain, King Louis XV of France, King Louis XVI of France, Kingdom of Spain, Manuel de Godoy, Maria Louisa of Parma, Napoleon Bonaparte, Queen Marie Antoinette, Spanish Empire

From the Emperor’s Desk: Due to technological difficulties I was unable to post this yesterday.

Carlos IV (November 11, 1748 – January 20, 1819) was King of Spain and the Spanish Empire from 14 December 14, 1788, until his abdication on March 19, 1808.

The Spain inherited by Carlos IV gave few indications of instability, but during his reign, Spain entered a series of disadvantageous alliances and his regime constantly sought cash to deal with the exigencies of war. He detested his son and heir Fernando, who led the unsuccessful El Escorial Conspiracy and later forced Carlos’s abdication after the Tumult of Aranjuez in March 1808, along with the ouster of his widely hated first minister Manuel de Godoy.

Summoned to Bayonne by Napoleon Bonaparte, who forced Fernando VII to abdicate, Carlos IV also abdicated, paving the way for Napoleon to place his older brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne of Spain. The reign of Carlos IV turned out to be a major turning point in Spanish history.

Early life

Carlos was the second son of Carlos III and his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony. He was born in Naples (November 11, 1748), while his father was King of Naples and Sicily. His elder brother, Don Felipe, was passed over for both thrones, due to his learning disabilities and epilepsy.

In Naples and Sicily, Carlos was referred to as the Prince of Taranto. He was called El Cazador (meaning “the Hunter”), due to his preference for sport and hunting, rather than dealing with affairs of the state. Carlos was considered by many to have been amiable, but simple-minded. In 1788, Carlos III died and Carlos IV succeeded to the throne, and ruled for the next two decades.

Even though he had a profound belief in the sanctity of the monarchy, and kept up the appearance of an absolute, powerful king Carlos IV never took more than a passive part in his own government. The affairs of government were left to his wife, Maria Luisa, and the man he appointed first minister, Manuel de Godoy.

Carlos occupied himself with hunting in the period that saw the outbreak of the French Revolution, the executions of his Bourbon relative Louis XVI of France and his queen, Marie Antoinette, and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Ideas of the Age of Enlightenment had come to Spain with the accession of the first Spanish Bourbon, Felipe V.

Carlos IV’s father Carlos III had pursued an active policy of reform that sought to reinvigorate Spain politically and economically and make the Spanish Empire more closely an appendage of the metropole. Carlos III was an active, working monarch with experienced first ministers to help reach decisions. Carlos IV by contrast was a do-nothing king, with a domineering wife and an inexperienced but ambitious first minister, Godoy.

Well-meaning and pious, Carlos IV floundered in a series of international crises beyond his capacity to handle. He was painted by Francisco Goya in a number of official court portraits, which numerous art critics have seen as satires on the King’s stout vacuity.

Riots, and a popular revolt at the winter palace Aranjuez, in 1808 forced the king to abdicate on March 19, in favor of his son. Fernando took the throne as Fernando VII, but was mistrusted by Napoleon, who had 100,000 soldiers stationed in Spain by that time due to the ongoing War of the Third Coalition.

Marriage and children

Carlos IV married his first cousin Infanta Maria Louisa of Parma, the daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma, in 1765. The couple had fourteen children, six of whom survived into adulthood:

Infanta Maria Luisa of Parma (1751 – 1819) was Queen consort of Spain from 1788 to 1808 leading up to the Peninsular War. She was the youngest daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma, the fourth son of Felipe V of Spain and Louise Élisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of King Louis XV. In 1765 she married Carlos, Prince of Asturias who ascended the throne in 1788 and thus became queen.

Maria Luisa’s father, Philip (1720 – 1765) was Infante of Spain by birth, and Duke of Parma from 1748 to 1765. Born at the Royal Alcazar in Madrid as Felipe de Borbón y Farnesio, he was the third child and second son of Felipe V of Spain and his wife, Elisabeth Farnese. He founded the House of Bourbon-Parma, a cadet line of the Spanish branch of the Bourbon dynasty. He was a son-in-law of Louis XV.

Maria Luisa’s relationship with Manuel Godoy and influence over the King made her unpopular among the people and aristocrats. In total, Maria Luisa had twenty-four pregnancies of which fourteen children were born and ten miscarried.

She was rivals with the Duchess of Alba and the Duchess of Osuna attracting popular attention. The death of her daughter-in-law Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, whom she disliked, was said to be the poisoning by the queen. When Carlos IV abdicated in 1808 he was accompanied by Maria Luisa.

Following Napoleon’s deposing of the Bourbon dynasty, the ex-King Carlos IV, his wife, Maria Luisa and former Prime Minister Godoy were held captive in France first at the château de Compiègne and three years in Marseille (where a neighborhood was named after him).

After the collapse of the regime installed by Napoleon, Fernando VII was restored to the Spanish throne. The former Carlos IV drifted about Europe until 1812, when he finally settled in Rome, in the Palazzo Barberini. His wife died on January 2, 1819, followed shortly by Carlos IV who died on January 20, of the same year.

September 23, 1713: Birth of Fernando VI, King of Spain.

Tags

Ferdinand VI of Spain, House of Bourbon, Infanta Barbara of Portugal, Jesuits, John V of Portugal, King Carlos III of Spain, King Felipe V of Spain, Kingdom of Spain, Ricardo Wall, War of the Austrian Succession

Fernando VI (September 23, 1713 – August 10, 1759), called the Learned (el Prudente) and the Just (el Justo), was King of Spain from July 9, 1746 until his death. He was the third ruler of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty. He was the son of the previous monarch, Felipe V, and his first wife Maria Luisa of Savoy.

Born at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, Infante Fernando endured a lonely childhood. His stepmother, the domineering Elisabeth Farnese, had no affection except for her own children, and looked upon Fernando as an obstacle to their fortunes. The hypochondria of his father left Elisabeth mistress of the palace.

Fernando was by temperament melancholic, shy and distrustful of his own abilities. When complimented on his shooting, he replied, “It would be hard if there were not something I could do.” Shooting and music were his only pleasures, and he was the generous patron of the famous singer Farinelli, whose voice soothed his melancholy.

Marriage

Fernando was married in 1729 to Infanta Barbara of Portugal, daughter of King João V of Portugal and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, was a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg. Maria Anna was a sister of Holy Roman Emperors Joseph I and Charles VI. Through her brother Charles, she was an aunt of Maria Theresa, Austria’s only queen regnant.

Beginning of the reign

When he came to the throne, Spain found itself in the War of the Austrian Succession, which ended without any benefit to Spain. He started his reign by eliminating the influence of his stepmother and her group of Italian courtiers. As king he followed a steady policy of neutrality in the conflict between France and Britain and refused to be tempted by the offers of either into declaring war on the other.

Prominent figures during his reign were Marquis of Ensenada, a Francophile; and José de Carvajal y Lancáster, a supporter of the alliance with Great Britain. The fight between both ended in 1754 with the death of Carvajal and the fall of Ensenada, after which Ricardo Wall became the most powerful advisor to the monarch.

The most important tasks during the reign of Ferdinand VI were carried out by the Marquis of Ensenada, the Secretary of the Treasury, Navy and Indies. He suggested that the state help modernize the country. To him, this was necessary to maintain a position of exterior strength so that France and Great Britain would consider Spain as an ally without supposing Spain’s renunciation of its claim to Gibraltar.

Church relations were really tense from start of the reign of Felipe V because of the recognition of Charles of Austria as the King of Spain by the pope. A regalist policy was maintained that pursued as much political as fiscal objectives and whose decisive achievement was the Concord of 1753. From this the right of universal patronage was obtained from Pope Benedict XIV, giving important economic benefits to the Crown and a great control over the clergy.

King Fernando VI helped create the Royal Academy of the Fine Arts of San Fernando in 1752. The noted composer Domenico Scarlatti, music teacher to Queen Barbara, wrote many of his 555 harpsichord sonatas at Fernando VI’s court.

During the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years’ War, Spain reinforced its military might.

The main conflict was its confrontation with Portugal over the colony of Sacramento, from which British contraband was transferred down the Río de la Plata. In 1750 José de Carvajal helped Spain and Portugal strike a deal. Portugal agreed to renounce the colony and its claim to free navigation down the Río de la Plata.

In return, Spain ceded to Portugal two regions on the Brazilian border, one in the Amazon and the other to the south, in which were seven of the thirty Jesuit Guaraní towns. The Spanish had to expel the missionaries, generating a conflict with the Guaraní people that lasted eleven years.

The conflict over the towns provoked a crisis in the Spanish Court. Ensenada, favorable to the Jesuits, and Father Rávago, confessor of the King and members of the Society of Jesus, were fired, accused of hindering the agreements with Portugal.

Death

During his last year of reign, Fernando VI was rapidly losing his mental capacity and he was held in the Villaviciosa de Odón castle until his death on 10 August 1759. That period of time between August 1758 and August 1759 is known in Spanish historiography as the year without a king, due to the absence of the royal figure as ruler.

The cause of the disease is still debated. Some authors suggest that the king suffered a depressive episode. The death of his wife Barbara, who had been devoted to him, and who carefully abstained from political intrigue, broke his heart. Between the date of her death in August 1758 and his own on August 10, 1759, he fell into a state of prostration in which he would not even dress, but wandered unshaven, unwashed and in a nightgown about his park.

Other opinion is that Fernando VI suffered a rapidly progressive clinical syndrome where behavioral disorganization with apathy and impulsivity, loss of judgment, and epileptic seizures of right frontal lobe semiology were predominant. This semiology is highly suggestive of a right frontal lobe syndrome. As the couple had no children, Fernando VI was succeeded as King by his half-brother as King Carlos III.

September 17, 1665: Death of Felipe IV, King of Spain and Portugal.

Tags

Felipe IV of Spain, House of Bourbon, House of Habsburg, Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, King Carlos II of Spain, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, Philip III of Spain, Philip IV of Spain, Princess Elisabeth of France

From the Emperor’s Desk. Instead of focusing on the political aspects of his reign I will focus on his personal life.

Felipe IV (April 8, 1605 – September 17, 1665) was King of Spain and (as Felipe III) King of Portugal. He ascended the thrones in 1621 and reigned in Portugal until 1640. Felipe IV is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the Thirty Years’ War.

Felipe IV was born in Royal Palace of Valladolid, and was the eldest son of Felipe III of Spain and Portugal and his wife, Archduchess Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.

In 1615, at the age of 10, Felipe was married to 13-year-old Elisabeth of France, she was the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and Navarre and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici.

Although the relationship between Felipe and Elisabeth does not appear to have been close; some have even suggested that Olivares, his key minister, later deliberately tried to keep the two apart to maintain his influence, encouraging Felipe to take mistresses instead.

Felipe had seven children by Elisabeth, with only one being a son, Balthasar Carlos, who died at the age of sixteen in 1646. The death of his son deeply shocked the king, who appears to have been a good father by the standards of the day. Elisabeth was able to conspire with other Spanish nobles to remove Olivares from the court in 1643, and for a brief period she held considerable influence over Felipe; by the time of her death, however, she was out of favour, following manoeuvering by Olivares’ successor, Luis de Haro.

Felipe IV remarried in 1649, following the deaths of both Elisabeth and his only legitimate heir. His choice of his second wife, his niece, Infanta Maria Anna, second child of Maria Anna of Spain and her husband Ferdinand (1608-1657), who became Holy Roman Emperor in 1637.

Infanta Maria Anna was guided by politics and Felipe’s desire to strengthen the relationship with Habsburg Austria. They were married on October 7, 1649. Maria Anna bore him five children, but only two survived to adulthood, a daughter Margarita Teresa, born in 1651, and the future Carlos II of Spain in 1661 – but the latter was sickly and considered in frequent danger of dying, making the line of inheritance potentially uncertain.

Perceptions of Felipe IV’s personality have altered considerably over time. Victorian authors were inclined to portray him as a weak individual, delegating excessively to his ministers, and ruling over a debauched Baroque court. Victorian historians even attributed the early death of Baltasar Carlos to debauchery, encouraged by the gentlemen entrusted by the king with his education.

The doctors who treated the Prince at that time in fact diagnosed smallpox, although modern scholars attribute his death to appendicitis.

Historians’ estimation of Felipe IV gradually improved in the 20th century, with comparisons between Felipe IV and his father, Filipe III, being increasingly positive – some noting that he possessed much more energy, both mental and physical, than his diffident father.

Felipe IV was idealised by his contemporaries as the model of Baroque kingship. Outwardly he maintained a bearing of rigid solemnity; foreign visitors described him as being so impassive in public he resembled a statue, and he was said to have been seen to laugh only three times in the course of his entire public life.

Felipe IV certainly had a strong sense of his ‘royal dignity’, but was also extensively coached by Olivares in how to resemble the Baroque model of a sovereign, which would form a key political tool for Felipe throughout his reign.

Felipe IV was a fine horseman, a keen hunter and a devotee of bull-fighting, all central parts of royal public life at court during the period.

Privately, Felipe appears to have had a lighter persona. When he was younger, he was said to have a keen sense of humour and a ‘great sense of fun’. He privately attended ‘academies’ in Madrid throughout his reign – these were lighthearted literary salons, aiming to analyse contemporary literature and poetry with a humorous touch.

A keen theatre-goer, he was sometimes criticised by contemporaries for his love of these ‘frivolous’ entertainments. Others have captured his private personality as ‘naturally kind, gentle and affable’.

The Catholic religion and its rituals played an important part in Felipe’s life, especially towards the end of his reign. Depressed by events across his domains, he became increasingly concerned with religious affairs. In particular, Felipe paid special devotions to a painting of the Nuestra Señora del Milagro, the Virgin of Miracles; the painting was said to miraculously raise and lower its eyes in response to prayer.

During the emergency of 1640–1643, Felipe appears to have had a crisis of faith. Felipe IV genuinely believed the success or failure of his policies represented God’s favour or judgement on his actions. The combination of the revolts, the French advances and the loss of his trusted favourite Olivares appears to have deeply shaken him.

Felipe IV, as a lover of the theatre, has been remembered both for the ‘astonishing enthusiasm’ with which he collected art. On the stage, he favoured Lope de Vega, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and other distinguished dramatists.

Felipe IV has been credited with a share in the composition of several comedies. Court theatre used perspective scenery, a new invention from Italy not used in commercial theatre at the time.

Legacy

Felipe IV’s reign, after a few years of inconclusive successes, was characterized by political and military decay and adversity. He has been held responsible for the decline of Spain, which was mainly due to organic causes largely beyond the control of any one ruler.

Felipe IV died broken-hearted in 1665, expressing the pious hope that his surviving son, Carlos II, who was only 4 years old at the time, would be more fortunate than himself. On his death, a catafalque was built in Rome to commemorate his life.

In his will, Felipe IV left political power as regent on behalf of the young Carlos II to his wife Maria Anna, with instructions that she heed the advice of a small junta committee established for this purpose. This committee excluded Juan, Felipe IV’s illegitimate son, resulting in a chaotic powerplay between Maria Anna and Juan until the latter’sdeath in 1679.

July 12, 1651: Birth of Infanta Margaret Theresa of Spain. Part II.

Tags

Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Holy Roman Empire, House of Bourbon, House of Habsburg, King Louis XIV of France, Margaret Theresa of Spain, Philip IV of Spain, Philip V of Spain, War of the Spanish Succession

Holy Roman Empress and German Queen

The Infanta Margaret-Theresa formally entered Vienna On December 5, 1666. The official marriage ceremony was celebrated seven days later. The Viennese celebrations of the imperial marriage were among the most splendid of all the Baroque era, and lasted almost two years.

The Emperor Leopold ordered the construction of an open-air theatre near the present Burggarten, with a capacity of 5,000 people. For Margaret-Theresa’s birthday in July 1668, the theatre hosted the premiere of the opera Il pomo d’oro (The Golden Apple). Composed by Antonio Cesti, the opera was called the “staging of the century” by contemporaries due to its magnificence and expense. The year before, the Emperor gave an equestrian ballet where he personally mounted on his horse, Speranza; due to technical adaptations, the ballet gave spectators the impression that horses and carriages were hovering in the air.

Margaret-Theresa, Holy Roman Empress

Despite the age difference, Leopold was 26 and Margaret-Theresa was 15 at the time of the marriage, according to contemporaries they had a happy marriage. The Empress always called her husband “Uncle” and he called her “Gretl”. The couple had many common interests, especially in art and music.

During her six years of marriage, Margaret gave birth to four children, of whom only one survived infancy:

* Ferdinand Wenceslaus Joseph Michael Eleazar (1667-1668), Archduke of Austria.
* Maria Antonia Josepha Benedicta Rosalia Petronella (1669-1692), Archduchess of Austria, who inherited her mother’s claims to the Spanish throne, married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and was the mother of Joseph-Ferdinand of Bavaria.
* John Leopold (born and died 20 February 1670), Archduke of Austria.
* Maria Anna Josepha Antonia Apollonia Scholastica (February 9, 1672 – 23 February 1672), Archduchess of Austria.

The Empress was intensely anti-Semitic, and inspired her husband to expel the Jews from Vienna, because she believed that they were to blame for her children’s deaths. During the Corpus Christi celebration of 1670, the Emperor ordered the destruction of the Vienna synagogue and a church was built on the site on his orders.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Even after her marriage, Margaret-Theresa kept her Spanish customs and ways. She did not speak German, and the arrogance of her native retinue led to a strong anti-Spanish sentiment among the imperial court. The courtiers openly expressed the hope that the weak Empress would soon die and thus give Leopold I the opportunity of a second marriage.

Death

During her last pregnancy Margaret-Theresa fell ill with bronchitis; this, along with her already weakened health due to four living childbirths and at least two miscarriages during her marriage, caused her early death on March 12, 1673, at the age of 21.

She was buried in the Imperial Crypt, in Vienna. Only four months later, the widower Emperor – despite his grief for the death of his “only Margareta” (as he remembered her) – entered into a second marriage with Archduchess Claudia-Felicitas of Austria, member of the Tyrol branch of the House of Habsburg.

After Margaret-Theresa’s death, her rights over the Spanish throne were inherited by her only surviving daughter Maria-Antonia, who in turn passed them to her only surviving son Prince Joseph-Ferdinand of Bavaria when she died in 1692.

After Joseph-Ferdinand’s early death in 1699, the rights of inheritance were disputed by both Emperor Leopold I and King Louis XIV of France, son-in-law of King Felipe IV, and grandson of King Felipe III. The outcome of the War of the Spanish Succession was the creation of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon in the person of King Felipe V, Margaret’s great-nephew.

Daughter

Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria

Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria (January 18, 1669 – December 24, 1692) the eldest daughter and only surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and his wife Infanta Margaret-Theresa of Spain. She was the heir to the Spanish throne after her maternal uncle Carlos II of Spain from 1673 until her death. Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria was an Electress of Bavaria by marriage to Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria.

On July 11, 2020, I featured Maria-Antonia of Austria’s husband, Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, here on the blog.

https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/july-11-1662-birth-of/