Margaret Theresa of Spain

Margaret Theresa of Spain (Spanish: Margarita Teresa de España), (German: Margarete Theresia von Spanien) (12 August, 1651, Madrid, Spain - 12 March, 1673, Vienna, Austria), Infanta of Spain and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. She was the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and his second wife Mariana of Austria. She was the elder sister of Charles II "the Bewitched", the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. She is a central figure in the famous "Las Meninas" by Diego Velázquez.

Life

Despite the extensive history of inbreeding between the Austrian and Spanish Habsburg family branches, Margarita exhibited little or none of the mental and physical defects inherited by her brother and other relatives. She was the favorite child of her father, Philip IV, who referred to her as "my joy" in his private letters.

For political reasons, Margarita Teresa was betrothed as a child to her maternal uncle and paternal cousin, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her father stipulated that she should maintain her position in the line of succession to the Spanish throne and would pass her succession rights to her descendants, something Leopold I gladly accepted.

In the summer of 1666, the fifteen-year-old Spanish infanta left Spain and traveled with several Spanish attendants to Austria, where she was solemnly welcomed by Leopold I. Their wedding took place in Vienna on 5 December, 1666. Despite the difference in their ages and Leopold's unattractive appearance, the couple were very happy together since they shared a number of interests, especially theatre and music. She called him "Uncle" (even after they were married); he called her "Gretl".

One of the most outstanding events during their reign was the splendid performance of the opera "Il pomo d'oro" ("The golden apple") by the Italian composer Marco Antonio Cesti in order to celebrate Margaret Theresa's seventeenth birthday in July 1668. This magnificent performance is frequently considered as the peak of the Baroque opera in Vienna during the seventeenth century.

After giving birth to six children and weakened by many miscarriages, Margarita Teresa died at the age of twenty-one — leaving Leopold heartbroken. Her only surviving child was the Archduchess Maria Antonia.

Ancestors

ahnentafel-compact5
style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%;
border=1
boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0;
boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
1= 1. Margaret Theresa of Spain
2= 2. Philip IV of Spain
3= 3. Mariana of Austria
4= 4. Philip III of Spain
5= 5. Margaret of Austria
6= 6. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
7= 7. Maria Anna of Spain
8= 8. Philip II of Spain
9= 9. Anna of Austria (1549-1580)
10= 10. Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria
11= 11. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608)
12= 12. Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
13= 13. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574-1616)
14= 14. = 4. Philip III of Spain
15= 15. = 5. Margaret of Austria
16= 16. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
17= 17. Isabella of Portugal
18= 18. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
19= 19. Maria of Spain
20= 20. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
21= 21. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
22= 22. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria
23= 23. Anna of Austria (1528-1590)
24= 24. = 10. Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria
25= 25. = 11. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608)
26= 26. William V, Duke of Bavaria
27= 27. Renata of Lorraine
28= 28. = 8. Philip II of Spain
29= 29. = 9. Anna of Austria (1549-1580)
30= 30. = 10. Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria
31= 31. = 11. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608)

Children

Margarita Teresa and Leopold were parents to four children:
*Ferdinand Wenzel (1667 - 1668), Archduke of Austria.
*Maria Antonia (1669 - 1692), Archduchess of Austria, who inherited her mother's claims to the Spanish throne and married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. They were the parents of Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, Prince of Asturias.
*Johann Leopold (1670), Archduke of Austria.
*Maria Anna (1672), Archduchess of Austria.

Depictions in art

Margarita Teresa is the blonde princess depicted in the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez' masterpiece "Las Meninas" ("The Maids of Honor", 1656), where she is surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting and other persons of the Spanish court.

There are other pictures of her, also painted by Velázquez at various stages of her childhood, where she is shown wearing magnificent Baroque dresses, which were typical of the court of Madrid during the Spanish Golden Age. These portraits were usually sent by King Philip IV to the court of Vienna in order to keep Leopold apprised of how young Margarita Teresa looked and how she was doing at the distant Spanish court.

Margarita Theresa also features in a number of Pablo Picasso's 58 interpretations of Diego Velázquez' "Las Meninas", which he produced between August and December 1957. These currently occupy the Las Meninas room of the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, Spain.

It is possible that Maurice Ravel was thinking of her when he wrote Pavane pour une infante défunte ("Pavane for a Dead Princess"). The Irish writer Oscar Wilde found inspiration in Las Meninas when he wrote his tale The Birthday of the Infanta.

Bibliography

* ANDICS, Hellmut, "Die Frauen der Habsburger" (Vienna: Jugend und Volk, 1985).
* BEUTLER, Gigi, "Die Kaisergruft", Vienna, 2001
* HAMANN, Brigitte, "Die Habsburger: Ein Biografisches Lexicon" (Munich: Piper, 1988).
* RUDOLF, Karl & OPLL, Ferdinand, "Spanien und Osterreich" (Vienna: Jugend und Volk, 1991).
* SMIDT-DÖRRENBERG, Irmgard, "Margarita Maria, Infantin von Spanien, römisch-deutsche Kaiserin. Des Velazquez liebstes Modell" (Vienna: Bergland-Verl., 1966).
* VILLA-URRUTIA, Wenceslao de, "Relaciones entre España y Austria durante el reinado de la Emperatriz Doña Margarita, infanta de España, esposa del Emperador Leopoldo I" (Madrid: Ricardo Fé, 1905).
* WIDORN, Helga, "Die spanischen Gemahlinnen der Kaiser Maximilian II., Ferdinand III. und Leopold I." (Vienna: Diss., 1959).

External links

* [http://www.khm.at/system2E.html?/staticE/page169.html Infanta Margarita Teresa in Blue Dress] at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
-
-
-
-
###@@@KEYEND@@@###