Margaret Theresa of Spain
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Margaret Theresa of Spain (Spanish: Margarita Teresa, German: Margarita von Habsburg) (July 12, 1651 - March 12, 1673), was the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and his second wife Mariana of Austria. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Anna of Spain. Her paternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain, and Margarita of Austria. She was also the elder sister of Charles II of Spain, "El hechizado", the last of the Spanish Hapsburgs.
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[edit] Marriage
In a politically arranged marriage, she was betrothed as an infant to her maternal uncle (and paternal first cousin), the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I Habsburg. The marriage took place when she was fourteen years old and he was twenty-six. Despite the difference in their ages and Leopold's unattractive appearance, the couple were reportedly very happy together, as they shared a number of interests, especially art and music.
She died in childbirth at the age of twenty-two.
[edit] Children
Margaret and Leopold I were parents to four children:
- Ferdinand Wenzel, Archduke of Austria (1667 - 1668).
- Maria Antonia of Austria (1669 - 1692). Married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. Parents of Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, Prince of Asturias.
- Johann Leopold, Archduke of Austria (1670).
- Maria Anna of Austria (1672-?).
[edit] Depictions in art
Margaret is the young infanta depicted in Diego Velásquez' Las Meninas (1656, English: The Maids of Honor) and Infanta Margarita (1659). There are other pictures of her, done at various stages in her childhood and teen years, which not only serve as a kind of photo album, but kept Leopold apprised of how she looked and how she was doing. It is possible that Maurice Ravel was thinking of her when he wrote Pavane pour une infante défunte.
 The Empress, painted by a spanish artist at the Austrian Court |
 Diego Velázquez, Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress, 1659, oil, 127 × 107 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum |
 Las Meninas, 1656 |
 La Infanta Doña Margarita de Austria, 1660, Museo del Prado |
[edit] External link
- Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
| Preceded by Eleanor of Mantua |
Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, Archduchess consort of Austria 1666-1673 |
Succeeded by Claudia Felicitas of Austria |
| German Queen 1666-1673 |
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| Preceded by Maria Anna of Spain |
Queen consort of Hungary, Queen consort of Croatia and Slavonia 1666-1673 |
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| Queen consort of Bohemia 1666–1673 |
