Margaret Theresa of Spain

Margaret Theresa of Spain (Spanish: Margarita Teresa, German: Margarete Theresia; 12 July 1651 – 12 March 1673) was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Archduchess consort of Austria, Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia. 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 the central figure in the famous Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez, and subject of many of his later paintings.

Life

Margaret Theresa was the favourite child of her father, Philip IV of Spain, who referred to her as "my joy" in his private letters.

For political reasons, Margaret Theresa 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, saddened by her father's death, the 15 year old infanta left her native Spain and traveled to Austria. She was accompanied by several Spanish attendants, and was solemnly welcomed by her future husband, her uncle Leopold. Their wedding took place in the city of Vienna, on 12 December 1666. Despite the difference in their ages, some 11 years, they were very happy together, as they shared a number of interests, especially theatre and music. She called him "Uncle" (even after they were married); he called her "Gretl", the German diminutive of the name Margarita.

After giving birth to four children, and weakened by many miscarriages, Margaret Theresa died at the age of 21. Her only surviving child was Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, future Electress of Bavaria. Margaret Theresa was buried in the Imperial Crypt, in Vienna.

Children

Margaret Theresa and Leopold were parents to four children:

• Ferdinand Wenceslaus (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 and were parents of Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, Prince of Asturias.
• John Leopold (1670), Archduke of Austria.
• Maria Anna (1672), Archduchess of Austria.

Christie's auction of Margaret Theresa's diamond

One of the diamonds of Margaret Theresa was auctioned at Christie's in December 2008. Referred to as the Wittelsbach Diamond, it was given by her father king Philip IV of Spain as part of the dowry when she married Leopold I of Austria at the age of 15.^[1] The diamond was obtained in India (as it was custom from the Royal Families at that time to bring their diamonds from India, either Hyderabad or Bihar). As of today, it is one of the few lasting Indian diamonds together with the Kohinoor (today part of the British Crown Jewels), the Régent (today in the Louvre), the Orlov (in the Kremlin) or the Hope Diamond, in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

Christie's, the famous auction house, sold the nearly 36-carat (7.2 g) diamond for $24.3 million, which it is the highest price paid for a diamond sold at an auction.

Depictions in art

Margaret Theresa 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 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 Margaret Theresa looked and how she was doing at the distant Spanish court.

Margaret 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). Oscar Wilde found inspiration in Las Meninas when he wrote his tale The Birthday of the Infanta.

Portraits

Ancestors

References

Bibliography

• ANDICS, Hellmut, Die Frauen der Habsburger (Vienna: Jugend und Volk, 1985). In German.

• BEUTLER, Gigi, Die Kaisergruft (Vienna, 2001). In German.

• DIEZ BORQUE, Jose Maria & RUDOLF, Karl, eds., Barroco español y austriaco: fiesta y teatro en la corte de los Habsburgo y los Austrias (Madrid: Museo Municipal, 1994). In Spanish.

• HAM, Claudia, Die Verkauften Bräute: Studien zu den Hochzeiten zwischen Österreichischen und Spanischen Habsburgern im 17. Jahrhundert (Vienna: Diss., 1995). In German.

• HAMANN, Brigitte, Die Habsburger: Ein Biografisches Lexicon (Munich: Piper, 1988). In German.

• INGRAO, Charles W., Editor and author, In Quest and Crisis: Emperor Joseph I and the Habsburg Monarchy, Hardcover: 278 pages, Purdue University Press (June 1, 1979), in English, ISBN 0911198539, ISBN 978-0911198539

• INGRAO, Charles W., The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815 (New Approaches to European History) [Paperback], # Paperback: 288 pages, Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (October 2, 2000), in English, ISBN 0521785057, ISBN 978-0521785051

• KANN, Robert A., A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526-1918, Paperback, 661 pages, University of California Press, edition (November 26, 1980), in English ISBN 0520042069 ISBN 978-0520042063.

• KANN, Robert A., The Peoples of the Eastern Habsburg Lands, 1526-1918 (History of East Central Europe), [Hardcover],# 464 pages, Univ of Washington Press, (July 1984), in English, ISBN 0295960957, ISBN 978-0295960951

• MAGOCSI, Paul Robert, ´´Historical Atlas of Central Europe (History of East Central Europe, Vol. 1, 1), Paperback: 288 pages, University of Washington Press, in English, Revised Exp edition (October 2002), ISBN 0295981466, ISBN 978-0295981468

• RUDOLF, Karl & OPLL, Ferdinand, España y Austria (Madrid: Ediciones Cátedra, 1997). 268 pages, in Spanish, ISBN 84-376-1523-2

• SMIDT-DÖRRENBERG, Irmgard, Margarita Maria, Infantin von Spanien, römisch-deutsche Kaiserin. Des Velazquez lieblichstes Modell (Vienna: Bergland-Verl., 1966). In German.

• 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). In Spanish.

• WHEATCROFT, Andrew, "The Habsburgs, Embodiyng Empire" [Paperback], 416 pages, Penguin Books, (Non-Classics) (May 1, 1997), in English, ISBN 0140236341, ISBN 978-0140236347

• WIDORN, Helga, Die spanischen Gemahlinnen der Kaiser Maximilian II., Ferdinand III. und Leopold I. (Vienna: Diss., 1959). In German.

External links

• Infanta Margarita Teresa in Blue Dress at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna