Margarita Teresa of Spain

Margarita Teresa of Spain
Margarita Teresa in 1667, by Jan Thomas van Ieperen, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Holy Roman Empress; German Queen; Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia Archduchess consort of Austria
Tenure	1666–1673
Consort to	Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
Issue
Maria Antonia, Electress of Bavaria
House	House of Habsburg
Father	Philip IV of Spain
Mother	Mariana of Austria
Born	12 July 1651 Royal Alcazar, Madrid, Spain
Died	12 March 1673 (aged 21) Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria
Burial	Imperial Crypt, Vienna, Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism

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

Las Meninas (1656) by Diego Velázquez, Prado Museum, Madrid.

Margarita Teresa 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, 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, 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, Margarita Teresa died at the young age of 21. Her only surviving child was Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, future Electress of Bavaria. Margarita Teresa was buried in the Imperial Crypt, in Vienna.

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

Christie's auction of Margarita Teresa's diamond

One of the diamonds of Margarita Teresa 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

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 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 Teresa 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.

Portraits

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  Infanta Margarita Teresa in pink dress (1654) by Diego Velázquez, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

• 

  Infanta Margarita Teresa (1655) by Diego Velázquez, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

• 

  Infanta Margarita Teresa in white dress (1656) by Diego Velázquez, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

• 

  Detail of Margarita Teresa from Las Meninas.

• 

  Infanta Margarita Teresa in blue dress (1659) by Diego Velázquez, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

• 

  Infanta Margarita Teresa in pink dress (1660) by Diego Velázquez and Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, Prado Museum, Madrid.

• 

  Infanta Margarita Teresa (c. 1662-1664), anonymous, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

• 

  Infanta Margarita Teresa in mourning dress (1666), by Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, Prado Museum, Madrid.

Ancestors

Spanish Royalty
House of Habsburg

Charles I Children    Philip II    Maria, Holy Roman Empress    Joan, Princess of Portugal    Don John (illegitimate)    Margaret, Duchess of Parma (illegitimate) Philip II Children include    Charles, Prince of Asturias    Isabella, Archduchess of Austria    Catherine, Duchess of Savoy    Philip III Philip III Children include    Anne, Queen of France    Philip IV    Maria Ana, Holy Roman Empress    Infante Charles    Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand Philip IV Children include    Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias    Maria Theresa, Queen of France    Margaret, Holy Roman Empress    Charles II Charles II

16. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

8. Philip II of Spain

17. Isabella of Portugal

4. Philip III of Spain

18. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

9. Anna of Austria (1549-1580)

19. Maria of Spain

2. Philip IV of Spain

20. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

10. Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria

21. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary

5. Margaret of Austria

22. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria

11. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608)

23. Anna of Austria (1528-1590)

1. Margarita Teresa of Austria

24. = 10. Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria

12. Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

25. = 11. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608)

6. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

26. William V, Duke of Bavaria

13. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574-1616)

27. Renata of Lorraine

3. Mariana of Austria

28. = 8. Philip II of Spain

14. = 4. Philip III of Spain

29. = 9. Anna of Austria (1549-1580)

7. Maria Anna of Spain

30. = 10. Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria

15. = 5. Margaret of Austria

31. = 11. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608)

References

1. ^ CBC News- Big blue diamond goes on display in London. December 5, 2008 Retrieved 8 December 2008

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

Margarita Teresa of Spain House of Habsburg Born: 12 July 1651 Died: 12 March 1673
Royal titles
Preceded by Eleanor of Mantua	Holy Roman Empress Queen consort of Germany Archduchess consort of Austria 1666–1673	Succeeded by Claudia Felicitas of Austria
Preceded by Maria Anna of Spain	Queen consort of Hungary Queen consort of Bohemia 1666–1673
Preceded by Charles, Prince of Asturias	Heir to the Spanish throne as heir presumptive per Philip IV's will 1665–1673	Succeeded by Maria Antonia of Austria

Persondata
Name	Margarita Teresa of Austria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	12 July 1651
Place of birth	Royal Alcazar, Madrid, Spain
Date of death	12 March 1673
Place of death	Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria