MARIE THERESE (1638-1683)

This article appears in Volume V17, Page 715 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MAL-MAR

MARIE THERESE (1638-1683) , queen

consort

CONSORT (Lat. consors, a companion)

of France, was born on the loth of September 1638 at the Escurial, being the daughter of Philip IV. of Spain and Elizabeth of France. By pretending to seek a

bride

BRIDE (a common Teutonic word, e.g..Goth. bruths, O. Eng. bryd, O. H. Ger. prs2t, Mod. Ger. Bract, Dut. bruid, possibly derived from the root bru-, cook, brew; from the med. latinized form bruta, in the sense of daughter-in-law, is derived the Fr. bru)

for his master in

Margaret

of Savoy, Mazarin had induced the king of Spain to make proposals for the

marriage

MARRIAGE

of his daughter with Louis XIV., and the treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 stipulated for her

marriage

MARRIAGE

with the French king, Marie renouncing any claim to the Spanish succession. As the treaty, however, hinged on the payment of her dowry, which was practically impossible for Spain, Mazarin could evade the other terms of the

contract

. Marie Therese was married in June 166o, when Philip IV. with his whole

court

accompanied the

bride

BRIDE (a common Teutonic word, e.g..Goth. bruths, O. Eng. bryd, O. H. Ger. prs2t, Mod. Ger. Bract, Dut. bruid, possibly derived from the root bru-, cook, brew; from the med. latinized form bruta, in the sense of daughter-in-law, is derived the Fr. bru)

to the Isle of Pheasants in the Bidassoa, where she was met by Louis. The new queen's amiability and her undoubted virtues failed to secure her husband's regard and affection. She saw herself neglected in turn for Louise de la Valliere, Mme. de Montespan and others; but Marie Therese was too pious and too humble openly to resent the position in which shewas placed by the king's avowed infidelities. With the growing influence of Madame de

Maintenon

MAINTENON

over his mind and affections he bestowed more attention on his wife, which she repaid by lavishing kindness on the mistress. She had no

part

PART

in political affairs except in 1672, when she acted as regent during Louis XIV.'s campaign in Holland. She died on the 30th of July 1683 at

Versailles

VERSAILLES

, not without suspicion of foul play on the

part

PART

of her doctors. Of her six children only one survived her, the dauphin Louis, who died in 1711.
See the 'funeral oration of Bossuet (Paris, 1684), E. Ducere, Le Mariage de Louis XIV. d'apres les contemporains et des documents inedits (Bayonne, 1905) ; Dr Cabanes, Les Morts mysterieuses de l'histoire (1900), and the literature dealing with her rivals Louise de la Valliere, Madame de Montespan and Madame de

Maintenon

MAINTENON

.

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