Margaret Theresa of Spain
1651 – 1673 · Generation XV · Infanta · Austrian Habsburgs
Margaret Theresa (1651 – 1673). Infanta. Married Leopold in 1666. Daughter of Philip IV and Mariana; Holy Roman Empress as wife of her uncle Leopold I. Velázquez made her the centrepiece of Las Meninas and portrayed her repeatedly through her early childhood. Promised to Leopold when she was only eight, she was meant to keep her Spanish rights inside the dynasty: her father’s will made her heir should her frail younger brother, Charles II, die. After a proxy wedding in Madrid in April 1666 she travelled for months by sea and road, entering Vienna that December to festivities that ran for almost two years, among them Antonio Cesti’s lavish opera Il pomo d’oro for her birthday in 1668. Contemporaries judged the marriage happy; the couple shared a love of art and music. Six pregnancies in six years exhausted her, and she died at twenty-one. Of her children only Maria Antonia survived infancy, carrying her mother’s claim to Spain on to her son, Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria.
Place in the family
- Margaret Theresa of Spain was a great-great-granddaughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
- Margaret Theresa of Spain was the elder of 2 children of Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria recorded in this archive.
One of 24 people of Austrian Habsburgs (1527–1754) in this archive. The Vienna line, which held the Holy Roman crown almost without a break.
Line of descent: Rudolf I of Germany → Albert I of Germany → Albert II, Duke of Austria → Leopold III, Duke of Austria → Ernest, Duke of Austria → Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor → Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor → Philip I of Castile → Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor → Philip II of Spain → Philip III of Spain → Philip IV of Spain → Margaret Theresa of Spain.
Parents
- Philip IV of Spain (1605 – 1665)
- Mariana of Austria (1634 – 1696)
Siblings
- Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias (1629 – 1646) (half)
- Maria Theresa of Spain (1638 – 1683) (half)
- Charles II of Spain (1661 – 1700)
Partners
- Married Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 – 1705) in 1666
Life
- 1651 — Born
- 1666 — Married Leopold
- 1673 — Died