Category Archives: Current Monarchies

Joan of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Joan of England, sculpted on the tomb of her father King Edward III, from The Monumental Effigies of Great Britain drawn and etched by Thomas Hollis and George Hollis; Credit – Wikipedia

One of the early English victims of the bubonic plague, dying from it on her way to her wedding, Joan was the third of the fourteen children and the second of the five daughters of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Her paternal grandparents were King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. Joan’s paternal grandparents were Willem I, Count of Hainault (also Count of Holland, Count of Avesnes, and Count of Zeeland) and Joan of Valois. The date and place of her birth have been cited differently. The years of her birth have been cited as 1333, 1334, or 1335. The Tower of London or Woodstock Palace has been cited as her place of birth. Alison Weir in her 1989 Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy says, Joan “was probably born in February (certainly before 30 May), 1335 at Woodstock Palace in Oxford, not in the Tower of London as is sometimes stated.”

Joan had thirteen siblings. Her brothers married into the English nobility and it was their descendants who later battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so some of Joan’s siblings were called “of <their birthplace>.

Woodstock Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

The family’s main home was Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England. It was the favorite residence of Joan’s mother Philippa and the birthplace of several of her children. Joan, her sister Isabella, her brother Edward, and their first cousin once removed Joan of Kent (who married Joan’s eldest brother and is the mother of King Richard II) were sent to live in the household of Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and his second wife Marie de St Pol, Countess of Pembroke. It was common for royal and noble children to be raised for a period of time in another household.

In 1338, three-year-old Joan accompanied her father to Koblenz, a seat of the Holy Roman Emperor, now in Germany, where King Edward III was a special guest of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor, at a meeting of the Imperial Diet, the deliberative body of the Holy Roman Empire. King Edward III and Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV formally allied against King Philippe VI of France. Because Joan stayed at Ludwig’s court to be educated, she possibly was betrothed to one of the sons of Ludwig and his second wife Margaret of Hainault, the older sister of Joan’s mother. However, Ludwig broke his alliance with Edward III, and in 1340, Joan was returned to England.

In 1345, Joan was betrothed to the future King Pedro of Castile and León, the son of King Alfonso XI of Castile and León and Maria of Portugal. In the summer of 1348, thirteen-year-old Joan left England for Bayonne, Duchy of Gascony, now in France, where her wedding was to take place on November 1, 1348. Joan was accompanied by a heavily armed retinue and it was said that her trousseau alone required an entire ship.

The fleet of four English ships arrived in the port of Bordeaux, Duchy of Gascony, now in France. The mayor of Bordeaux warned the officials accompanying Joan of the Black Death, the bubonic plague. The plague had not yet reached England, and it is unlikely that the officials realized the danger. Joan’s retinue settled in a family castle in Bordeaux to take a planned break in their travels. Despite a serious outbreak of the plague in Bordeaux, it did not occur to Joan and the officials to leave the city. However, they soon watched in horror as members of Joan’s retinue fell ill and began to die. Robert Bauchier, the leader of Joan’s retinue, died on August 20, 1338. After the death of Robert Bauchier, Joan feared for her life and was moved to a small village called Loremo. However, Joan did not escape the plague and died on September 2, 1348.

Map showing the spread of the Black Death; Credit – By Flappiefh – Own work from:Natural Earth ;The origin and early spread of the Black Death in Italy: first evidence of plague victims from 14th-century Liguria (northern Italy) maps by O.J. Benedictow., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66468361

Andrew Ulford, a member of Joan’s retinue who did not get the plague, traveled to England in October 1348 to inform King Edward III of the shocking news of his daughter’s death. On October 15, 1348, King Edward III sent a letter to King Alfonso XI of Castile annulling the marriage arrangement and describing the grief he and his family experienced after Joan’s sudden death. He described her as a martyred angel looking down on them from heaven to protect the royal family. On October 25, 1348, King Edward III sent men to Bordeaux to bring Joan’s body back to London for burial. It is unknown what happened. There is no record of the return of Joan’s remains to England and no reports of her burial.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015) King Edward III of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iii-of-england/ (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Joan of England (died 1348) (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_England_(died_1348) (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Иоанна Английская (1335-1348) (2021) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%BE%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_(1335%E2%80%941348) (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Mortimer, Ian. (2006) The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. London: Vintage Books.
  • Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
  • Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British royalty: A Phrase and Fable dictionary. London: Cassell.

Luis I, King of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Luis I, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

After the abdication of his father, Luis I, King of Spain had a very short reign, from January 14, 1724 to August 31, 1724. Luis Felipe was born on August 25, 1707, at the Palacio del Buen Retiro in Madrid, Spain. He was the eldest of the four sons of Felipe V, King of Spain and his first wife Maria Luisa of Savoy. Luis’s paternal grandparents were Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir apparent to the throne of France, and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. His maternal grandparents were  Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and Anne Marie of Orléans.

Luis’s father King Felipe V of Spain;  Credit – Wikipedia

Luis’ father had been born a French prince, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son and heir apparent of King Louis XIV of France. In 1700, King Carlos II of Spain, from the House of Habsburg, died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the Spanish throne because his mother Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, King Carlos II of Spain, in his will, named the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, 16-year-old Philippe, Duke of Anjou, as his successor. He reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Bourbon monarch of Spain.

Luis had three younger brothers but only one survived childhood:

Luis at age ten; Credit – Wikipedia

Luis was the heir apparent to the Spanish throne at birth but was not given the traditional title of Prince of Asturias until April 1709. When Luis was six-years-old, his mother Maria Luisa died from tuberculosis at the age of 25 on February 14, 1714. On December 24, 1714, ten months after the death of his mother, Luis’s father married again to Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, the only surviving child of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma and Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg.

Felipe V of Spain with his second wife Elisabeth and some of his children from his first and second marriages – from left to right: the future Fernando VI, King Felipe V, the future Luis I; Felipe, the future Duke of Parma, Queen Elisabeth, a portrait of the Infanta Mariana Victoria, and the future Carlos III: Credit – Wikipedia

Luis had six half-siblings from his father’s second marriage but only the eldest three were born before Luis died.

Luis was educated and prepared to be King of Spain by Baltasar Hurtado de Amézaga y Unzaga, Marqués del Riscal de Alegre, an intelligent and capable Spanish general. Because Luis was the heir to a new Spanish dynasty, the House of Bourbon, it was decided that he should marry as soon as possible.

In 1718, the War of the Quadruple Alliance broke out between France and Spain. Two years later, in 1720, King Felipe V wanted to make a peace agreement with his first cousin once removed Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the Regent for the child King of France, Louis XV. In the 1720 peace agreement between France and Spain, King Felipe V proposed double marriages: his two-year-old daughter Infanta Mariana Victoria would marry ten-year-old King Louis XV of France. King Felipe V’s thirteen-year-old son and heir Luis, Prince of Asturias would marry one of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans’ daughters.

Luis’s wife Louise Élisabeth of Orléans, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Louise Élisabeth of Orléans, daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and Françoise Marie de Bourbon, was chosen as his bride. Louise Élisabeth and Luis were second cousins once removed. She was a granddaughter of King Louis XIV of France through one of his illegitimate children and also a granddaughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France. In November 1721, fourteen-year-old Luis and eleven-year-old Louise Élisabeth were married by proxy, in Paris, France. On January 9, 1722, on the Isle of Pheasants in the Bidassoa River, on the border of France and Spain, the French Louise Élisabeth was exchanged for the Spanish Mariana Victoria. On January 20, 1722, Luis and Louise Élisabeth were married in person at the Ducal Palace of Lerma in Lerma, Burgos, Spain.

The marriage was unsuccessful and resulted in no children due to the young age of Louise Élisabeth, known for her erratic and impulsive behavior. She appeared in public dirty and unkempt, refused to use undergarments, and tried to provoke courtiers by showing her intimate parts in public. At meals, Louise Élisabeth would not eat but would hide the food and compulsively eat it later. She would suddenly undress in public to clean the windows and tiles with her clothes. Modern mental health professionals think she had borderline personality disorder. Her husband Luis wrote to his father, “I see no other solution but to lock her down as soon as possible, for her troubles keep increasing.” Luis had his wife confined to a convent. Louise Élisabeth cried and sent her husband letters asking for forgiveness. He later felt sorry for her and released her.

On January 14, 1724, Luis’s father King Felipe V abdicated the Spanish throne in favor of Luis for reasons that are still unclear. Perhaps it was because Felipe suffered from mental instability and did not wish to reign due to his increasing mental decline. Another theory is that Felipe was concerned about the succession to the French throne due to several deaths. Although the treaty that ended the War of the Spanish Succession forbade a union of the French and Spanish crowns, perhaps Felipe hoped that by abdicating the Spanish throne, he could succeed to the French throne if necessary. The problems with his wife dominated Luis’s short reign. His father kept tabs on him but to counter his father’s influence, Luis surrounded himself with advisers who had not served his father. Luis planned to focus more on the Spanish colonies in the New World rather than the lost Italian territories.

Luis’s tomb at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial; Credit – Wikipedia

King Luis I contracted smallpox in July 1724. His wife Louise Élisabeth was his only company because his parents, fearful of the illness, left the Palacio del Buen Retiro in Madrid, Spain. Luis’s smallpox was complicated by pneumonia. Fourteen-year-old Louise Élisabeth cared for and remained with her seventeen-year-old husband until his death, on August 31, 1724. She also contracted smallpox but recovered from the illness. Luis I, King of Spain was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Luis’s father Felipe V was forced to once again ascend to the Spanish throne because his younger son, the future King Fernando VI, was not yet of legal age. Louise Élisabeth, a widow at the age of fourteen, now of no use to the Spanish court and royal family, lost all support and became totally isolated. In 1725, when France decided to send seven-year-old Mariana Victoria back to Spain so King Louis XV could marry someone else, it was also decided to send Louise Élisabeth back to France. She lived at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, away from the court of King Louis XV, her first cousin once removed. Louise Élisabeth died seventeen years later, lonely and forgotten.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Felipe V, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Lluís i d’espanya (2022) Wikipedia (Catalan). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llu%C3%ADs_I_d%27Espanya (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Louis I of Spain (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_I_of_Spain (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Louise Elisabeth d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_%C3%89lisabeth_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Luis I de España (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_I_de_Espa%C3%B1a (Accessed: November 23, 2022).

Isabella of England, Countess of Bedford

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England & one of her daughters, probably Isabella, wall painting at St Stephen’s Chapel, Palace of Westminster; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on June 16, 1332, at Woodstock Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, Isabella of England, Countess of Bedford, was the second of the fourteen children and the eldest of the five daughters of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Her paternal grandparents were King Edward II of England and Isabella of France, for whom she was named. Isabella’s paternal grandparents were Willem I, Count of Hainault (also Count of Holland, Count of Avesnes, and Count of Zeeland) and Joan of Valois.

Isabella had thirteen siblings. Her brothers married into the English nobility, and it was their descendants who later battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so some of Isabella’s siblings were called “of <their birthplace>.

The family’s main home was Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England. It was Isabella’s mother’s favorite residence and the birthplace of Isabella and three of her siblings. Isabella and her siblings had their own household, with many servants. As a child, Isabella, her brother Edward, and her sister Joan, the three eldest children, were sent to live in the household of Sir William de St. Omer, Lord of Brundale. It was common for royal and noble children to be raised for a period of time in another household.

When Isabella was three years old, her father unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a marriage for her with Pedro I, the future King of Castile and León. In 1345, Isabella’s sister Joan was betrothed to the same Pedro but in 1348, as fourteen-year-old Joan traveled from England to Castile, she became ill with the plague and died. Over the years, Isabella had several other possible betrothals but none came to fruition. In 1351, a marriage had been arranged with Bernard d’Albret, son of Bernard Ezi II, Lord of Albret who held land in Gascony, now in France. As the ship was about to depart for France, Isabella changed her mind, and the marriage was called off. The unmarried Isabella was actively involved in court life and enjoyed watching tournaments and taking part in hunts. King Edward III granted his unmarried daughter English land including, in 1355, the control of Burstall Priory in Yorkshire. In 1358, Eleanor was granted an annual income of a thousand marks.

At the age of thirty-three, in 1365, Isabella married for love. The French nobleman Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy was one of the forty hostages from the French high nobility sent to England in 1360 during the Hundred Years’ War in exchange for the release of King Jean II of France. Seven years younger than Isabella, he was the son and heir of Enguerrand VI, Lord of Coucy and Catherine of Austria. In London, Enguerrand became acquainted with King Edward III and his unmarried daughter Isabella. The couple fell in love. Edward III agreed to the marriage and granted him the titles Earl of Albemarle and Earl of Bedford.

On July 27, 1365, Isabella and Enguerrand were married at Windsor Castle amid festivity and magnificence. Isabella wore the jewels her father, mother, and brothers gave her as a wedding present. King Edward III’s wedding present to his new son-in-law Enguerrand was his release as a hostage without paying a ransom.

Ruins of the Château de Coucy; Credit – By CJ DUB – Own work, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2699065

Four months after the wedding, Isabella and Enguerrand traveled to Enguerrand’s home, the Château de Coucy in Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique, Lordship of Coucy, now in France. In April 1366, Isabella gave birth to her first daughter in Coucy. Throughout her married life, Isabella never felt quite at home in Coucy. Whenever Enguerrand had to be away for extended periods, she would return to England. The couple’s second daughter was born in Eltham Palace in London, England in 1367.

Isabella and Enguerrand had two daughters:

Three months after the birth of their second daughter, Isabella and her husband returned to Coucy. When the Hundred Years’ War between England and France resumed in 1368, Enguerrand VII faced a dilemma as he was a vassal of the King of France and the son-in-law of the King of England. He decided not to participate in any battles of the Hundred Years’ War. However, Enguerrand continued to serve the King of France as a military commander and was often away from home.

In 1376, Isabella was created the second Lady of the Garter. Her mother Queen Philippa had been created the first Lady of the Garter in 1369. The Order of the Garter was founded in 1348 by Isabella’s father King Edward III and is the oldest and most senior order in the United Kingdom.

In April 1377, Isabella was summoned to England because of the ill health of her father King Edward III. She was at his deathbed when he died on June 21, 1377. Because Isabella’s elder brother Edward, Prince of Wales, the Black Prince had died in 1376, his ten-year-old son succeeded as King Richard II. After the coronation of Richard II, Enguerrand decided to cut all ties to England and only serve the French king, effectively ending his marriage with Isabella. Enguerrand returned to France, never to see Isabella again. Isabella remained in England with her younger daughter Philippa while her older daughter Marie continued living in France.

Isabella died either in April 1379 or sometime between June 17 and October 5, 1382, aged 47 or 50. She was buried in Christ Church Greyfriars in London, England. Several other female family members were also buried there: her paternal aunt Joan of The Tower, Queen of Scots; her paternal grandmother Isabella of France, Queen of England; the second wife of her great grandfather King Edward I, Margaret of France, Queen of England; and her great-great-aunt, the daughter of King Henry III, Beatrice of England. The graves and the tombs at Christ Church Greyfriars have been lost or destroyed. The monastery associated with Christ Church Greyfriars was dissolved in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The buildings, including the church, suffered heavy damage. Tombs disappeared, sold for their marble and other valuable materials, and monuments were defaced. The original Christ Church Greyfriars was destroyed during the 1666 Great Fire of London. The church was rebuilt but was mostly destroyed by bombing during World War II. It was decided not to rebuild the church and the ruins are now a public garden.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015) King Edward III of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iii-of-england/ (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Mortimer, Ian. (2006) The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. London: Vintage Books.
  • Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
  • Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British royalty: A Phrase and Fable dictionary. London: Cassell.

Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, the second wife of Felipe V, King of Spain, was born on October 25, 1692, at the Palazzo della Pilotta in Duchy of Parma, now in Parma, Italy. She was the second but the only surviving of the two children and the only daughter of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma and Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg. Elisabeth’s paternal grandparents were Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza and Isabella d’Este. Her maternal grandparents were Philipp Wilhelm of Neuburg, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Elisabeth had one older brother who died in early childhood:

  • Alessandro Ignazio Farnese (1691- 1693)

Elisabeth’s father died in 1693, only a month after the death of her brother. In 1696, Elisabeth’s mother Dorothea married her father’s half-brother, Francesco Farnese, who had become Duke of Parma when his father died in 1694. Francesco married his half-brother’s widow because he did not want to give up Dorothea’s dowry should she marry someone else. Their marriage was childless. Because of the lack of male heirs of Elisabeth’s father, her uncle-stepfather, and her youngest uncle, both succeeded one another as Duke of Parma. Changes were legally made for the succession of the Duchy of Parma in the female line through Elisabeth. Eventually, her second son Felipe, Infant of Spain became the Duke of Parma and founded the House of Bourbon-Parma.

Elisabeth as a teenager, circa 1706; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth had a good relationship with her uncle and stepfather Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma. After her marriage, Elisabeth maintained a correspondence with Francesco until he died in 1727. However, Elisabeth had a distant relationship with her mother who treated her very severely. Although Elisabeth had a mediocre intelligence and was not interested in intellectual pursuits, she spoke German, French, Latin, and Spanish in addition to her native Italian, and studied history, geography, philosophy, and religion.

In 1714, Maria Luisa of Savoy, the wife of Felipe V, King of Spain, died from tuberculosis at the age of twenty-five. Thirty-one-year-old Felipe V almost immediately sought a new wife and there was no shortage of possibilities. At this time, the key powerbroker at the Spanish court was Marie-Anne de la Trémoille, Princesse des Ursins, a French courtier and royal favorite known for her political influence. She had dominated Felipe V and his first wife Maria Luisa. The Princesse des Ursins worked with Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, the chief adviser of Felipe V, and they arranged for Felipe V to marry Elisabeth.

Elisabeth’s husband Felipe V, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Felipe V, King of Spain had been born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou. He was the second of the three sons of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the only surviving child of King Louis XIV of France, and the heir apparent to the throne of France. In 1700, Carlos II, King of Spain died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Philippe’s father Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain because his mother Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II, King of Spain. However, neither Philippe’s father nor his elder brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of Anjou, Duke of Anjou as his successor. Felipe V was the first Spanish monarch from the House of Bourbon, which is still the ruling house of Spain.

On September 16, 1714, Elisabeth and Felipe V were married by proxy in the Duchy of Parma. Elisabeth left Parma in September and traveled to Spain by land. On her way to Spain, she was the guest of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco, and she visited her maternal aunt Maria Anna of Neuburg, Dowager Queen of Spain who had settled in Bayonne, France after King Felipe V had exiled her from Spain. On December 24, 1714, ten months after the death of Felipe V’s first wife, Elisabeth and Felipe V were married in Guadalajara, Spain. Felipe V was enthusiastic about his new wife, and Elisabeth soon dominated her weak-willed and indecisive husband. She spent a great deal of time with him, often accompanying him on hunts, where she displayed her excellent riding and shooting skills.

Felipe V of Spain with his wife Elisabeth and some of his children from his first and second marriages – from left to right: the future Fernando VI, King Felipe V, the future Luis I; Felipe, the future Duke of Parma, Queen Elisabeth, a portrait of the Infanta Mariana Victoria, and the future Carlos III: Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth and Felipe V had six children:

Upon her marriage, Elisabeth became the stepmother of Felipe V’s children from his first marriage. By 1719, only two of the four children had survived. Elisabeth never showed affection toward her stepsons. She considered her stepsons to be obstacles to achieving her main objective: to provide her sons with a realm to rule.

Elisabeth’s stepsons:

King Felipe V of Spain experienced episodes of manic depression. During several periods (1717, 1722, 1728, 1731, 1732–33, and 1737), Felipe V was unable to handle government affairs and Elisabeth became the de facto ruler. Elisabeth was not interested in domestic policy and preferred foreign policy, where her goal was to enforce the Spanish presence in the Italian states, combined with her ambition for her own sons, who were initially not expected to succeed in Spain because her stepsons were ahead of them in the line of succession.

On January 14, 1724, Felipe V abdicated the Spanish throne to Luis, his seventeen-year-old eldest son from his first marriage, for reasons that are still unclear. Perhaps it was because Felipe suffered from mental instability and did not wish to reign due to his increasing mental decline. Another theory is that Felipe was concerned about the succession to the French throne due to several deaths. Although the treaty that ended the War of the Spanish Succession forbade a union of the French and Spanish crowns, perhaps Felipe hoped that by abdicating the Spanish throne, he could succeed to the French throne if necessary. However, seven months later, Felipe was forced to once again become King of Spain because King Luis I died of smallpox and Felipe’s younger son from his first marriage, the future King Fernando VI, was not yet of legal age.

Felipe V and Elisabeth in 1739; Credit – Wikipedia

As he grew older, Felipe V’s mental issues worsened and Elisabeth became the permanent de facto ruler of Spain. Only the singing of the Italian castrato opera singer Farinelli (born Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi) brought any peace to Felipe. Farinelli would sing eight or nine arias for Felipe and Elisabeth every night, usually with a trio of musicians.

On July 9, 1746, 62-year-old Felipe V had a stroke and died a few hours later in Elisabeth’s arms. Just thirteen days later, Elisabeth’s 20-year-old daughter Maria Theresa Rafaela died three days after giving birth to a daughter who died two years later. Elisabeth had long feared that when her husband died, she would lose power, especially since the heir to the throne, the future King Fernando VI, was not her own son, but Felipe V’s last surviving son from his first marriage. Elisabeth was unpopular with the Spanish people, had ill-treated Fernando, and excluded him from government affairs. After Fernando became king, he allowed Elisabeth to stay in Spain. However, she had to move out of the Royal Palace in Buen Retiro and into the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, known as La Granja.

Elisabeth’s stepson Fernando VI, King of Spain reigned for thirteen years. During the last year of his reign, Fernando VI rapidly lost his mental capacity and was held at the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón, near Madrid, until his death on August 10, 1759. Fernando VI’s marriage to Barbara of Portugal was childless and so upon his death, Elisabeth’s elder surviving son succeeded his half-brother as King Carlos III of Spain.

All subsequent monarchs of Spain from the House of Bourbon are descendants of King Carlos III of Spain. Therefore, Elisabeth is the ancestor of the House of Bourbon that still reigns in Spain. And so Elisabeth achieved the goal she set so long ago. Her elder son became King of Spain and her younger son Felipe became sovereign Duke of Parma and founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma. Although the House of Bourbon-Parma no longer reigns, the pretender to the throne of the Duchy of Parma is Elisabeth’s descendant.

Tomb of Elisabeth and Felipe V, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth spent the last years of her life at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez and the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso. On July 11, 1766, aged 73, Elisabeth died at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Aranjuez, Spain. When Elisabeth’s husband King Felipe V of Spain, born a Prince of France, died, he requested not to be buried at the traditional burial site, the Pantheon of Kings in the Royal Crypt of the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. Instead, Felipe V requested to be buried in the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, known as La Granja, in the province of Segovia in central Spain. The architecture of La Granja reminded him of the longed-for French court of his childhood. Elisabeth was buried at his side.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Elisabeth Farnese (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Farnese (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Isabel Farnesio (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Farnesio (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
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  • Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odoardo_Farnese,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Parma (Accessed: November 23, 2022).

Eleanor of Woodstock, Duchess of Guelders

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Eleanor of Woodstock, Duchess of Guelders; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleanor of Woodstock, the second wife of Reinald II, Duke of Guelders, was born on June 18, 1318, at Woodstock Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. Eleanor was named after her paternal grandmother Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so Eleanor was called “of Woodstock”. She was the third of the four children and the elder of the two daughters of King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. Eleanor’s paternal grandparents were King Edward I of England and his first wife Eleanor of Castile. Her maternal grandparents were King Philippe IV of France and Joan I, Queen of Navarre in her own right.

Eleanor had three siblings:

Eleanor and her siblings had a difficult childhood. Their father Edward II was a weak king and his relationship with his favorites Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despenser the Younger, whether they were friends, lovers, or sworn brothers, was problematic and caused discontent both among the nobles and the royal family. Opposition to the regime grew, and when Edward II’s wife Isabella was sent to France to negotiate a peace treaty in 1325, she turned against Edward II and refused to return. Isabella allied herself with the exiled Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, and invaded England with a small army in 1326. Edward II’s regime collapsed and he fled to Wales, where he was captured in November 1326. Edward II was forced to give up his crown in January 1327 in favor of his son 14-year-old son King Edward III, with Isabella and Mortimer acting as regents. King Edward II died in Berkeley Castle on September 21, 1327, probably murdered on the orders of Isabella and Mortimer.

In 1324, because of a war with France, Hugh le Despenser, the favorite of Eleanor’s father King Edward II, took custody of six-year-old Eleanor and her sister three-year-old Joan from their mother Queen Isabella, claiming that Isabella, who had been born in France, could possibly incite her children to betray their father. Eleanor and Joan were placed in the care of Hugh le Despenser’s sister Isabel le Despenser and her husband Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer. For the next two years, Eleanor lived at Pleshey Castle and Marlborough Castle, de Monthermer’s estates. When King Edward II was deposed in 1326, Eleanor and Joan were returned to the custody of their mother.

In 1328, things changed for Eleanor, her brother King Edward III, and her sister Joan. In January 1328, Edward III married Philippa of Hainault. Soon after, Eleanor was moved to the household of her new sister-in-law who became her guardian. England and Scotland signed the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in the spring of 1328, formally ending the First War of Scottish Independence. One of the terms of the treaty was that seven-year-old Joan of England would marry four-year-old David, the son and heir of Robert I the Bruce, King of Scots. Eleanor and her mother accompanied Joan to Berwick-upon-Tweed, the northernmost town in England, 2 ½ miles from the border with Scotland, where the young couple was married in July 1328. Less than a year after the wedding, Robert the Bruce died, and Joan’s five-year-old husband became King David II of Scots and eight-year-old Joan became Queen of Scots.

There had been some negotiations for a marriage for Eleanor. In 1325, there were negotiations between England and Castile for Eleanor to be betrothed to King Alfonso XI of Castile, but the betrothal never occurred due to disagreements over the dowry. The future King Jean II of France was a prospective groom for Eleanor in 1329 and in 1330, there were negotiations for Eleanor to marry the future King Pedro IV of Aragon. Neither negotiation resulted in a marriage. Since marriages to a king or future king had failed, Eleanor had to settle for a count who was twenty-three years older than her.

Reinald II, Count of Guelders, later Duke of Guelders; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleanor’s brother King Edward III had negotiated an alliance with Reinald II, then Count of Guelders and later Duke of Guelders, in connection with the English-French conflicts, but marriage to his sister had not been one of the goals. Exactly how the marriage came about is not known. Eleanor did not have a dowry and so the initiative for the marriage may have come from Reinald. It is also possible that Willem II, Count of Hainault and/or his wife Joan of Valois, the parents of Edward III’s wife Philippa, played a role in arranging the marriage. Willem was interested in an English-Guelders alliance and Joan had a reputation as a talented mediator.

There appears to have been a proxy marriage on October 20, 1331, in England. In May 1332, 14-year-old Eleanor and 37-year-old Reinald II, Count of Guelders were married in person in Nijmegen, County of Guelders, now in the Netherlands. The County of Guelders, later the Duchy of Guelders, was located in parts of present-day the Netherlands and the present-day German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1339, during Reinald II’s reign, the County of Guelders was elevated to a Duchy.

Reinald had previously been married to Sophia Berthout, Lady of Mechelen who died in 1329. Reinald had four daughters from this marriage who were not much younger than their stepmother Eleanor. After Eleanor and Reinald’s two sons had no children, two of the four daughters became Duchess of Guelders in their own right.

Eleanor’s step-children, the children of Reinald and his first wife:

Eleanor and Reinald had two sons.

Eleanor and Reinald had problems in their marriage, and Reinald began to depend more upon Jan Moliart, his chaplain and chief adviser. Moliart was accused of isolating Reinald from Eleanor and spreading rumors that Eleanor was suffering from leprosy. Because of the leprosy rumors, Eleanor was banished from court. She lived in Rosendael Castle, near Arnhem, County of Guelders, now in the Netherlands, probably with her youngest son. When Reinald attempted to annul the marriage, an angry Eleanor walked from Rosendael Castle to the Valkhof, a royal palace in Nijmegen, to contest the annulment. In front of the court, Eleanor threw off her cloak and bared her arms to prove she did not have leprosy, forcing Reinald to take her back.

On October 12, 1343, 48-year-old Reinald II, Duke of Guelders died after a riding accident. The Council of State elected two guardians and regents for nine-year-old son Reinald III, Duke of Guelders, his mother Eleanor and Dirk van Valkenburg, and Dirk’s brother Jan van Valkenburg was elected stadtholder. The van Valkenburgs made the situation so difficult for Eleanor that she was forced to resign her post of regent, and in 1344, her son Reinald III, Duke of Guelders was formally declared to have reached his majority, and therefore, there was no need of a regency.

Broederenkerk, where Eleanor is buried; Credit – By Dguendel – Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68105428

In 1350, with encouragement from his mother, Eleanor’s younger son Edward began a civil war against his brother Reinald III for control of the Duchy of Guelders. When Eleanor attempted to reconcile with her son Reinald, he rejected her reconciliation attempts and confiscated her property. Eleanor was then forced to retire to the Cistercian convent in Deventer, a city that was part of the Hanseatic League, now in the Netherlands. Eleanor did not want to ask her brother King Edward III of England for help. She died in poverty at the convent on April 22, 1355, aged 36. Eleanor was buried at the Broederenkerk (link in Dutch), officially the Roman Catholic St. Lebuinus Church in Deventer that had been built on the order of Eleanor.

Eleanor was buried somewhere in front of the high altar of Broederenkerk; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Eleanor did not live long enough to see the results of the civil war between her two sons. In 1361 Edward gained power and became Duke of Guelders, and Reinald III was captured and imprisoned. Edward reigned until August 24, 1371, when he was killed in a battle caused by a disagreement between his brother-in-law Wilhelm II, Duke of Jülich and Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg. Upon Edward’s death, his brother Reinald III regained the Duchy of Guelders but he died shortly afterward, on December 4, 1371. As neither Edward nor Reinald had children, another war of succession for Guelders began.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

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Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

The first of the two wives of Felipe V, King of Spain, Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy was born on September 17, 1688, at the Royal Palace of Turin in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. She was the third of the six children and the third of the three daughters of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and Anne Marie of Orléans. Maria Luisa’s paternal grandparents were Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy and his second wife Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Nemours. Her maternal grandparents were Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (son of King Louis XIII of France and the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France) and Princess Henrietta of England (daughter of King Charles I of England).

Maria Luisa had five siblings:

In 1700, Carlos II, King of Spain died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, son of King Louis XIV of France and the heir apparent to the French throne had the strongest genealogical claim to the Spanish throne because his mother Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, Carlos II, King of Spain, in his will, had named the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, 16-year-old Philippe, Duke of Anjou, as his successor. He reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Bourbon monarch of Spain.

Felipe V, King of Spain, 1701; Credit – Wikipedia

Soon after he arrived in Spain, King Felipe V’s grandfather King Louis XIV arranged a marriage for him. In order to strengthen Felipe V’s shaky authority over Spain due to his French birth, King Louis XIV decided to maintain ties with Vittorio Amadeo II, then Duke of Savoy, whose eldest daughter Marie Adelaide of Savoy was already married to Felipe V’s elder brother Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin. Felipe V was betrothed to thirteen-year-old Maria Luisa of Savoy. In Turin, Duchy of Savoy, Felipe and Maria Luisa were married by proxy on September 12, 1701. Maria Luisa then left for Spain where the young couple met for the first time on November 2, 1701, and were married in person at a local parish church in Figueres, Spain.

Maria Luisa with her eldest child, the future King Luis I of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Luisa and Felipe V had four sons but only two survived childhood and they both had childless marriages:

The death of Maria Luisa; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Luisa and Felipe V had a loving, happy marriage. She acted as Regent of Spain from 1702 until 1703 during Felipe V’s absence due to the War of the Spanish Succession and had great influence over him as his adviser. Sadly, Maria Luisa died from tuberculosis at the age of 25 on February 14, 1714. She was buried in the Pantheon of Kings in the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain.

Tomb of Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen of Spain; Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan (2019) Felipe V, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan (2021) Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amedeo-ii-king-of-sardinia/ (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
  • Maria Luisa di Savoia (2022) Wikipedia (Italian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Luisa_di_Savoia (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
  • María Luisa Gabriela de Saboya (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Luisa_Gabriela_de_Saboya (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
  • Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Luisa_Gabriella_of_Savoy (Accessed: November 1, 2022).

John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall, from the Genealogical roll of the kings of England; family tree of Edward I; Credit – Wikipedia

John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall was born on August 15, 1316, at Eltham Palace in Eltham, southeast London, England. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so John was called “of Eltham”. He was the second of the four children and the second of the two sons of King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. John’s paternal grandparents were King Edward I of England and his first wife Eleanor of Castile. His maternal grandparents were King Philippe IV of France and Joan I, Queen of Navarre in her own right.

John had three siblings:

A 15th-century depiction of John’s mother Isabella capturing King Edward II, John’s father; Credit – Wikipedia

John and his siblings had a difficult childhood. His father Edward II was a weak king and his relationship with his favorites Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despenser the Younger, whether they were friends, lovers, or sworn brothers, was problematic and caused discontent among the nobles and the royal family. Opposition to the regime grew, and when Edward II’s wife Isabella was sent to France to negotiate a peace treaty in 1325, she turned against Edward II and refused to return. Isabella allied herself with the exiled Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, and invaded England with a small army in 1326. Edward II’s regime collapsed and he fled to Wales, where he was captured in November 1326. Edward II was forced to give up his crown in January 1327 in favor of his son 14-year-old son King Edward III, with Isabella and Mortimer acting as regents. King Edward II died in Berkeley Castle on September 21, 1327, probably murdered on the orders of Isabella and Mortimer.

John was the heir to the English throne until 1330, when his nephew Edward, Prince of Wales, the first child of King Edward III, was born. Edward III was theoretically King of England, but the true ruler was Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. After the birth of Edward III’s first son, Mortimer realized that his situation had deteriorated. Many nobles were jealous and angry because Mortimer abused power. In March 1330, Mortimer ordered the execution of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, the half-brother of Edward II. After this execution, the nobles begged the young King Edward III to assert his independence, which he did shortly before his 18th birthday. In October 1330, a Parliament was summoned to Nottingham Castle, and Mortimer and Isabella were seized by Edward III and the nobles. Isabella begged for mercy for Mortimer, but he was accused of assuming royal power and of various other crimes and was condemned without a trial and hanged. Isabella was initially held at Berkhamsted Castle and then held under house arrest at Windsor Castle until 1332, when she moved back to her own home Castle Rising Castle in Norfolk where she died on August 22, 1358.

King Edward III began marriage negotiations for his brother several times – in 1328 with María Díaz de Haro, heiress of the Lordship of Biscay, in 1334 with Marie de la Cerda, a descendant of King Alfonso X of Castile, and in 1335 with Jeanne de Penthièvre, the niece and heiress of Jean III, Duke of Brittany. However, none of the negotiations led to a betrothal.

John participated in the Second Scottish War of Independence. He was one of the commanders at the 1333 Battle of Halidon Hill, a great victory for the English. In January 1335, John defeated the Scots when they raided Redesdale in Northumberland, England. King Edward III was impressed by his brother’s bravery in battle, and in 1335, he appointed John the Warden of the Scottish Marches – Scottish Marches was the term used for the Anglo-Scottish border.

John’s brilliant military career was similar to the later career of his nephew Edward, Prince of Wales, known as The Black Prince, who predeceased his father, and ended just as suddenly. John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall died on September 13, 1336, in Perth, Scotland at the age of 20. The cause of his death is uncertain. There are references to John dying from a fever and dying in a skirmish with the Scots.

Tomb of John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall; Credit – Wikipedia (Click on the link below, white alabaster tomb, to see photos of the tomb from the Westminster Abbey website.)

King Edward III was devastated by his brother’s death and ordered 900 masses to be said for John’s soul. John was given a magnificent funeral at Westminster Abbey in London. He was buried in St. Edmund’s Chapel at Westminster Abbey in a white alabaster tomb with a recumbent effigy wearing armor with a sword and a shield with John’s coat of arms carved on it. King Edward III is buried just to the north of John’s tomb, in the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor.

The effigy on John’s tomb; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2016) Isabella of France, Queen of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/isabella-of-france-queen-of-england/ (Accessed: November 2, 2022).
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  • John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, Westminster Abbey. Available at: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/john-of-eltham-earl-of-cornwall (Accessed: November 2, 2022).
  • John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall (2022) Wikipedia (German). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Eltham,_Earl_of_Cornwall (Accessed: November 2, 2022).
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  • Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Maria Anna of Neuburg, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Maria Anna of Neuburg, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna of Neuburg, the second wife of Carlos II, King of Spain was born on October 28, 1667, at Schloss Benrath in Düsseldorf, Duchy of Berg, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. She was the twelfth of the seventeen children and the fifth of the eight daughters of Philipp Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate, Count Palatine of Neuburg, Duke of Jülich and Berg and his second wife Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Maria Sophie’s paternal grandparents were Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, Duke of Jülich and Berg and Magdalene of Bavaria. Her maternal grandparents were Georg II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Sophia Eleonore of Saxony.

Maria Anna’s mother had 23 pregnancies and 17 live births and the family gained the reputation as a fertile family. Maria Anna had sixteen siblings:

Neuburg Castle; Credit – By User: Bbb at wikivoyage shared, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22660132

Maria Anna was raised with her many siblings at Neuburg Castle, the seat of the Electors of the Palatinate in Neuburg an der Donau in Palatinate-Neuburg, now in Bavaria, Germany. With her sisters, Maria Anna received a comprehensive education that included languages, science, and music, supervised by their governess Frau von Klau. Jesuit priests instructed the sisters in religion.

Maria Anna’s husband Carlos II, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1679, 18-year-old Carlos II, King of Spain married 17-year-old Marie Louise of Orléans, the eldest niece of King Louis XIV of France and daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Henrietta of England. Ten years later, in 1689, the marriage was childless and Marie Louise of Orléans died, probably from appendicitis. The lack of an heir to the Spanish throne and concerns over King Carlos II’s health made a second marriage an urgent matter. Carlos’ mother Mariana of Austria selected twenty-two-year-old Maria Anna of Neuburg based on the family’s history of fertility. Maria Anna’s eldest sister Eleonor Magdalene had married Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, strengthening her ties to the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg.

The House of Habsburg, which ruled over Austria, Spain, and their many territories, was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Seven of King Carlos II of Spain’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation.

King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw) which can be seen in this painting; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many members of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. However, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Carlos was educated by the Jesuit priests, however, because of his developmental disability, both physically and mentally, he only received a basic education. Carlos’ conditions showed clear signs of the long-time inbreeding of the House of Habsburg.

Maria Anna in 1689, the year of her marriage; Credit – Wikipedia

The proxy wedding was held on August 28, 1689, in Ingolstadt, Duchy of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. Among the many distinguished guests at the ceremony were Maria Anna’s brother-in-law Leopold I and her sister Eleonor Magdalene, the Holy Roman Emperor and Empress. Maria Anna arrived in Spain in the spring of 1690. 28-year-old King Carlos II of Spain and 22-year-old Maria Anna of Neuberg were married in person on May 14, 1690, in the Church of the Convent of San Diego, within the complex of the Royal Palace of Valladolid in Spain. During the celebration after the wedding, Carlos II, who was still mourning his first wife, did not pay any attention to Maria Anna. It seemed that he was present only to eat cakes. On their wedding night, Carlos and Maria Anna slept in separate quarters, and this practice continued throughout their marriage. Likely, the marriage was never consummated.

The grand entrance of Maria Anna of Neuburg, Queen of Spain into Madrid following her marriage; Credit – Wikipedia

During her marriage, under pressure to provide an heir, Maria Anna faked several pregnancies and encouraged Carlos to undergo treatments to increase his fertility, making it clear the failure to produce an heir was not her fault. Maria Anna attempted to influence the decision of the successor to the Spanish throne. In succession disputes, Maria Anna always supported the claims of her nephew Archduke Karl of Austria, the future Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, the son of her older sister, Eleonor Magdalene and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. As the years passed, it became increasingly clear that King Carlos II would never have an heir. It seemed that Carlos was almost certainly infertile and his autopsy did reveal he had only one atrophied testicle.

Felipe V, King of France, grandson of King Louis XIV of France and the successor of the childless King Carlos II of Spain, 1701; Credit – Wikipedia

In September 1700, Carlos became ill, and by September 28, 1700, was no longer able to eat. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the only surviving child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain, Carlos’ half-sister, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, in his will, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos’ half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. Carlos II, King of Spain died on November 1, 1700, five days before his thirty-ninth birthday, and was succeeded by his half-sister’s grandson Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in the Kingdom of Spain today.

Although Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou succeeded to the Spanish throne as Felipe V, King of Spain, the political struggle over the Spanish throne between the French faction, which supported Felipe V, and the Austrian faction, which supported Maria Anna’s nephew, Archduke Karl of Austria, the future Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, resulted in the 1701 – 1714 War of the Spanish Succession that involved the Great Powers of Europe. Ultimately, the War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the recognition of Felipe V as King of Spain, and the renouncing of the rights of Felipe V, formerly Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, and his descendants to inherit the French throne.

Maria Anna of Neuburg, Queen of Spain as a widow; Credit – Wikipedia

In his will, King Carlos II had stipulated that Maria Anna be given a good annual pension and be treated with respect by his successors. However, King Felipe V ordered Maria Anna to leave Madrid before he entered the capital. Maria Anna had no choice but to reside in the Alcazar of Toledo in Toledo, Spain. Having limited funds, Maria Anna wrote to her relatives asking for financial help. In 1701, her brother Johann Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate wrote to their sister Eleonor Magdalene, Holy Roman Empress: “About the Queen of Spain, I sincerely sympathize with this unfortunate lady, but, in truth, everything that she had to face was her own fault, as a result of her terrible behavior. And I think what she’s asking Your Majesty is more unrealistic than feasible. But, if you could help this poor woman and console her in such a difficult situation, I would consider this a personal service to me .”

Maria Anna’s 1704 letter to her mother revealed her desperate situation: “I am abandoned by everyone. They do not pay me a full pension, they do not even pay a third…Therefore, I do not always have servants – I simply have nothing to pay them. Sometimes I don’t even have enough food…I became pathetic because I can’t trust anyone, but at the same time, I’m afraid that everyone will leave me.” In 1706, Maria Anna’s situation improved when forces of the Holy Roman Empire led by her nephew Archduke Karl of Austria occupied Toledo. Maria Anna was overjoyed and warmly welcomed her nephew and his army. Because of this, two years later, King Felipe V exiled Maria Anna from Spain. She settled in Bayonne, France where she lived from 1708 – 1739.

Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara, Spain, Maria Anna’s last home, where she died; Credit – By tiger rus, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58620784

In 1739, elderly and in ill health, Maria Anna was allowed to return to Spain. This was probably due to the influence of her niece Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, the daughter of Maria Anna’s sister Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg and Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma, who had become the second wife of King Felipe V of Spain in 1714. Because of Felipe V’s mental condition, Elisabeth Farnese was the de facto ruler of Spain and later the Regent of Spain. Maria Anna was given a home at the Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara, Spain, where she died on July 16, 1740, at the age of 72. She was interred in Chapel IX of the Pantheon of the Infantes at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. The Pantheon of the Infantes is the burial place for Infantes and Infantas (corresponding to Prince and Princess) of Spain and for Queen Consorts of Spain who were not mothers of Kings of Spain.

Maria Anna’s tomb is the first tomb on the right; Credit – By José Luis Filpo Cabana – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26540368

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Carlos II, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlos-ii-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
  • Maria Anna of Neuburg (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_of_Neuburg (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
  • Philip William, Elector Palatine (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_William,_Elector_Palatine (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
  • Marie-Anne de Neubourg (2022) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Anne_de_Neubourg (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
  • Maria Anna von der Pfalz (1667–1740) (2022) Wikipedia (German). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_von_der_Pfalz_(1667%E2%80%931740) (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
  • Мария Анна пфальц-нейбургская (2022) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9F%D1%84%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%86-%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
  • Mariana de Neoburgo (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_de_Neoburgo (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, Countess of Holland, Countess of Hereford

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

A depiction of Elizabeth of Rhuddlan from the Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan was born on August 7, 1282, at Rhuddlan Castle in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, Wales. The castle was built by her father King Edward I of England in 1277, following the First Welsh War. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so Elizabeth was called “of Rhuddlan”. Elizabeth was the tenth but the fifth surviving daughter and the thirteenth or fourteenth of the 14 – 16 children of Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, the first of his two wives. Mary’s paternal grandparents were Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Toledo and King of León, and Galicia and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale in her own right.

Early fourteenth-century manuscript showing Elizabeth’s parents King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth’s parents had 14 – 16 children. Only five daughters and one son survived to adulthood. The eleven siblings of Elizabeth listed below were those who were named and survived infancy for at least a couple of months.

In November 1290, when Elizabeth was eight-years-old, her mother Eleanor of Castile died. Only six of Edward I and Eleanor’s children, five daughters and one son, were still living. The only son, the future King Edward II, was the youngest child and just six years old. King Edward I had to be worried about the succession, and a second marriage with sons would ensure the succession. On September 10, 1299, 60-year-old King Edward I married 17-year-old Margaret of France, daughter of King Philippe III of France and his second wife Marie of Brabant.

Elizabeth had three half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Margaret of France:

In 1285, three-year-old Elizabeth was betrothed to an infant, the future John I, Count of Holland (1284 – 1299). Soon after this, the infant John was sent to England to be raised and educated at King Edward I’s court. In 1296, John’s father Floris V, Count of Holland was murdered, and John became Count of Holland.

On January 7, 1297, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth and twelve-year-old John were married at St. Peter’s Church in Ipswich, England. John I, Count of Holland was allowed to return to Holland at the end of January 1297, but Elizabeth remained in England and did not join her husband in Holland until November 1297. On November 10, 1299, childless and only fifteen years old, John I, Count of Holland died from dysentery although there were suspicions he was murdered. Now a widow, 17-year-old Elizabeth returned to England, stopping to visit her sister Margaret in the Duchy of Brabant on the way. When Elizabeth arrived in England, she first met her stepmother Margaret, who had married Elizabeth’s father King Edward I while Elizabeth was in Holland. Margaret and Elizabeth became close friends, and Elizabeth’s first child was named after her.

Effigy of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford from a memorial at Hereford Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth settled at her father’s court. She had probably met 24-year-old Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Constable of England in the late 1280s, but they became reacquainted at court. By 1302, plans were being arranged for Elizabeth and Humphrey to marry. On November 14, 1302, Elizabeth and Humphrey were married at Westminster Abbey in London, England. After her marriage, Elizabeth continued to live at the royal court. She did not move to her husband’s estates until the death of her father King Edward I and the accession of her brother King Edward II in 1307.

Elizabeth and Humphrey had ten children

Humphrey was imprisoned after the English defeat by the Scots at the 1314 Battle of Bannockburn. Humphrey had fought Robert I the Bruce, King of Scots in single combat but was forced to concede. Humphrey was ransomed by his brother-in-law King Edward II. He was traded for Robert the Bruce’s second wife Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen of Scots and his daughter from his first marriage Marjorie Bruce, who had both been imprisoned by the English for eight years.

Elizabeth and especially her husband Humphrey had issues with King Edward II’s relationship with his favorite Piers Gaveston, bluntly called a traitor by Humphrey. This caused years of estrangement between Elizabeth and her brother King Edward II. They were finally reconciled in 1315, three years after Gaveston’s murder by English nobles who had had enough of him. Elizabeth spent Christmas of 1315 with her brother King Edward II and his wife Isabella of France.

Tomb of Elizabeth of Rhuddlan; Credit – www.findagrave.com

After the 1315 Christmas celebrations, Elizabeth settled at her husband’s estate in Quendon, Essex, England to await the birth of her tenth child. She gave birth on May 5, 1316, to a daughter named Isabella in honor of the Queen. Sadly, 33-year-old Elizabeth and her daughter Isabella both died the same day. Elizabeth and her daughter Isabella were interred at Waltham Abbey Church in Waltham Abbey, Essex, England.

Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford survived Elizabeth by six years. He was brutally killed in battle, leading an attempt to storm a bridge, on March 16, 1322, aged 46, at the Battle of Boroughbridge during the Despenser War (1321 -1322), a revolt by nobles against King Edward II of England led by Humphrey and Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March. Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford was buried at the York Dominican Friary in North Yorkshire, England.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Rhuddlan (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
  • Елизавета Рудланская (2021) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%95%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2013. Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-28-1290-death-of-eleanor-of-castile-first-wife-of-king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 1 November 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Edward I of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 1 November 2022].
  • Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_de_Bohun,_4th_Earl_of_Hereford (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
  • John I, Count of Holland (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_I,_Count_of_Holland (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
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  • Wilson-Lee, Kelcey, 2019. Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Princesses of King Edward Longshanks. New York: Pegasus.

Marie Louise d’Orléans, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Marie Louise d’Orléans, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Louise d’Orléans was the first wife of Carlos II, King of Spain. She was born on March 26, 1662, at the Palais-Royal in Paris, France. Marie Louise had an impeccable royal genealogy. Her parents were first cousins. Her father was Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger of the two sons of Louis XIII, King of France and Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Portugal, and the only sibling of Louis XIV, King of France. Her mother was Henrietta of England, the youngest child of Charles I, King of England and Henrietta Maria of France. Philippe’s father Louis XIII and Henrietta’s mother Henrietta Maria were siblings, the children of Henri IV, King of France and Marie de Medici from the famous House of Medici. As the granddaughter of Louis XIII, King of France, Marie Louise was entitled to the style and title Her Royal Highness Petite-fille de France (Granddaughter of France).

French Royal Family in a mythological setting: Henrietta Maria of France, Queen of England; Philippe I, Duke of Orléans; his daughter Marie Louise; his wife Henrietta of England; Anne of Austria, Queen Mother; King Louis XIV: Louis XIV’s children Louis, Marie Thérèse, and Philippe; Marie Teresa of Austria, Queen of France; Anne Marie Louise d’Orleans, la Grande Mademoiselle; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Louise had two younger siblings. The Jacobite claim to the British throne goes through Marie Louise’s younger sister Anne Marie because their brother had died in childhood and Marie Louise had no children. Through her mother, Anne Marie was a granddaughter of King Charles I of England. When Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) and his brother Cardinal Henry Stuart, both died without legitimate issue, Anne Marie’s descendants inherited the Jacobite claim.

Marie Louise’s siblings:

Philippe I, Duke of Orléans with his favorite daughter Marie Louise; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Louise had a happy early childhood, living at the Palais-Royal in Paris and the Château de Saint-Cloud, overlooking the Seine, just outside Paris. She spent a lot of time with both her paternal grandmother Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain who left most of her fortune to her when she died in 1666, and her maternal grandmother Henrietta Maria of France (died 1669), the widow of the beheaded King Charles I of England, who had returned to her native France after her husband was deposed and executed.

Marie Louise with her mother Henrietta; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1670, when Marie Louise was eight years old, her mother Henrietta died at the age of 26. Marie Louise’s uncle King Louis XIV wanted a male heir for her father to continue the Orléans line and looked for a second wife for Philippe himself. King Louis XIV rejected many potential second brides for his brother before settling on the Protestant Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. She was the only daughter of Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine and his first wife Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel. Liselotte’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England and granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots. Liselotte converted to Roman Catholicism and married Philippe on November 19, 1671.

Marie Louise’s stepmother Liselotte with her two surviving children, Marie Louise’s step-siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Due to the attitude of the court, as well as the homosexual relations of her husband Philippe, which he did not hide, Liselotte devoted much attention to Philippe’s daughters. Liselotte acted as a mother to Marie Louise and her younger sister Anne Marie and maintained correspondence with them throughout their lives. As with his first marriage, Philippe had homosexual affairs but was intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children. Philippe and Liselotte had three children who were the half-siblings of Marie Louise:

Maria Louise’s husband Carlos II, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

After the 1678 Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen were signed between France and Spain, a marriage was arranged between 16-year-old Marie Louise and 17-year-old Carlos II, King of Spain. King Louis XIV was married to Carlos II’s half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, who was also his double first cousin. Carlos II was also a first cousin of Louis XIV and Louis XIV wanted to have his brother-in-law/first cousin, weakened by years of inbreeding in the House of Habsburg, under French influence. Having no daughter, King Louis XIV offered his elder niece Marie Louise as a bride for Carlos II, King of Spain. Thinking of the future, Louis XIV knew that if Marie Louise and Carlos II had a child who became the monarch of Spain, then French influence would remain. If Marie Louise and Carlos II did not have children, Louis XIV’s own line could inherit the Spanish throne. Louis XIV’s wife Maria Teresa was the elder surviving of two daughters of King Felipe IV of Spain and had senior succession rights after her half-brother King Carlos II of Spain, also a child of Felipe IV.

The House of Habsburg, which ruled over Austria, Spain, and their many territories, was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Seven of King Carlos II of Spain’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation.

King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw) which can be seen in this painting; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many members of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. However, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Carlos was educated by the Jesuit priests, but because of his developmental disability, both physically and mentally, he only received a basic education. Carlos’ conditions showed clear signs of the long-time inbreeding of the House of Habsburg.

Even though the French ambassador to Spain wrote that Carlos “… is so ugly as to cause fear, and looks ill”, Carlos’ appearance and condition were considered irrelevant to the political benefits. Marie Louise was distressed by the arranged marriage and spent most of her time crying. She even confronted her uncle King Louis XIV, who retorted with irony, that it was not worthy that the “Catholic Queen” (nickname of the Spanish Queens) should throw herself at the feet of “The Very Christian King” (nickname of the Kings of France). Trying to reason with his niece, King Louis XIV asked Marie Louise if she thought he could have found a better marriage for his own daughter if he had one. Marie Louise replied, “No, but you could have found a better marriage for your niece,” referring to her desire to marry Louis XIV’s only surviving (legitimate) child and her first cousin, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France.

On August 30, 1679, Marie Louise and Carlos II, King of Spain were married via a proxy marriage at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France with Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, the bride cousin, standing in for the groom. When Marie Louise left France for Spain, her uncle King Louis XIV, worried that like his first cousin Marguerite-Louise d’Orléans, who married Cosimo III de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Marie Louise would leave her husband to return to France, said to his niece, “Goodbye Madame, and forever.” Marie Louise never returned to France.

On November 19, 1679, Marie Louise married Carlos II in person in Quintanapalla, near Burgos, Spain. She found the Spanish court etiquette even more regulated and restrictive than the French court. Marie Louise did not speak Spanish, and Carlos II did not speak French, so they were dependent on an interpreter when they first met. Carlos had fallen in love with Marie Louise the first time he saw her portrait. Despite not feeling passion for her husband, Marie Louise became fond of Carlos over time. Carlos taught her Spanish, and Marie Louise taught him French. The Spanish court became increasingly desperate regarding the delay in the arrival of an heir. More likely than not, it was Carlos who was infertile. He did not have any children with his second wife either. The lack of a child and the strict Spanish court caused Marie Louise to show signs of depression. She longed more and more for her happy life in France, developed an enormous appetite, and became overweight.

Marie Louise, Queen of Spain, lying in state in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid by Sebastián Muñoz; Credit – Wikipedia

The childless marriage lasted ten years. One day, after taking a ride on horseback, Marie Louise began to feel strong pain in her stomach. She died the next day, aged 26, on February 12, 1689, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid in Spain. Although many reasons were considered as causes of Marie Louise’s death including poison, it is most likely that she died from appendicitis, a fatal infection until the mid-nineteenth century when the advent of anesthesia and new surgical techniques allowed for successful appendectomies. Marie Louise was interred in Chapel IX of the Pantheon of the Infantes at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. The Pantheon of the Infantes is the burial place for Infantes and Infantas of Spain and for Queen Consorts of Spain who were not mothers of Kings of Spain. Infante and Infanta are Spanish royal titles that basically correspond to Prince and Princess.

In 1690, Carlos II married Maria Anna of Neuberg, but that marriage was also childless. Carlos II’s autopsy revealed he had only one atrophied testicle, the cause of infertility in his two marriages. In September 1700, Carlos became ill and was no longer able to eat. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir to the French throne and the only surviving child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, Carlos’ half-sister, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain, just as King Louis XIV of France had thought could happen. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin (the father of King Louis XV who succeeded his great-grandfather King Louis XIV) could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, in his will, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos II’s half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. When Carlos II, King of Spain died on November 1, 1700, five days before his thirty-ninth birthday, he was succeeded by his half-sister’s grandson Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in the Kingdom of Spain today.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Carlos II, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlos-ii-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/philippe-i-duke-of-orleans/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
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  • Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.