Mariana of Austria

{{for|Maria Anna of Austria (1683–1754), Queen consort of Portugal|Maria Anna of Austria}}

{{Infobox royalty

| consort = yes

| succession = Queen consort of Spain

| image = Mariana of Austria by Velázquez (c. 1652, Museo del Prado).jpg

| caption = Portrait of Mariana of Austria by Diego Velázquez, 1652–53

| reign = 7 October 1649 – 17 September 1665

| spouse = {{marriage|Philip IV of Spain|1649|1665|end=d}}

| issue = {{ubl|Margaret Theresa, Holy Roman Empress|Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias|Charles II, King of Spain}}

| issue-link = #Issue

| issue-pipe = Among others

| full name = Maria Anna

| house = Habsburg

| father = Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

| mother = Maria Anna of Spain

| birth_date = {{birth date|1634|12|24|df=y}}

| birth_place = Wiener Neustadt, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire

| death_date = {{death date and age|1696|05|16|1634|12|22|df=y}}

| death_place = Palace of the Councils, Madrid, Crown of Castile

| burial_place = El Escorial

| signature = Signature of Mariana of Austria.jpg

| succession1 = Queen regent of Spain

| reign-type1 = Regency

| reign1 = 17 September 1665 – 6 November 1675

| pre-type1 = Monarch

| predecessor1 = Charles II

}}

Mariana or Maria Anna of Austria{{efn|{{langx|es|Mariana de Austria}} {{langx|de|Maria Anna von Österreich}}}} (24 December 1634 – 16 May 1696), was Queen of Spain from 1649 until the death of her husband Philip IV of Spain in 1665. Appointed regent for their infant son Charles II, she remained an influential figure until her death in 1696.

Her regency was overshadowed by Spain's post-1648 decline and internal political divisions, combined with a general European economic crisis during the latter half of the 17th century. Her son's failure to produce an heir ultimately ended in the 1701 to 1714 War of the Spanish Succession.

Birth and early years

Maria Anna was born on 24 December 1634 in Wiener Neustadt, second child of Maria Anna of Spain and her husband Ferdinand (1608–1657), who became Holy Roman Emperor in 1637. Her parents had three children who survived into adulthood, Mariana and her two brothers, Ferdinand (1633–1654), and Leopold (1640–1705), elected emperor in 1658.{{sfn|O'Connor|1978|pp=7-14}}

In 1646, Maria Anna was betrothed to her cousin Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne. His death soon afterwards left her without a prospective husband and her widowed uncle Philip IV without a successor. On 7 October 1649, Philip married his 14-year-old niece Maria Anna in Navalcarnero, outside Madrid.{{sfn|Graziano|2004|pp=106–107}}

Image: Anonymous Mariana of Austria in Spanish costume (detail).jpg

Only two of their five children survived to adulthood. The eldest was Margaret Theresa, who married her maternal uncle Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1666. Mariana's second daughter, Maria Ambrosia, lived only fifteen days, followed by two sons, Philip Prospero and Ferdinand Thomas. On 6 November 1661, Mariana gave birth to her last child, a son, Charles.{{sfn|Rule|2017|pp=91–108}}

It has been suggested Charles inherited several rare genetic disorders from his parents,{{sfn|Callaway|2013}} but his elder sister did not experience the same issues, while the most significant study on this topic concludes such claims remain speculation.{{sfn|Gonzalo|Ceballos|Quintero|2009|p=5174}} Regardless, Charles' death was expected almost from birth, leading to internal struggles between backers of his two potential co-heirs, Louis XIV and Emperor Leopold. "Short, lame, epileptic, senile and completely bald before 35, ... [he] repeatedly baffled Christendom by continuing to live".{{sfn|Durant|Durant|1963|p=25}}

Regency

File:Retrato de la reina Mariana de Austria, by Diego Velázquez.jpg, c. 1656]]

=First regency: 1665–1677=

Charles was only three years old when Philip died on 17 September 1665, and Mariana was appointed regent, advised by a Regency Council, until he became a legal adult at the age of 14. She adopted the {{lang|es|valido}}{{efn|Translated as Favourite, its true meaning is closer to senior advisor}} system established by Philip in 1620, the first being Juan Everardo Nithard, an Austrian Jesuit and her personal confessor; as Philip's will excluded foreigners from the Regency Council, he had to be naturalised, causing immediate resentment.{{sfn|Storrs|2006|p=154}} Other informal advisors included Gaspar de Bracamonte, 3rd Count of Peñaranda and Mariana Engracia Álvarez de Toledo Portugal y Alfonso-Pimentel.{{Cite web|url=http://dbe.rah.es/biografias/109029/mariana-engracia-de-toledo-portugal-y-pimentel|title=Mariana Engracia de Toledo Portugal y Pimentel |work=Real Academia de la Historia |language=es}}

Charles' poor health and lack of an heir meant his reign was often dominated by a power struggle between Mariana's Austrian faction, and a pro-French lobby initially led by his illegitimate half-brother, John of Austria the Younger. Spain was also divided into the Crowns of Castile and Aragon, whose very different political cultures made it almost impossible to enact reforms or increase taxes. As a result, government finances were in perpetual crisis, the Crown declaring bankruptcy in 1647, 1652, 1661 and 1666.{{sfn|Cowans|2003|pp=26–27}}

Image:El cardenal Juan Everardo Nithard.jpg, c. 1674, Mariana's first advisor until ousted in 1669]]

Spain was exhausted by almost a century of continuous war, while the second half of the 17th century coincided with a period of extreme cold weather known as the Little Ice Age. Between 1692 and 1699, crops failed across Europe and an estimated 5–10% of the population starved to death.{{sfn|De Vries|2009|pp=151–194}} The new government inherited other problems, the long-running Portuguese Restoration War being the most urgent. This was made worse in May 1667 when France once again invaded the Spanish Netherlands, and occupied the Spanish province of Franche-Comté.{{sfn|Geyl|1936|pp=311}} The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668) ended the war with France, while the Treaty of Lisbon (1668) restored Portugal's independence.{{sfn|Barton|2009|p=123}}

Peace ended the drain on Spanish resources, while France returned most of the territories over-run in the War of Devolution. They represented a significant diplomatic achievement, but many Spanish military officers considered the terms humiliating. Joseph Malladas, an Aragonese captain, was executed in June 1668 for plotting to murder Nithard, reputedly on John's behalf.{{sfn|Mitchell|2019|p=53}} In February 1669, Nithard was succeeded as {{lang|es|valido}} by Aytona, who died in 1670 and replaced in turn by Valenzuela, a member of her household since 1661.{{sfn|Storrs|2006|p=155}} An outsider from the lower ranks of Spanish nobility, Valenzuela depended entirely on Mariana for his position.{{sfn|Knighton|2005|p=293}}

In 1672, Spain was dragged into the Franco-Dutch War; Valenzuela was dismissed when Charles came of age in 1675, but Spanish policy continued to be undermined by the struggle for power. Mariana reinstated the regency in 1677 on the grounds of Charles's ill-health and Valenzuela was restored, before John finally gained control in 1677.

=Second regency: 1679–1696=

John died in September 1679 and Mariana became regent once again; one of his final acts was arranging the marriage of Charles to 17-year-old Marie Louise of Orléans, which took place in November 1679.{{sfn|Mitchell|2013|pp=265–269}} She died in February 1689, without producing an heir; as with many deaths of the period, limited medical knowledge led to allegations she was poisoned. Modern assessments of her symptoms conclude it was almost certainly appendicitis, possibly from the treatments undertaken to improve fertility.{{sfn|García-Escudero López|Arruza Echevarría|Padilla Nieva|Puig Giró|2009|p=181}}

File:Portrait of Mariana of Austria (1634–1696), Queen of Spain, depicted as a widow, by Claudio Coello.jpg, c. 1685–1693]]

Her replacement was Maria Anna of Neuburg, one of 12 children whose family reputation for fertility made them popular choices for royal marriages. Of her sisters, Maria Sophia married Peter II of Portugal, while Eleonore was the third wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. Maria Anna was aunt to future emperors Joseph I and Charles VI, making her an ideal choice for the Austrian faction.{{sfn|Rommelse|2011|p=224}} However, Charles was by now almost certainly impotent, his autopsy later revealing he had only one atrophied testicle.{{sfn|García-Escudero López|Arruza Echevarría|Padilla Nieva|Puig Giró|2009|p=182}}

As his health declined, internal struggles over the succession became increasingly bitter, leadership of the pro-French faction passing to Fernández de Portocarrero, Archbishop of Toledo. In 1690, Spain joined the Grand Alliance in the Nine Years' War with France. It declared bankruptcy again in 1692 and by 1696, France occupied most of Catalonia; Mariana retained power with the support of German auxiliaries under Maria Anna's brother Charles Philip, many of whom were expelled after Mariana's death.{{sfn|Storrs|2006|p=158}} She died on 16 May 1696 at the Uceda Palace in Madrid, at the age of sixty-one, probably from breast cancer.{{sfn|Graziano|2004|p=108}}

Legacy

In 1668, Mariana approved the establishment of a Jesuit mission under Diego Luis de San Vitores and Saint Pedro Calungsod on a series of islands the Spanish referred to as the Ladrones, which were renamed the Mariana Islands in her honour.{{Sfn|Kamen|2002|p=419}}

The Portrait of Mariana of Austria painted by Diego Velázquez was commissioned by Philip and is the only known full-length painting of her. The original is in the Prado Museum in Madrid; a copy was sent to her father Ferdinand and is held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. She also appears as a detail in Velasquez' masterpiece Las Meninas which features her daughter Margaret Theresa.

Issue

By her marriage she had five children:

Margaret Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (12 July 1651{{spaced ndash}} 12 March 1673), married Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maria Ambrosia de la Concepción Enrichetta Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (7 December 1655{{spaced ndash}} 21 December 1655)
Philip Prospero of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (28 November 1657{{spaced ndash}} 1 November 1661)
Ferdinand Thomas Charles of Austria, Infante of Spain (23 December 1658{{spaced ndash}} 22 October 1659)
Charles II of Spain (6 November 1661{{spaced ndash}} 1 November 1700) married Marie Louise d'Orléans, no issue. Married secondly Maria Anna of Neuburg, no issue.

Notes

References

Sources

{{cite book |last1=Barton |first1=Simon |title=A History of Spain |date=2009 |publisher=Palgrave |isbn=978-0230200128}}
{{cite journal |last=Callaway |first=Ewen |date=2013 |title=Inbred Royals Show Traces of Natural Selection |journal=Nature News|doi=10.1038/nature.2013.12837|s2cid=87959487 |doi-access=free }}
{{cite book|last1=Cowans|first1=Jon|title=Modern Spain: A Documentary History|year=2003|publisher=U. of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=0-8122-1846-9}}
{{cite journal|last1=De Vries|first1=Jan|title=The Economic Crisis of the 17th Century|journal=Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies|date=2009|volume=40|issue=2}}
{{cite book|last1=Durant|first1=Ariel|last2=Durant|first2=Will|title=Age of Louis XIV (Story of Civilization)|date=1963|publisher=TBS Publishing|isbn=0207942277}}
{{cite journal |last1=García-Escudero López |first1=Ángel |last2=Arruza Echevarría |first2=A. |last3=Padilla Nieva |first3=Jaime |last4=Puig Giró |first4=Ramon |date=April 2009 |title=Carlos II: del hechizo a su patología génito-urinaria |trans-title=Charles II; from spell to genitourinary pathology |journal=Archivos Españoles de Urología [History of Urology] |language=Spanish |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=179–185 |doi=10.4321/s0004-06142009000300002 |issn=0004-0614 |pmid=19542589|url=http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-06142009000300002 }}
{{cite journal |last1=Geyl |first1=P |title=Johan de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, 1653–72 |journal=History |date=1936 |volume=20 |issue=80 |pages=303–319 |jstor=24401084 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-229X.1936.tb00103.x }}
{{cite journal|last1=Gonzalo|first1=Alvarez|last2=Ceballos|first2=Francisco|last3=Quintero|first3=Celsa|title=The Role of Inbreeding in the Extinction of a European Royal Dynasty|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=4|issue=4|date=2009|pages=e5174|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0005174|pmid=19367331|bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.5174A|pmc=2664480|doi-access=free}}
{{cite book |last1=Graziano |first1=Frank |title=Wounds of Love: The Mystical Marriage of Saint Rose of Lima |date=2004 |publisher=OUP |isbn=0195136403 }}
{{cite book|last1=Kamen|first1=Henry |title=Spain's Road to Empire|date=2002|publisher=Allen Lane|isbn=978-0140285284|edition=2003}}
{{cite book |last1=Knighton |first1=Tess |editor-last1=Carreras Lopez |editor-first1=Juan José |title=The Royal Chapel in the time of the Habsburgs: Music and Court Ceremony in Early Modern Europe |date=2005 |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=978-1843831396 }}
{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Silvia Z |title=Mariana of Austria and Imperial Spain: Court, Dynastic, and International Politics in Seventeenth- Century Europe |date=2013 |publisher=University of Miami Scholarly Repository }}
{{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Silvia Z|title=Queen, Mother, and Stateswoman: Mariana of Austria and the Government of Spain|year=2019|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-0271083391}}
{{Cite book |last=O'Connor |first=John T. |title=Negotiator out of Season |publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=1978 |isbn=0-8203-0436-0}}
{{cite book|last1=Rommelse|first1=Gijs|title=Ideology and Foreign Policy in Early Modern Europe (1650–1750)|date=2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1409419136}}
{{cite book|last1=Rule |first1=John |editor1-last=Onnekink |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Mijers |editor2-first=Esther |title=The Partition Treaties, 1698-1700; A European View in Redefining William III: The Impact of the King-Stadholder in International Context |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138257962}}
Stolicka, Ondrej. Different German Perspectives on Spanish Politics in the 1670s: The Reaction of Vienna and Berlin on the Coup of Juan José de Austria in the Year 1677, JEHM 23(4), 2019, pp. 367–385. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700658-00002638
{{cite book|last1=Storrs|first1=Christopher|title=The Resilience of the Spanish Monarchy 1665–1700|date=2006|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=0199246378}}

External links

{{cite web |title=Fernando de Valenzuela, marquis de Villa Sierra |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fernando-de-Valenzuela-marques-de-Villa-Sierra |website=Britannica.com |access-date=2 November 2019}}
{{cite web |title=Ferdinand III of Habsburg (Habsburg-Lothringen), Holy Roman Emperor |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Ferdinand-III-von-Habsburg-Kaiser/6000000007896893977 |website=Geni.com |date=13 July 1608 |access-date=2 November 2019}}
{{cite web |title=Nobiliario de los reinos y señorios de España (revisado por A. Rujula y Busel).[Nobility of Spain] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lUBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA71 |website=Google books |access-date=23 December 2019|last1 = Piferrer|first1 = Francisco|year = 1859}}

Family tree

|{{chart/start|style=font-size:90%; line-height: 120%; margin:1em;|align=center| summary=The ancestry of King Charles II of Spain, showing severe inbreeding that caused him to be the final member of the House of Habsburg to ascend to the Spanish throne.}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| | | | | | | | | | | | |Phil1|y|JoaCa| Phil1=Philip I
of Castile{{Britannica|107009|Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor}}{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Joanna |volume=15}}{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Elisabeth (eigentlich Isabella von Oesterreich) |volume=6 |page=167}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1478–1506}}}}| JoaCa=Joanna
of Castile
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1479–1555}}}}}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em|IsaPo|y|Char5| | | | | |Ferd1|y|AnnBo| | | |IsaAu|y|Chri2| | IsaPo=Isabella
of Portugal
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1503–39}}}}| Char5=Charles V
Holy Roman Emperor{{CathEncy |wstitle=Philip II |volume=12|first=Godefroid |last=Kurth}}{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Maria von Spanien |volume=7 |page=19}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1500–58}}}}| Ferd1=Ferdinand I
Holy Roman Emperor{{BLKO|wstitle=Habsburg, Karl II. von Steiermark|volume=6 |page=352}}{{NDB|16|471|475|Maximilian II.|Press, Volker|11857938X}}{{BLKO|wstitle=Habsburg, Anna von Oesterreich (1528–1587) |volume=6 |page=151}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1503–64}}}}| AnnBo=Anna
of Bohemia
and Hungary
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1503–47}}}}| IsaAu=Isabella
of Austria
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1501–26}}}}| Chri2=Christian II
of Denmark
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1481–1559}}}}}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| |,|-|^|-|.| | | |,|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|.| | | | | | | |!| }}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| |!| | |MarS1|y|Maxi2| | |!| | |AnnA1|y|Albe5| |ChrDe|y|Fran1| | MarS1=Maria
of Spain
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1528–1603}}}}| Maxi2=Maximilian II
Holy Roman Emperor{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Anna von Oesterreich (Königin von Spanien) |volume=6 |page=151}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1527–76}}}}| AnnA1=Anna
of Austria
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1528–90}}}}| Albe5=Albert V
Duke of Bavaria{{cite ADB|42|717|723|Wilhelm V. (Herzog von Bayern)|Sigmund Ritter von Riezler|ADB:Wilhelm V. (Herzog von Bayern)}}{{BLKO|wstitle=Habsburg, Maria von Bayern |volume=7 |page=20}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1528–1579}}}}| ChrDe=Christina
of Denmark
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1522–90}}}}| Fran1=Francis I
Duke of Lorraine{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/christinaofdenma00adyj |title=Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan and Lorraine, 1522–1590 |last=Cartwright |first=Julia Mary |publisher=E. P. Dutton |year=1913 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/christinaofdenma00adyj/page/536 536]–539}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1517–45}}}}}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| |!| | | | | |!| | | | | |!| | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | | |!| }}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em|Phil2|~|y|~|AnnA2| | | |Cha2A|y|MarB1| |Will5|~|y|~|RenLo| | | |Phil2=Philip II
of Spain{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Philipp III. |volume=7 |page=120}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1527–98}}}}|Cha2A=Charles II
Archduke of Austria{{NDB|5|83|85|Ferdinand II.|Eder, Karl|118532510}}{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Margaretha (Königin von Spanien) |volume=7 |page=13}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1540–90}}}}|AnnA2=Anna
of Austria
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1549–80}}}}| MarB1=Maria Anna
of Bavaria
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1551–1608}}}}| Will5=William V
Duke of Bavaria{{BLKO|wstitle=Habsburg, Maria Anna von Bayern|volume=7 |page=23}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1548–1626}}}}| RenLo=Renata
of Lorraine
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1544–1602}}}}}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| | | | |!| | | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | | | |!|}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| | | |Phil3|~|~|~|y|~|~|MarA1| |Ferd2|~|y|~|~|MarB2| Phil3=Philip III
of Spain{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Maria Anna von Spanien |volume=7 |page=23}}{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Philipp IV. |volume=7 |page=122}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1578–1621}}}}| MarA1=Margaret
of Austria
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1584–1611}}}}| Ferd2=Ferdinand II
Holy Roman Emperor
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1578–1637}}}}| MarB2=Maria Anna
of Bavaria
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1574–1616}}}}}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | | | | | |!}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| | | | | | | |!| | |MarS2|~|~|y|~|~|~|Ferd3| | MarS2=Maria Anna
of Spain
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1606–46}}}}| Ferd3=Ferdinand III
Holy Roman Emperor{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Maria Anna (Königin von Spanien) |volume=7 |page=24}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1608–57}}}}}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | |!|}}

{{chart|boxstyle=border-width:1px;border-radius: 0.5em| | | | | | |Phil4|~|~|~|~|~|MarA2| Phil4=Philip IV
of Spain{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Charles II. (King of Spain) |volume=5}}
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1605–65}}}}|MarA2=Mariana
of Austria
{{smaller|{{nowrap|1634–96}}}}}}

|style="text-align: left;"|Notes:

{{s-ttl|title=Queen consort of Spain|years=7 October 1649 – 17 September 1665}}