Spanish Habsburg Infantas

[bell_the_cat]

According to Umigon, Anna of Austria was supposed to be quite a looker. So I'm inclined to think she was better looking than Elisabeth!

[Yseult]

Well, bell_the_cat, I think that Ana of Austria was also a beauty. And, in added, she looks so gentle.

[Yseult]

The life of Isabel seems so unexpected and uncommon. She became a "personal assistant" of her father due to the fact that her father appreciated so much her good common sense and great deal of judgement. Some people believe that Isabel became an instrument for her father´s claims about the throne of France, but I always thought that Philip tried to obtain the french´s crown for Isabel being sure that her daughter could managed it so well. She was clever...and wise, not merely a charming princess.

In fact, a few years later, Philip made clear how much he trusted her daughter when he delegated her the government of the Netherlands. Philip knew that Netherlands had suffered forty years of war, but he was sure that Isabel and her husband Albert of Austria had a taste for politics and they should brought a "golden age" of peace and renaissance of the -almost ruined- economy. And they did it! Their reign was, without a doubt, a key period in the history of the Low Countries.

[Yseult]

By the way... I became curious reading this thread... Was Emperor Leopold I really so fond of his first wife Margarita? I always felt a deep tenderness for Margarita. I believe she was the most portrayed infanta, because her parents sent a lot of portraits to Leopold, who was her maternal uncle and was to be her husband, so he wanted to see with his own eyes how she was growing up.

[britt.25]

The fate of those princesses always made me feel very sad. I firstly began to study their lives and fates after frequenting an interesting seminar at the university about the Spanish War of Succession (after the death of Karl II, the last Spanish Habsburg monarch, he was the brother of Margarita and also halfbrother to Maria Theresa, mother of Louis XIV).
It's very not nice that they often died so early and were quite weak because of the close blood-relationship to their husbands and the many pregnancies. Margarita had this fate as well, she was so young and so tenderly, and died so early. From her four children only Maria Antonia survived (whose son later should play an important role in the mentioned Spanish War of Succession). Margarita was only fifteen when marrying Leopold, her uncle. I did not know that Leopold seemed to have more feelings for her than for her later wifes. Leopold I's  last wife was the strongest one , I suppose, she became 65 years old (not that much for our age, but at that times quite "old", especially in comparison to the predecessors). With Eleonore Magdalena of Pfalz Neuburg, who gave Leopold many children, especially the two emperors Joseph I and Karl VI (III), the Habsburg family firstly became new blood after many times of "overgeneration".

[Yseult]

That´s true, britt! It´s very sad the result of these marriages into the family´s circle. Leopold I was a son of emperor Ferdinand III and his wife Maria Anna of Spain. So, the paternal grandparents of Leopold were Ferdinand II and Maria Anna of Bavaria, but her maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria, a sister of Ferdinand II.

Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria were the parents of Philip IV, who married, secondly, Mariana of Austria, a sister of Leopold I. Margarita was a niece of Leopold, but also a cousin. This seems so unnatural today, but...

[trentk80]

By the way... I became curious reading this thread... Was Emperor Leopold I really so fond of his first wife Margarita?

Yes, their marriage was very happy. Both of them loved music and theatre. Leopold even had some theatre performances in the court of Vienna performed in Spanish especially for her. When she died, Leopold was heartbroken. I read that while the Austrian ministers were making the arrangements for his marriage with Claudia, Leopold was busy composing funeral music for Margarita.

[MarieCharlotte]

By the way... I became curious reading this thread... Was Emperor Leopold I really so fond of his first wife Margarita?

Yes, their marriage was very happy. Both of them loved music and theatre. Leopold even had some theatre performances in the court of Vienna performed in Spanish especially for her. When she died, Leopold was heartbroken. I read that while the Austrian ministers were making the arrangements for his marriage with Claudia, Leopold was busy composing funeral music for Margarita.

That's right. After Margarita had died, Leopold I was devastated. I also read that Leopold was holding Margarita's hand when she died.

Leopold composed a requiem for his beloved wife. The number "5" played an important role, because "5" was said to be the number of love. So the requiem consisted of 5 soloists, 5 voices in the choir, 5 string instruments and 5 wind instruments.

[MarieCharlotte]

I found something else: Margarita was pregnant (6th month) when she died. Some authors say that problems during this  pregnancy were the cause of her early death. Others say that she died of an abscess in her throat.

[trentk80]

I found something else: Margarita was pregnant (6th month) when she died. Some authors say that problems during this  pregnancy were the cause of her early death. Others say that she died of an abscess in her throat.

I have also read in some books that Margarita died because of problems during her pregnancy, but other books say that she died because an abscess in the throat, and another book says that she died because she caught a cold and couldn't recover.

[britt.25]

Unfortunately I don´t have much time at the moment, but I can tell a bit about Maria Antonia later, because she was the first wife of Max Emanuel II of Bavaria and during the spanish heritage war (surely the wrong English expression) their only son, who died very early was a potential heir of the spanish empire, because she was a direct relative of Karl II and the sister of Karl VI. (styled himself Karl III of Spain) , who also wanted to become the spanish heir after the death of the childless- and always sick Karl II! Unfortunately Maria Antonias and Max Emanuels son died very early and the late consequence was that the spanish empire was now in the possess of the Bourbons (Philippe V, the grandson of Ludwig XIV, who had also Hapsburg blood, as his gradmother Maria Theresa of Spain, wife of Louis XIV was the halfsister of Karl II.)  Another reason Philippe V being spanish king now was that "Karl III" could not reign over Spain because he had to take over the holy roman Empire after the sudden death of his brother Joseph I....The role of Antonia and her son was quite interesting in the spanish war...but the topic is much more complex..
Some years ago was was concerned a lot with this period of history, but now some years have passed and I cannot remember everything, so there may have been some mistakes here. The explanations are not very good and I will modify them, if I have more time.

I will send Maria Antonia and her son here, later... ´

MarieCharlotte...thanks a lot for the wonderful pictures, are they from the book about the Kapuzinergruft?

[MarieCharlotte]

Their only son Joseph Ferdinand (1692-99)...All of Max Emanuel´s hope  concerning the spanish Empire was in that little boy, and he noticed his fathers desperation, when he was dying, but could´t help him, it is said...

Actually Maria Antonia gave birth to three sons:
- Leopold Ferdinand (22 May 1689 - 25 May 1689), buried in Munich
- Anton (28 June 1690), buried in Munich
- Joseph Ferdinand (28 October 1692 - 06 February 1699), buried in Brussels

[britt.25]

Well yes, that´s true, but in the lesson at my university we only talked about Prince Joseph Ferdinand in connection with the Spanish war, the others died all very early and before Joseph Ferdinand, so he was the only surving son of him (but died young, too) and the hope of Max Emanuel was gone
But I confess this is much more complex and my explanations were not the best, we discussed three months (Ein Semester- don´t know in English) about this war after the death of Karl II.

[MarieCharlotte]

After her sixth and last baby was born , Joseph Ferdinand, she fell ill for two months and then died. As we have already said, she had been married for seven years to her second cousin Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria by whom she had six children. None of them survived childhood!

I just came across this line. As far as I remember Maria Antonia had only three children, but not six. I know of Leopold Ferdinand (22 May 1689 - 25 May 1689, buried in Munich), Anton (28 June 1690, buried in Munich) and Joseph Ferdinand (28 October 1692 - 06 February 1699, buried in Brussels). Any information? Or did you mix her up with Maria Anna of Spain, Empress of Austria, who had six children?

[umigon]

She had three children and three miscarriages in 1687, 1688 and 1691. The exact dates and the sex of the babies are unknown to me.