Maria Theresa of Spain's letter to her soon-to-be mother-in-law Anne of Austria, Queen Regent of France, dated March 26, 1660

Source:

Mademoiselle de La Vallière et Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche, femme de Louis XIV: avec pièces et documents inédits, Volume 1, pages 27 and 28, compiled by Henri Duclos, 1890

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Above: Maria Theresa of Spain, queen consort of France, painted by Charles and Henri Beaubrun.

Above: Anne of Austria, queen regent of France, painted by Charles and Henri Beaubrun.

Maria Theresa of Spain (born September 10, 1638, died July 30, 1683) was by birth Infanta of Spain and Portugal until 1640 and Archduchess of Austria as a member of the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg and by marriage Queen of France.

Her marriage in 1660 to King Louis XIV, her double first cousin, was made with the purpose of ending the lengthy war between France and Spain. Famed for her virtue and piety, she saw five of her six children die in early childhood, and is frequently viewed as an object of pity in historical accounts of her husband's reign, since she was often neglected by the court.

Without any political influence in the French court or government (except briefly in 1672, when she was named regent during her husband's absence during the Franco-Dutch War), she died at the early age of 44 from complications of an abscess on her arm.

Her grandson Philip V inherited the Spanish throne in 1700 after the death of her half-brother Charles II and the War of the Spanish Succession, founding the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon, which has reigned with some interruption to this day.

The letter:

Señora,

Jva mi de mi padre he tanido la falta del duque de Orlieans mi tio que este en el cielo y quando no hubiera tanta razen en sus obligaciones para mi sentimiento en qualquera de V. Mag. assiste mi deber rad con toda la correspondencia que denq al cariño de su fineza de V. Mag. en hazerme merzed. el mio dura lo que la vida deseando se la de dios à V. Mag. los muchos años que ha menester. de Madrid 26 de Marzo 1660.

Buena sobrina de V. Mag.

MARAI TERESSA.

French translation (by Duclos):

MADAME, j'ai appris par mon père la nouvelle de la mort du duc d'Orléans, mon oncle (que Dieu l'ait dans sa sainte gloire). J'ai bien des raisons pour déplorer cet événement: mais la peine que cette mort a dû causer à Vos Majestés, est pour moi un motif nouveau, considérable pour la regretter. Car mon cœur, infiniment touché de vos bontés, ne peut que ressentir doublement les peines que vous éprouvez. Je ne pourrai de ma vie oublier ce que je vous dois (le mariage), et je prie Dieu de daigner nous conserver longtemps la précieuse vie de Votre Majesté, particulièrement chère à votre nièce. — MARIE-THÉRÈSE. — Madrid, mars 1660.

English translation (my own):

Madame,

I have learned from my father the news of the death of the Duke of Orleans, my uncle (may God have him in His holy glory). I have many reasons for deploring this event, but the pain which this death must have caused Your Majesties is for me a new and considerable reason for regretting it. For my heart, infinitely touched by your kindness, can only doubly feel the sorrows you are experiencing. I will not be able with my life to forget what I owe you [the marriage], and I pray God to deign to preserve for a long time the precious life of Your Majesty, particularly dear to your niece.

Maria Theresa.

Madrid, March 26, 1660.