.jpg)
Recent from talks
Mariana of Austria
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Mariana of Austria
Mariana of Austria (24 December 1634 – 16 May 1696) was Queen of Spain from 1649 until her husband Philip IV of Spain died in 1665. Appointed Regent for their infant son Charles II, she remained an influential figure until her own death in 1696.
Her regency was overshadowed by the decline of Spain in the second half of the 17th century, and internal political divisions, combined with a general European economic crisis. Charles died without children in 1700, leading to the 1701 to 1714 War of the Spanish Succession.
The Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean are named after her following the Spanish colonization in the 17th century.
Mariana 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.
In 1646, Mariana 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. The solution was a marriage between Philip and his niece on 7 October 1649 at Navalcarnero, outside Madrid.
Only two of their five children survived to adulthood. The eldest, Margaret Theresa, 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. Subject to ill health for much of his life, one study argues this may have been caused by genetic disorders inherited from his parents.
Charles was 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 valido 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. Other informal advisors included Gaspar de Bracamonte, 3rd Count of Peñaranda and Mariana Engracia Álvarez de Toledo Portugal y Alfonso-Pimentel.
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.
Hub AI
Mariana of Austria AI simulator
(@Mariana of Austria_simulator)
Mariana of Austria
Mariana of Austria (24 December 1634 – 16 May 1696) was Queen of Spain from 1649 until her husband Philip IV of Spain died in 1665. Appointed Regent for their infant son Charles II, she remained an influential figure until her own death in 1696.
Her regency was overshadowed by the decline of Spain in the second half of the 17th century, and internal political divisions, combined with a general European economic crisis. Charles died without children in 1700, leading to the 1701 to 1714 War of the Spanish Succession.
The Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean are named after her following the Spanish colonization in the 17th century.
Mariana 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.
In 1646, Mariana 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. The solution was a marriage between Philip and his niece on 7 October 1649 at Navalcarnero, outside Madrid.
Only two of their five children survived to adulthood. The eldest, Margaret Theresa, 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. Subject to ill health for much of his life, one study argues this may have been caused by genetic disorders inherited from his parents.
Charles was 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 valido 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. Other informal advisors included Gaspar de Bracamonte, 3rd Count of Peñaranda and Mariana Engracia Álvarez de Toledo Portugal y Alfonso-Pimentel.
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.
Recent media