Anne d'Autriche
Queen · 1615-1643 · born on 22 September 1601, died on 20 January 1666
Daughter of King Philip III of Spain, Anne married the future Louis XIII in 1615, as part of the Franco-Spanish double marriage. Queen of France, she lived through a long cold and childless marriage, her relations with Richelieu and the great nobles being marked by suspicion.
The birth of the future Louis XIV (1638) transformed her destiny. On Louis XIII’s death in 1643, she obtained the regency and governed with Cardinal Mazarin, her principal minister, to whom rumour said she was close. She faced the Fronde, a period of noble and parliamentary unrest.
Sidelined from power at Louis XIV’s majority in 1651, she remained a respected figure of the court until her death in 1666. Loyal to the Spanish dynastic alliance, she arranged her son’s marriage to Marie-Thérèse of Austria in 1660.
In the tree of power
- Spouse: Louis XIII (1610-1643)