Maria de las Mercedes d'Orléans-Montpensier

Queen Maria de las Mercedes of Spain

Infanta Maria de las Mercedes d'Orléans y Borbón , (born June 24, 1860 in the Palacio Real in Madrid ; † June 26, 1878 ibid) was a Spanish-French princess from the house of Orléans and queen of Spain by marriage.

Her full name in Spanish was María de las Mercedes Isabel Francisca de Asís Antonia Luisa Fernanda Felipa Amalia Cristina Francisca de Paula Ramona Rita Cayetana Manuela Juana Josefa Joaquina Ana Rafaela Filomena Teresa Santísima Trinidad Gaspara Melchora Baltasara de Todos los Santos de Orleans y Borbón

Life

Maria de las Mercedes was the fifth daughter of Antoine d'Orléans, duc de Montpensier (1824–1890) and his wife Infanta Luisa Fernanda (1832–1897), youngest daughter of the Spanish King Ferdinand VII and Princess Maria Christina of Sicily . On her father's side, she was a granddaughter of the French citizen King Ludwig Philipp and his wife Princess Maria Amalia of Naples-Sicily . Her aunt, Queen Isabella II , and her husband Titular King Francisco of Assisi acted as godparents . Maria de las Mercedes spent her childhood with her older siblings in the San Telmo Palace in Seville. She received a courtly upbringing for girls that was customary for royal houses at the time. This included traveling, especially in the ruled area, as well as languages, fine arts, horse riding, needlework, singing, etiquette , dance and genealogy . At the beginning of July 1868, the Spanish government discovered a conspiracy that was widespread, especially among the senior officers of the army, which wanted to bring the Duke of Montpensier to the Spanish throne after the queen was dethroned, and expelled the duke and his family from Spain. She then lived in exile in France with her mother and siblings. In 1872 she met her cousin (first degree) Alfons, Prince of Asturias (1857–1885) in Paris and fell in love with him.

Alfonso, Prince of Asturias and later King Alfonso XII of Spain .

The son of Queen Isabella II, Prince Alfons, differed from his predecessors in one important way: in his extensive education both as a private person and as a king. Born on November 28, 1857 in Madrid, Prince Alfons learned about the hard school of exile at the age of eleven. He was the first king of modern Spain, whose upbringing withdrew from the realm of courtly flattery and was supplemented in various European countries. He knew the affliction of exile and the reality of Europe: the instability of French politics after the Prussian victory at Sedan , the importance of Germany under Bismarck's government and the political model of English constitutionalism . During these years the threads of the Bourbon restoration were tied. The man who led the restoration movement was one of the most famous politicians of the 19th century : Antonio Cánovas del Castillo . His intention was to establish a monarchy that would combine the monarchist Spanish tradition with the liberal achievements of the bourgeois revolution. The restorative movement offered itself as a middle ground between absolutism and revolution. In Prince Alfons, Cánovas had a docile student who was well aware of the flaws of his mother's regime. Alfons was a modern man who was very open to reality. He knew of his responsibility to his country and Europe and was ready to be the king of reconciliation that Cánova's program required. Catholic like his ancestors, liberal like a man of his century - that was how he introduced himself to the Spaniards in a manifesto sent to his country from the Sandhurst Military Academy . On December 29, 1874, a large part of the army proclaimed him king.

Maria de las Mercedes

Queen Maria de las Mercedes of Spain, 1877

Cánovas had hoped that the monarch would come to the throne at an appeal from the people through the Cortes and not through a pronunciamiento of the military. But he bowed to the facts and took advantage of the consensus that resulted from the proclamation in Spain.

At a family reunion, Maria de las Mercedes saw her cousin, King Alfonso XII, again and they both fell in love. The connection, however, did not find approval from the royal family - especially the former Queen Isabella. She had another bride in mind for her son, Infanta Blanca de Borbón (1868–1949), eldest daughter of Carlos María de Borbón , Duke of Madrid and Princess Margarita of Bourbon-Parma. Cánova's favorite, however, was Princess Beatrice (1857-1944), daughter of the British Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . But the young king remained stubborn and even got the support of the Spanish people.

On January 23, 1878, the marriage between the Infanta Maria de las Mercedes and King Alfonso XII took place. held in Madrid. After all, Alfons was completely fixated on his young wife and showered her with tokens of love. Shortly after the honeymoon, the young queen fell ill with typhus and suffered a miscarriage. She died two days after her 18th birthday and six months of marriage. Her remains have been in Almudena Cathedral since 2000 .

When his minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo proposed a remarriage, the choice fell on Maria's older sister, Maria Christina d'Orléans-Montpensier (1852-1879). But she died of tuberculosis in 1879, and so Alfonso XII married. a few months later the Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria .

Others

• Queen Maria de las Mercedes was one of the initiators for the construction of the Catedral de la Almudena in Madrid, construction began in 1883 and completed in 1993. Following Alfons' request, the body of his first wife was transferred there on November 8, 2000.
• The love between Maria de las Mercedes and Alfons can be found in Spanish literature, poetry and folk songs.

literature

• Helga Thoma: Unloved Queen . Marriage tragedies at Europe's royal courts. 1st edition. Ueberreuter , Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-8000-3783-1 (as paperback: Series Piper 3526, Munich / Zurich 2003, ISBN 3-492-23526-3 ).

Web links

• King Alfonso XII from Spain
• Genealogy of the Royal Family of Spain ( Memento from June 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

predecessor	Office	Successor
Maria del Pozzo della Cisterna	Queen of Spain 1878	Maria Christina of Austria