fjt_04500 - ANNE D'AUTRICHE 1657

ANNE OF AUSTRIA

(22/09/1601-25/01/1666)

Anne of Austria is the daughter of Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria. She was born on September 22, 1601. Betrothed to Louis XIII from 1612, she married him in 1615. She had a role erased during her husband's lifetime to such an extent that Alexandre Dumas lent her an affair with the Duke of Buckingham, favorite and prime minister of James I, then of Charles I of England, when the minister came to negotiate the marriage of Charles with Henrietta of France. War broke out with Spain in 1635 and she was accused of maintaining a correspondence with her brother and informing the adversaries of France in 1637. Pregnant after 23 years of marriage, she gave birth at the age of 37, on September 5, to a boy, Louis, the future Louis XIV. She will again give birth to Philippe in 1640. On the death of Louis XIII, on May 14, 1643, she becomes regent after breaking her husband's will. She will govern with the new Prime Minister, Jules, Cardinal de Mazarin.