Six Children, Five in the Grave – Tragic Life of the Spanish Infanta Who Became Queen at Versailles

When Maria Theresa of Spain died at Versailles in 1683, her husband Louis XIV is said to have remarked: "This is the first grief she has ever given me." In twenty-three years she had watched him take mistress after mistress, given birth to six children and buried five of them. This documentary follows the eldest daughter of Philip IV of Spain – the half-sister of the girl in Las Meninas – from the Escorial and the Alcázar of Madrid to the Isle of Pheasants, her wedding at Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and two decades as the forgotten queen of Versailles. It traces Louise de La Vallière, Madame de Montespan and Madame de Maintenon, the War of Devolution fought in her name, and the unpaid dowry that would one day put her grandson on the throne of Spain. Built from memoirs, letters and modern scholarship. Where the sources disagree, the video says so. CHAPTERS 0:00 "The first grief she has ever given me" 1:45 Born at El Escorial 2:51 An empire coming apart 4:50 Losing her mother and brother 5:46 A stepmother, a half-sister and Las Meninas 6:30 The infanta Velázquez painted 7:40 Two cousins, two possible husbands 8:26 Mazarin, Savoy and Marie Mancini 10:03 The Treaty of the Pyrenees and the unpaid dowry 11:18 The long road north 12:29 The Isle of Pheasants 13:39 The death of Velázquez 13:55 The wedding at Saint-Jean-de-Luz 15:07 Entry into Paris 15:48 A Spanish queen at the French court 17:28 The Dauphin is born 17:51 Louise de La Vallière 20:02 The Pleasures of the Enchanted Island 20:42 Two daughters lost - and a rumour 22:06 Losing her father and her protector 23:51 The War of Devolution 25:09 "The three queens" 26:15 La Vallière begs forgiveness 27:03 Six children, five in the grave 28:37 Regent of France 29:11 A piece of Spain inside the French court 29:59 Versailles 31:19 The Affair of the Poisons 32:00 Madame de Maintenon - and a few kind months 33:20 Death at Versailles 34:39 Saint-Denis and a secret marriage 35:24 The claim she left behind 36:21 Her grandson, King of Spain 37:54 The fate of her descendants 38:43 Saint-Denis, 1793 39:19 The forgotten queen SOURCES Memoirs of Madame de Motteville and Mademoiselle de Montpensier. Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) and the marriage contract of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa. Maps: Abraham Ortelius, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570); Jean Jolivet, Galliae Regni Potentiss. Nova Descriptio; Descriptio Germaniae Inferioris. Some scenes are illustrated with newly created artwork in the style of the period. #MariaTheresaOfSpain #LouisXIV #Versailles #RoyalHistory #Documentary