Marie Theresa was the eldest daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, but her mother, Elisabeth, the daughter of King Henry IV of France, died when she was only six years old, and her brother Balthasar Carlos went to heaven two years later to be with her mother, because the Spanish crown did not recognize the Salic Succession Act , so this eldest princess originally had the right to inherit first, but unfortunately, just last year, her half-brother was born, and she lost the throne that seemed to be within reach, no, not only did she lose the throne, but she also had to sacrifice her marriage for this throne.

Even if she is the eldest princess, Teresa still has no right to put her beak in her marriage, she has heard of her two husband candidates, but from the bottom of her heart, she would prefer to be the wife of King Louis XIV of France- She was the same age as Louis XIV of France, Leopold I was two years younger, women always had to appear more mature than men, especially at this age, the main thing is, I heard that Leopold was young but irascible, Louis XIV was very mild, even a little cowardly, and the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire needed to be elected by the electors, and in France, as long as she could give birth to a boy for the king, he was the destined king.

At the Spanish court, Teresa may not be the last to know who her husband was chosen for, but she was definitely not the first, not even in the top ten, but her husband was Louis XIV enough for her gratitude.

It was a sunny morning, since Philip II moved the royal capital from Toledo to Madrid, this palace has experienced nearly two hundred years of ups and downs, with the gradual growth of the royal population, although the palace has 170 rooms but still not enough, as the former presumptive heir, Teresa's original room is second only to His Majesty the King, but since her half-brother landed, after a hunting trip, her stepmother, the princess of the Holy Roman Empire, Maria Anna of Austria, naturally assigned her room to her son, and Teresa was forced to relocate to the west wing of the palace, this suite is gorgeous, but "exquisite", her two closest maids had to live in a room, to which Teresa had only patience in silence, but fortunately as the marriage contract settled, perhaps in order to give a little tenderness to this daughter, who was about to leave and could not return to Spain, the king ordered several nobles to move out of the palace and make room for Teresa's maids, but her maids were still indignant, they were brought by Teresa's mother, Elisabeth of Bourbon, and of course hostile to the Austrians.

"Alright, don't say it. Teresa said, "We'll soon be out of here." ”

"I just can't look at these savages. Teresa's maid said that she was older than Teresa, but noticeably more lively than Her Royal Highness the Princess, and that a pair of small, soft and white hands moved around Teresa's chestnut-colored curls: "It is said that the shawl is no longer visible in the French court," she said. " It is said that it was the king's idea that he had a barber perm the hair of the noblemen, and then comb or weave it, and put a crown of precious stones or diamonds, sometimes with fresh flowers, and we will do the same, and I will curl your hair, and then put on a diamond pin and silver thread, and it will be beautiful. ”

"Stop messing around. Teresa said, "Today we are only going to meet the messenger who greeted the portrait of the king, not the Majesty." ”

"But the messenger will go back and describe to the king what he sees. Teresa's maid said anxiously that she was Queen Elizabeth's maid chosen for the princess, because she was born in Anjou, so she was destined to not be accepted by the Spaniards, and she did not disdain so, but a woman who was older than the princess and had already married a Spanish nobleman, of course, knew how important a woman's appearance would be for a man.

The anxiety of the maid is not without reason, King Louis of France is twenty years old this year, a twenty-year-old young man, it is understandable to have a few lovers, not to mention that the French court originally had a "royal lady" system, a king without a lover will make people question his important ability as a man, but that His Majesty is not a person who is keen on women, I heard that so far, there are only two or three people close to him who can be confirmed- Princess Henrietta of England, but this may have been discussed and then unsuccessful, and of course this royal highness will not become the king's love.

Next is Marie Mancini, who can be described as the enemy of Mary Theresa, first of all, she came from a mediocre background, only because of an uncle who was a cardinal and prime minister to enter the court and get along with the kingdom, but their love is calculated from childhood, and it is said that the one who also made a lot of nonsense, thinking that he could become the wife of the king, such an idea can't help but make people contempt and disgusting, but more than ten years of affection, is not something that can be easily erased, and the maid has seen her portrait, under the premise that the painter did not deliberately beautify and scandalize, Marie Mancini is indeed a beauty.

Then there was Madame Miledi, whom the king had befriended in Dunkirk, whose origin was unknown, at least the maid had not yet been able to find her place, but whose charm was beyond the reach of Marie Mancini, and the king was fascinated when he saw her, and even when he was seriously ill, he kept her by his side, for which Mancini went to Dunkirk alone in a rage, and it was rumored that the two venerable ladies had a big quarrel at the king's bedside, and the king was angry, so that when they returned to Paris, none of them appeared.

Of course, the maid hoped that the king would leave these two beauties behind, not to mention any nonsense such as the marriage between royal families was just for political needs, for Philip IV, for Louis XIV, but not for Marie Theresa, and how pathetic a wife who was not respected and loved by her husband could be, the maid knew very well.

The problem is that although Marie Theresa did not have the unfortunate inheritance of the Habsburg tradition of the big chin, she had nothing to do with beauty, at most she was delicate and upright, and her excessively thin and soft hair made her round face look dull and boring, she was not a smart person, she had no talent or perseverance in learning, although her mother was French, but her French learning was still stumbling and falling apart, she did not like to dance, listen to music, and had nothing to praise for it, except for ...... But this specialty doesn't do any good other than increase her waistline.

Teresa's worries were seen by Teresa, but she was helpless, what could she do? She was not a boy, and after her brother's death, although she was regarded as the first heir, her father was only anxious to have a second son with her stepmother, rather than to teach and nurture his own daughter, and she even envied Christina of Sweden, even though she and her cousin were enemies of Spain - after the birth of her half-brother, she was seen as transparent, or rather, she was forced to hide herself in the inheritance.

She also heard that the ambassador of France had been bargaining with Spanish diplomats - because she had the inheritance of Spain, of course the French hoped that this inheritance could be kept and brought to France, but the king and nobles of Spain would never allow such a thing to happen, and their tug-of-war negotiations made Teresa worry for a long time - after all, the marriage had come to this point, and if it broke up because of the inheritance issue, it was difficult to say whether she would be able to find another good marriage like this- Leopold I said he was busy quelling the rebellion, but he probably just didn't want to marry a wife of Bourbon ancestry.

Fortunately, King Louis of France made some concessions, allowing his wife to renounce the Spanish throne, but in return, she had to have a substantial dowry, such as 500,000 Roman ecigua. The Roman Eju is a large gold coin, each worth between eighty and one hundred livres.

Fifty years ago, it would have been easy for the Spanish crown to pay the dowry, but in 1588, the Spanish armada was ruthlessly broken by the English navy, in 1623, Spain lost its monopoly on the Americas, in 1640, the Catalans rebelled, and in December of the same year, Portugal also succeeded in gaining independence from the Kingdom of Spain, in 1642, they were defeated by the Dutch, and in 48 years, they had to recognize the independence of the Netherlands, thus losing their dominant position on land。

During the French Civil War, the Spaniards took advantage of the fire and looted to recover Naples and Catalonia (French-controlled areas), but were defeated by Viscount Tirrenne in the recent Battle of Dune (Dunkirk) and had to withdraw from the Netherlands. Although the peace treaty has not yet been signed, Spain probably does not have the courage to repent, or deny it.

Not to mention that for the Thirty Years' War, the Spanish government has repeatedly expanded its army, and it has already broken once.

Therefore, the current Spanish royal family is empty, but the French king's request is not excessive, and in this era of boasting wealth to show strength, it is even more impossible for Philip IV to admit that he can't even take out 500,000 Roman escus, he agreed to this condition with difficulty, but asked for an extension or installment, which the French agreed.

Soon Theresa was to relinquish her right to the Spanish throne under the supervision of the Witnesses—she did not find the messenger or the portrait to be pleased with the lady-in-waiting, but the company of the last ten years had made her willing to indulge her friend, and she was dressed up well, and then came to the hearing room, in the presence of Philip IV and the envoys of France— The French envoy was also a familiar and embarrassing figure to the Spaniards, yes, it was the Prince of Condé, who had been an enemy and an ally, and by his side was the personable Count d'Artagnan, who looked solemn, and d'Artagnan smiled slightly, but both had a good look.

Between the two men was a huge portrait covered with velvet drapery, higher than the head of the Prince of Condé, and with the permission of Philip IV, the Count of d'Artagnan lifted the curtain gracefully and made the portrait appear before everyone, and before Teresa could look closely, she heard the slight gasping of the maid behind her.

She turned slightly sideways to let go of the overly harsh sunlight, and walked to the side to take a closer look, this portrait was Louis for this "meeting" His gaze is to the left, with a scepter in one hand and the ground in the other, dressed in a white sable inside, a king's cloak embroidered with silver lilies on a purple-blue underneath, and his feet are on the blue velvet footpads, which are the same as the cushions, and the lily on the footpads, which are placed on the table in the direction of the king's fingers, and the meaning of which is self-evident。

Looking at the Spaniards, especially the ladies who were shaking their fans, the Count of d'Artagnan and the honor, he could swear to God that there was no king and duke he had seen better than him, and that the king had not only the wisdom and mercy of God, but also the face kissed by angels, there was no doubt about it— Even Philip IV, who probably didn't care so much about his appearance, coughed lightly twice to hide his hesitation, and the only consolation was that Princess Teresa quickly looked away and bent her knees at her father and king.

"Okay. Philip IV said, "Send this portrait to the princess's suite, so that you can get acquainted with your future husband." He said to Teresa gently, and Teresa accepted it in silence.

In fact, it is not Her Royal Highness who lingers in front of this portrait, but the mischievous little maids, who push and squeeze me, and noisily guess how much the portrait has been embellished, after all, the portrait at this time, especially for this purpose, sometimes makes people feel that it was sent to the wrong place, or that it was the wrong person—sometimes the painter's wonderful hand is almost as good as the evil spells of a hundred years later.

"Do you think he's that tall?" asked one of the maids with great interest.

"There ought to be," said the other maid, "look at his legs!"

"It's young, but it's strong. One of the maids said, eliciting a burst of ambiguous laughter.

"I heard that His Majesty was very fond of hunting. ”

"It's not very barbaric from the portrait. ”

"As long as his appearance is half as good as the portrait. ”

Teresa listened to the squeaks outside, and with a small paper cutter with an ivory handle, she deftly picked open the beeswax on a letter with a crown, a shield, and a lily—a letter from King Louis XIV of France.