Eine wunderschöne Adventszeit, ein frohes Weihnachtsfest und einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr 2026 wünscht Ihnen, meine lieben Leser und Leserinnen, Ihre Maike Vogt-Lüerssen von Downunder.
Möge das nächste Jahr Ihnen Gesundheit und viel Liebe schenken. Ganz besonders möchte ich mich bei denjenigen bedanken, die meine Bücher und E-Books gekauft haben und mir damit ermöglichen, meiner großen Leidenschaft, der Geschichte, weiterhin nachgehen zu können.
Anna gehörte zu den spanischen Habsburgern und nicht zu den österreichischen, und trotzdem finden wir sie schon zu ihren Lebzeiten unter dem Namen "Anna von Österreich" anstatt als "Anna von Spanien". Ihre jüngere Schwester, die Kaiserin Maria (1606-1646), wird auf dem Internet und in den Büchern stets mit dem richtigen Namen "Maria von Spanien" genannt. Warum ließ Anna sich "von Österreich" nennen? Hing dies mit dem jahrzehntelangen Krieg Frankreichs mit Spanien zusammen?
"Anne was a fair and bonny child, the darling of the ceremonious court of Madrid, and of her father and her gentle mother, Marguerite. She seems never to have been consigned to the dreary monotony of a royal nursery establishment, but appears to have always followed the queen her mother. At the masques and court revels, the dainty little Infanta often appeared en scène, drawn by two diminutive ponies in a golden car; or upborne, by tiny nymphs of her own age, in a mimic conch-shell." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anne of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal. In two Volumes. Vol. 1. London 1864, pp. 5-6).
Anna (oder vollständig: Anna Maria Mauritia) war das erste Kind des spanischen Königs Philipp III. und seiner Gattin Margarete von Innerösterreich und die älteste Schwester des spanischen Königs Philipp IV. Sie erblickte das Licht der Welt am 22. September 1601, und sie starb am 20. Januar 1666.
Anna wurde von ihren Zeitgenossen als schön (mit wunderschönen blauen Augen), sehr hochmütig, unerschrocken, selbstsicher, von schneller Auffassungsgabe, sehr standesbewusst - sie stammte vom Kaiser Karl V. ab, ihren Befehlen hatte man daher zu gehorchen - und stolz auf alles Spanische, aber trotzdem als freundlich und leutselig beschrieben, die leicht Freunde/Freundinnen aus allen Bevölkerungsschichten gewinnen konnte. Sie galt jedoch auch als sehr launisch, jähzornig, stur und nachtragend, und sie log und heuchelte so häufig - wie es ihr zukünftiger Gatte Ludwig XIII. ihr vorwarf -, dass man ihr im Prinzip nicht glauben durfte. Sie konnte außerdem, wenn es sein musste, ohne Gewissensbisse zu empfinden, einen Meineid in Gottes Namen leisten, wie sie es als Königin von Frankreich getan hatte, durch den sie ihre Ausweisung aus Frankreich und die Annullierung ihrer Ehe verhindern wollte. Denn sie hatte an einer Verschwörung gegen Richelieu und ihren eigenen Gatten teilgenommen.
"Anne [Anna von Spanien/Österreich] was an admirable actress [sie konnte ihren Zeitgenossen - Hoch und Niedrig - mit Leichtigkeit etwas vorspielen; das Lügen fiel ihr immer sehr leicht!] - few that have trodden this world's restless stage have surpassed her ..." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 2, London 1866, p. 57).
Anna war von ihrem Vater am 25. November 1615 mit dem französischen König Ludwig XIII. (1601-1643) verheiratet worden. Es war eine sehr unglückliche Ehe.
Die Hochzeit im Jahr 1615: "The ceremony of the marriage was performed in the cathedral of Bordeaux on the Feast of St. Catherine (also am 25. November). The Princess de Conty, and the Duchesses de Guise and de Vendôme bore the train of Anne’s bridal robe of cloth of silver. The Queen wore a rich diadem of diamonds, the gift of her royal father; her hair was dressed à la Française; and her spectators applauded her girlish grace as she daintily rested on the arm of the Duke de Guise, who, with the Duke d’Elbœuf escorted her to the altar. The Regent [ihre Schwiegermutter Maria de' Medici] was present at the ceremony, arrayed in mourning robes. … The royal pair left the cathedral at six in the evening, and were escorted to their abode by torch-light." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., p. 25)
Was man alles an der jungen Anna zu beanstanden hatte, und welche Regeln sie befolgen sollte: "Anne had been advised to flatter the Queen-mother; to conciliate the Marquis d’Ancre and his wife; to despise M. de Luynes; to win her husband the King, by tender submission and grace; but yet to show herself of inflexible resolve in all matters wherein the honour and interest of Spain were concerned. ... Marie de’ Medici, through Madame d’Ancre sent word to her daughter[-in-law] commanding her to conform to French fashions in her dress: to sprinkle her fair hair with powder, and to lay aside her enormous hoop; also her Majesty intimated, that the French loved gay and sprightly women, apt of speech, and agile in the dance; and that no demeanour so offended them as solemn hauteur, and distant formality. Anne therefore only too readily arrayed herself in the most bewitching modes à la Française; and, yielding to the vivacity of her character, charmed the courtiers by her sallies; and by her eager participation in the pastimes of the court. ... The [Spanish] ambassador [Monteléone] next comments on the quarrels of the royal pair, 'who often disputed, like froward children, over their pastimes. … It is a grievous fact, that their Majesties live together as brother and sister … The Infanta-queen continues in good health: it is very much to be desired, to render this Majesty all perfection, that we could correct certain irregularities of character; though every one ascribes her Majesty’s unfortunate flightiness of manner to her youth. Her Majesty never speaks without jesting like a child; we cannot induce her to apply herself to serious matters; she forgets all counsels and instruction with incredible facility; and her petulance is such that we have neither leisure, nor courage to interfere. I must add that although we give continual attention to correct these defects, and to induce this young Queen to adopt manners more worthy of her descent and position, we are very careful not to disgust, or alienate her. We have now arranged that her Majesty’s confessor shall visit and converse with her daily on matters private and domestic, but I dread the weariness and impatience which these interviews will finally, but too surely, inspire.'" (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., pp. 28/30-32).
Aber zumindest am Anfang ihrer Ehe schien Ludwig XIII. einiges Lobenswertes bei seiner Gattin gefunden zu haben, wie im Jahr 1617: "Monteléone proceeds to congratulate King Philipp [III., den Vater von Anna] on the improved relations subsisting between the royal pair; and states, that the King evidently greatly admired his consort, who was growing up a beautiful and graceful woman; also, that the King often proudly alluded to the incomparable complexion of his wife, and remarked her abundant fair hair, 'in which attractions she had not a rival in France.'" (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., p. 54).
Beschreibung von Anna von Spanien/Österreich von ihrer Hofdame Madame de Motteville: "At the time when I was sent away [um 1624/25] she [Anna von Spanien/Österreich] wore her hair in the fashion of a round coiffure, transparently frizzed, and with much powder; after that [um 1639 und später] she took to curls. Her hair had grown rather darker in colour, and she had a great quantity of it. Her features were not delicate; having even the defect of too thick a nose, and she wore, in Spanish fashion, too much rouge; but she was fair, and never was there a finer skin than hers. Her eyes were perfectly beautiful: gentleness and majesty united in them. Her mouth was small and rosy, the smile admirable, and the lips had only enough of the Austrian family to make them more beautiful than many that claimed to be more perfect. The shape of her face was handsome and the forehead well-made. Her hands and arms were of surpassing beauty, and all Europe has heard their praises; their whiteness, without exaggeration, equalled that of snow; poets could not say enough when they wished to laud them. Her bust was very fine, without being quite perfect. She was tall, and her bearing lofty but not haughty. She had great charms in the expression of her face, and her beauty imprinted in the hearts of those who saw her a tenderness which did not lack the accompaniment of veneration and respect. Besides these perfections, she had the piety of her mother, Queen Marguerite of Austria, dead in the odour of sanctity, who, having had the care of her daughter's education, had imprinted in her heart the sentiments that filled her own ..." (in: Memoirs of Madame de Motteville, Volume 1, id., pp. 42-43).
Beschreibung von Anna von Spanien/Österreich von ihrer Hofdame Madame de Motteville in späteren Jahren: "The queen [Anna von Spanien/Österreich], by her birth, has no equal; her ancestors were all great monarchs ... Nature has given her fine inclinations. ... She is tall and well-made; she has a gentle and majestic face, which never fails to inspire in the souls of those who see her both love and respect. She has been one of the greatest beauties of her time; and even now [um 1658] enough remains to efface young women who claim to have attractions. Her eyes are perfectly beautiful; in them the sweet and serious, the grave and gay, are mingled charmingly ... Her mouth, though in a way very innocent, has been an accomplice in all the evils her eyes have wrought. It is small and rosy; nature has been liberal in giving it the charms it needed to make it perfect. By one of its smiles she can win many hearts; even her enemies cannot resist its fascination ... Her hair is beautiful; the colour is a fine bright chestnut; she has a great deal of it, and nothing is more pleasing than to see it combed. Her hands, which have won the praises of all Europe and are made to give pleasure to the eye, to bear a sceptre, and to be admired, add skilfulness and extreme whiteness to their beauty. Thus we may truly say that spectators are enraptured when this great queen is visible, either at her toilet when dressing or at table when taking her meals. Her neck and shoulders are well-made and beautiful ... Her whole skin is of equal whiteness, and of a delicacy that I cannot praise enough. Her complexion is not the same, it is not so fine; and her negligence in taking care of it - almost never wearing a mask - does not contribute to improve it. Her nose is not so perfect as the other features of her face; it is thick; but this thickness does not go ill with her large eyes, and it seems to me that, while it diminishes her beauty, it contributes at least to make her face more serious. ... she has beautiful feet, - small and well-shaped. She is not a slave to fashion, but she dresses well. She is clean and very neat; we may even say she is fond of nicety and nice things; but without extreme affection for them; many ladies in Paris spend more than the queen. Habit, not vanity, rules her attire; honourable ornament pleases her, because, naturally, she likes to look well, as much in solitude as in the midst of her Court. ... She has certainly a great respect for the law of God ... She is indefatigable in the exercise of her devotions; journeys, illnesses, night-watches, griefs, amusements, or business have never induced her to interrupt her hours for retreat and prayer. ... She is strict in her observance of fast days ... She has much zeal for religion; much respect for the pope. She takes the sacrament often; reveres the relics of saints; is devoted to the Virgin ... Those who possess her esteem have the power to speak to her very freely on all things that concern her duty and conscience. She always receives their opinion with gentleness and submission, and the sternest preachers are those she listens to most readily. Her oratory is the place she loves best; she spends many hours of the day there ... She is gentle, affable, and familiar with all those who approach her and have the honour of serving her. Her kindness induces her to allow the small as well as the great to be with her; and, without lacking discernment, she is thus led into conversation with many persons quite unworthy of such intercourse. ... She has much wit ... She talks well; her conversation is agreeable. She understands jesting and never takes anything amiss; refined and witty conversations please her ... but she is lazy; she has read nothing. ... She now likes cards, giving several hours a day to them. ... She loves few persons ... the love she could not give to him [ihrem Gatten, der sie nicht liebte] she gave to her children, particularly to the king [Ludwig XIV.], whom she loves passionately. The rest of the persons who have the honour to approach her cannot, without presumption and very ill-founded vanity, boast of being loved by her; her love is reserved only for the elect; but she treats them well, and all receive, according as they deserve it, a favourable welcome which binds them to great fidelity in her service and much gratitude towards herself. Her kindness takes the place of affection, of which she does not give a great profusion to poor mortals; but the favours that come from her, having merely an appearance of affection, are of inestimable value, as much for their rarity as from the excellence of the person from whom they are received. Though she is not loving to those who have the honour to be about her, she is safe and secret for all who confide in her; her behaviour is honest and obliging. ... Her natural inclination would be to avenge herself willingly; she is capable of carrying her resentment to extremes; but reason and conscience restrain her; and I have often heard her say that she had difficulty in conquering herself in this particular. She is seldom angry ... but anger shows in her eyes, and sometimes her words will give some signs of it. The queen is naturally liberal; she is capable of giving with great profusion ..." (in: Memoirs of Madame de Motteville, Volume 3, id., pp. 126-133).
Dieses Porträt von ihr muss im Jahr 1621 oder 1622 erstellt worden sein, nachdem ihr Vater, der spanische König Philipp III., gestorben war.
"It was the Queen's habit to take a cup of broth in the morning before she left her bed, and to sleep afterwards for an hour ..." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., p. 234).
Der Lieblingstanz zur Zeit von Anna, die Sarabande:
1. Beispiel 1
2. Beispiel 2
3. Beispiel 3
Andere Tänze zu ihrer Zeit:
1. Furlana (oder Forlana)
2. Sarabande
3. Gigue
4. Bourée
5. Passepied
6 Gavotte
"Anne had a pungent tongue, and her memory was seldom at fault ..." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., pp. 60-61).
Wie es mit der Ehe zwischen Anna und Ludwig XIII. im Jahr 1625 aussah: "The King [Ludwig XIII.] seldom saw his consort in private. He was often absent from Paris on short military campaigns; and when resident at the Louvre, Anne was too petulant and resentful to submit to his brusquerie; or too impatient to devote herself to the task of soothing his melancholy, or of sharing the dreary conversation, and still more dreary musical entertainment of two guitars, and a violin, which often whiled away the evenings in his Majesty's apartments. Louis had nothing to say to a young and beautiful woman; he loved to sit in silent abstraction, and disliked the presence of ladies. His praises of Richelieu incensed the Queen; as did also his habitual abuse of Spain, and the dynasty of Hapsburg, whose overthrow, he was wont to declare, it was the high mission of France to accomplish. This indifference between the royal couple enabled Richelieu to insert the wedge of a still more entire disunion: the minister and the Queen-mother inspired the mind of Louis with distrust of his wife; and Anne did nothing to kindle love, or to command respect." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., pp. 85-86).
Der absolute Liebling bzw. Favorit der schottisch-englischen Könige Jakob VI./I. und Karl I., George Villiers (1592-1628), der erste Herzog von Buckingham, beschrieb Anna, der er persönlich begegnet war, als die "Schönste und Süßeste aller Herrscherinnen". (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., p. 94). Er soll es sogar gewagt haben, sie zu küssen. Aber laut der Hofdame von Anna, Madame de Motteville, soll sie ihm auch gestanden haben, dass sie ihn sehr mochte: "... that he [George Villiers] had the happiness to make the beautiful queen [Anna] admit that if a virtuous woman could love another man than her husband, he would have been the only one who could have pleased her." (in: Memoirs of Madame de Motteville, Volume 1, id., p. 31). Der ewig eifersüchtige Gatte von Anna, Ludwig XIII., drohte sogar, da ihm die zu große Nähe zwischen dem englischen Herzog und seiner Gattin von seinen Spionen berichtet worden war, mit der Scheidung. Die Zuneigung der französischen Königin und ihres Verehrers, des Herzogs von Buckingham, hörte hiermit jedoch nicht auf: "In England, also, the Duke's enthusiasm for Anne of Austria was not tempered by prudential considerations; or by delicacy for the feelings and honour of a great monarch [Ludwig XIII.], the brother of his own royal mistress, Queen Henrietta. He wore Anne's portrait; toasted her at the Whitehall banquets; displayed her likeness in most of the chambers of his princely mansions, disregardful of the feelings of his own 'silly Kate,' [seiner Gattin, Lady Katherine Manners] - all which aberrations were duly chronicled by the French ambassador in London; and transmitted for the perusal of the Cardinal minister [Richelieu], and to become the source of endless gloomy ponderings in the mind of King Louis [XIII.]." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., pp. 106-107).
Annas Leben am königlichen Hofe war einsam und triste. Ihr Gatte hasste sie, ihre Lebhaftigkeit, ihre Stimme, ihren Akzent, der ihn an Spanien, seinen großen Feind erinnerte. Er war ihr nicht untreu, hatte nicht wie sein Vater unzählige Geliebte. Frauen interessierten ihn nicht. Anna war glücklich, wenn sie ihrem eifersüchtigen, launischen Gatten entfliehen konnte. Lieber verbrachte sie ihre Zeit mit dessen jüngstem Bruder Gaston, der charmant, gesprächig und lustig war: "Anne's most happy time was, spent in seclusion at St. Germain, where she often craved permission to sojourn, followed by a few ladies, in order to superintend the formation of the gardens planned by Henri Quatre. The queen passionately loved flowers; and a similarity of taste often brought into her society her young and brilliant brother-in-law, Monsieur [Gaston]. Impetuous in all things, Anne gave herself up to the pleasure of his society; and discarded in favour of Monsieur most of the etiquettes which then hedged in a queen of France, even from familiarity with her husband's brother. She was heard to address Monsieur in public as mon frère; she permitted him to kiss her hands; to enter her presence unannounced; she sent him letters, which she asserted related only to botany, a science in which the young Duke was an adept." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., pp. 110-111).
Im Jahr 1626 war Anna laut der Historikerin Martha Walker Freer in eine Verschwörung verwickelt, bei der man den Kardinal Richelieu töten und ihren Gatten entweder töten oder wegen geistiger und körperlicher Untauglichkeit absetzen wollte. Sie sollte nach der Ermordung oder Absetzung ihres Gatten ihren Schwager Gaston, den Herzog von Orleans, der dann der nächste König von Frankreich geworden wäre, heiraten. Die Verschwörung flog jedoch auf, und Ludwig XIII. sollte es seiner Gattin nie verziehen haben, dass sie seinen Tod oder seine Absetzung gewünscht hatte. Das Verhältnis zwischen den beiden wurde seit dieser Zeit sehr schlecht: "The King [Ludwig XIII.] refused to hold communication with her [seiner Frau Anna]; and she was forbidden to see the Duchess de Chevreuse [ihre beste Freundin], or to converse with M. d'Orleans [ihrem Schwager Gaston, der von ihr mittlerweile gar nicht mehr so begeistert war]. ... On the 27th August [1626] an order was issued, signed by Louis, and countersigned by his minister [Kardinal Richelieu], forbidding entrée to the Queen's saloons and cabinets to the noblemen and gentlemen in waiting, or to the courtiers of the Louvre, unless they paid their respects to her Majesty in the King's presence; and entered her apartments, and departed therefrom in his suite. ... Anne likewise received the imperious commands of her royal husband never to grant a private audience without first advertising Queen Marie [de' Medici], or the Cardinal [Richelieu]; and naming the personage whom she was about to receive, and the object of the interview. Correspondence with Madame de Chevreuse was strictly forbidden ... Neglected by her husband, she persistently turned for sympathy towards her own kindred of Spain, whose counsels aggravated her position; for the King her brother [der spanische König Philipp IV.] never effectually interfered to ameliorate her position; or to intercede in her behalf. ... 'She wished for my death, and coveted another husband during my lifetime!' was often the bitter remark of Louis XIII. when any one pleaded the cause of the Queen; and such remained his Majesty's settled conviction on his death-bed." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., pp. 159-162).
Anna hasste den Kardinal Richelieu über alles. Sie war seine größte Gegnerin: "Anne's animosity against the Cardinal [Richelieu] is described as unsurpassed by that of his bitter political opponent. ... Anne was [im Jahr 1630] reckless enough to consent again to the discussion of the policy of her marriage with Monsieur [ihrem Schwager Gaston], in case of the speedy decease of Louis [ihrem Gatten, der in diesem Jahr sehr oft krank war; am 1. Oktober 1630 rechnete man sogar mit seinem Tod]. ... In the case of Anna of Austria, absolute dislike existed between Louis XIII. and herself ... The Queen had many undoubted grievances to suffer from the frigid, imperious, and vacillating temper of her consort; ... She saw her personal charms despised, and her society avoided; her pecuniary means were curtailed, from dread of the power which the command of money would have given her to intrigue, with foreign courts. To avenge herself for her privations and want of influence, Anne had recklessly sullied her royal dignity; her adventures with Buckingham resounded throughout Europe; and her connivance in the conspiracy of Chalais [im Jahr 1626] [Richelieu und ihren Gatten umzubringen] had greatly redounded to her discredit; while it must confessed that few husbands could have pardoned the treachery, and indelicacy of her overtures to Monsieur in case of her own widowhood, and his accession to the throne of France. ... Anne demanded the exile of the minister [Kardinal Richelieu]; whom she denounced as the great obstacle to a cordial understanding between the courts of France, and Spain." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., pp. 213-215/220). Außerdem hatte Anna stets Angst, Richelieu würde ihre Ehe mit Ludwig XIII. auflösen lassen - sie hätte ihrem Gatten schließlich bisher noch keine Kinder geschenkt - und sie deshalb nach Spanien zurückschicken.
"With the people of Paris Anne was popular; there was a fascination in her smile and manner which made the Parisians greet her with enthusiasm ... The gentle manners of the Queen, her apparent helplessness, her affectionate condescension, the interest she showed in the personal affairs of her friends, and the tearful softness of her blue eyes, were powerful weapons against the ascendency of the Cardinal [Richelieu], within the precincts of the palace [er konnte noch so viele seiner Spione in ihren Palast einschleusen, mit der Zeit wurden sie alle Anhänger von Anna]. ... Anne was mistress of the arts of persuasion ... Her Majesty, it was true, rarely perjured herself; but her modes of evasion, and equivocation were so diverse and ingenious, that she seldom avowed what she wished to conceal even under the most rigid examination; or promised exactly that which she knew she had no intention to fulfil." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, id., pp. 303/306/316-317).
Anna im Jahr 1637: "More than ever Anne deplored her childless condition: and lamented that in spite of her prayers, offerings, and vows, after twenty-two years of wedlock, the blessing appeared further than ever from attainment. The alienation between Anne and her husband had become more confirmed, if less visibly demonstrated. ... Anne, with her fair beauty, her consciousness of her charms, her petulant and derisive wit, her determined self-will, and her Spanish inclinations, had become hateful, and sometimes even terrible, to the King." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., p. 10).
Annas Verhältnis zu ihrem Gatten verschlechterte sich noch im Jahr 1637, als der Kardinal Richelieu herausbekommen hatte, dass sie Staatsgeheimnisse an die Feinde Frankreichs, an ihre spanische Familie, ihre Brüder Philipp IV. und Ferdinand, an ihre Schwester Maria, Kaiserin des Heiligen Römischen Reiches deutscher Nation, und an ihre Schwägerin Henriette Maria in England weitergegeben hatte, die militärisch bei den Franzosen zu Niederlagen ["the fall of the fortresses of Corbie, and La Capelle; and ... the treacherous surrender of Câtelet to the Spaniards] geführt hatten. "'The unhappy princess [Anna] having no mercy to expect from her consort, or from a minister [Richelieu] who, on more than one occasion had threatened her with exile and divorce, believing herself lost, abandoned herself at first, without regard to appearance, or to prudence, to the anguish, and despair which possessed her.' 'Lost! lost!' she was overheard to murmur, 'the Cardinal will marry his niece to the King, and she will bear children never mind how!' alluding to Madame d'Aiguillon, whom Anne detested for her sanctimonious manners, and for her undeviating allegiance to her uncle [Richelieu]. ... M. de la Rochefoucauld relates in his Memoirs that the Queen proposed to him, in order to save her from perpetual imprisonment for life in the fortress of Hâvre, which she felt certain was a doom impending over her, that he should carry her off from Chantilly [wo sie sich gerade aufhielt], and convey her to the protection of her brother [Ferdinand] at Brussels. ... On the Feast of the Assumption [am 15. August 1637] Anne attended mass and received the Holy Eucharist in the chapel at Chantilly. Driven frantic by her terror and suspense ... Anne, while she knelt before the altar, sent for Le Gras, her secretary, and for Caussin, the King's confessor; and, with the Sacred Elements on her lips, she laid her hand on the altar and took oath that she had never held treasonable correspondence with any foreign potentate; adding, 'that she required and charged them both to repair to the presence of King Louis, and report what they had seen, and heard.' This terrible act of perjury invalidates for ever any statement put forth by Anna of Austria; and gives probability to all subsequent charges preferred by her enemies, showing, that there was no act, however flagrant, from which the Queen shrank in order to deliver herself from peril and disgrace. 'La reine est fausse: elle est perfide et ingrate [= "Die Königin ist falsch: sie ist verräterisch und undankbar],' was a plaint which often escaped Louis XIII. with more justice perhaps, than many have been inclined to believe; and explains the neglect in which Louis suffered his consort to exist, though she wore the crown-matrimonial of France, and was the eldest sister of the most puissant monarch in Christendom." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., pp. 32-34/36-37/66). Und was tat der Kardinal Richelieu in dieser Situation, denn wenn der König und die französischen Untertanen vom Verrat der Königin gehört hätten, dann hätte jene sich glücklich nennen können, wenn man sie nur zurück nach Spanien geschickt hätte. Richelieu, den Anna mit allen Mitteln beseitigen bzw. töten wollte - bei allen drei bekannten Versuchen, jenen zu ermorden, war sie verwickelt gewesen, - schwieg. Anna hatte den Kardinal Richelieu zu sich rufen lassen. Sie sprachen unter vier Augen. "The Queen than confessed all to Richelieu; showing, according to his statement, marvellous confusion at the deed of perjury which she had committed on the Feast of the Assumption." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., p. 40). Nun hatte sie sich nur noch bei ihrem Gatten für ihre Vergehen, die Richelieu für "nennenswert" hielt, zu entschuldigen: "We [Anna] freely, and candidly confess to all the above-mentioned facts, and voluntary declare them to be true. We promise never more to be guilty of like faults; and we engage to live with the King, our very honoured lord and husband, as beseems a person who holds no other interest but the welfare of his royal person, and realm. In witness of which we sign this present with our own hand ... [am 17. August 1637 in Chantilly]." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., p. 48).
"The Queen [Anna] ever held the lives and fortunes of her friends cheap, when her interest prompted a sacrifice. The King [Ludwig XIII.] was right, when he declared that Anne's disposition was ungrateful, and egotistical." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., p. 66).
Im Jahr 1626 hatte das französische Königspaar zum letzten Mal intimen Verkehr. Erst im Dezember 1637 teilten die beiden, bedingt durch viele Zufälle - stürmisches Wetter, das verhinderte, dass der König nach Versailles entfliehen konnte, und stattdessen mit seiner Gattin im Louvre zu Abend aß - die Liebenswürdigkeit seiner Gattin, die sich sehnlich ein Kind wünschte - die Bitten so vieler seiner wenigen Freunde/Freundinnen, doch für Nachwuchs zu sorgen, damit sein jüngster Bruder Gaston nicht sein Nachfolger auf dem französischen Thron würde - wieder das Ehebett, und die Nation durfte hoffen.
Die Geburt des ersten Kindes von Anna, des zukünftigen französischen Königs Ludwig XIV.: "On the 1st of September, 1638, the Princesses and ladies nominated to be present on the occasion [der Geburt des Kindes], arrived at St. Germain-en-Laye. Monsieur [Gaston, Annas Schwager] also appeared, captious as usual; and greatly incensed that his wife had not received a special summons ... The Queen felt the first symptoms of labour at two o'clock in the morning of Sunday, September 5th. ... Louis arose, and commanded the presence of all official personages; and that his medical staff should repair to the large saloon. ... At six o'clock, the ladies whose right it was to be present in the Queen's chamber, entered, and to their seats on chairs covered with cloth of gold. These were the Princess de Condé, the Countess de Soissons, the Duchess de Vendôme, the mistress of the robes Duchess de Montmorency, the Duchess de Bouillon, the Marquise de Lansac, Mesdames de Senécé, and de la Flotte. [Im Salon nebenan versammelten sich 13 weitere Herren und Damen u.a. der Erzbishof von Bourges und die Bischöfe von Lisieux, Chalons und Meaux und in einem anderen Gemach Hunderte von eingeladenen Gästen unteren Standes.] ... At nine o'clock a sensation of terror pervaded the assemblage; the Queen was reported to be in extreme peril, and a hasty message from Dame Peronne summoned the surgeons in waiting. ... At half-past ten, Madame de Senécé approached, with a message from the Queen to her royal consort. Anne sent her greeting; an assurance of her courage; and an entreaty that the King would retire to partake of his accustomed collation at eleven o'clock. Louis consequently retired ... He had scarcely seated himself at table ... and several messengers rushed unceremoniously into the royal presence, with the news that the Queen's delivery was near. Shouts of exultation greeted the King as he again approached the chamber. 'C'est un Dauphin! C'est un Dauphin!' Madame de Senécé met the King at the door of the chamber, and placed in his arms the new-born babe, who gave token of vigour by shrill cries. ... The recovery of the Queen was rapid; and on the 26th of September the ceremony of 'churching' was performed in Anne's audience chamber, by the Bishop of Lisieux, and other prelates." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., pp. 120-122/127).
Anna liebte ihre Kinder über alles: "... the Queen was a devoted mother, and spent hours in watching the slumbers of her infants. From the birth of Louis [Ludwig XIV.] ... Anne appears to have relinquished her correspondences with Spain; and with other princes inimical to France." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., p. 155). Aber die Beziehung mit ihrem Gatten wurde nach der Geburt der Söhne wieder schlechter. Ludwig XIII. warf ihr vor, "'that she brought up her sons to hate him; and, therefore, it was his intention, soon to take them both entirely from her care and society;' a threat which, had Louis lived, he doubtless would have put into execution." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., p. 173).
Noch vor dem Tod ihres Gatten im Jahr 1643 war Anna darauf vorbereitet worden, dass sie in Zukunft Probleme mit ihrem Schwager Gaston haben würde: "... who avowed his opinion in public, at several places in Auvergne and the Orléannois, that Monsieur le Dauphin and his brother were illegitimate; and stated, that it was his intention to fight for the succession to the crown." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., p. 216).
Als ihr Gatte Ludwig XIII. seinen baldigen Tod voraussah, bestimmte er, dass sie nach seinem Ableben die Regentin von Frankreich werden sollte. "... as it is impossible that the Queen can have the requisite knowledge to conduct the course of great and important events, which is acquired only by long experience, we [Ludwig XIII.] have thought good to name a Council of Regency, by the advice of which, and under her Majesty's authority, state affairs shall be resolved by a plurality of votes. ... We declare, that it is our will that all affairs relating to peace or to war, and other matters important to the realm, even to the voting and disposal of the finances, shall be laid before the Council, and decided by a majority of votes ..." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume 2, id., pp. 223-224).
Aber letztendlich siegte Anna über ihren Gatten. Denn sie wurde trotz der Einführung des Regentenrates durch ihren Gatten die mächtigste Person im französischen Königtum, indem sie mit Hilfe ihres Freundes, des Kardinals Mazarin, in dem Machtspiel ihrer hohen adligen Freunde in Frankreich und dem Regentenrat als Siegerin hervorging: "... she protested that the interests of France, and of her son [Ludwig XIV.], were dearer to her than her own private friendships [mit den hohen Adligen in Frankreich, die für ihre Machterhöhung gekämpft hatten]; also, she confessed that the demands of the nobles were outrageous; and that being on the point of assuming power in the realm, she recognised the patriotism and policy of the late minister [Richelieu, den sie doch zuvor wie ihre hohen Adligen in Frankreich so sehr gehasst hatte], who had been able to control such aspirations. That M. de Condé [der Vorsitzende im Regentenrat] and his party would not be able, in the face of the formidable opposition of the great vassals of the crown, irritated by her desertion, to accomplish the revocation of the decree which limited her future powers as Regent; and that without such unfettered powers she could not maintain M. de Mazarin and his colleagues in office [also im Regentenrat] ... Finally, the Queen observed, that MM. de Vendôme, on the first symptom of their decline in her favour, would offer themselves to Monsieur [Gaston], which fact would infallibly convulse the realm - the remedy, in her Majesty's opinion for such woes being, the abrogation of the late Declaration, and of the council of Regency ... Anne of Austria desired to grasp the sceptre during her son's minority with irresponsible power. Mazarin aspired to unlimited authority as prime minister of France." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 1, id., pp. xxvi/xxviii). Fortan gab es durch den Tod des Königs im Jahr 1643 und des mächtigen Kardinals Richelieu im Jahr 1642 nicht mehr Ludwig XIII. und Richelieu, die die Geschicke des französischen Königreiches bestimmten, sondern Anna und Mazarin. "Their aim was a lofty one: the obstacles were innumerable, and apparently overwhelming. A more interesting, and exciting passage of history exists not, than that which recounts the subtle tact, ingenuity, and unconquerable firmness with which this Spanish princess, and this Italian ecclesiastic fought their way to supreme power, by the gradual, and wily overthrow of all their foes." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 1, id., p. xxviii).
Anna machte es sich schon im Jahr 1643 zur Gewohnheit, sich jeden Abend mit Mazarin allein um 22 Uhr in ihren Privaträumen zu treffen, da sie von ihm politisch unterrichtet werden wollte. Das führte schon bald zu vielen Gerüchten in und außerhalb ihres Hofes. "Madame de Hautefort ... blushed, and shuddered at the rumours current respecting these night conferences; when Mazarin remained alone with the Regent under pretext of instructing her in affairs. In the eyes of Madame de Hautefort, affairs of state counted for very little in comparison with the eternal salvation of the Queen. ... The Count de Joigny again emerged from his convent cell to warn her Majesty, 'that the midnight conferences of a beautiful woman of forty-two and a man of forty, could not be indulged in with impunity."' (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 1, id., pp. 84-85).
Annas Meinung über den Kardinal Richelieu, dessen Tod sie zu Lebzeiten ihres Gatten für so viele Jahre so sehr gewünscht hatte, hatte sich während ihrer Regentschaft sehr geändert: "Passing by a portrait of the Cardinal de Richelieu hanging in the gallery at Ruel [in 1643], Anne paused, and earnestly contemplating the picture, exclaimed, addressing the attendant throng of courtiers: -'Messiers! if that man were now living, I would make him more powerful than ever!" (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 1, id., pp. 145-146).
"Der Tod ihres königlichen Gemahls 1643 stellte eine Befreiung für sie dar. Die Königin entwickelte sich allmählich zu einer staatsmännischen Herrscherin. Nach einem Staatsstreich bekam sie die Machtvollkommenheit als Regentin im Namen ihres minderjährigen Sohnes [Ludwig XIV.]. Sie regierte dann ausschließlich im Sinne der Interessen Frankreichs. Trotz aller Hoffnungen entließ sie bald die Stellvertreter der katholischen Partei und die Hochadeligen und berief Kardinal Mazarin, einen gebürtigen Italiener, zum Premierminister. Beide setzten die Politik Richelieus fort. Das bedeutete den Verzicht auf den sofortigen Frieden in Deutschland und in den Niederlanden. Anna führte selbst gegen ihren Bruder, Philipp IV. von Spanien, Krieg und lehnte energisch jeden Ausgleich ab, der auf der Rückgabe Kataloniens und der eroberten Festungen in Flandern hätte beruhen müssen. In den Verhandlungen forderte sie die Annexion des Elsaß für Frankreich, obwohl diese Provinz zum Patrimonialgut der Habsburger gehörte." (in: Die Habsburger: Ein biographisches Lexikon, ebenda, S. 58-59).
Der Alltag von Anna als Regentin lief im Jahr 1643 folgendermaßen ab: "She rose between ten and eleven in the morning, and for the following hour admitted to audience the various officers of her household, who presented themselves to take orders of the day; also she saw daily, several ladies, her almoners. The King [ihr älterer Sohn Ludwig XIV.] and his brother [Philippe I.] then visited their mother. Anne heard mass, and then breakfasted with appetite. The Queen next passed into her grand cabinet de toilette, where all her ladies waited, and the business of her toilette commenced. While the Queen's hair was dressed, the gentlemen of the court were admitted. 'Then,' says Madame de Motteville, 'it was truly a treat to watch her Majesty's beautiful hands as they were dexterously employed in the business of her toilette. She had the most beautiful hair in the world; long, and very thick. She caused herself to be dressed with care and perfection. After the death of the King [ihres Gatten Ludwig XIII.] she ceased to use rouge; or to heighten the whiteness of her skin by artificial aid.' The toilette over, Anne granted audience to her ministers; she then dined privately, waited upon by her bedchamber women. After the repast she entered her coach, and drove about Paris with the young King, generally visiting some convent, where chocolate was presented. She then returned to the Louvre, and held a reception, at which all the Princes were present, and the Cardinal de Mazarin. 'M. de Mazarin seldom failed to appear; when discourse was carried on publicly between the Queen, himself, and the high personages present, which habit caused a great assemblage of courtiers.' When the Duc d'Orleans [ihr Schwager Gaston von Bourbon] retired, Anne entered her private cabinet, where Mazarin followed, and a conference on state affairs lasted about an hour, the doors of the apartment standing open. Anne then appeared again in the circle for a quarter of an hour, before she finally retired to her private apartments. She then entered her oratory, and passed an hour and a half in prayer, and in téte-à-téte conferences with Mazarin and others, who where admitted by a private staircase. She then supped, about eleven, conversing pleasantly with the officers, and ladies of the privy chamber ... Conversation was thus maintained until one' o'clock, when the ceremonies of the Queen's coucher commenced, which lasted an hour. Every one then retired. Anne's days for holding council were Mondays and Thursdays; every Saturday she attended high mass in state, in Nôtre Dame. On vigils of saint-days her Majesty repaired to Val de Grâce. When there, her leisure was more innocently occupied than of yore, in giving audiences to architects, painters, and artists, whom she was employing to rebuild the convent, and church, on a scale of surpassing splendour, in accordance with solemn vow which she made on the birth of her son, King Louis." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 1, id., pp. 146-147). "Good sermons from the sternest preachers were those that pleased her most. She went sometimes, but rarely, to visit the prisons disguised as a servant, and to my knowledge [the knowledge of Madame de Motteville], she one day followed the Princesse de Condé for that purpose. She had a waiting-maid, a pious and devout woman, who in the first years of her regency was shut up with her every evening in her oratory. The whole duty of that person was to inform the queen of the daily needs, public and private, of the poor, and to receive from her the money to relieve them. She was always touched by things she thought her duty. I [Madame de Motteville] have seen her during the war which happened later, when she had no money, sell her diamond ear-rings (which she had had very curiously made) to give money to those who were suffering by it. ... She did not like to read, and knew very little; but she had intelligence, and an easy, accommodating, and agreeable mind. Her conservation was serious and free both; those she esteemed found great charms in her because she was secret, and always glad to enter into the feelings and interests of those who opened their hearts to her; and this good treatment made a great impression on the souls of those who loved her." (in: Memoirs of Madame de Motteville, Volume 1, id., pp. 109-110).
"The Queen [Anna] quitted her widow's weeds in May, 1644, and, notwithstanding the vexatious intrigues of the period, the court was brilliant, and enlivened by sumptuous fêtes. ... Anne herself feared no rivalry in charms - her complexion was as fresh, her hair as glossy and abundant, her carriage as majestic, and her bust, arms, and hands as exquisite in symmetry, as when Buckingham, in his mad admiration, pronounced her to be the most peerless of Princesses." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 1, id., pp. 165-166).
Unter Anna als Regentin konnte das Parlament in Frankreich nach vielen, schweren Diskussionen im Jahr 1648 Folgendes durchsetzen: "... the Parliament had struck out a grand charter of constitutional freedom. The Farmers-General were to be deposed: taxes, direct and indirect, were to be levied by the sanction of Parliament, and not, as heretofore, by the absolute authority of the King; personal liberty was secured, and the arbitrary power of the crown in criminal jurisdiction, restrained; finally, the Courts [the High Court and other Courts of Justice] proclaimed their own independence, with liberty of debate. The sale of offices by the crown was forbidden; while the sorest grievance at all, the despotic action of the government, exercised when the King [Ludwig XIV.] held a Lit de Justice, was suppressed. ... The next question ... prohibiting arbitrary arrest, and compelling governors of state prisons, and jailers, to bring every prisoner committed to their custody before a court of justice within twenty-four hours after their committal." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 1, id., pp. 266/271). Aber die ewige Heuchlerin Anna, die Regentin von Frankreich, brach erneut ein Versprechen, das sie gegeben hatte, und ließ die hohen Herren des Parlamentes und Hohen Gerichtes verfolgen und verhaften, da jene ihre Rechte und die ihres königlichen Sohnes verletzt hätten. Denn nur die Königlichen Hoheiten hätten das Sagen und nur ihren Anordnungen und Befehlen hätten ihre hohen und niederen Untertanen zu befolgen. "In after years Louis XIV. eulogised his mother's wisdom, and firmness on this occasion; asserting that, had she been properly supported, the page of history never would have been sullied by a record of the follies, and extravagancies of La Fronde." Aber die Folge der Verhaftung von Monsieur Pierre Broussel (c. 1575-1654), einem politischen Führer im Parlament, war: "... swarming from every street and alley, came forth crowds of assailants to defend the Parliament, and to rescue leur bon ami Broussel. The shops were closed, and citizens armed to the teeth appeared at the doors to fight for their lives and property. The Quai des Orfèvres was the grand rallying point, where a demagogue harangued a mob of people, amid cheers of approbation, and groans for le Mazarin [der mit der Verhaftung des Politikers nichts zu tun hatte, es geschah alles auf Befehl der Regentin, die Letzteren überhaupt nicht informiert hatte], while a crowd of women and children, surrounded the royal coach which had broken down while conveying the prisoner, and breaking it to pieces, hurled the fragments into the river. Tidings of the sedition, meantime, reached the Palais Royal. The guard was immediately doubled ... Anne's ladies describe themselves as chilled with terror when the horrible sounds of sedition approached nearer and nearer. The Queen was walking in her long gallery alone, when Guitaut rushed to inform her that the populace had broken through the lines of Swiss posted on the Pont Neuf, and were then advancing to the Rue St. Honoré - the people being persuaded that Broussel had been conveyed to the Palais Royal [er befand sich im Schloss von St. Germain en Laye]. Through the open windows, borne on the soft summer breeze, Anne listened to the distant tumult; but not a throb of fear unnerved her, or a regret that she had followed the promptings of her own will, rather than the wiser counsels of Mazarin. She desired Guitaut to summon the Marshal de la Meilleraye ... 'M. de la Meilleraye,' said the Queen, calmly, 'take two hundred Swiss guards, and go and chastise those unmannerly churls!' ... The good Marshal, who had little experience in street fights, and who could scarcely sit on his horse for gouty pains, rode in advance of his Swiss sword in hand, expostulating, or replying with good-natured repartee to the fierce threats which assailed him. At the opening of the Rue Neuve St. Louis, towards which the Marshal had succeeded in driving the mob, he was suddenly confronted by a second concourse of workmen, butchers, and watermen, advancing, armed with every kind of weapon, and making the streets ring with wild shouts for Broussel. Thus reinforced, the mob driven from the Pont Neuf, rushed back upon the Marshal and his soldiers, who were soon surrounded, being neither able to advance, nor to recede. Stones then began to whirl in every direction: the soldiers were pitilessly pelted from the adjacent windows; while two women seized La Meilleraye by the legs, one of whom was recognised as Broussel's old woman servant ... [Meilleraye wurde bei dieser Konfrontation mit dem Volk schwer verletzt] ... She [Anna, als man ihr die Nachricht gab, dass das Volk zu allem bereit sei und ein schwerer Aufruhr zu erwarten sei] averred that insurrection was impossible, incredible; and looking defiantly round, declared that nothing should induce her to yield one iota of the King's authority to mutinous clamour. Her Majesty bravely rebuked the alarm, and heart-quakings of some of her ministers; and seemed more inclined to jest with the Abbé de la Rivière, and with M. de Beautru, than to sympathise with the pallid nervousness of Monsieur [ihrem Schwager Gaston], or the dejected countenance of Mazarin. ... Der verletzte Marschall Meilleraye erklärte der Königin, dass die Situation gefährlich sei. ... "... but the Queen went into a passion, saying, in angry, and shrill tones: 'It is revolt to imagine that revolt can happen; we hear only the ridiculous stories of those, who wish for revolt! the authority of the King will soon restore order!' ... M. Vannes, a lieutenant-colonel of the Swiss, moreover, appeared in breathless haste, to inform her Majesty that sedition was now raging round the palace; and that a band of ruffians had menaced the royal guard, unless Broussel was produced." Und wie reagierte die Königin auf den Vorschlag, Broussel zu entlassen: "... 'You wish me to restore this Broussel. Ah! but I would sooner strangle him myself with my two hands!' - here the Queen made a gesture, raising her hands to the neck of the indignant prelate [Gondy, der sich für die Freilassung von Broussel eingesetzt hatte]; 'and with him, all' - Anne paused in her vehemence: 'but I believe,' related Gondy, 'that she was going to pour upon my devoted head the full vials of her wrath and hatred, had not M. le Cardinal again whispered something in her ear, after which she became cool, affable and friendly.' Every moment some fresh arrival brought a tale of confusion, and distraction to the indignant ears of Anne of Austria, who obstinately refused to believe that danger existed. At length the Duc de Montbazon, governor of Paris, sent to request audience of her Majesty. He entered the presence pale, and bespattered with mud, having had to run the gauntlet of popular fury through several streets. He had been requested by the local municipal authorities to demand the liberation of M. Broussel; otherwise the safety of the city would be seriously compromised, 'and the King, Madame, no longer safe even in his Palais Royal.'" (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 1, id., pp. 287-288/295-303). Broussel kam zwei Tage später wieder frei, aber nur mit absolutem Widerwillen seitens der Königin, die ihn lieber, wie sie sagte und zeigte, mit eigenen Händen erwürgt hätte.
Fazit von Annas Hofdame Madame de Motteville: Die Regentin Anna von Spanien/Österreich war zu faul, um sich mit den Regierungsaufgaben, also der Leitung, Lenkung und Beaufsichtigung des französischen Königreiches, zu beschäftigen. Sie überließ diese Aufgaben ihrem geliebten Minister, dem Kardinal Mazarin, der somit der "wahre Herrscher" Frankreichs wurde: "... and the cardinal [Mazarin] was all the more agreeable to her [Anna] because he took great care to keep her unoccupied, and was glad to relieve her of the greater part of the trouble her regency imposed upon her." (in: Memoirs of Madame de Motteville, Volume 1, id., p. 218).
Lesetipps (die ich sehr empfehlen kann):
1. Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume I, London 1864
2. Martha Walker Freer: The Married Life of Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV., and Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Historical Studies), Volume II, London 1865
3. Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria, Queen Regnant of France, Mother of Louis XIV. (From numerous unpublished sources), Volume I, London 1866
4. Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria, Queen Regnant of France, Mother of Louis XIV. (From numerous unpublished sources), Volume II, London 1866
Der Hofstaat von Anna umfasste im Jahr 1649 folgende Dienerschaft: "She [Anna] had five bed-chamber women, twelve dressers, two inferior maids, and four laundry maids; five equerries, twenty-four pages, and twenty-four footmen; one secretary des commandements, forty-eight secretaries, eighteen valets de chambre; ushers in endless number; two apothecaries, five surgeons; five maîtres d’hôtel, eight cooks, four pastry-cooks; one keeper of the jewels; six train-bearers: one keeper of upholstery, seven upholsterers; one baker, twenty porters, five washerwomen, two millers; one master of the silver plate, four butlers; ten dressmakers and milliners, one tailor; two physicians, nine chaplains; twelve dames de palais, twelve lords in waiting, and one mistress of the robes, or grande-maîtresse." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 2, id., p. 290).
Ging Anna mit dem Kardinal Jules Mazarin eine heimliche Ehe ein? "Anne of Austria, it is said, elected to keep her able minister, even at the sacrifice of her royal dignity by a mésalliance. At the altar of her oratory in the Palais Royal, at midnight, Anne of Austria is said, therefore, to have accepted Giulio Mazzarini [= Mazarin] for her second husband - the famous St. Vincent de Paul, performing the nuptial mass some time between the 10th of January, and the 1st of February of the year 1650. ... Anne of Austria was one of the most haughty and intolerant of princesses: - the sangre azul of her princely ancestry, Catholic Kings of Spain, and Emperors of Austria, was a theme on which she fondly boasted; and to assert that she voluntarily sullied such descent by marriage with the able son of Colonna's steward, is to argue against all knowledge of her character, and her feelings, which have descended to us in the records of contemporary history. It has been seen in the pages of her "Married Life" that the Queen did not altogether abjure the tender passion. The Duke of Buckingham's assiduities seriously damaged the fair fame of Anne of Austria, while the surprise one day, by Louis XIII., of the handsome Duc de Montmorency on his knees before the Queen, and the subsequent discovery of her portrait bound round his arm on the field of Castelnaudarey are supposed to be facts, which closed up every avenue of mercy in the King's heart towards the then convicted traitor. ... The Queen was totally regardless of appearances; and the thought never seems to have disturbed her mind as to what might be the public opinion on her intimate association at all times, and all hours, with her minister in their midnight interviews, and on the proximity of their apartments in the Palais Royal. ... The sole testimony of any repute against Anne and Mazarin, is that of Madame [Liselotte von der Pfalz], the second wife of her son Philip, Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV. The Queen had been dead fifty-six years, and Mazarin sixty-one years, when the duchess wrote thus: - "The late Queen-mother gave herself little anxiety about the Cardinal de Mazarin; he was not a priest, and therefore could marry. All the circumstances of this marriage are now well known. The secret passage by which he used every night to visit the Queen, exists still at the Palais Royal." The Duchess also say, that Madame de Beauvais [die Hofdame, die in Annas Zimmer zusammen mit ihr schlief] knew of the marriage, which was the reason of her favour. ..." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 2, id., pp. 263-266).
Ein Brief von Anna von Spanien/Österreich an Kardinal Mazarin am 30. Juni 1660: "Your letter ... has given me great joy. I do not know whether I shall be fortunate enough to inspire you with this belief, but had I the least idea that my letters could so greatly please you, I would willingly have written more; it is true, however, that the joy which I myself witnessed once, while I saw you read my letters, reminded me of another time, of which I carry constant memory. However you might doubt, I certify to you that all my life shall be employed to testify to you that there never has been a friendship more true than my own; and if you believe this not, a day will come, upon which you will repent your slow belief. If I could show you my heart, as plainly as you will read these words, you would be the most ungrateful man in the world, did you not believe ..." (in: Martha Walker Freer: The Regency of Anna of Austria - Queen Regent of France, Mother of Louis XIV, From numerous unpublished sources, including M88. in the Bibliothèque Impériale, and the Archives du Royaume de France, etc., etc., Vol. 2, id., pp. 412-413).
"But we find in the letters of Mazarin, published by M. Ravenel (Paris, 1836), passages which have all the more importance because the character of this correspondence is much more confidential and private. In it Mazarin constantly speaks to the queen of 'his heart', tells her that he is 'dying for her,' etc.; in a word, expresses himself quite otherwise than as a subject, even a minister, to his sovereign." (in: Memoirs of Madame de Motteville, Volume 2, id., p. 355).
Die Unterkünfte der beiden, der Königin Anna und des Kardinals Mazarin, lagen laut Madame de Motteville sehr nah nebeneinander: "The queen-mother [Anna im Jahr 1661] was awakened by this news [Mazarin ging es gesundheitlich sehr schlecht]. She had heard him groaning in the night, because he was lodged on the other side of her chamber, and his illness was of a nature to suffocate him continually." (in: Memoirs of Madame de Motteville, Volume 3, id., p. 229).
Es ist keine Frage, wenn man einen Blick in die persönlichen Briefe zwischen dem Kardinal Mazarin und Anna von Spanien/Österreich geworfen hat, dass die beiden sich sehr geliebt haben. Anna wäre mit Sicherheit eine heimliche Ehe mit ihm eingegangen, wenn er nicht Geistlicher gewesen wäre. Er durfte jedoch nicht heiraten. Schließlich war der Kardinal Mazarin nicht ein Mitglied des hohen Adels, die bis zum Kardinalat ohne kirchliche Weihen hochsteigen konnten, jedoch nie das Recht einer Heirat verloren, um aus dynastischen Gründen eine Familie zu gründen.
Sehr interessant ist, dass wir in den Memoiren der Madame de Montespan lesen, dass man bereits zu Lebzeiten der Königinmutter (um 1665/1666) das Gerücht in Frankreich verbreitete, dass Letztere den Kardinal Mazarin heimlich geheiratet hätte. Um diese Zeit existierte nämlich folgendes Pamphlet, das in Amsterdam gedruckt worden sein soll: "Secret and Circumstantial Account of the Marriage of Anne of Austria, Queen of France, with the Abbé Jules Siméon Mazarin, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. A new edition, carefully revised, Amsterdam". "According to the author of it [dem Pamphlet], King Louis XIII., being weak and languid, and sapped moreover by secret poison, had not been able to beget any heirs. The Queen [Anna von Spanien/Österreich], who secretly was Mazarin's mistress, had had twins by the Abbé, only the prettier of the two being declared legitimate. The other twin had been entrusted to obscure teachers, who, when it was time, would give him up. The princess, so the writer added, stung by qualms of conscience, had insisted upon having her guilty intimacy purified by the sacrament of marriage, to which the prime minister agreed. Then, mentioning the names of such and such persons as witnesses, the book stated that 'this marriage was solemnised on a night in February, 1643, by Cardinal de Sainte-Suzanne, a brother and servile creature of Mazarin's.' 'This explains,' added the vile print, 'the zeal, perseverance, and foolish ardour of the Queen Regent in defending her Italian against the just opposition of the nobles, against the formal charges of the magistrates, against the clamorous outcry, not only of Parisians, but of all France. This explains the indifference, or rather the firm resolve, on Mazarin's part, never to take orders, but to remain simply tonsuré or minoré, - he who controls at least forty abbeys, as well as a bishopric. Look at the young monarch,' it continued, 'and consider how closely he resembles his Eminence, - the same haughty glance; the same uncontrolled passion for pompous buildings, luxurious dress and equipages; the same deference and devotion to the Queen-mother; the same independent customs, precepts, and laws; the same aversion for the Parisians; the same resentment against the honest folk of the Fronde.' [Madame de Montespan nennt schließlich einen der Gründe, warum dieses Pamphlet nur ein böses Gerücht verbreiten soll:] The libellous pamphlet state that, on the occasion of the Infanta's first confinement, twins were born, and that the prettier of the two had been adopted, - another blunder, this, of the grossest kind. A book of this sort could deceive only the working class and the Parisian lower orders, for folk about the Court, and even the bourgeoisie, know that it is impossible for a queen to be brought to bed in secret. Unfortunately for her, she has to comply with the most embarrassing rules of etiquette. She has to bear her final birth-pangs under an open canopy, surrounded at no great distance by all the princes of blood; they are summoned thither, and they have this right so as to prevent all frauds, subterfuges, or impositions." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan – Being Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV., Volume 1, pp. 81-84).
Die Krankheit und der Tod der Königin, erzählt von Madame de Motteville: "In the spring of this year (1664) the Court went to Versailles ... it was on this journey of pleasure that the queen-mother [Anna] felt the first pains of her cancer. It first appeared as a little swelling on her breast, about which she felt no uneasiness. This was really the cause of her death ... [in November 1664] [she] had felt much pain in her breast. As she had too long neglected this ailment, she was astonished to see that in a very short time it had grown notably worse. By the yellow colour of her face we could see that the anxiety she had felt during the queen's [Maria Teresa, ihrer Nichte und Gattin von Ludwig XIV.] illness [Tertiärfieber und die zu frühe Geburt einer Tochter, die nur einige Tage lebte] had injured her. She had consulted doctors at the beginning of this strange malady, and they had then applied hemlock, which did her no good. At first she had the intention ... of putting herself in the hands of Vallot, the king's head physician, who, being versed in the knowledge of simples and chemistry, ought, it seemed, to know the specific remedies for his disease. But he showed such feebleness in supporting his opinion against those that were opposed to it, that she was disgusted with him. Seguin, who was her own doctor, was a man learned in the manner of the Faculty of Paris, which is to bleed always and use no other remedies. ... The queen-mother, finding succour in no one, was compelled to abandon herself to the wrangling of men who tortured her more than her disease. Her attendants had each their private opinion as to the course she ought to follow ... [she] having seen cancers in the nuns of the Val-de-Grâce, who had died all rotten, she had always had a horror of this disease, so terrible to her imagination ... She continued to put the hemlock on her breast though it seemed to make it worse. ... A consultation was immediately ordered of the most celebrated physicians and surgeons in Paris. They all pronounced it a cancer, and said it was now beyond remedy ... In this way she passed the whole winter, during which her suffering was very great; it could be seen in her eyes and on her face ... Little by little, however, the cancer grew worse and began to open, which gave great anxiety to all about her. ... on the same day [25. Juli 1665] the queen-mother became worse. She had great lassitude, with some fever, and was two days in this state, the doctors saying it was nothing; but on the third day a tumour came out under her arm on the opposite side to the cancer. ... Her abscess was now to be lanced, and the king returned to her the evening before the operation. ... The operation that had been performed was an extremely painful one ... That evening when they dressed the wound it was found dry, withered, and black; the cancer was found in the same bad state. ... seeing the bad state of her cancer, which, far from being hardened as he [Gendron, der Wunderheiler] had promised, was now open on all sides, and in several places her breast was full of holes. ... The pain from her cancer was excessive, and the abscess was discharging purulent matter ... gangrene set in ... The flesh mortified and was then cut off in slices with a razor. This operation was shocking to see. It was done night and morning in presence of the whole royal family, the doctors and surgeons, and all those persons who had the honour to serve her and to approach her familiarly. She saw her flesh cut with patience and estimable gentleness; and she often said she never could have believed that a fate so different from that of other human beings could be hers; that usually no one rotted till after death, but as for her, God had condemned her to rot in life. Throughout this whole treatment she had suffered much; but her pains increased excessively when Alliot's [Spezialarzt] remedies approached live flesh. She came at last to such an extremity of suffering that, having lost the power to sleep they made her take every night the juice of poppies. In that way alone could she get relief from her pain; and though it was easy to judge that this remedy would bring her sooner to death, it was impossible to blame the use of it, because this fatal soothing put a few moments' interval in the course of her suffering. ... On the day of the Epiphany [am 6. Januar 1666] she had violent fever and a strong chill ... The queen-mother being now in a state worse than death ... her martyrdom was increased by the odour that came from her cancer. ... this evil alone was too great for her to bear. One of those days when she complained of this discomfort, I [Madame de Motteville] being alone with her, she said to me in a low voice: 'God wills to punish me in this way for having had too much vanity and for loving the beauty of my body too well.' On the night of the 15th [of January] she was very ill. The pain was so great that she felt as if forced to shed tears, which flowed from her eyes abundantly. ... 'Madame de Motteville, I suffer much. There is no spot of my body in which I do not feel the greatest pain.' ... her shoulders began to ulcerate; and as she was obliged to lie always on her back she felt much pain in them. She asked me to touch them. I found them already full of pustules, and I was amazed that she could bear so great an addition to her pains without a word. ... The next day, Tuesday, January 19 [1666], all the bad symptoms ... increased; but her love of cleanliness which in spite of the nature of her illness never left her, made her desire towards evening to have her bed made. She was obeyed with much difficulty, as she was very weak and very heavy. ... [Ihr Tod ist nah, ihre Familie und die hohen Adligen ihres Reiches sind um sie versammelt] The king was standing, weeping, in front of her. After she had remained collected in thought for some time, she looked at him fixedly, and said, with the majesty of a queen and the authority of a mother: 'Do what I told you. I tell it to you again, with the Holy Sacrament upon my lips.' The king, with profound respect and his eyes filled with tears, bowed his head and answered that he would not fail; and to this hour we are ignorant of what it was. ... After the queen-mother had received this last sacrament, she remained for some time in repose, and her eyes began, little by little, to be covered with the cold and gloomy film of death; but hearing the king's voice beside her, she opened them wide, and looking up with a sort of glad surprise at seeing him again, she said tenderly and with emotion, 'Ah! here is the king!' After considering him for some moments, with an attention which seemed to come from her heart and soul touched by a natural sentiment that had roused from the fatal drowsiness in which she had been lying, she said to him, 'Go, my son, go to supper.'" (in: Memoirs of Madame de Motteville, Volume 3, id., pp. 295/309-313/325/331-335/343/345-354). Anna von Spanien/Österreich starb an einem Mittwoch, den 20. Januar 1666, zwischen 4 und 5 Uhr morgens. Ihre beiden Söhne trauerten sehr um sie: "Immediately after this terrible and fatal event Monsieur [ihr jüngerer Sohn Philippe I.] embraced her tenderly. The tears he shed made visible his grief and how deeply he was afflicted. ... I know, from persons who slept in the same room with the king [ihrem älteren Sohn Ludwig XIV.], that he wept in his bed nearly the whole night."
"On the night of the 20th of January [1666] she [Anna von Spanien/Österreich] passed away, and the tolling of the great bell of Notre-Dame announced the news of her death. Monsieur [Philippe I.., der Herzog von Orléans], who had hardly left his mother's bedside, was the only member of her family present at the last, and was so deeply distressed that he refused to hear her will read, and retired at once with Madame to Saint-Cloud. Shortly afterwards the King and Queen went to Versailles, leaving Mademoiselle [Anne Marie d'Orléans (1627-1693] to pay the last honours to her aunt's remains. ... The heart of the dead Queen was borne to her own Abbey of Val-de-Grâce, and her body was laid to rest in the royal vaults at Saint-Denis. State funeral services were held in both churches, and at Notre-Dame, where the royal family assisted, and Madame [Henriette Anna von England, die Herzogin von Orléans] figured as chief mourner, wearing a train seven yards long." (in: Julia Mary Cartwright Ady: Madame, a life of Henrietta, daughter of Charles I. and Duchess of Orleans, id., pp. 225-226).
Videotipp: Das Lieblingskloster von Anna von Spanien/Österreich: Val-de-Grâce
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