by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Maria Anna of Neuburg, the second wife of Carlos II, King of Spain was born on October 28, 1667, at Schloss Benrath in Düsseldorf, Duchy of Berg, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. She was the twelfth of the seventeen children and the fifth of the eight daughters of Philipp Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate, Count Palatine of Neuburg, Duke of Jülich and Berg and his second wife Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Maria Sophie’s paternal grandparents were Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, Duke of Jülich and Berg and Magdalene of Bavaria. Her maternal grandparents were Georg II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Sophia Eleonore of Saxony.

Maria Anna’s mother had 23 pregnancies and 17 live births and the family gained the reputation as a fertile family. Maria Anna had sixteen siblings:

• Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg (1655 – 1720), married Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, had ten children
• Maria Adelheid Anna of Neuburg (born and died 1656), died in infancy
• Sophie Elisabeth of Neuburg (1657 – 1658), died in infancy
• Johann Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate (1658 – 1716), married (1) Maria Anna Josepha of Austria, two sons who died in infancy (2) Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, no children
• Wolfgang Georg Friedrich of Neuburg, Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1659 – 1683)
• Ludwig Anton of Neuburg, Prince-Bishop of Worms (1660 – 1694)
• Karl Philipp, Elector of the Palatinate (1661 – 1742), married (1) Luise Charlotte Radziwill, had three children (2) Princess Theresa Katharina Lubomirska, had two daughters who died in early childhood (3) Countess Violante Maria Theresa von Thurn und Taxis, no children
• Alexander Sigismund of Neuburg, Prince-Bishop of Augsburg (1663 – 1737)
• Franz Ludwig of Neuburg, Archbishop of Trier and Mainz (1664 – 1732)
• Friedrich Wilhelm of Neuburg (1665 – 1689), unmarried, died in battle
• Maria Sophia of Neuburg, Queen of Portugal (1666 – 1699), married Pedro II, King of Portugal, had eight children
• Philipp Wilhelm August of Neuburg (1668 – 1693), married Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg, had two children
• Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg (1670 – 1748), married (1) Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma, had one son who died in infancy (2) Francesco, Duke of Parma (half-brother of Odoardo), had a son who died in infancy and a daughter Elisabeth who married Felipe V, King of Spain
• Hedwig Elisabeth Amalia of Neuburg (1673 – 1722), married Jakub Ludwik Henryk Sobieski, Prince of Poland, had seven children
• Johann of Neuburg (born and died 1675), died shortly after birth
• Leopoldine Eleonore of Neuburg (1679 – 1693), betrothed to Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria but died before the marriage

Maria Anna was raised with her many siblings at Neuburg Castle, the seat of the Electors of the Palatinate in Neuburg an der Donau in Palatinate-Neuburg, now in Bavaria, Germany. With her sisters, Maria Anna received a comprehensive education that included languages, science, and music, supervised by their governess Frau von Klau. Jesuit priests instructed the sisters in religion.

In 1679, 18-year-old Carlos II, King of Spain had married 17-year-old Marie Louise of Orléans, the eldest niece of King Louis XIV of France and daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Henrietta of England. Ten years later, in 1689, the marriage was childless and Marie Louise of Orléans died, probably from appendicitis. The lack of an heir to the Spanish throne and concerns over King Carlos II’s health made a second marriage an urgent matter. Carlos’ mother Mariana of Austria selected twenty-two-year-old Maria Anna of Neuburg based on the family’s history of fertility. Maria Anna’s eldest sister Eleonor Magdalene had married Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, strengthening her ties to the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg.

The House of Habsburg, which ruled over Austria, Spain, and their many territories, was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and they wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Seven of King Carlos II of Spain’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation.

Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many members of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. However, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Carlos was educated by the Jesuit priests, however, because of his developmental disability, both physically and mentally, he only received a basic education. Carlos’ conditions showed clear signs of the long-time inbreeding of the House of Habsburg.

The proxy wedding was held on August 28, 1689, in Ingolstadt, Duchy of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. Among the many distinguished guests at the ceremony were Maria Anna’s brother-in-law Leopold I and her sister Eleonor Magdalene, the Holy Roman Emperor and Empress. Maria Anna arrived in Spain in the spring of 1690. 28-year-old King Carlos II of Spain and 22-year-old Maria Anna of Neuberg were married in person on May 14, 1690, in the Church of the Convent of San Diego, within the complex of the Royal Palace of Valladolid in Spain. During the celebration after the wedding, Carlos II, who was still mourning his first wife, did not pay attention to Maria Anna. It seemed that he was present only to eat cakes. On their wedding night, Carlos and Maria Anna slept in separate quarters, and this practice continued throughout their marriage. Likely, the marriage was never consummated.

During her marriage, under pressure to provide an heir, Maria Anna faked several pregnancies and encouraged Carlos to undergo treatments to increase his fertility, making it clear the failure to produce an heir was not her fault. Maria Anna attempted to influence the decision of the successor to the Spanish throne. In succession disputes, Maria Anna always supported the claims of her nephew Archduke Karl of Austria, the future Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, the son of her older sister, Eleonor Magdalene and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. As the years passed, it became increasingly clear that King Carlos II would never have an heir. It seemed that Carlos was almost certainly infertile and his autopsy did reveal he had only one atrophied testicle.

In September 1700, Carlos became ill, and by September 28, 1700, he was no longer able to eat. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the only surviving child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain, Carlos’ half-sister, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, in his will, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos’ half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. Carlos II, King of Spain died on November 1, 1700, five days before his thirty-ninth birthday, and was succeeded by his half-sister’s grandson Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in the Kingdom of Spain today.

Although Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou succeeded to the Spanish throne as Felipe V, King of Spain, the political struggle over the Spanish throne between the French faction, which supported Felipe V, and the Austrian faction, which supported Maria Anna’s nephew Archduke Karl of Austria, the future Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, resulted in the 1701 – 1714 War of the Spanish Succession that involved the Great Powers of Europe. Ultimately, the War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the recognition of Felipe V as King of Spain, and the renouncing of the rights of Felipe V, formerly Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, and his descendants to inherit the French throne.

In his will, King Carlos II had stipulated that Maria Anna be given a good annual pension and that she be treated with respect by his successors. However, King Felipe V ordered Maria Anna to leave Madrid before he entered the capital. Maria Anna had no choice but to reside in the Alcazar of Toledo in Toledo, Spain. Having limited funds, Maria Anna wrote to her relatives asking for financial help. In 1701, her brother Johann Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate wrote to their sister Eleonor Magdalene, Holy Roman Empress: “About the Queen of Spain, I sincerely sympathize with this unfortunate lady, but, in truth, everything that she had to face was her own fault, as a result of her terrible behavior. And I think what she’s asking Your Majesty is more unrealistic than feasible. But, if you could help this poor woman and console her in such a difficult situation, I would consider this a personal service to me .”

Maria Anna’s 1704 letter to her mother reveals her desperate situation: “I am abandoned by everyone. They do not pay me a full pension, they do not even pay a third…Therefore, I do not always have servants – I simply have nothing to pay them. Sometimes I don’t even have enough food…I became pathetic because I can’t trust anyone, but at the same time, I’m afraid that everyone will leave me.” In 1706, Maria Anna’s situation improved when forces of the Holy Roman Empire led by her nephew Archduke Karl of Austria occupied Toledo. Maria Anna was overjoyed and warmly welcomed her nephew and his army. Because of this, two years later, King Felipe V exiled Maria Anna from Spain. She settled in Bayonne, France where she lived from 1708 – 1739.

In 1739, elderly and in ill health, Maria Anna was allowed to return to Spain. This was probably due to the influence of her niece Elisabeth Farnese, the daughter of Maria Anna’s sister Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg and Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma, who had become the second wife of King Felipe V of Spain in 1714. Because of Felipe V’s mental condition, Elisabeth Farnese was the de facto ruler of Spain and later the Regent of Spain. Maria Anna was given a home at the Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara, Spain, where she died on July 16, 1740, at the age of 72. She was interred in Chapel IX of the Pantheon of the Infantes at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. The Pantheon of the Infantes is the burial place for Infantes and Infantas (corresponding to Prince and Princess) of Spain and for Queen Consorts of Spain who were not mothers of Kings of Spain.

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Works Cited

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