Anna Austrian movie. Anna of Austria and the secrets of the French court

Anne of Austria, Queen of France.

September 22, 1601 in Spanish city Valladolid was born a girl Anna - a Spanish infanta, who belonged to the Habsburg dynasty, the daughter of Philip III and Margaret of Austria.

The Spanish royal court of that time was considered the most stingy, gloomy and religious in all of Europe, and the Spanish traditions required even princes to be brought up in severity, pious and certainly not spoiled. So Anna's childhood cannot be called rich or just happy. The infanta received magnificent dresses and overseas delicacies only on great holidays, and they did not particularly brighten up the deadly boredom that reigned in her life. Strict duennas, a ban on funny Games with peers, the rules of etiquette that did not even allow to laugh, uncomfortable dresses that hindered the movements - all this did not give the girl any pleasure. Education was no less sanctimonious - the Infanta studied only Latin and the basics European languages, dances, the genealogy of the dynasty and the sacred history, and practically all her free time she was obliged to devote to prayers. It made no sense for Anna to dream about the future - it was predetermined, because at the age of three Anna was married to her cousin Ferdinand, an Austrian prince from the same Habsburg dynasty. However, in 1610, Henry IV, the French king, was assassinated, and power passed to his wife, Marie de Medici, who dreamed of friendship with Spain. The political union was immediately sealed with a dynastic one, by marrying the Spanish Infante Philip to a French princess and agreeing on the marriage of the young french king with the Spanish Infanta Anna of Austria. The feelings of the Infanta herself did not play any role. What will her fiancé turn out to be - handsome or ugly, good or evil? Anne was exhausted with curiosity as her cortege slowly moved along the roads of France. I must say that the same questions tormented young Louis. The French court where he grew up was not at all like the Spanish one. Laughter and greasy jokes were often heard here, discussed adultery, and the king and queen almost openly cheated on each other. Eternally busy with business, Henry IV loved his son, but paid almost no attention to him, and his mother, the Italian Maria Medici, visited him only to slap or whip with rods for any offense. It is no wonder that the Dauphin grew up closed, changeable, obsessed with many complexes. One of them, as Guy Breton writes, was the attitude towards his future wife. Already at the age of three, he spoke of her like this: "She will sleep with me and give birth to my baby." And then he frowned: “No, I don’t want her. She is Spanish, and the Spaniards are our enemies.” Now he was languishing from the desire to quickly get to know his bride. Without waiting for her arrival in Bordeaux, he galloped to meet her and saw Anna for the first time through the carriage window. She seemed so beautiful to Louis that he became shy and could not say a word to her. The same story was repeated in the evening at the solemn banquet on the occasion of the engagement. In Paris, after the wedding, the marriage bed was waiting for the young (at the age of 14!), But Louis was so scared that his mother almost had to force him into the bedroom where Anna was waiting. Together with the young spouses, two maids spent the night there, who in the morning presented evidence to the crowd of courtiers that "the marriage was carried out properly." However, the desired heir was never conceived - neither that night, nor over the next ten years ... The infanta did not see her fiancé, Louis XIII, until the very day of the wedding. This day came in October 1615, and the fourteen-year-old Anna became not only the wife of a pleasant-looking young man, but also the Queen of France. Her husband was the same age as her and, although he suffered from many complexes, he was able to appreciate the beauty of the Spanish princess and at first admired her very much. But sullenness and isolation made Louis very similar to the Spaniards, from whom Anna left with great joy. The extravagant and brilliant royal court of France was very different from the prim Spanish society, and the young queen enthusiastically plunged into numerous entertainments and pleasures. The husband did not want to be her partner in games and continuous holidays, but his younger brother, Gaston d'Orleans, witty, cheerful and elegant, became Anna's wonderful companion. This would not have bothered Louis at all if it were not for the Queen Mother, who constantly hinted at Anna's immorality - Maria Medici was very afraid that the weak-willed Louis would be under the heel of his wife and deprive his mother current government. In 1617, Maria Medici was nevertheless removed from the court and government - Louis sent his mother to Blois, and without any participation of the young queen. True, the queen mother nevertheless planted a kind of “mine” on Anna, leaving at court a potential mistress for her son - the daughter of the Duke de Montbazon, the first beauty of Paris. But Louis never liked too active women, and he gave the frustrated and offended by this favorite for de Luyne, his minister. When Luyin died, his widow received Louis' urgent advice to go to the provinces and became his enemy forever. Soon she remarried, becoming the Duchess de Chevreuse, and returned to the royal court, where she managed to acquire the status of Queen Anne's beloved friend. The scandal described in famous book Dumas took place in reality - in 1625 the Duke of Buckingham, the favorite of the English king, really arrived in Paris and really fell in love with the charming French queen. However, strict upbringing only allowed Anna to smile at the magnificent duke. This favorite of women was not used to this, and therefore was ready for anything to get more substantial evidence of reciprocity. Buckingham found a faithful ally in the Duchess de Chevreuse - the queen's friend arranged a "random meeting", and the queen was caught escaping from the arms of an Englishman, after which Buckingham was expelled from France, and the relationship between Louis and Anna, already cool, deteriorated completely. The king did not want to forgive his wife, who, in fact, was not guilty of anything, and Anna considered Cardinal Richelieu to be the reason for this, a year before sad story became the first minister. The conflict between the minister and the queen was purely political - Richelieu led an "anti-Spanish" line in politics, which, of course, did not like the sister of the Spanish king. Such a policy was beneficial to France, but Anna was not at all interested in the interests of the state, and she considered the cardinal her own. personal enemy. However, Richelieu, who understood that French throne an heir was needed, he was just trying to reconcile the king with his wife - after all, the divorce of the royal couple according to the laws of that time was impossible, and only Anna could give birth to Louis a legitimate son.

The marriage of Louis and Anna was childless for a long twenty-three years - and therefore the birth of the prince in 1938 was a real holiday. Two years later, the future King Louis XIV had a brother - Philip of Anjou (later Duke of Orleans). By this time, Anna finally realized that Cardinal Richelieu was not her enemy, but rather an ally, and convinced her of this by Giulio Mazarin, whom Richelieu had chosen as his successor. According to rumors, Mazarin became the queen's lover even before the death of her husband. However, even the peace that came between the queen and Richelieu did not help solve family problems- Louis XIII, who had reconciled with his wife, again began to suspect her of all possible sins, and when Richelieu died in 1642, and there was no one to restrain the king, Anna was threatened with imprisonment in a monastery. Fortunately, she was lucky - firstly, Richelieu took over the post the day after his death, Mazarin, and secondly, six months later, in May 1643, Louis XIII fell ill and died without even having time to leave clear orders about the regency. became king of France Louis XIV, and since he was not yet five years old, Anna of Austria received the regency. Parliament and the higher nobility, whose rights had been greatly weakened by the policies of Cardinal Richelieu, hoped to take advantage of the queen's rule, but their hopes were in vain. Anna trusted only Mazarin - and this was not to the taste of many in the country. The princes dreamed of driving away the "Italian and Spaniard", eliminating the infant king and placing Gaston of Orleans on the throne. Riots began, and in 1648 - popular movement called "Fronde". In August, the confrontation between the minister and the parliament, which was supported by aristocrats, merchants and artisans, became extremely aggravated, the Parisian streets were blocked with barricades and they were going to storm the Louvre. The cardinal and the queen with the princes secretly left Paris. But the interests of the participants in the Fronde were so heterogeneous that Mazarin managed to achieve peace for a while. Soon the Fronde was headed by Prince Conde, who had previously sided with the Queen, and after his arrest, Parliament again united with the princes, and Mazarin was expelled from the country. In exile, he was in constant correspondence with the queen and the young king. In October 1652, Louis XIV triumphantly entered the capital - and this event can be considered the end of the Fronde. At the beginning next year Mazarin returned to France and again became the first minister. In 1660, the young king married another Spanish infanta, and a year later, Mazarin died, and Louis XIV announced state council that he intends to govern the country on his own, and the first minister will no longer be appointed. Shortly after the death of Mazarin, Anna settled in the monastery of Val-de-Grâce. With the arrogant eldest son, she did not get along too well, preferring to him the company of the younger, caring and affectionate with his mother. It is worth noting that in these years the queen was surprisingly pretty. But the disease did not allow her to live a peaceful old age. Anne of Austria died on January 20, 1666 at the age of sixty-four from breast cancer. Tears for her shed, perhaps, only Philippe d'Orleans, the queen's youngest and beloved son, who, by a whim of fate, is very similar to her unloved husband ...

Today, she is mostly remembered as the heroine of a novel by Dumas. Meanwhile, this woman played an outstanding role in the events of the turbulent 17th century. She was loved and hated by Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, the King of France and the Duke of Buckingham. Who was Queen Anna of Austria - a humble victim of circumstances or a skillful intriguer who decided the fate of Europe?

Anne of Austria Queen of France
Rubens Peter Paul
(1577-1640)

In the realm of etiquette

In October 1615, a magnificent procession crossed the border between France and Spain in the town of Bidasoa. A line of gilded carriages, a caravan of mules with luggage and a whole army of guards accompanied only one person - a frightened girl of fourteen years old. The Spanish Infanta Anna Maria was taken to Paris to marry the young King Louis XIII. She had to reconcile the long-standing warring dynasties of the Habsburgs and the French Bourbons. With the same purpose, Princess Elizabeth went to Madrid, who became the wife of King Philip IV of Spain. The poor thing languished with anguish in a foreign country, while the young Spaniard was quite at home in France, where she received the name of Anne of Austria.

Anne of Austria at the age of 6 Pantoja de la Cruz 1607

Why is Austria here? The fact is that the Habsburgs came from this country, and besides, Anna Margarita's mother was an Austrian princess. Therefore, the girl looked a little like a Spaniard: blond, slightly curly hair, white skin, a small graceful nose. And the trademark of the Habsburgs - capriciously protruding underlip. Only dark brown, almost black, eyes that spoke of the ardor of feelings were reminiscent of Spanish blood. However, these feelings almost never broke out: the princess was brought up in the indestructible traditions of court etiquette, which turned crowned persons into real martyrs. For example, the king did not have the right to pour himself wine - this was done by the cupbearer, who passed the cup to the court doctor, two attendants, and only then to the king. The empty goblet was returned to its place with the same ceremonies.
Foreigners who were not accustomed to it especially suffered from the complexities of etiquette. On the way to Madrid, the Austrian Princess Mary - future second the wife of Philip IV - they presented silk stockings as a gift, but the major-domo immediately threw the gift away, cutting off: "The Queen of Spain has no legs." Poor Mary fainted, thinking that her legs would be sacrificed to the monster of etiquette. Anna's father, Philip III, died of intoxication: his chair was too close to the fireplace, and the only grandee who could move him away had gone somewhere. But it was Philip IV who brought etiquette to perfection. It was said that he smiled no more than three times in his life and demanded the same from his loved ones. The French envoy Berto wrote: “The king acted and walked with the appearance of a revived statue ... He received those close, listened and answered them with the same expression on his face, and only lips moved from all parts of his body.” The same etiquette forced the Spanish monarchs to remain prisoners of the palace, because outside it it was unthinkable to observe hundreds of rules and conventions. Anne's grandfather Philip II, great sovereign and a bloody executioner of the Protestants, built a luxurious and gloomy Escorial castle near Madrid, but his descendants preferred the more modest Alcazar. Palaces by oriental custom- after all, Spain remained in the power of the Arabs for hundreds of years - they were divided into male and female halves. During the day, both courtiers, jesters, and dwarfs swarmed, but after sunset, no man but the king could remain in the women's territory. The honor of a queen or princess was to remain beyond suspicion. Even touching the hand of crowned ladies was punishable by death. There is a known case when two officers pulled the Infanta Maria Theresa from the saddle of a furious horse. They immediately had to gallop at full speed to the border, saving their lives.

The life of Anna, born in September 1601, like other Spanish princesses, was subject to a strict schedule. Early rise, prayer, breakfast, then hours of study. The young infantes were trained in sewing, dancing and writing, crammed the sacred history and genealogy of the reigning dynasty. A formal dinner followed. daytime sleep, then games or chatter with the ladies-in-waiting (each princess had her own staff of courtiers). Then again long prayers and going to bed - exactly at ten in the evening.

Of course, the girls had the best toys and unprecedented delicacies brought from the overseas possessions of Spain. Anna was especially fond of chocolate, which she later became fond of the French. But, in truth, she did not live very cheerfully - since childhood, strict duennas did not allow her to laugh, run, or play with her peers. Add to this tight and uncomfortable dresses with a whalebone frame and a train dragging along the ground. In addition, she knew that she was deprived of any freedom of choice - at the age of three she was asked to marry the French dauphin Louis. The feelings of the Infanta herself did not play any role. What will her fiancé turn out to be - handsome or ugly, good or evil? Anne was exhausted with curiosity as her cortege slowly moved along the roads of France.

Young Louis 13th
I must say that the same questions tormented young Louis. The French court where he grew up was not at all like the Spanish one. Laughter and smutty jokes were often heard here, adultery was discussed, and the king and queen almost openly cheated on each other. Eternally busy with business, Henry IV loved his son, but paid almost no attention to him, and his mother, the Italian Maria Medici, visited him only to slap or whip with rods for any offense. It is no wonder that the Dauphin grew up closed, changeable, obsessed with many complexes. One of them, as Guy Breton writes, was the attitude towards his future wife. Already at the age of three, he spoke of her like this: "She will sleep with me and give birth to my baby." And then he frowned: “No, I don’t want her. She is Spanish, and the Spaniards are our enemies.” Now he was languishing from the desire to quickly get to know his bride. Without waiting for her arrival in Bordeaux, he galloped to meet her and saw Anna for the first time through the carriage window. She seemed so beautiful to Louis that he became shy and could not say a word to her.

Portrait of Anne of Austria, Queen of France, immediately after her wedding. Franz Pourbus.
The same story was repeated in the evening at the solemn banquet on the occasion of the engagement. In Paris, after the wedding, the marriage bed was waiting for the young, but Louis was so frightened that his mother almost had to force him into the bedroom where Anna was waiting. Together with the young spouses, two maids spent the night there, who in the morning presented evidence to the crowd of courtiers that "the marriage was carried out properly." However, the desired heir was never conceived - neither that night, nor for the next ten years.
Between the devil and the deep sea

Maria Medici

Conchino Concini

They were hated by the whole country, but Concini, who bore the title of first minister, held on with the help of intrigues and bribery. And when the assembled parliament demanded his resignation, the young Bishop of Luzon, by skillful arguments, won the audience over to the side of the Italian. The bishop's name was Armand-Jean de Richelieu, and in the near future it was he who was to become the true sovereign of France.

Ludovik also could not stand Endchini and did not have warm feelings for his mother. He expressed his youthful protest in the fact that he tried not to be like them in anything. They changed bright outfits daily - he wore a simple cloth caftan. They held holidays - he spent his days in prayer. They debauched - he decided to become a model of chastity. They say that after the wedding night, he “did not look into his wife’s bedroom” for four whole years. Having heard the sermons of the holy fathers, he sincerely considered all women to be insidious tempters. Not only to his wife, but also to all the ladies of the court, he forbade wearing too revealing necklines and tight-fitting dresses, so that their appearance would not distract him from pious thoughts.

At the same time, the king behaved very tenderly with handsome young pages, which gave rise to a wave of rumors in Paris. One of these favorites, Albert de Luigne, was a master bird trainer, and Louis spent whole days with him on falconry, completely forgetting about his wife. Together they developed a conspiracy against the hated favorite. In April 1617, Conchini was stopped by the guards at the gates of the palace and immediately struck down by three bullets. The next day, Queen Mary was put under House arrest and then sent to Blois. Bishop Richelieu, who was loyal to the queen, was also expelled.

illustrious statesman French Armand Jean du Plessis, better known as the Cardinal or Duke de Richelieu.

But soon he received the red hat of a cardinal, and the sudden death of de Luyne vacated the chair of the first minister for him. Returning to the capital, he took important place at the yard. He was helped by a sharp mind, a unique memory and a cold ruthlessness in achieving his goals. Since 1624, Richelieu ruled France, suppressing with an iron fist popular riots and conspiracies to know. An extensive network worked for him secret Service led by a devotee eminence grise- Father Joseph du Tremblay. Richelieu's spies appeared not only in all sectors of French society, but also in many European courts.

While these changes were taking place in the country, the young queen led a boring life in the Louvre. Louis found a lot of activities for himself - he prayed, hunted, grew fruits and made jam from them. After his death, someone composed a caustic epitaph for him: “What an excellent servant would have come out of this worthless monarch!” Anna's husband's hobbies seemed stupid, she yearned for male attention, which was still deprived. It took the efforts of the Pope and the Spanish ambassador for Louis to appear in his wife's bedroom, but the "honeymoon" this time was short-lived. Nevertheless, the queen did not want to cheat on her husband, despite the persuasion of her closest friend, the hardened intriguer and whore Duchess Marie de Chevreuse. "Ah, that Spanish upbringing!" - she sighed, when the next gentleman, brought by her to Anna, received a turn from the gate.

And then Cardinal Richelieu unexpectedly joined in the "education of feelings" of the queen. Despite his rank, he did not shy away from women. There was talk of his close relationship with Queen Mary after Concini's death. Later, a young niece, Marie d'Aiguillon, settled in his house, and possibly in the bedroom. Now he is determined to win the queen's heart. Parisian gossip claimed that the cardinal hoped to do what Louis had failed to conceive an heir and raise him to the throne of France. It is more likely that he simply wanted to keep the queen “under the hood”, preventing her from getting involved in some kind of conspiracy. It cannot be ruled out that Richelieu was simply carried away by Anna, whose beauty reached its peak (she was 24 years old, he was almost forty). She was captivated by the mind of the cardinal, admired by his eloquence, but the male charms left her indifferent. Perhaps the Spanish upbringing again played a role - Anna was not used to seeing men in the servants of the Lord.
Tired of Richelieu's harassment, at an unkind hour she agreed to the proposal of her friend Marie to play a joke on him. When he is in once more asked what he could do for her, the queen replied: “I am homesick. Could you dress up in a Spanish costume and dance the sarabande for me?” The cardinal hesitated for a long time, but nevertheless dressed up in a green camisole and pantaloons with bells and danced incendiary dance clicking the castanets.

Hearing strange noises, he interrupted the speech and looked behind the screen, where the Duchess de Chevreuse and two courtiers were choking with laughter. In anger, he turned and ran out. The fate of the queen was decided - she did not appreciate his love and now should not have gone to anyone. From now on, the keen eyes of the cardinal's spies followed Anna everywhere and everywhere.

The fuss around pendants
In the spring of 1625, love nevertheless visited the heart of the queen. This happened when the English envoy arrived in Paris - 33-year-old George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. Already at the first ball, this tall handsome man in a smart outfit charmed all the ladies present. His satin tunic was embroidered with pearls, which now and then, as if by chance, came off and rolled across the floor. “Oh, come on! - the duke waved away when they tried to return the picked up pearls to him. - Leave this nonsense for memory.
Many knew that the Duke's wealth came to him thanks to the generosity of King James I of England, who was dying in London just at that time. Young Buckingham played the not very plausible role of a minion-lover under the king. For the amusement of his master, he yelped and jumped at his feet, imitating a dog. The reward was estates, titles, and the hand of a wealthy heiress, the Duchess of Rutland. Dying, the king bequeathed Buckingham to his son Charles as the chief adviser, and now the duke came to woo the new monarch, the sister of Louis XIII, Princess Henrietta. This visit turned out to be fatal: having barely seen Anna of Austria, Buckingham spent the remaining three years of his life in order to win her favor. As in the case of Richelieu, it is difficult to say what it was - political calculation or sincere passion. One thing is certain: all these three years, the policy of both powers was determined by the unfortunate passion of the duke.

The scandal broke out already in Amiens, where Buckingham and the queen went to see off the bride of King Charles. In the evening, a loud cry was heard from the garden pavilion, to which the courtiers fled. They saw a strange picture: Buckingham was on his knees, hugging the queen. There were many rumors about this incident - they said that the ardent duke frightened Anna and even scratched her legs with his pearl-studded stockings. That's why she started screaming. But something else is also possible: the meeting took place with the full consent of the queen, and the cry was raised by one of the cardinal's spies who realized it. Perhaps Anna did not deprive Buckingham of her attention. Otherwise, why, when parting in Boulogne, did she give him the notorious diamond pendants?

Yes, yes, there really were pendants! Several contemporaries talk about them in their memoirs, including a friend of the queen, the famous philosopher Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Dumas described the whole story quite accurately: the cardinal's agents learned that Anna had given the duke pendants with a dozen diamonds, presented by the king. The deft Countess Carrick, sung by Dumas under the name of Milady Winter, entered the business. This former mistress of Buckingham, who had long received money from Richelieu, snuck into the duke's palace, cut off two pendants and shipped them to Paris. There, the cardinal presented evidence to the king, and he ordered the treacherous wife to wear pendants during the Marlezon ball, hosted by the mayor's office of Paris in honor of the royal couple. Fortunately, Buckingham managed to make the missing pendants in two days and give them to Anna - truly love works wonders! True, D'Artagnan did not take part in the frantic race with the precious product - at that time this son of a Gascon nobleman was only five years old.
Why was the cardinal so eager to annoy the queen? Of course, one of the reasons was hurt pride. Later, Richelieu even composed the tragedy "Worlds", where he brought Buckingham in the form of an insidious seducer and described his triumph over him. And of course, he was again afraid that Anna would collude with the enemies of France. Therefore, the cardinal tried to isolate the queen, and above all to quarrel with her husband. This succeeded completely: despite the return of the pendants, Louis was completely disappointed in his wife. She turned out to be not only an immoral person, but also a traitor, ready to exchange him for some foreigner! If earlier the king at least sometimes defended his wife from the attacks of the cardinal, now it was not necessary to count on it. To begin with, Buckingham was banned from entering France, and the queen was locked up in the palace.

Richelieu rubbed his hands contentedly. He did not take into account one thing: the desire of separated lovers for each other is ready to sweep away all obstacles. The duke, furious, swore an oath to return to Paris. And not a humiliated suppliant, but a winner in the war he was about to unleash. Soon the French Protestants, deprived of many privileges by the cardinal, revolted in the port of La Rochelle. He immediately went to help them. English fleet led by Buckingham. However, the French army managed to repulse the attack and take rebellious city under siege. Richelieu, dressed in a military uniform, personally commanded the operation. Buckingham collected in Portsmouth new fleet when, on August 23, 1628, an officer named Felton stabbed him with a sword. Many considered the killer to be a spy for the cardinal, but no evidence of this was ever found. Felton himself claimed that he killed the favorite in retaliation for embezzlement and "unholy life." In October, the defenders of La Rochelle, having not received the promised help from the British, raised the white flag.

The news of the death of her beloved stunned Anna. Noticing her tear-stained eyes, the "loving" husband - of course, on the advice of the cardinal - arranged a ball in the Louvre and invited the queen to participate in it. When she tried to refuse, Ludovic asked: “What is the matter, madam? Are we in mourning at court?” Finding no answer, Anna went to the ball, walked with the king in the minuet - and did not dance again until the end of her life. Thus ended the tragic story of her love, in memory of which only the anecdote about diamond pendants remained.

Cardinal's nets

Having lost not only love, but also the trust of her husband, by the grace of the cardinal, Anna of Austria was eager to take revenge. Her quiet life remained in the past, now she, along with the Duchess de Chevreuse, got involved in any intrigue directed against the cardinal. Back in 1626, the duchess persuaded one of her lovers, the Marquis de Chalet, to stab the cardinal in his summer palace. The plot was uncovered, Chalet was executed, and the intriguer was sent into exile. The cardinal received the right to have his own guardsmen to protect him. As for Anna, whom the conspirators planned to marry Gaston of Orleans, she barely begged her husband not to send her to a monastery.

new chance for revenge, the cardinal introduced himself in 1630, when the king nearly died of dysentery. Anna devotedly looked after him, and in a fit of repentance, he promised to fulfill her every desire. “Remove the cardinal from the court,” was the only thing she asked for. Maria Medici also joined her, dreaming again of the former power, as well as the return of France to the arms of Catholicism and papal power. Both queens, in front of Louis, gave the cardinal a cruel scolding, taking revenge on him for all the insults. Anna was silent and smiling - now Buckingham was avenged. “Get out, ungrateful lackey! Maria screamed. - I'm driving you away! Richelieu, shedding tears, humbly asked for two days to get ready. He knew what he was doing: imagining himself at the mercy of a deceitful wife and a despotic mother, the king was horrified. On the morning of the second day, he called the cardinal to him and asked him to stay, promising full confidence and support.

Soon Maria Medici fled abroad, and Marshal de Marillac, who offered to kill the cardinal, was beheaded. Anna of Austria escaped with a slight fright, but Richelieu continued to weave his nets around her. She fell into one of them in 1637, when " faithful people"offered her to establish correspondence with relatives in Madrid. Spain had been at war with France for a long time, and in order to avoid accusations of disloyalty, Anna did not communicate with her compatriots for many years and had already begun to forget native language. Her quite harmless letters the Spanish ambassador Mirabella immediately fell into the hands of the cardinal and, along with letters to the Duchess de Chevreuse - much less harmless - were handed over to the king as evidence of a new conspiracy. But this time, Anna found an intercessor - the young nun Louise de Lafayette, with whom the king, true to himself, started an exalted " spiritual romance". She reproached Louis for his cruelty towards his wife and recalled that, through his fault, France was still without an heir.

This suggestion was enough for the king to spend the night in the Louvre in December 1637, and after the allotted time, the queen had a son - the future "sun king" Louis XIV. Two years later, his brother, Duke Philippe d'Orleans, was born. However, many historians doubt that the father of both children was actually Louis XIII. Many candidates were offered for this role, including Richelieu, Mazarin and even Rochefort - that same villain from the Three Musketeers. It is not without probability that the cardinal personally chose and sent some young, strong nobleman to the languishing queen in order to ensure the appearance of the dauphin.

By that time, the Spanish upbringing had already been forgotten, and Anna of Austria did not consider it necessary to be faithful to her unloved spouse. For several years, the king's brother Gaston of Orleans, who was united with Anna by hatred of Richelieu, claimed his place. And in 1634, the one who was destined to spend the rest of the years next to her appeared next to the queen - the young Italian priest Giulio Mazarin. Introducing him to Anne, Richelieu joked grimly: "I suppose you will like him, because he looks like Buckingham." Indeed, the Italian was just the kind of man that Anna liked - ardent, gallant and not hiding emotions. However, he left for Rome for a long time and could in no way be involved in the birth of Prince Louis. The name of the real father of the “Sun King” became another mystery for Anna.

The king, meanwhile, had a new favorite - the young nobleman Henri de Saint-Mar. Ludovic's attachment to him was so deep that the impudent 17-year-old almost succeeded in removing Richelieu from power. However, the cardinal, experienced in intrigues, still outplayed an inexperienced opponent. Saint-Mar was charged with treason and executed. The Almighty First Minister was in a hurry to finish things, feeling that the end was near. On December 4, 1642, he died in his palace, bequeathed to the king - it was the famous Palais Royal.

For 18 years, Richelieu managed to do the almost impossible: to defeat all enemies within the country and abroad, to strengthen the monarchy and create conditions for its flourishing under the "sun king". He himself said that he had made triumphant France out of dying France. Later, this was recognized by those who violently rejoiced at the death of the "tyrant in the cassock." Alexandre Dumas, who so unflatteringly depicted Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, also recognized. In the following novels of the Musketeer trilogy, the heroes recalled the "great cardinal" with nostalgia.
Rumors behind the curtain
Queen Anne wept upon learning of the death of her old enemy. The king, on the contrary, composed a cheerful song, which listed the sins of the deceased. But the fun was short-lived: six months later, tuberculosis brought Louis XIII to the grave. Before he died, he forced the queen to sign a renunciation of the regency, weak voice saying: "She will ruin everything if she rules alone." AT last time insulting his wife, the king expired. And then the frivolous and windy woman, which everyone considered Anna, showed unexpected firmness. First, she appeared in parliament and insisted on the annulment of the king's will and declaring herself regent. Then she achieved the appointment of the first minister of Mazarin, who was proposed to this post by the late Richelieu. Everyone marveled at this convergence of views. Surprise passed only when the Italian began to linger longer and longer in Anna's apartment. And then he stopped leaving altogether. Then the French realized that the queen had given power over the state to her lover.

I must say that Anna of Austria herself denied this to the last. She even claimed that the cardinal did not like women, because "men in his country have completely different inclinations." She also said that Mazarin captivated her with her exclusively mental qualities. This was refuted by the very sight of the forty-year-old queen, who for the first time in her life looked happy, often smiled and showed unusual animation. The Parisians drew their own conclusions: unflattering verses about the queen were sung on the streets. Formerly, the French had pity on her as a victim of Richelieu, but now, linking her fate with the Italian upstart, she doomed herself to universal hatred.

Mazarin continued the policy of Richelieu. There was a war with Spain, the treasury was empty, more and more taxes were introduced. In the summer of 1648, the discontent of all sections of the people reached its limit. One night the streets of Paris were covered with barricades, and the queen with the young king and the cardinal had to flee the city. Thus began the Fronde - a powerful movement directed not only against Mazarin, but also against royal absolutism. Very heterogeneous forces took part in it, and the cunning cardinal - a worthy successor to Richelieu - managed to split them and pacify them in parts, most often acting not by force, but by bribery. It was then that Charles D'Artagnan, the newly minted lieutenant of the Musketeers, appeared on the scene. It was he who, on the "night of the barricades", managed to take the royal family out of the rebellious Paris. All the years of the Fronde, D'Artagnan remained a faithful servant of Mazarin, for which he was awarded ranks and estates. At his wedding to Mademoiselle de Chanlecy in 1659, not only the cardinal was present, but the king himself. But Queen Anne was not there, and history knows nothing about her relationship with the brave musketeer.
Dumas also invented d'Artagnan's love for the royal maid Bonacieux and many other episodes famous novel. However, the characters of the characters are conveyed to them surprisingly accurately. D'Artagnan was brave, Richelieu was wise and cruel, Mazarin was cunning and crafty. The writer portrayed Queen Anne of Austria as a woman who is primarily concerned about her feelings, and again he was right. Anna was neither cruel nor mercenary. She cared about the good of the state in her own way, and yet she had the most vague idea of this good. She cannot be placed next to such great empresses as English Elizabeth I or Russian Ekaterina II. But she does not look like carefree moths like Marie Antoinette either. Yes, Anna could not appreciate the transformation of Richelieu, but she had the determination during the years of the Fronde to oppose the feudal lords who threatened to pull the country to pieces. For this, France should be grateful to her.

At the beginning of 1651, the raging waves of the Fronde rose so high that Mazarin had to leave not only the capital, but also the country. The queen was again deprived of personal happiness, and this seemed unbearable to her. She even tried to leave after her lover, but armed Parisians kept her in the palace. A year later, the cardinal managed to return, and soon the protest movement began to decline. External affairs were also settled: the war with Spain ended in victory, to consolidate which it was planned to marry the king to the Spanish princess Maria Teresa, Anna's niece. There was only one obstacle to this: the love of 20-year-old Louis for the niece of Cardinal Maria Mancini. Mazarin led the matter to a marriage between them, but the queen strongly opposed this. “Keep in mind,” she said dryly, “in this case, all of France will rise up against you, and I myself will stand at the head of the indignant people.”

This was the only quarrel between lovers, whom many Parisians considered secret spouses. On reflection, the cardinal retreated, and in 1660 the Spanish Infanta entered Paris. Perhaps, talking with a relative, Anna wished her to be happier in marriage than she herself was. But it turned out differently: Louis XIV locked his wife in the palace, spending time with numerous mistresses. In March 1661, Mazarin died: he was ill for a long time and harassed the queen with whims, who faithfully looked after him. After that, Anna was able to fulfill her long-standing desire and retired to rest in the monastery of Val-de-Grace, founded by her on the outskirts of the capital. There she died on January 20, 1666, leaving behind the last riddle - the secret " iron mask". This nameless prisoner of the Bastille, the same Dumas considered the eldest son of Anna of Austria from Louis. Other authors put forward their versions, and the truth is buried in the Cathedral of Saint-Denis, along with the rebellious soul of the Spanish Queen of France.

Basilica of Saint Denis

The "Royal Cathedral" of France was the tomb of the French royal dynasties for twelve centuries.

About what serious passions boiled around the name of this woman three centuries ago, probably everyone knows. Indeed, more than a dozen historical works have been written about the times of King Louis XIII and his beautiful wife. adventure novels. However, none of the authors has come close to unraveling the secrets that Queen Anne kept.

When in 1615 eldest daughter of the Spanish King Philip III went to the capital of France to become the wife of the young heir, the courtiers on the sidelines of the Alcazar castle once again discussed this successful party in all respects. What feelings the infanta experienced, of course, did not bother anyone: political interests- primarily.

And the fourteen-year-old bride, trembling with fear, went to a foreign country, where her peer Louis was waiting for her: the future spouses were born in September 1601 with a difference of five days.

By that time, Louis XIII was already the legitimate ruler of France and Navarre: four years after the assassination of his father Henry IV in 1610, he took the throne.

But the mother of Louis, Maria Medici, did not think of leaving public affairs: confusion reigned in the country. Nevertheless, after the official wedding ceremony, the little Spaniard Anna began to be called the legitimate queen, invariably specifying: Austrian.

The fact is that her mother Margarita was an Austrian princess. From her daughter inherited not only a restrained temperament, but fair skin and blond curls. The Spanish origin of the French queen was given out only by brown eyes.

Did the young wife dream of a family idyll, illuminated by love and understanding? Probably, just like any woman who wants to be happy, regardless of age and position in society. But a completely different fate awaited her.

The coldness, which over the years turned into mutual enmity, under the sign of which the whole life with Louis passed, seemed to the woman an undeserved punishment for sins unknown to her. After all, despite the emphasized indifference that Louis showed Anna, she, brought up in strict rules of her country, did not even allow the thought of adultery. Unlike the unfaithful spouse, whose numerous hobbies all of France knew.

And there were many who wanted to win the favor of Anna of Austria. One of the first contenders for a place in the heart of the queen, as writers assure, was Cardinal Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke de Richelieu.

What feelings attracted the forty-year-old celibate father of the church to the young wife of the king, and why did she not accept his courtship?

This can only be guessed at. But the signs of attention that Richelieu showed to Anna were obvious to everyone, but they evoked only caustic hints of selfish interests from the opponents of the cardinal. It is assumed that the hidden resentment of the rejected person became the cause of his open enmity in the future.

His rival, the Englishman Duke George Villiers Buckingham, was more successful in this regard: the story of his short romance with Anna of Austria was colorfully described by Alexandre Dumas. But the happiness of the queen was not long: in 1628, Buckingham died at the hands of officer Felton. The cause of the duke's death was actually dissatisfaction with his policy in the army.

It was said that, in order to annoy his wife, Louis XIII ordered her to appear at a ball arranged at the same time in the Louvre on the advice of Richelieu. And seeing tears in Anna's eyes, he mockingly asked: “Do we have mourning at court?”

Did she love the Englishman, or did she mourn her youth ruined in court intrigues? This was known only to God and the queen herself, but she remained silent.

Who knows what this noble, beautiful and rich lady would have done if in mid-seventeenth century there was an institution of divorce. It is possible that she would gladly hasten to free herself from family ties.

Or maybe she would leave everything as it is, taking into account the clear advantages of her position in the royal court, even though this marriage long years was not only joyless, but also fruitless:

Her firstborn, the future “Sun King” Louis XIV, was born on the twenty-third wedding anniversary of his parents!

A few years later Anna gave him her brother Philippe, Duke of Orleans. One of the legends, which still arouses interest for its mystery, ascribes to her another son, the one who went down in history under the nickname of the Iron Mask, the twin of Louis XIV.

He was allegedly hidden from the world, fearing encroachments on the throne. Dozens of books have been written about the life of this most privileged prisoner of the Bastille. But whether he really was is another mystery that only Anna could reveal. But she took it with her.

But she openly demonstrated her feelings for another cardinal - Giulio Mazarin. True, this happened after Louis XIII went to another world.

Probably, the portrait commissioned by Anna after the death of Louis to the court painter Simon Vouet, “the first painter of the king,” as he was called at court, became for her a small revenge on her unloved husband. After all, according to his will, the rights of the queen were limited by the Council, but she managed to achieve absolute power.

Voue captured this victory on the canvas, presenting Queen Anna in the allegorical image of the goddess of wisdom Minerva - the protector of the world, the patroness of the science of arts.

The meaning of the image is encrypted, and only an attentive viewer understood what the owl, the shield and helmet with tricolor ostrich feathers, the metal belt with the mask of the Gorgon Medusa and the Latin inscription on the pedestal mean: Nullum numen abest - “No power is alien”.

Despite the fact that the life of Anna of Austria was not cloudless, she had the opportunity not only to experience the joy of loving and being loved, but also to feel like a real, and not a formal ruler: for eight years she remained regent with her young son.

Her love tandem with Cardinal Mazarin, whom Anna appointed as the first minister, became quite successful and in politically. And after the death of her beloved Giulio in 1661, the queen retired to the monastery of Val de Grace, where she died at the age of 65, outliving not only her enemies, but also those few who were truly dear to her.

Fuss Around Pendants – VIDEO

The history of the short romance of the English Duke George Buckingham with Anne of Austria was colorfully described by Alexandre Dumas. The young queen and her love for the beautiful Duke of Buckingham, the favorite of the English king, has become one of the most beautiful legends in the history of France.

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Anna of Austria (September 22, 1601 - January 20, 1666) - Queen of France, wife (since October 18, 1615) of King Louis XIII of France. The epithet "Austrian" means only belonging to the Habsburg dynasty, Austrian in origin.

Anna of Austria

Peter Paul Rubens

Secrets of the Queen

Today, she is mostly remembered as the heroine of a novel by Dumas. Meanwhile, this woman played an outstanding role in the events of the turbulent 17th century. She was loved and hated by Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, the King of France and the Duke of Buckingham. Who was Queen Anne of Austria - a humble victim of circumstances or a skillful intriguer who decided the fate of Europe?

In the realm of etiquette

Anna of Austria

Isabella of France (Queen of Spain)

Mother of Anna-Margaret of Austria

Bartolome Gonzalez y Serrano

Foreigners who were not accustomed to it especially suffered from the complexities of etiquette. On the way to Madrid, the Austrian Princess Maria - the future second wife of Philip IV - was presented with silk stockings as a gift, but the major-domo immediately threw the gift away, cutting off: "The Queen of Spain has no legs." Poor Mary fainted, thinking that her legs would be sacrificed to the monster of etiquette. Anna's father, Philip III, died of intoxication: his chair was too close to the fireplace, and the only grandee who could move him away had gone somewhere.

Anne's father - Philip III

But it was Philip IV who brought etiquette to perfection. It was said that he smiled no more than three times in his life and demanded the same from his loved ones. The French envoy Berto wrote: “The king acted and walked with the appearance of a statue coming to life ... He received those close, listened and answered them with the same expression on his face, and only lips moved from all parts of his body.”

Anna's brother - Philip IV

Velazquez, Diego

The same etiquette forced the Spanish monarchs to remain prisoners of the palace, because outside it it was unthinkable to observe hundreds of rules and conventions. Anna's grandfather Philip II, the great sovereign and bloody executioner of the Protestants, built the luxurious and gloomy Escorial castle near Madrid, but his descendants preferred the more modest Alcazar. Palaces according to Eastern custom - after all, Spain remained in the power of the Arabs for hundreds of years - were divided into male and female halves. During the day, both courtiers, jesters, and dwarfs swarmed, but after sunset, no man but the king could remain in the women's territory. The honor of a queen or princess was to remain beyond suspicion. Even touching the hand of crowned ladies was punishable by death. There is a known case when two officers pulled the Infanta Maria Theresa from the saddle of a furious horse. They immediately had to gallop at full speed to the border, saving their lives.

Anna's grandfather - Philip II

Alonso Coelho

Escorial Castle Spain

View of Alcazar castle Spain

The life of Anna, born in September 1601, like other Spanish princesses, was subject to a strict schedule. Early rise, prayer, breakfast, then hours of study. The young infantes were trained in sewing, dancing and writing, crammed the sacred history and genealogy of the reigning dynasty. This was followed by a gala dinner, an afternoon nap, then games or chatter with the ladies-in-waiting (each princess had her own staff of courtiers). Then again long prayers and going to bed - exactly at ten in the evening.

Anna as a child, Juan Pantoja de la Cruz

Anna with her brother Philip, Juan Pantoja de la Cruz

Anna with her brother Philip

Bartholom Gonzales

Anna with her brother Philip

Bartholom Gonzales

Anna as a child

Juan Pantoja de la Cruz

Anna of Austria

Bartolome Gonzalez y Serrano

I must say that the same questions tormented young Louis. The French court where he grew up was not at all like the Spanish one. Laughter and smutty jokes were often heard here, adultery was discussed, and the king and queen almost openly cheated on each other. Eternally busy with business, Henry IV loved his son, but paid almost no attention to him, and his mother, the Italian Maria Medici, visited him only to slap or whip with rods for any offense.

Louis' father - King Henry IV of France

Mother of Louis - Marie de Medici, Queen of France

It is no wonder that the Dauphin grew up closed, changeable, obsessed with many complexes. One of them, as Guy Breton writes, was the attitude towards his future wife. At the age of three, he spoke of her like this: "She will sleep with me and give birth to my baby." And then he frowned: “No, I don't want her. She is Spanish, and the Spaniards are our enemies.” Now he was languishing from the desire to quickly get to know his bride. Without waiting for her arrival in Bordeaux, he galloped to meet her and saw Anna for the first time through the carriage window. She seemed so beautiful to Louis that he became shy and could not say a word to her. The same story was repeated in the evening at the solemn banquet on the occasion of the engagement. In Paris, after the wedding, the marriage bed was waiting for the young, but Louis was so frightened that his mother almost had to force him into the bedroom where Anna was waiting. Together with the young spouses, two maids spent the night there, who in the morning presented evidence to the crowd of courtiers that "the marriage was carried out properly." However, the desired heir was never conceived - not that night, not for the next ten years.

Wedding of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria

Double marriage of Louis XIII with Anne of Austria and Philip III with Isabella of France

Alonso Sanchez Coelho

Anne of Austria and Isabella of France

Artist Pieper Paul Rubens

Between the devil and the deep sea

By that time, Louis XIII was no longer Dauphin: after the assassination of Henry IV in 1610, he became the legitimate king of France and Navarre. However, Queen Mary and her lover, the greedy and cowardly Italian Concino Concini, were in charge of all affairs. They were hated by the whole country, but Concini, who bore the title of first minister, held on with the help of intrigues and bribery. And when the assembled parliament demanded his resignation, the young Bishop of Luzon, by skillful arguments, won the audience over to the side of the Italian.

Portrait of Marie de Medici

Frans Pourbus Jr.

Conchino Concini

The bishop's name was Armand-Jean de Richelieu, and in the near future it was he who was to become the true ruler of France. Louis also did not tolerate Endchini and did not have warm feelings for his mother. He expressed his youthful protest in the fact that he tried not to be like them in anything. They changed bright outfits daily - he wore a simple cloth caftan. They held feasts - he spent his days in prayer. They were debauched - he decided to become a model of chastity. They say that after the wedding night, he “did not look into his wife’s bedroom” for four whole years. Having heard the sermons of the holy fathers, he sincerely considered all women to be insidious tempters. Not only to his wife, but also to all the ladies of the court, he forbade wearing too revealing necklines and tight-fitting dresses, so that their appearance would not distract him from pious thoughts.

Louis XIII. Portrait by Rubens

Charles d'Albert - favorite (minion) of the French king Louis XIII

Together they developed a conspiracy against the hated favorite. In April 1617, Conchini was stopped by the guards at the gates of the palace and immediately struck down by three bullets.

Murder of Concino

The next day, Queen Mary was put under house arrest, and then sent to Blois. Bishop Richelieu, who was loyal to the queen, was also expelled. But soon he received the red hat of a cardinal, and the sudden death of de Luyne vacated the chair of the first minister for him. Returning to the capital, he took an important place at the court. He was helped by a sharp mind, a unique memory and a cold ruthlessness in achieving his goals. Since 1624, Richelieu ruled France, with an iron fist suppressing popular revolts and conspiracies of the nobility. He had an extensive secret service headed by a devotee "eminence grise" Father Joseph du Tremblay Richelieu's spies appeared not only in all sectors of French society, but also in many European courts.

The Gray Reverence, by Jean-Leon Gerome

Cardinal Rechelier and the "gray cardinal" - Father Joseph du Tremblay

Charles Edouard Delors

Louis XIII on the hunt

Anna's husband's hobbies seemed stupid, she yearned for male attention, which she was still deprived of. It took the efforts of the Pope and the Spanish ambassador for Louis to appear in his wife's bedroom, but "Honeymoon" and this time it was short-lived.

Queen Anne of Austria

Frans Pourbus Jr.

Queen Anne of Austria of France.

Nevertheless, the queen did not want to cheat on her husband, despite the persuasion of her closest friend, the hardened intriguer and whore Duchess Marie de Chevreuse. "Ah, that Spanish upbringing!"- she sighed, when the next gentleman, brought by her to Anna, received a turn from the gate.

Marie-Aimé de Rohan-Montbazon, Duchess de Chevreuse

Portrait of the Duchess de Chevreuse as Diana the Huntress

And here in "education of the senses" Queen suddenly turned on Cardinal Richelieu. Despite his rank, he did not shy away from women. There was talk of his close relationship with Queen Mary after Concini's death. Later, a young niece, Marie d'Aiguillon, settled in his house, and possibly in the bedroom.

Marie d'Aiguilon

Now he is determined to win the queen's heart. Parisian gossip claimed that the cardinal hoped to do what Louis had failed to conceive an heir and raise him to the throne of France. It's more likely that he just wanted to keep the queen. "under the hood", preventing her from getting involved in any conspiracy. It cannot be ruled out that Richelieu was simply carried away by Anna, whose beauty reached its peak (she was 24 years old, he was almost forty). She was captivated by the mind of the cardinal, admired by his eloquence, but the male charms left her indifferent. Perhaps the Spanish upbringing again played a role - Anna was not used to seeing men in the servants of the Lord.

Cardinal Richelieu

Philippe de Champagne

Tired of Richelieu's harassment, at an unkind hour she agreed to the proposal of her friend Marie to play a joke on him. When he once again asked what he could do for her, the queen replied: “I miss my homeland. Could you dress up in a Spanish costume and dance the sarabande for me?” The cardinal hesitated for a long time, but nevertheless dressed up in a green camisole and pantaloons with bells and danced an incendiary dance, clicking castanets. Hearing strange sounds, he interrupted the performance and looked behind the screen, where the Duchess de Chevreuse and two courtiers were choking with laughter. In anger, he turned and ran out. The fate of the queen was decided - she did not appreciate his love and now should not have gone to anyone. From now on, the keen eyes of the cardinal's spies followed Anna everywhere and everywhere.

Queen Anne of Austria in mourning for her father Philip III

Frans Pourbus Jr.

Queen Anne of Austria

The fuss around pendants

In the spring of 1625, love nevertheless visited the heart of the queen. This happened when the English envoy arrived in Paris - 33-year-old George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. Already at the first ball, this tall handsome man in a smart outfit charmed all the ladies present. His satin tunic was embroidered with pearls, which now and then, as if by chance, came off and rolled across the floor. “Oh, come on! - the duke waved away when they tried to return the picked up pearls to him. “Leave this nonsense for memory.”

Buckingham and Anna of Austria

Many knew that the Duke's wealth came to him thanks to the generosity of King James I of England, who was dying in London just at that time. Young Buckingham played the not very plausible role of a minion-lover under the king. For the amusement of his master, he yelped and jumped at his feet, imitating a dog. The reward was estates, titles, and the hand of a wealthy heiress, the Duchess of Rutland.

James I (King of England)

Paul Van Somer

Duke of Buckingham and his family

Gerard Honthor

Dying, the king bequeathed Buckingham to his son Charles as the chief adviser, and now the duke came to woo the new monarch, the sister of Louis XIII, Princess Henrietta. This visit turned out to be fatal: having barely seen Anna of Austria, Buckingham spent the remaining three years of his life in order to win her favor. As in the case of Richelieu, it is difficult to say whether it was political calculation or sincere passion. One thing is certain: all these three years, the policy of both powers was determined by the unfortunate passion of the duke.

King Charles I

Anthony Van Dyck

Henrietta Maria of France

John Hoskins

The scandal broke out already in Amiens, where Buckingham and the queen went to see off the bride of King Charles. In the evening, a loud cry was heard from the garden pavilion, to which the courtiers fled. They saw a strange picture: Buckingham was on his knees, hugging the queen. There were many rumors about this incident - they said that the ardent duke frightened Anna and even scratched her legs with his pearl-studded stockings. That's why she started screaming. But something else is also possible: the meeting took place with the full consent of the queen, and the cry was raised by one of the cardinal's spies who realized it. Perhaps Anna did not deprive Buckingham of her attention. Otherwise, why, when parting in Boulogne, did she give him the notorious diamond pendants?

Queen Anne of Austria of France.

Portrait of Louis XIII by Louis Ferdinand Helle, 17th century

Queen Anne of Austria

Why was the cardinal so eager to annoy the queen? Of course, one of the reasons was hurt pride. Later, Richelieu even composed a tragedy "Miram", where he brought Buckingham in the form of an insidious seducer and described his triumph over him. And of course, he was again afraid that Anna would collude with the enemies of France. Therefore, the cardinal tried to isolate the queen, and above all to quarrel with her husband. This succeeded completely: despite the return of the pendants, Louis was completely disappointed in his wife. She turned out to be not only an immoral person, but also a traitor, ready to exchange him for some foreigner! If earlier the king at least sometimes defended his wife from the attacks of the cardinal, now it was not necessary to count on it.

Queen Anne of Austria

Peter Paul Rubens

To begin with, Buckingham was banned from entering France, and the queen was locked up in the palace.

Cardinal Richelieu Watching the Siege of La Rochelle by Henri-Paul Motte

However, the French army managed to repulse the attack and take the rebellious city under siege. Richelieu, dressed in a military uniform, personally commanded the operation. Buckingham was assembling a new fleet at Portsmouth when, on August 23, 1628, an officer named Felton stabbed him to death with a sword. Many considered the killer to be a spy for the cardinal, but no evidence of this was ever found. Felton himself claimed that he killed the favorite in retaliation for embezzlement and "unholy life". In October, the defenders of La Rochelle, having not received the promised help from the British, raised the white flag.

Buckingham's death

Augustus Egg

The news of the death of her beloved stunned Anna. Seeing her teary eyes "loving" husband - of course, on the advice of the cardinal - arranged a ball in the Louvre and invited the queen to participate in it. When she tried to refuse, Louis asked: "What's the matter, madam? Are we in mourning at court?” Finding no answer, Anna went to the ball, walked with the king in the minuet - and did not dance again for the rest of her life. Thus ended the tragic story of her love, in memory of which only the anecdote about diamond pendants remained.

Ball at the court of Louis XIII

Cardinal's nets

Having lost not only love, but also the trust of her husband, by the grace of the cardinal, Anna of Austria was eager to take revenge. Her quiet life was left in the past, now she, along with the Duchess de Chevreuse, got involved in any intrigue directed against the cardinal. Back in 1626, the duchess persuaded one of her lovers, the Marquis de Chalet, to stab the cardinal in his summer palace. The plot was uncovered, Chalet was executed, and the intriguer was sent into exile.

Count Chalet is escorted to the place of execution

The cardinal received the right to have his own guardsmen to protect him. As for Anna, whom the conspirators planned to marry Gaston of Orleans, she barely begged her husband not to send her to a monastery.

Cardinal's Guards

A new chance for revenge on the cardinal presented itself in 1630, when the king nearly died of dysentery. Anna devotedly looked after him, and in a fit of repentance, he promised to fulfill her every desire. "Remove the cardinal from the court", was the only thing she asked for. Maria Medici also joined her, dreaming again of the former power, as well as the return of France to the arms of Catholicism and papal power. Both queens, in front of Louis, gave the cardinal a cruel scolding, taking revenge on him for all the insults. Anna was silent and smiling - now Buckingham was avenged. “Get out, ungrateful lackey! Maria screamed. — I'm driving you away!"

Queen Anne of Austria

Richelieu, shedding tears, humbly asked for two days to get ready. He knew what he was doing: imagining himself at the mercy of a deceitful wife and a despotic mother, the king was horrified. On the morning of the second day, he called the cardinal to him and asked him to stay, promising full confidence and support.

Louis XIII and Richelieu

King of France Louis XIII

Queen Anne of Austria

King of France Louis XIII

Queen Anne of Austria

This suggestion was enough for the king to spend the night in the Louvre in December 1637, and after the allotted time, the queen had a son - the future "sun king" Louis XIV. Two years later, his brother, Duke Philippe d'Orleans, was born. However, many historians doubt that the father of both children was actually Louis XIII. Many candidates were proposed for this role, including Richelieu, Mazarin and even Rochefort - that same scoundrel from "Three Musketeers". It is not without probability that the cardinal personally chose and sent some young, strong nobleman to the languishing queen in order to ensure the appearance of the dauphin.

Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, and their son Louis XIV, accompanied by Cardinal Richelieu and the Duchess of Chevreuse

Anna of Austria with Louis XIV

Louis XIV and Philip I of Orleans

Anna of Austria with children Louis XIV and Philip I of Orleans

Gaston Jean Baptiste of France, Duke of Orléans

And in 1634, next to the queen appeared the one who was destined to spend the rest of her years next to her - the young Italian priest Giulio Mazarin. Introducing him to Anna, Richelieu joked gloomily: "I think you'll like him because he looks like Buckingham." Indeed, the Italian was just the kind of man that Anna liked - ardent, gallant and not hiding emotions. However, he left for Rome for a long time and could in no way be involved in the birth of Prince Louis. Real father's name "Sun King" became another mystery for Anna.

Queen Anne of Austria

Henri de Saint-Mar

The Almighty First Minister was in a hurry to finish things, feeling that the end was near. On December 4, 1642, he died in his palace, bequeathed to the king - it was the famous Palais Royal. For 18 years, Richelieu managed to do the almost impossible: to defeat all enemies within the country and abroad, to strengthen the monarchy and create conditions for its flourishing under"sun king". He himself said that he had made triumphant France out of dying France. Later, this was recognized by those who violently rejoiced at death."tyrant in a cassock".Alexandre Dumas, who so unflatteringly portrayed Richelieu in"Three Musketeers". In the following novels of the Musketeer trilogy, the heroes recalled with nostalgia"Great Cardinal"

Death of Richelieu. Last meeting king with a loyal minister.

Rumors behind the curtain

Queen Anne wept upon learning of the death of her old enemy. The king, on the contrary, composed a cheerful song, which listed the sins of the deceased. But the fun was short-lived: six months later, tuberculosis brought Louis XIII to the grave. Before he died, he forced the queen to sign a waiver of the regency, saying in a weak voice: "She'll ruin everything if she rules alone." Having insulted his wife for the last time, the king expired.

Louis XIII on his deathbed

And then the frivolous and windy woman, which everyone considered Anna, showed unexpected firmness. First, she appeared in parliament and insisted on the annulment of the king's will and declaring herself regent. Then she achieved the appointment of the first minister of Mazarin, who was proposed to this post by the late Richelieu. Everyone marveled at this convergence of views. Surprise passed only when the Italian began to linger longer and longer in Anna's apartment. And then he stopped leaving altogether. Then the French realized that the queen had given power over the state to her lover.

Queen Anne of Austria

Peter Paul Rubens

I must say that Anna of Austria herself denied this to the last. She even claimed that the cardinal did not like women because “Men in his country have very different inclinations.” She also said that Mazarin captivated her with her exclusively mental qualities. This was refuted by the very sight of the forty-year-old queen, who for the first time in her life looked happy, often smiled and showed unusual animation. The Parisians drew their own conclusions: unflattering verses about the queen were sung on the streets. Formerly, the French had pity on her as a victim of Richelieu, but now, linking her fate with the Italian upstart, she doomed herself to universal hatred.

Portrait of Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602-1661)

Pierre Mignard

Very heterogeneous forces took part in it, and the cunning cardinal - a worthy successor to Richelieu - managed to split them and pacify them in parts, acting most often not by force, but by bribery. It was then that Charles D'Artagnan, the newly minted lieutenant of the Musketeers, appeared on the scene. It was he who, on the "night of the barricades", managed to take the royal family out of the rebellious Paris. All the years of the Fronde, D'Artagnan remained a faithful servant of Mazarin, for which he was awarded ranks and estates. At his wedding to Mademoiselle de Chanlecy in 1659, not only the cardinal was present, but the king himself. But Queen Anne was not there, and history knows nothing about her relationship with the brave musketeer.

Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, Count d'Artagnan 1613, Castelmore Castle, Gascony, France - June 25, 1673, Maastricht, the Netherlands) - Gascon nobleman who made a brilliant career under Louis XIV in the company of royal musketeers.

Dumas also invented d'Artagnan's love for the royal maid Bonacieux and many other episodes of the famous novel. However, the characters of the characters are conveyed to them surprisingly accurately. D'Artagnan was brave, Richelieu was wise and cruel, Mazarin was cunning and crafty. The writer portrayed Queen Anne of Austria as a woman who is primarily concerned about her feelings, and again he was right. Anna was neither cruel nor mercenary. She, in her own way, cared for the good of the state, and yet she had the most vague idea of this good. She cannot be placed next to such great empresses as the English Elizabeth I or the Russian Catherine II. But she does not look like carefree moths like Marie Antoinette either. Yes, Anna could not appreciate the transformation of Richelieu, but she had the determination during the years of the Fronde to oppose the feudal lords who threatened to pull the country to pieces. For this, France should be grateful to her.

Queen Anne of Austria

At the beginning of 1651, the raging waves of the Fronde rose so high that Mazarin had to leave not only the capital, but also the country. The queen was again deprived of personal happiness, and this seemed unbearable to her. She even tried to leave after her lover, but armed Parisians kept her in the palace. A year later, the cardinal managed to return, and soon the protest movement began to decline. External affairs were also settled: the war with Spain ended in victory, to consolidate which it was planned to marry the king to the Spanish princess Maria Teresa, Anna's niece. There was only one obstacle to this: the love of 20-year-old Louis for the niece of Cardinal Maria Mancini. Mazarin led the matter to a marriage between them, but the queen strongly opposed this. “Remember,” she said dryly, “in that case, the whole of France will rise up against you, and I myself will stand at the head of the indignant people.” "Iron Mask". This nameless prisoner of the Bastille, the same Dumas considered the eldest son of Anna of Austria from Louis. Other authors put forward their versions, and the truth is buried in the Cathedral of Saint-Denis, along with the rebellious soul of the Spanish Queen of France.

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http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/788/

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Austrian

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