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Maria Theresa of Spain

Madrid, 1638 – Versailles, 30 Jul 1683

12 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 1638

    Born in Madrid

  2. 1661–1672

    6 children are born

  3. 30 Jul 1683

    Dies in Versailles

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 6

During her lifetime

She lived through 6 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Madrid.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1630s · Maria is born in Madrid

In the news1631

First French newspaper is founded

Théophraste Renaudot founded La Gazette in 1631, which became the first newspaper in France.

Getting around

Fast travel via relay horses

Travel via the post system was the fastest method, with royal mail and some travelers using relay horses to reach speeds covering 150 to 200 kilometers per day. A trip from Seville to Madrid, for example, was expected to be completed in two days and eighteen hours.

In the news1626–1632

Great plague outbreak kills one million

Between 1626 and 1632, a devastating plague outbreak killed approximately one million people, causing many towns to lose one-third to one-quarter of their inhabitants.

Daily life

Accessing water for daily use

While wealthy households might have a private well, most ordinary families had to carry water from the nearest public fountain to their homes.

What people wore

Costs of Fashionable Accessories

In 1680, a yard of the popular thin, black smoke cloak worn by women was valued at seven and a half reales. Meanwhile, a fashionable hand fan in the summer could cost as much as six escudos.

Music

Church use of wooden matracas

During Holy Week, the Church allowed the use of wooden noisemakers called matracas to commemorate the death of Jesus when bells were forbidden.

At the table

The staple olla stew for commoners

The staple dish for commoners was a thick stew known as olla, which was simmered for hours and often thickened with flour made from wheat or millet, popularly called flour of the poor. It typically consisted of available legumes, such as chickpeas, beans, or fava beans, and vegetables like turnips.