Maria-Theresa, First Queen of Versailles

A little-known queen

Eclipsed by mistresses and, after her death, by Madame de Maintenon, Queen Maria Theresa nevertheless played a vital role in the life of Louis XIV.  Consolidating the alliance with Spain, her presence at the Court lent the necessary balance to both the King’s entourage and to the sovereign himself.  The temperament of the Palace’s first queen was somewhat retiring and was to suffer from comparison with the women of her time and the portraits left of her by contemporary chroniclers.

(David Chanteranne, editor-in-chief of Château de Versailles. From the Ancien Régime to Today)

Contents:

Versailles and me
Denis Podalydès
‘I’m rooted to Versailles like a tree to the ground’  

Cover
Maria-Theresa of Austria
First Queen of Versailles 

Tour
The Royal Chapel: Five buildings, five successive locations 

Portfolio
Versailles landscapes

Key Figures 
Saint Simon, sixty years at the Palace

Archives and discoveries
A Correggio painting given to Louis XIV. An innocent gift or payment in disguise?  

Event
The marriage of Marguerite ­Louise d'Orléans (1645-1721)
A cousin of  Louis XIV, among the last Medicis in Florence.  

Heritage
The Montansier, a theatre for Versailles

Overseas
The expedition of La Pérouse, a bridge between Louis XVI and the world.  

The Palace
The sale of Versailles furniture during the Revolution

20^th century
Versailles in camouflage, or how the Grand Canal almost disappeared in 1918.

Co-publishers: Palace of Versailles and Editions Soteca

Number of pages: 84 pages
Date of publication: October 2017
Size: 23 x 29.7 cm
Published in: French