I have been thinking about another novel to write but I need to learn more about the subject than I already know. I have begun to think of a novel featuring Queen Marie Therese.
I have been trying to think how she would describe her life as Queen so I am mulling over the idea.
It is a good thing that I have begun to think about this prospect as an interesting book to write. I have been working on it mentally, thinking about her life, so that I did have to look in Wikipedia to learn something about her mother. I was surprised to learn that she had died when Marie Therese was 6 years old. That is harsh for a small girl to have to grow up without her mother. The king had lost his father at age 5 so it is an interesting coincidence. She and the king are double first cousins since her mother had been the sister of Louis XIII, named Elizabeth of France.
Very fascinating for me to think about her side of the story and to imagine her days as the wife of the King. So it finally dawned on me how lucky I have been to be able to go back into that time period to learn of this life that I had lived in that time period. I am so happy that I did finally realize how fortunate for me to have the happy occasion to see all of the life at court then, even if it is through the king's skin, feelings, and senses. In my imagination, I am writing the queen's story of her life with him which is essentially most all of her life. It is rather exciting way to describe the life at court for her. And of course, Louis is a kind and gentle lover to her.
I wrote the last two paragraphs last night early in the morning so that it is a bit off the cuff. I lay in bed writing in my head about her childhood at the harsh Spanish court without a mother to guide her. She spent most of her life at the French court after she married the King in a proxy marriage. She never did learn to speak French well but had to communicate with only her Spanish speaking attendants. Of course, Queen Anne spoke Spanish fluently as did her husband, but few in the court did other than her own entourage.
Because she is given so little attention by biographers, historians, and journalists, she is seen only on formal occasions when she must make personal appearances with the King. She travels with him all the time but it appears that sensationalists want to make more of the King's affairs with his mistresses rather than with her. She bore him 6 children, of whom only one survived to reach maturity. I have a theory on that now but am going to have to follow along the timeline to see how correct I probably am about this theory. Since most of her children except for the Dauphin who is essentially healthy, it would appear that the aphrodisiacs that Madame de Montespan fed to the King may have had a dire effect upon the children that the king begat with the Queen. His children with Montespan also suffered unusual defects, and I am certain that all this could be traced back to the sorceress who sold these to the Mistress Montespan.
One thing that most forget about the Queen is that she is given all the deference that she is due, and her husband Louis XIV insisted upon it. Never did she suffer anything by the court in the way of outward humiliation towards her title and her person. She was the King's first cousin twice round, both by his mother and his father. Elizabeth, sister of Louis XIII, was the Queen to the King of Spain, who is likewise the brother to Queen Anne, Louis's mother.
I find it fascinating to view the court through the young Queen's innocent and trusting eyes. I am seriously contemplating telling her story but I feel a need to go to France once again to do some serious study about this now. My first trip had been to be certain that a wall that I saw there was in the form that I had seen it. That proved true as I was confident that it would. One nice thing about walls...they last for centuries.
This era is one of the most fascinating in terms of manpower that did perform the most amazing feats in construction, in tapestries, in fashions, in artwork, in literary productions, in music, in gardening, in so many major accomplishments that it may be fun to explore some of these achievements in this novel. It is a task but maybe I can pull it off. Just thinking about it aloud!
Yours Truly
Janet Fauble at home
