Maria Teresa of Silva – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez de Toledo ^{[ n 1 ]} (Madrid, June 10, 1762-Madrid, July 23, 1802) was a Spanish nobleman, XIII Duchess of Alba de Tormes in its own and great right of Spain.

Childhood [ To edit ]

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez de Toledo, called in her life María Teresa (although it has currently been popularized turn from Fernando de Silva and Álvarez de Toledo, XII Duke of Alba de Tormes and his wife Ana María Álvarez de Toledo Portugal, XII Countess of Oropesa) and María del Pilar Ana de Silva-Bazán and Sarmiento (daughter in turn by Pedro de Silva-Bazán and Alagón and María Cayetana Sarmiento and Dávila, XVIII Marquises of Santa Cruz de Mudela). He was born in Madrid, at the family palace of Duke de Alba Street. ^{[ first ]} ​

His childhood was sad and hard, marked mainly by the detachment of his parents, given more to the licentious life than to the family.

Her father died in April 1770, when she had only eight years, making her future heiress of all her titles of nobility and her immense properties. Five years later, in 1775, his mother promised José María Pignatelli de Aragón y Gonzaga, III Duke of Solferino, but the sudden death of the Duke disrupted his plans and finally married his father, Joaquín Atanasio Pignatelli of Aragon and Moncayo, XVI Count of Fuentes, VI Marqués de Mora and IV Marqués de Coscojuela. This wedding, which was not Mariana de Silva-Bazán, was held the same day as the wedding of her daughter María Teresa. In 1776, his mother sent again, and shortly after, on January 1, 1778, he contracted his third and last marriage to the XI Duke of Arcos, Antonio Ponce de León and Spínola de la Cerda.

Marriage [ To edit ]

In order to preserve the two most powerful Spanish ducats, that of Alba de Tormes and that of Medina Sidonia, tied to the Álvarez de Toledo family, the grandfather of María Teresa married her in 1775, at twelve years of age, with her Primo, José Álvarez de Toledo y Gonzaga, Xi Marqués de Villafranca del Bierzo and future XV Duke of Medina Sidonia – even older than that of Alba, representative of the Second Male Line of the II Duke of Alba de Tormes, Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo and Enriquez– and archetype of the enlightened aristocrat. ^{[ 2 ]} The marriage became the most powerful, wealthy and entitled of the Kingdom of Spain, in constant competition with the Dukes of Osuna.

María Teresa and her family lived between their two most important Madrid properties, the Moncloa Palace and the Buenavista Palace, near the source of Cibeles, ordered to build by their grandfather on some land acquired to the royal house in the testamentary from Isabel de Farnesio and today houses the headquarters of the Army of Earth of Spain.

The Duchess of Alba also used to alternate these residences with a third property, the Palace of the Dukes of Alba, located in Piedrahíta, which was built by her grandfather Alba, where she received with her husband to personalities of the government, of art, culture and culture and Knowledge, among which the writer and politician Gaspar Melchor of Jovellanos and the painter Francisco de Goya stood out.

Noble titles [ To edit ]

In 1776, at fourteen, after the death of his grandfather, the XII Duke of Alba, Cayetana became the XIII Duchess of Alba, assuming the Headquarters of the House of Alba, as well as all the inherent titles. María Teresa was the second wife of the saga to show the duchy in her own right.

María Teresa sent her cousin José Álvarez de Toledo y Gonzaga in 1796, without having had children of her marriage. The lack of the expected male son who inherited again for the Álvarez de Toledo, in the same family of the lineage, the illustrious house of Alba and the house of Medina Sidonia was a true tragedy.

Although he had no direct offspring, at the end of his years, María Teresa adopted a black girl, whom Maria de la Luz called.

From 1776 until his death, in 1802, María Teresa held the following titles, inherent to the Headquarters of the House of Alba:

In addition, for marriage to his cousin and his subsequent widowhood, he brought the titles of the house of Medina Sidonia, as a consort without direct offspring:

In this way María Teresa was the person who had the most titles of nobility in Spain in the early nineteenth century. From the house of Alba he received thirty -one titles to which he subsequently added twenty -five more, from the latter from the house of Medina Sidonia. In total, the aristocrat held fifty -six noble titles.

The absence of a child, especially male, to retain the last name of the Álvarez de Toledo and all of the titles of both family lineages resulted in that, after her death, her husband’s titles fell into the brother of this , Francisco de Borja Álvarez de Toledo and Gonzaga, while most of María Teresa will pass to her relative, Carlos Miguel Fitz-James Stuart and Silva or Carlos Miguel Fitz-James Stuart and Fernández de Híjar-Silva (1794- 1835), VII Duke of Berwick and VII Duke of Liria and Jérica, who was the nephew-bishop of Fernando de Silva and Álvarez de Toledo, XII Duke Alba de Tormes and Grandfather of María Teresa.

From then on the house of Alba had for its residence in Madrid the Palace of Liria (which until then had been that of the Berwick) since the previous two capital residences of the Alba ceased to belong to the Duchy: the palace of La Moncloa was Acquired by King Carlos IV together with the garden to add them to the Royal Site of Florida who, from then on, was known as the Royal Site of La Moncloa and is currently the headquarters of the Presidency of the Government of Spain and the official residence of the president and his family; For its part, the Buenavista Palace went to Godoy and is currently the headquarters of the Army.

Patronage and rivalries [ To edit ]

María Teresa was one of the first patron of the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya and the most controversial woman of her time, due to her beauty, wealth, sensuality and liberal life.

The aristocrat’s life was a constant plot of stories of the novel literature. There are those who attributed a romance with Goya, who portrayed her in several of her paintings and who felt disappointed by her capricious character. Some, on the other hand, denied any possibility of love relationship between them, for the social inequality that separated them. Others aimed that they posed for the painting The naked morning , although the conviction is imposed that the model was Pepita Tudó, lover of the favorite Manuel Godoy and then his second wife. This hypothesis is the most credible since it was Godoy who commissioned Goya painting and it was his first known owner; On the other hand, the appearance of the Duchess (known for several portraits) differs from the house , of lower stature and more rounded shapes.

The real and novel data intermingled in the biography of the Duchess. It has been argued that he felt attraction for bullfighters and other men of lower social status, and that he even went out at night, dressed in maja, to enjoy amusements to the “respectable” ladies. His unpredictable character contributed to this myth: he was affectionate with children and poor but at the same time he had capricious, waste and ostentation veleities. His idiosyncrasy made it rival with other outstanding ladies in Madrid, such as the Duchess of Osuna, María Josefa Pimentel or the Biscay of Bearne, María Ana de Abad, both famous and raised noble ones although of lower lineage than the Duchess of Alba.

The Duchess of Alba competed directly with the queen of Spain, María Luisa de Parma, wife of King Carlos IV, in a very difficult time for the monarchical system in general and the Spanish monarchy in particular of which the nobility did not escape either. They rivaled to surprise in attire and luxuries, for which they imported exclusive dresses from Paris. On one occasion, María Teresa plagued a design designed for the queen, and dressed her maids with the same clothes, with the sole purpose of ridiculing her.

The struggle between them was evidenced when, in 1795 her husband – the Duke of Medina Sidonia – joined the rebellion initiated by the Brigadier of the Royal Navy, Alejandro Malaspina, who failed in the attempt to expel Manuel Godoy from the court, Valido del Rey Carlos IV and Favorite of Queen María Luisa. Then the Queen attributed to María Teresa her intention to monopolize the attention of Manuel Godoy, who had ascended as a politician with the protection of the queen, but who allegedly would have also had relations with the Duchess, when she was already a widow.

Death [ To edit ]

The Duchess of Alba died suddenly in 1802, at forty, in her palace in Buenavista, victim of a fever.

Godoy, who did not forget his enmity with her husband – the deceased Duke of Medina Sidonia – carried out the expropriation of several of its properties, including the Buenavista Palace, in 1807, pictures and jewels of the Ducal collection. Thus, a large number of their famous works passed to their hands, such as the Venus of the mirror from Velázquez and Cupid’s education of Correggio (both now in the National Gallery of London). Carlos IV did the same with the Moncloa Palace, currently owned by the Spanish State and residence of the President of the Government of Spain.

His last testament, preserved in the Ducal Archive of the House of Alba, instituted as universal heirs of his free assets to his stepbrother and cousin, Carlos Pignatelli of Aragon and Gonzaga, his adopted child, María de la Luz, the son of the painter of the painter Goya, Javier de Goya and Bayeu and a good part of his servants and servants. ^{[ 4 ]} On the other hand, the goods and titles that formed the house of Alba then fell to the house of Liria and Jérica, although with some exception, since the House of Oropesa was incorporated into the Ducado de Uceda, in the figure of Diego Fernández De Velasco, XV Count of Oropesa, VIII Duke of Uceda and VII Marqués de Belmonte.

Exhumations [ To edit ]

On November 17, 1842, on the occasion of the transfer of its mortal remains from its original grave in the Chapel of the Alba in the Church of the Salvador and San Nicolás to the cemetery of the Sacramental of San Isidro, it was discovered that the body of María Teresa had been partially mutilated: he had serrated legs and lacked a foot. Apparently, when placed in the coffin, its height prevented the correct posture and had to serve their feet so that it was coupled in the coffin.

In 1945, the body of the Duchess was exhumed for the second time and its remains subjected to autopsy. His death ^{[ 5 ]} It was attributed to a meningoencephalitis of tuberculous origin, which ruled out the alleged poisoning by Manuel Godoy following the instructions of Queen María Luisa de Parma.

Ancestors of the Duchess of Alba

16. Gregorio de Silva and Mendoza, IX Duke of Infantado 8. Manuel María de Silva y Mendoza, X Count of Galve 17. María de Haro and Guzmán 4. Fernando de Silva, XII Duke of Alba 18. Francisco Álvarez de Toledo, X Duke of Alba 9. Maria Teresa Álvarez de Toledo, XI Dunse of Alba 19. Catherine of haro y guzman, VII Marquesa of Carpia 2. Francisco de Paula de Silva, X Duke of Huéscar 20. Manuel Joaquin Álvarez de Toledo, VIII Count of Oropesa 10. Vicente Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, X Count of Oropesa 21. Isabel Pacheco Téllez-Girón 5. María Bernarda de Toledo and Portugal 22. Luis Mauricio Fernández de Córdoba, VII Marqués de Priego 11. Mary of the In Encarnación Fernandez of Córdoba and Figueroa 23. Congratulations María de la Cerda y Aragón first. María Teresa de Silva, XIII Duchess of Alba 24. Pedro Felix de Silva and Menes, XII County Cifuentes 12. José de Silva and Meneses 25. Elena Fernandez of Córdoba and Mansebradi 6. Pedro de Silva-Bazán, VIII Marqués de Santa Cruz 26. Alagón Artal, V Marqués de Villasor 13. Manuela de Alagón, VI Marquesa de Villasor 27. María Nicolasa de Bazán and Benavides 3. Mariana de Silva y Sarmiento 28. José Salvador Sarmiento de Sotomayor, IV Count of Salvatierra 14. Jose Francisco Francisco Sarmient of Sotomayor, v body of salvation 29. María Victoria de Velasco and Guzmán 7. María Cayetana Sarmiento, VII Condesa de Pie de Concha 30. Francisco Melchor Dávila and Zúñiga, VI Marqués de Loriana 15. Leonor de Zúñiga, X Marquesa de Loriana 31. María Luisa de Zúñiga, VI Marquesa de Baides

Filmography [ To edit ]

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