Political Sainthood: The Representation of Mariana of Austria's Death in the Relaciones and Beatification Proceeding

The death of the queen mother of Spain, Mariana of Austria, on May 16, 1696 became a major political event in Carlos II’s court. The most powerful members of the court—the king and his consort, Queen Mariana of Neuburg, members of royal households, Spanish grandees, Cardinals, and foreign dignitaries—gathered in the queen’s private palace to pay respect and witness the rituals that began before and continued after her death. This paper analyzes the relaciones written before and after her death as well as the 1699 testimony of the incorruptibility of her body, which became the basis for a beatification proceeding. Whereas Mariana’s death had deep political meaning for her contemporaries—all related to the succession crisis that threatened the end of Habsburg rule in Spain—subsequent historians have used the same texts to strip the queen of the political influence and power she enjoyed during her lifetime.

Paper will be presented as part of the panel on “Re-Evaluating Historical Biography: Courtly Reputations in Early Modern Europe “ at the Renaissance Society of America, Annual Meeting, Toronto. March 17-19. 2019