Anne of Austria is the famous queen, wife of Louis XIII and mother of the "Sun King" Louis XIV. It is her image that is the most frequent in modern cinema about the musketeers. The woman who was called "the most beautiful queen of Europe" was played by Alice Freundlich, Katharina Rennes and Catherine Deneuve, and in literature Anna of Austria is best known as the owner of the famous pendants from the novel by Alexandre Dumas.
Biography of Anna of Austria
The future Queen of France was the daughter of King Philip III of Spain and was born on September 22, 1601. The fixed epithet "Austrian", although Anna was born in Spain, she inherited through her mother, the wife of the Spanish king - Margaret of Austria - belonging to the Habsburg family, which ruled in Austria since 1282.
At just 14 years old - in 1615 - Anna was married to Louis XIII, who had already ascended to the French throne, from whom she gave birth to two sons - the heir to the crown of Louis XIV and Philippe I of Orleans.
The conclusion of this marriage, as was usual in those years, was not a matter of mutual sympathy and love, but a political calculation. France and Spain were on the brink of war, and a conflict between the powers could erupt from day to day. But prudence prevailed - the rulers of the countries concluded a pact on the upcoming marriage of two members of royal families, as a result of which a peace based on family ties was established between them.
An important point of the treaty between Spain and France was that the marriage between Louis and Anne could only be accomplished if the Spanish prince Philip married Louis's sister Isabella.
As evidenced by numerous chronicles of that time, the first few years after the wedding, Louis XIII was simply fascinated by his young wife, who at that time was called the most beautiful queen of all Europe. But over time, the relationship of the royal couple went wrong, and Anna herself even took part in several conspiracies against the king of France.
Anna was especially annoyed by Cardinal Richelieu, against whom she also initiated several conspiracies and assassination attempts.
It was Anna who tried to strengthen the influence of her native Spain on France, and having learned about the numerous betrayals of Louis XIII, she herself very often started love affairs. Historians do not confirm the forbidden connection between the queen and the real-life Englishman and the monarch's favorite Buckingham, sung by Alexander Dumas in The Three Musketeers, but Anna had many favorites.
After the death of Louis XIII, Anna became regent under the minor heir, but after the accession to the throne of the "sun king" she went to a monastery, where she ended her life in 1666.
Films in which the image of Anna of Austria was used
The very first motion picture with the character of Anna of Austria, played by Mary McLaren, was filmed in 1921 in the USA.
Then "The Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas was filmed several more times, but in all the films the directors and screenwriters did not disregard the French queen. Anna of Austria was played by Jeanne Deklos (1921), Gloria Stewart (1939), Angela Lansbury (1948), Françoise Christophe (1961), Geraldine Chaplin (1973), Alice Freundlich in famous Soviet films, Catherine Deneuve (2001), Sarah-Jane Potts (2001), Amalia Mordvinova (2005), Juno Temple (2011) and Maria Mironova in 2013.
The adventures of the famous Three Musketeers are very famous and popular. Dumas' novel has been filmed many times, and there is no doubt that there will be more of them. And this means that more and more new actresses will play Anna of Austria. But for Soviet and Russian TV viewers, of course, Alisa Freundlich will remain the best performer.
