Maria Anna of Neuburg

Maria Anna of Neuburg, a German princess from the Wittelsbach family, married Charles II of Spain in 1689 and became queen of an empire already shadowed by the question of its inheritance. With no children forthcoming, her years at court dissolved into factional warfare between French and Austrian claimants to the throne. When Charles died in 1700, his will named Philip of Anjou — Louis XIV's grandson — as successor, igniting the War of the Spanish Succession that would convulse Europe for thirteen years. Maria Anna had thrown her weight behind the Austrian candidate. That loyalty cost her eve…