Mariana Engracia de Toledo Portugal y Pimentel (1623-1686), was a Spanish courtier. She was the

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

(junior ''

Camarera mayor de Palacio The Camarera mayor de Palacio (First Lady of the Bedchamber) was the Official of the Royal Household and Heritage of the Crown of Spain, who was in charge of the person and the rooms of the Queen of Spain. Historical precedents and regime during ...

'') to the queen of Spain,

Mariana of Austria Mariana of Austria ( es, Mariana de Austria) or Maria Anna (24 December 163416 May 1696) was List of Spanish royal consorts, Queen of Spain as the second wife of her uncle Philip IV of Spain from their marriage in 1649 until Philip died in 1665. ...

, and the ''aya'' (nurse or royal governess) to king

Charles II of Spain Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War o ...

Life

She was born to Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Portugal, 6th Count of Oropesa, and Mencía María Alfonso-Pimentel y Zúñiga, and married her cousin Pedro Fajardo y Alfonso-Pimentel, 5th marquis de Los Vélez (d. 1647). She was appointed lady-in-waiting to the queen in 1654, and promoted to junior or deputy ''Camarera mayor de Palacio'' to the queen in 1659. She was a favorite and personal confidante of the queen. They shared a common interest in religion. In 1661, she was appointed aya (nurse or governess) to the crown prince. When her charge the infant crown prince became king and her friend queen Mariana became queen regent in 1665, Mariana Engracia came in to a position of great influence at court. She was courted in her own palace by supplicants such as the ambassadors of France and Austria. She strengthened her position by forming a mutual alliance with the queen's Jesuit prime minister

Juan Everardo Nithard Juan Everardo Nithard (''Johann Eberhard Nithard'', in German) (Falkenstein (Upper Austria), 8 December 1607 – Rome, 1 February 1681) was an Austrian priest of the Society of Jesus, confessor of Mariana of Austria (Queen and Regent of Spain), ...

. She and Nithard formed a court fraction known as the Nithardas, who was opposed by the court fraction supported by the John Joseph of Austria and the senior ''Camarera mayor de Palacio''. Her position weakened when she chose to support John Joseph of Austria against the queen when the queen wished to prolong her regency in 1675, which destroyed her relationship with queen Mariana. She still kept a power position in her capacity as the royal governess of the king. She supported the marriage of the king to

Marie Louise d'Orléans es, María Luisa de Orleans e Inglaterra , house = Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Palais Royal, Paris, France , death_date = , death_place = Royal Alcázar, Madrid, Spain , burial_place = El Escorial , father ...

, and was appointed one of her ladies-in-waitings in 1679. She managed to become a trusted confidante of queen Marie Louise, who supported her against the queen mother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toledo Portugal y Alfonso-Pimentel 17th-century Spanish people Spanish ladies-in-waiting 1623 births 1686 deaths Spanish royal favourites Royal governesses Court of Philip IV of Spain Court of Charles II of Spain