Infanta María Luisa of Spain, Duchess of Talavera de la Reina (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

: ''María Luisa de Silva y Fernández de Henestrosa''; 3 December 1880 – 2 April 1955) was a Spanish aristocrat and the second wife of Infante Ferdinand of Spain, Prince of Bavaria, who was a first cousin and (former) brother-in law of

Alfonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII ( Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also ...

. She was the second child and elder daughter of Luis de Silva y Fernandez de Henestrosa, 10th Count of Pie de Concha and his wife, María de los Dolores Fernández de Henestrosa, herself the daughter of the 9th Marquess of Villadarias. Doña Maria was granted the title " Duchess of Talavera de la Reina", made a

grandee Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

of Spain and accorded the

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

of ''

Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adjec ...

'' on 25 June 1914,

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

d 2 September of that year. Doña Maria married Infante Don Fernando de Baviera at

Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantique ...

, Spain on 1 October 1914, whose first wife (and cousin), Infanta Maria Teresa, had died in 1912. Doña Maria was 56 when, on 17 May 1927, Maria Teresa's brother, King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

, made her an infanta ''de gracia'' (by "royal grace") and gave her the elevated treatment of ''

Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Kings and their female consorts, as well as queens regnant, are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of a ...

'', allowing her to fully share her husband's title and rank: ''"Desiring on this date to give evidence of My Royal esteem to Her Highness the Most Serene Lady Doña María Luisa de Silva y Fernández de Henestrosa, Duchess of Talavera de la Reina, second wife of His Highness Infante Fernando of Bavaria and Bourbon and of My gratitude for the loving disposition with which she has assisted in the education and care of the children of My most beloved sister Infanta María Teresa, I hereby grant upon her the rank, honours and style corresponding to the condition of Infanta of Spain".'' Although her husband was a

patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descendant of

Ludwig I of Bavaria Ludwig I or Louis I (; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the German revolutions of 1848–49, 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As ki ...

, he had become a

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

Spaniard in 1905 in conjunction with his first marriage (being the third generation of his

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

of the royal

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

to live as modern ''

princes étrangers A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fema ...

'' in Spain). Four days after Doña Maria de Silva was made a duchess in Spain, her fiancé renounced his

dynastic A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. Historians ...

rights as a member of the Bavarian Royal Family, 29 June 1914, completing the transfer of the prince's allegiance from Germany to Spain shortly before the

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was one of the key events that led to World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassin ...

led to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, although the legalities and logistics of the inter-dynastic re-arrangement of assets were disrupted and protracted by the war. Infante Ferdinand of Spain, Prince of Bavaria and Infanta Maria Luisa, Duchess of Talavera de la Reina had no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henestrosa, Maria Luisa de Silva y Fernandez de 1880 births 1955 deaths Maria Luisa Spanish infantas Spanish duchesses Nobility from Madrid