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Originally Posted by Harry's polo shirt
Now that I am reading up on him, I am starting to like him. His first wife Maria Mancini was pretty.
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Marie Mancini, was not his wife. Marie Mancini was the niece of Cardinal Mazarin, who was a regent for Louis XIV's minority. Louis and Marie fell in love, but were not permitted to marry for she was not royal. Marie was exiled by her uncle the Cardinal Mazarin in the hopes that Louis would forget her. For awhile, Louis followed where she went, but the Cardinal told Louis a lie about his niece to make him forget her. He duly did.
Louis married Maria Teresa of Spain, his first cousin. She was the niece of Louis' mother, Anne of Austria and daughter of the King of Spain (Anne's brother). Queen Marie-Therese, as she became known, was unattractive, ultra religious, and fascinated with dwarfs.