ABSTRACT
In 1659, the Treaty of the Pyrenees put an end to the war between France and Spain that began in 1635. The conditions for peace stipulated marriage between the French king Louis XIV, and María Teresa, the eldest daughter of Philip IV of Spain and Isabel of Borbón, but required that the princess renounce her rights to succession to the Spanish crown in order to become queen of France. The court in Madrid made ready for María Teresa’s departure and organized the entourage that would accompany her. Unlike her aunt, Ana of Austria, who had been deliberately dispossessed of anything that might have reminded her of the Madrid court when she arrived in Paris in 1615, María Teresa was fortunate to be able to enjoy the entertainment of two of the best Spanish theater companies in existence at the time: first, the company of Sebastián de Prado and later, that of Pedro de la Rosa. The arrival of these two companies in the lively world of Parisian theater and at Louis XIV’s court would broaden the theatrical experience of the Spanish actors and, especially, of the actresses, something that would be very advantageous for their professional development when they returned to Spain.1
