assisted her spouse in his adultery and prevented her from achieving any political influence and once famously remarked, when she presented a political view to the king, that priests existed to pray as well as queens existed to give birth. Between 1640 and 1642, Elisabeth served as regent for the king in his absence during the Catalan revolt and was given very good marks for her efforts. She was reputed to have influenced the fall of Olivares as a part of a "women's conspiracy" alongside the duchess of Mantua, Ana de Guevara, María de Ágreda and her chief lady-in-waiting Luisa Manrique de Lara, Countess Paredes de Nava. The fall of Olivares made the king consider her his only political partner, and when the king left again for the front in 1643, Elisabeth was again appointed regent assisted by Juan Chumacero Carrillo y Sotomayor. Her second regency was also given good reviews, and she was credited by the king for her efforts to provide vital supplies for the troops as well as for her negotiations with the banks to provide finances for the army, offering her own jewelry as security. It was rumored that she was intending to follow the example of queen Isabella the Catholic and lead her own army to retake Badajoz. The Queen died in Madrid on 6 October 1644 at the age of forty-one, leaving two children: Balthasar Charles and Maria Theresa. After her death, her husband married his niece Mariana of Austria. Elisabeth's last child, Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain, would later become queen of France as the wife of her nephew, the future Louis XIV. Unlike her husband and sister-in-law, she would not see the wedding that cemented the peace between her homeland and adopted country, Spain; the countries would be at war until 1659. One of her great-grandsons, Philip, Duke of Anjou, became King Philip V of Spain, and through him, Elisabeth is an ancestor of the subsequent Spanish monarchs. Issue Maria Margaret of Austria, Infanta of Spain (14 August 162115 August 1621), died in infancy Margaret Maria Catherine of Austria, Infanta of Spain (25 November 162322 December 1623), died in infancy Maria Eugenia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (21 November 162521 August 1627), died in infancy Isabella Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (31 October 16271 November 1627), died in infancy Balthasar Charles of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (17