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Isabel of Bourbon
| Isabel of Bourbon | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Isabel of Bourbon, 1632, by Diego Velázquez, New York, private collection. | |
| Queen consort of Spain | |
| Reign | 31 March 1621 – 6 October 1644 |
| Predecessor | Margaret of Austria-Styria |
| Successor | Mariana of Austria |
| Queen consort of Portugal | |
| Reign | 31 March 1621 – 1 December 1640 |
| Predecessor | Margaret of Austria-Styria |
| Successor | Luisa de Guzmán |
| Born | 22 November 1602 Palace of Fontainebleau, Fontainebleau, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 6 October 1644 (aged 41) Royal Alcázar, Madrid, Kingdom of Spain |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Philip IV of Spain |
| Issue | |
| House | Bourbon |
| Father | Henry IV of France |
| Mother | Marie de' Medici |
Isabel of Bourbon (Fontainebleau, 22 November 1602 – Madrid, 6 October 1644) was a French Princess, daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, the Italian Marie de' Medici.
Isabel of Bourbon was Queen consort of Spain (from 1621 to 1644) and of Portugal (from 1621 to 1640), as the first wife of King Philip IV of Spain. She served as Regent of Spain during the War of Catalonia in 1640–42 and 1643–44.[1]
Early years
Isabel was the second child of her parents, though the first daughter. According to reports, her mother showed her a cruel indifference, because she had believed the prophecy of a nun who assured her that she would give birth to three consecutive sons.
Shortly after her birth, she was betrothed to Emmanuel Philibert, Prince of Piedmont, eldest son and heir of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy by Catherine Michaela, a daughter of King Philip II of Spain. However, the match never took place, since Emmanuel Philibert died in 1605.[2][3]
As the daughter of the King of France, she was born a Fille de France. The early years of Madame Royale were spent under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat, at the château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a quiet place far from the Parisian court where she shared her education and games with her legitimate siblings. The other Fils de France (children of France) were Christine of France (later Duchess of Savoy), Nicholas Henry (Duke of Orléans, who died in infancy), Gaston (Duke of Orléans), and Henrietta Maria (later Queen of England). There were also the bastard children her father had as a result of his constant love affairs.[4] When King Henry IV was assassinated outside the Louvre Palace on 14 May 1610, her brother the Dauphin (with whom Isabel had a very close relationship) succeeded him on the throne as King Louis XIII of France, under the regency of their mother, Marie de' Medici.[5]
Marriage and Queen of Spain
When Isabel was nine years old, in 1611, negotiations began for a double marriage between the royal families of France and Spain, which bore fruit in the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1611). This followed a tradition of consolidating military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain through royal marriages. The tradition dated back to 1559 with the marriage of King Philip II of Spain to the French Princess Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of King Henry II of France, as part of the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. She married on 25 November 1615 the then Prince of Asturias, Philip (the future Philip IV), thus becoming his first wife and mother of Prince Balthasar Charles. In Spain, the French name Elisabeth took the Spanish form Isabel. The religious ceremony took place in the Cathedral of Santa María in Burgos. At the time of her marriage, the thirteen-year-old Isabel became the new Princess of Asturias. After the double marriage by proxy with the Prince of Asturias and that of her brother Louis with the Infanta Anne, Isabel and her brother met their respective spouses for the first time on 25 November 1615, on the Isle of the Pheasant. This would be the last time Louis would see his sister.[6]
Through her marriage she became consort of all the titles held by her husband after his accession to the throne in 1621, following the death of Philip III. By the time of the birth of the couple's first child, they had already ascended the throne of Spain, since, although the marriage was not consummated until 1620, the Princess soon became pregnant. Isabel always stood out for her physical beauty, her high intellect and a noble personality that won her the affection of the people. Despite this, her husband, King Philip IV, was unfaithful to her on many occasions; proof of this was the considerable number of children born outside the marriage bed. The new Queen of Spain knew that her husband had mistresses and had to endure his affairs with La Calderona and watch illegitimate children being born while she suffered continual miscarriages or the premature deaths of her daughters.[7]
Regent
Before 1640, the Queen does not seem to have had much influence over affairs of state, which were largely entrusted to Olivares. Isabel did not get along with Olivares, who, according to reports, aided her spouse in his adultery and prevented her from having political influence. Moreover, he once made a famous remark, when she presented a political view to the King, that priests existed to pray and queens existed to give birth. Isabel's last daughter, the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain, would later become Queen of France as the wife of her cousin, the future Louis XIV. Unlike her husband and her sister-in-law, she would not see the wedding that consolidated peace between her native land and her adopted country, Spain; the countries would be at war until 1659.[8]
Between 1640 and 1642, Isabel served as Regent for the King in his absence and received very good reviews for her efforts. She was reputed to have played a part in the fall of Olivares as part of a "conspiracy of the women" together with the Duchess of Mantua, Ana de Guevara, María de Ágreda and her principal lady Luisa Manrique de Lara, Countess of Paredes de Nava. The fall of Olivares led the King to regard her as his only political partner, and when the King left again for the front in 1643, Isabel was appointed Regent for a second time, assisted by Chumacero. Her second regency also received good reviews, and the King gave her credit 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 jewels as security. It was rumored that she intended to follow the example of her ancestor Queen Isabella the Catholic and lead her own army to hold Badajoz during the Portuguese Restoration War.[9][10]
Issue
Eleven children were born of her marriage, of whom only two survived infancy: Maria Theresa (who married her cousin, Louis XIV of France) and Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias. The latter was the great hope of the Hispanic Monarchy, showing gifts of great intelligence and will in the tasks of government, but he died of smallpox at the age of seventeen.
The children of Isabel of Bourbon and Philip IV were:[11]
- Maria Margarita of Austria (14–15 August 1621);
- Margarita Maria Catalina of Austria (25 November – 22 December 1623);
- Maria Eugenia of Austria (21 November 1625 – 21 July 1627);
- Daughter, stillborn (1626);
- Isabel Maria Teresa of Austria (31 October – 1 November 1627);
- Balthasar Charles of Austria, Prince of Asturias (17 October 1629 – 9 October 1646);
- Maria Ana Antonia of Austria (17 January – 5 December 1636);
- Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of France (10 September 1638 – 30 July 1683).
- Miscarriage of a daughter (1640)
- Miscarriage of a son (6 October 1644)
Death
After Olivares was forced to leave the palace, a brief period of happiness began in the life of the Queen, who at last received recognition from her husband, not only regarding her capacity to govern (he went so far as to say, "my favorite is the queen"), but she was also able to grow closer to him in private. Unfortunately, the happiness did not last long, for on 6 October 1644, after suffering another miscarriage, the Queen died.
Only at the end of her life did Philip IV realize that he had at his side an intelligent, cultured woman, capable of governing in his absence and of giving him the affection he had sought in the arms of other women. But it was too late.[4] Philip IV could only mourn a wife whom he had not treated as she deserved. Two years after the Queen's death, Balthasar Charles died, leaving the crown once again in a compromised situation. Therefore a new marriage was arranged in 1647 with his niece, Mariana of Austria. Despite not having been the mother of a king, her remains rest in the Pantheon of Kings of the Monastery of El Escorial, since through her daughter Maria Theresa, Queen of France, the Royal House of Spain was perpetuated.
Honors
Golden Rose of Christendom (1618).
Ancestry
| Generation 1 | 1. Isabel of Bourbon |
|---|---|
| Generation 2 | 2. Henry IV of France 3. Marie de' Medici |
| Generation 3 | 4. Antoine of Bourbon 5. Jeanne III of Navarre 6. Francesco I de' Medici 7. Joanna of Habsburg-Jagiellon |
| Generation 4 | 8. Charles IV of Bourbon 9. Françoise of Alençon 10. Henry II of Navarre 11. Marguerite of Angoulême 12. Cosimo I de' Medici 13. Eleonora Álvarez de Toledo 14. Ferdinand I of Habsburg 15. Anne of Bohemia and Hungary |
| Generation 5 | 16. Francis of Vendôme 17. Marie of Luxembourg 18. René of Alençon 19. Margaret of Lorraine-Vaudémont 20. John III of Albret 21. Catherine of Foix 22. Charles of Orléans 23. Louise of Savoy 24. Giovanni de' Medici 25. Maria Salviati 26. Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Zúñiga 27. Juana Osorio y Pimentel 28. Philip I of Castile 29. Joanna I of Castile 30. Vladislaus Jagiellon of Bohemia and Hungary 31. Anne of Foix-Candale |
Titles
| Royal Titles | ||
| Predecessor: Margaret of Austria |
,_Queen_Consort_of_Spain.svg){kind=small} Queen consort of Spain, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia, Duchess consort of Milan Sovereign consort of the Netherlands and Countess consort of Burgundy 1621–1640 |
Succeeded by: Mariana of Austria |
.svg){kind=small} Queen consort of Portugal and the Algarves 1621–1640 |
Luisa de Guzmán | |
External links
- Diccionario Biográfico. Real Academia de la Historia Isabel de Borbón
- Pizarro Llorente, Henar (November 2019). Isabel de Borbón (in español). National Archaeological Museum. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
References
- ↑ Baumgartner, Frederic J. (1995). France in the sixteenth century. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-09965-7. OCLC 480798517. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ↑ "Isabel de Borbón, reina de España, primera esposa de Felipe IV - Colección - Museo Nacional del Prado". www.museodelprado.es (in español). Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ↑ Castries, René de La Croix, duc de, 1908-1986. (1979). The lives of the kings & queens of France. Knopf. OCLC 643628167. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 "La reina desdichada, Isabel de Borbón (1602-1644)" (in español). Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ↑ Cosandey, Fanny (1 April 2004). "Représenter une reine de France. Marie de Médicis et le cycle de Rubens au palais du Luxembourg". Clio (in français) (19). doi:10.4000/clio.645. ISSN 1252-7017. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ↑ Aristocratic Women in Medieval France. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0061-4. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ↑ Brown, Jonathan, 1939- (cop. 2003). Un palacio para el Rey, el Buen Retiro y la corte de Felipe IV (in español). Taurus. OCLC 1025066827. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ Hamer-Flores, Adolfo (2019-08). "Los secretarios del Despacho Universal de la monarquía hispánica durante el reinado de Felipe IV (1621-1665)". Revista de estudios histórico-jurídicos (in español) (41): 505–525. doi:10.4067/s0716-54552019000100505. ISSN 0716-5455. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ↑ Elliott, J. H. (2003). Olivares, Conde-Duque de. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ↑ Coxe, William. (1864–1868). History of the house of Austria : from the foundation of the monarchy by Rhodolph of Hapsburgh, to the death of Leopold the second, 1218 to 1792. Bohn. OCLC 513651195. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ↑ Campo, Carlos Robles do (2005). "Los infantes de España en los siglos XVI y XVII" (PDF). Anales de la Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía (in español) (9): 383–414. ISSN 1133-1240. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
