Everything about Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia Of Spain totally explained
Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, (
12 August 1566 –
1 December 1633) was, together with her husband
Albert VII, Archduke of Austria joint sovereign of the
Habsburg Netherlands in the Low Countries and the north of modern France. In some sources, she's referred to as "
Clara Isabella Eugenia".
Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain was born in
Segovia on
12 August,
1566, the daughter of
Philip II of Spain and his third wife
Elisabeth of Valois. Her paternal grandparents were
Emperor Charles V and
Isabella of Portugal. Her maternal grandparents were
Henry II of France and
Catherine de' Medici.
Her father, Philip II, was reportedly overjoyed at her birth and declared himself to be happier on the occasion than he'd have been at the birth of a son. Philip already had a male heir,
Don Carlos of Spain, the child of his first marriage to
Infanta Maria of Portugal; however, father and son had never developed a close rapport and frequently lived in conflict with one another.
Isabella's mother, Elisabeth of Valois, had originally been betrothed to Don Carlos, but political complications unexpectedly necessitated her marriage to Philip instead. Despite the significant age difference between them, Philip was very attached to Elisabeth, staying close by her side even when she was ill with
smallpox. Elisabeth's first pregnancy in
1564 ended with a
miscarriage of twin girls. She later gave birth to Isabella Clara Eugenia on
12 August,
1566, and then to Isabella's younger sister
Catherine Micaela October 10,
1567. Elisabeth miscarried a son on
October 3 1568, and died the same day.
Biography
Youth and family
Isabella grew up with her sister Catalina, beloved by her father and her
stepmother Anna of Austria, Philip's fourth wife. Philip ultimately fathered five children by Anna, all of whom died in early childhood except his heir
Philip III of Spain. While Philip II is frequently characterized as having been cold and unaffectionate towards his offspring, there exist numerous letters addressed from him to his daughters which contain evidence of a deep attachment between them, each letter lovingly signed "Your good father".
Isabella was also the only person whom Philip permitted to help him with his work, sorting his papers and translating Italian documents into the
Spanish language for him. Isabella remained close to her father until his death on
13 September,
1598, and served as his primary caretaker during the last three years of his life, when he was plagued by
gout and frequent illness.
Marriage
Since
1568 the age of two, Isabella was promised to marry
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (
July 18,
1552-
January 20,
1612), son of
Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and
Maria of Spain. Maria was a daughter of her paternal grandparents
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and
Isabella of Portugal. Isabella, however, had to wait for more than 20 years before the eccentric Rudolf declared that he'd no intention of marrying anybody.
After her uncle,
Henry III of France, was assassinated by the fanatical young monk
Jacques Clément on
August 2,
1589, Philip II claimed the French crown on behalf of Isabella. However, she'd no right to this claim, since France was under the
Salic Law, which forbade succession in the female line, and at any rate Philip's third wife and Isabella's mother Elisabeth had already ceded any claim to the French crown with her marriage to Philip II. For example the
Parlement de Paris, in power of Catholic party, gave verdict that Isabella Clara Eugenia is "the legitimate sovereign" of France. The Huguenot leader,
Henry of Navarre, the rightful king by traditional French inheritance laws, ultimately made good his claim to the throne, converted to Catholicism, and was crowned in
1594. Isabella however--as the heir general of Henry II--had the strongest claim to the Duchy of Brittany, which had only come into the royal domain through the successive marriages of Anne of Brittany and her daughter Claude (1491, 1499 and 1514), to successive French kings.
At age 31, Isabella finally found a husband. On
18 April,
1599, she married her cousin
Archduke Albert of Austria, the younger brother of her former fiancé
Rudolf II. Albert was the joint sovereign of the
Spanish Netherlands and the former viceroy of
Portugal. As Albert also was the
Archbishop of Toledo, he'd to be released from his religious commitments by
Pope Clement VIII before the wedding could take place. Shortly before Philip II died on
September 13,
1598, he renounced his rights to the Netherlands in favor of his daughter Isabella and her husband. Isabella later bore Albert three children, Archdukes Philip (born
21 October,
1605) and Albert (born
27 January,
1607) and Archduchess Anna Mauritia; however, all three died in infancy.
Beginning in 1601, the couple ruled the
Spanish Netherlands together, and after Albert's death Isabella was appointed governor of the Netherlands on behalf of the
King of Spain. A false anecdote links Isabella, the siege of
Ostend, and the horse coat colour
isabelline. The reign of Albert and Isabella is considered the Golden Age of the Spanish Netherlands.
The reign of the
Archdukes Isabella Clara Eugenia and Albert of Austria is a key period in the history of the
Spanish Netherlands. After four decades of war, it brought a period of much-needed peace and stability to the
economy of the
Southern Netherlands. In addition to economic prosperity, the actions of the Archdukes stimulated the growth of a separate South Netherlandish identity. The Archdukes consolidated the authority of the House of
Habsburg over the territory of the Southern Netherlands and largely succeeded in reconciling previous anti-Spanish sentiments.
When it became clear that independence wouldn't be possible, the Archdukes' goal became to reincorporate the Southern Provinces into the Spanish monarchy. In pursuit of that goal and to get their political agenda to all
Flemish social classes, the Archdukes used the most diverse mediums. The visual
arts, with the
baroque popularized in the wake of the
Catholic Reformation, was the perfect tool. Thus Isabella and her husband stimulated the growth of this artistic movement, which resulted in the creation of the
Flemish Baroque.
Their patronage of such artists as
Peter Paul Rubens,
Pieter Brueghel the Younger,
Coebergher, the
De Nole family, the
Van Veens and many others were the beginning of a Golden Age in the Southern Netherlands. This, coupled with the political configuration of the period, made the Archdukes' Court at Brussels one of the foremost political and artistic centers in Europe of that time. It became the testing ground for the Spanish Monarchy's European plans, a boiling pot full of people of all sorts: from artists and diplomats to defectors, spies and penitent traitors, from Spanish confessors, Italian counselors, Burgundian functionaries, English musicians, German bodyguards to the Belgian nobles. The
Treaty of London and the
Twelve Years' Truce were brought about thanks to the active involvement of the Archdukes in the negotiations. Brussels became a vital link in the chain of Habsburg courts and the diplomatic conduits between Madrid, Vienna, Paris, London, Lisbon, Graz, Innsbruck, Prague and The Hague could be said to run through Brussels.
When Albert died in
1621, Isabella joined the order of the
Sisters of St. Clare, and became the governor of the Netherlands on behalf of the King of Spain. She was succeeded as Governor by
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, the third son of her half brother
Philip III of Spain in
1633.
Image:Infantas Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela, 1570.jpg|Isabella Clara Eugenia and her younger sister Catalina Micaela in 1570
Image:Landvoogden Albrecht en Isabella van Oostenrijk.jpg|Isabella and her husband Albert
Image:Isabella Rubens.jpg|Portrait by Peter Paul Rubens
Image:Isabella Clara Eugenia as a nun.jpg|Isabella Clara Eugenia as a Poor Clare Nun in 1625
Ancestors
Isabella in Culture
- In the 2007 film, Isabella appeared in a minor role at the side of her father, Philip II of Spain, at the time of the attempted invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588. The movie portrays Isabella as Philip's choice to replace Elizabeth on the throne of England. She was portrayed by actress Aimee King as a young girl rather than as the correct age of twenty-two years old.
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