OTD 12 August 1566 Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands

Isabella Clara Eugenia, also referred as Clara Isabella Eugenia, was
born on August 12th. 1566 in Segovia (Spain).

Her parents were King Philip II of Spain and his third wife,
Elisabeth of Valois. She was thus an infanta of Spain and Portugal.
Her maternal grandparents were also very interesting. These were
King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.

Isabella was allowed to help her father with his work! She translated
papers for him.

At the age of two, Isabella was promised to Holy Roman Emperor,
Rudolf II. However Rudolf declared that he had no intention to marry
anybody.

Isabella and Albert - picture: wikipedia

Then her father decided to cede the Spanish Netherlands on her on
one condition: she had to marry her cousin Archduke Albert of Austria.

On April 18th. 1599, she married Archduke Albert of Austria. Since
1601 the couple ruled the Spanish Netherlands together. This reign was
considered as the Golden Age for the Spanish Netherlands.They brought
peace and stability.

Albert and Isabelle used all kinds of art and they were the patron of
inter alia ... Pieter Paul Rubens.

The Court of the Royal Couple was located in Brussels. During that time
the city became an important center of arts and politics.

Albert died in 1521 and Isabelle entered the third order of St. Francis.
However she stayed against her will , governor of the Spanish Netherlands.

Isabella died on December 1st. 1633 in Brussels.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Who is who? de Liedekerke family!

House of Wittelsbach - Between crazyness and excellence

Noble Families Ullens de Schooten