Elisabeth of Valois

Elisabeth of Valois
Queen consort of Spain (more...)
Élisabeth de Valois, by Sofonisba Anguissola, 1565
Consort	1559 - October 3, 1568
Consort to	Philip II
Issue
Infanta Isabella Infanta Catherine
Royal house	House of Valois
Father	Henry II of France
Mother	Catherine de' Medici
Born	April 2, 1545(1545-04-02)
Died	October 3, 1568 (aged 23)

Élisabeth of Valois (April 2, 1545 – October 3, 1568) was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.She was born in the Chateau of Fontainebleau. Her childhood was spent mostly in the company of her future sister-in-law, Mary, Queen of Scots, who was being raised at the French court. The two would remain close friends for the rest of their lives. Elisabeth was described as being shy, timid and very much in awe of her formidable mother; although there is also evidence which shows Catherine to have been loving and tender toward Elisabeth.

Elisabeth married Philip II of Spain ("Philip the Catholic"), son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Isabella of Portugal in 1559 in Guadalajara, Spain. The marriage was a consequence of the Peace of Cateau Cambrésis (1559). His second wife, Mary I of England had recently died; making Elisabeth of Valois Philip's third wife.

Elisabeth had been betrothed to Philip's son, Don Carlos, but political complications unexpectedly necessitated instead a marriage to Philip. 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 Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain on August 12, 1566, and then to Isabella's younger sister Catherine Michelle of Spain October 10, 1567. Elisabeth had another miscarriage on October 3, 1568, and died the same day, along with her newborn infant son.

Elisabeth in 1568

She was an amateur portrait-painter of skill, and Sofonisba Anguissola, the first Italian woman artist to win international recognition, was made Elisabeth's lady-in-waiting from 1559 to 1569, to tutor her in painting, at which she was considered successful. A French courtier writing to Catherine de' Medici, Elizabeth's mother:

It is incredible how, having learned a little from one of her Italian ladies whom the king has given her, she has advanced in her painting

and went on to pass a request for François Clouet to make up some crayons for the Queen.^[1]

The Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia became the major vehicle of her father's unsuccessful claims to the thrones of the Kingdom of England and France. Philip married her to her Habsburg cousin, Archduke Albert (1559-1621), who was made regent of the Spanish Netherlands in 1598. Their joint reign coincided with a golden age for the Habsburg Netherlands. Isabella 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. After Albrecht died, the archduchess ruled as a governor in the name of her nephew, the king of Spain, for the last twelve years of her life.

Catherine Michelle of Spain, Élisabeth's younger daughter, was married to Carlo Emanuele I, Duke of Savoy, and was the mother of Vittorio Amedeo.

Friedrich Schiller's romantic tragedy linking Don Carlos of Spain with Élisabeth of Valois in a doomed romance (without historical basis) furnished the subject of Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos.

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