Elisabeth Of France - 11 Pregnancies And 9 Miscarriages

Elisabeth of France was born at the Château de Fontainebleau on November 22, 1602. She was the second daughter of Henry IV of France and Maria de' Medici. As the daughter of the King of France, she was born a fille de France, but as the eldest daughter of the sovereign, she was also given the royal title of Madame Royale. Elisabeth was the second of six children born to Henry and Maria de' Medici. When her father, Henry IV, was assassinated on May 14, 1610, her brother became King Louis XIII of France under the regency of his mother. In April 1610, her father had started negotiations for her marriage to Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoie, but after Henry's death, negotiations were abandoned by her mother, who was now regent on behalf of Louis XIII. Victor Amadeus would go on to marry Elisabeth's sister, Christine de France. Instead, Maria de' Medici started up negotiations for a double marriage between the royal families of France and Spain. Elisabeth would marry the Prince of Asturias, the future Philip IV of Spain, and her brother Louis would marry the Spanish Infanta Anna of Austria. In this way, Maria de' Medici hoped to consolidate the alliance between the two countries as France was an enemy of Habsburg Austria, which was Habsburg Spain's permanent ally, and Spain wanted to protect Austria against France. Although Protestants such as Sully were strongly opposed to this political change, their concerns were ignored by the regent and the marriage contract was signed in 1611 and made public on March 25, 1612. Due to the young age of the couple, the wedding was postponed for several years. It was not until August 13, 1615 that Elisabeth's hand in marriage was officially requested. Four days later, the 13-year-old princess and her brother left Paris for the Spanish border. During the journey, Elisabeth fell ill with smallpox. Her condition worsened to such an extent that the wedding party had to The situation became so grave that court counsellors urged Maria de' Medici to escort Cristina to Poitiers to replace her sister in the event of her death. Cristina had already been considered by the Spanish court as she was younger than Philip, but then again, the Spanish king did not want to allow Madame Royal to be married to the House of Savoy. Fortunately, Elisabeth managed to recover from her illness with only very slight traces on her face and was able to take part in the marriage by proxy celebrated in the Cathedral of Bordeaux on October 18, 1615. After the by-proxy weddings, Elisabeth and her brother met their respective spouses for the first time on November 25, 1615 on the pheasant island in the river Bidasoa that divides France and Spain between the French city of Rondave and the Spanish city of Fuenterrabilla. The official wedding between Philip IV of Spain and Elisabeth of France took place on November 25, 1615. Elisabeth's name was changed to Isabel and, as crown princess of Spain, she gained the title of Princess of Asturias. Once in Spain, Elisabeth was kept away from both the court and her husband due to the young age of Philip, who was only 10 years old at the time. Only the illness of her father-in-law changed the situation. The marriage was consummated and the princess quickly became pregnant. The union produced 11 children, of whom only two lived past their infancy. Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias, died a few days before his 17th birthday, and Maria Teresa, who went on to marry Louis XIV. In 1621, upon the birth of the couple's first child, Philip and Elisabeth had ascended the throne of Spain following the death of Philip III of Spain. However, the immediate death of their eldest daughter Maria Margarita, who was born prematurely, cast a shadow over the Philip IV was a pleasure-hungry ruler who had several mistresses and numerous illegitimate children. It is very likely that Philip had transmitted a venereal disease to Elisabeth, which he had contracted from one of his mistresses. This disease, alongside the fact that her husband was the product of serious inbreeding, could explain her numerous miscarriages. Elisabeth mourned the deaths of her children in silence, and her grief was only strengthened by the knowledge that her husband's mistresses succeeded where she failed. While Elisabeth was renowned for her beauty, intelligence and noble personality, which made her very popular with the Spanish people, her husband, although not lacking in intelligence, nevertheless preferred to leave the reins of power to his Prime Minister Olivares, who distracted the king further with possible mistresses in order to make sure the king devoted himself more to pleasure than to politics. Elisabeth opposed the Duke of Olivares, who was her rival for influence over the king and politics. Olivares blocked Elisabeth's attempts to gain influence over politics. When Elisabeth once advised the king on political matters, Olivares told the king that monks existed only to offer prayers and women only to bear children. However, Elisabeth's role started to change when domestic and foreign political problems arose. When Spain entered the Thirty Years' War, which for Spain was primarily directed against France, all French property in Spain was confiscated, and Elisabeth demonstrated her Spanish patriotism by selling her jewels to finance Spanish troops. She showed a deep loyalty to her new country, unlike her sister-in-law, Anne of Austria, Queen of France, who, due to her disastrous relationship with her husband Louis XIII, continued to feel like a Spanish princess and schemed with Spanish family members until the birth of her first child. When the Catalan Revolt broke out in 1640, Elisabeth advocated that the king should personally lead the army into battle, as part of her ambition to have the king take control of politics away from Olivares. Elisabeth was appointed to act as regent in his absence, while Olivares would accompany the king. She is described as an efficient and energetic regent who brought more vitality to the council meetings than there had been seen for years. Elisabeth gained great popularity by visiting the military barracks and regiments of the capital and making patriotic speeches and collections for the benefit of the soldiers. The reports she sent to Philip are described as forceful and courageous, and are said to have given him great respect for his wife's political talents. When the king returned to Madrid in late 1642, Elisabeth staged a coup against Olivares. She had rallied an organized opposition to Olivares, whom the public blamed for the wars. Given that both Catalonia and Portugal had rebelled, she feared that Spain would be dissolved by the wars Olivares was responsible for and her king would become king of Castille only. Elisabeth requested the king to dismiss Olivares. Philip listened to his wife's recommendations and Olivares was dismissed from his post. In the summer of 1643, the king again left Madrid to lead the armies in Catalonia and Elisabeth was appointed acting regent for the second time in his absence. Even during her second regency, she displayed an energy, drive and organizational ability that impressed those around her. Philip was in Aragon when Elisabeth fell ill with an undiagnosed disease in September 1644. On October 6, 1644, Elisabeth of France died at the age of 41 while giving birth to a stillborn son. She was buried in the El Escorial. After her death, her husband married the archduchess Mariana of Austria, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III. One of Elisabeth's great-grandchildren, Philip, duke d'Anjou became king Philip V of Spain. Through him, Elisabeth is an ancestor of today's king Philip VI of Spain.