Elizaveta Valois

Elizabeth Valois was born on April 2, 1545 in Fontainebleau , she was the eldest daughter of Henry II, King of France , and his wife Catherine de Medici . Elizabeth's childhood was marred by an unhappy marriage of parents. At that time, in a small princess, there was a desire to make her marriage and family life harmonious, which she tried with all her might to achieve by being a very short time wife of the Spanish king Philip II .

Parents

Elizabeth's mother, Catherine de Medici , was the only daughter of Duke Lorenzo II of Urbinsk from the Medici family and his wife Madeleine de Latour d'Auvergne , she was born on April 13, 1519 in the Medici Palace in Florence . Madeleine de Latour d'Auvern died two weeks after the birth of her daughter on April 28, 1519 from complications caused by severe childbirth. After the death of her father on May 4, 1519 her uncle, Pope Clement VII , took his niece under his care.

Clement VII had far-reaching plans for Catherine. He offered her as his wife to one of the sons of the King of France, Francis I. The Medici were an Italian merchant family, whose rise to the heights of European aristocratic circles and high ecclesiastical ranks was due to their extraordinary merchant acumen. Francis I finally agreed to marry between Catherine and her second son, Henry , hoping as a result of this union to establish closer contacts with the Vatican and to support the latter in the struggle against Spain. On October 18, 1532, the Pope blessed a young couple, and on October 28, a marriage ceremony took place in Marseilles .

At first, Catherine de Medici felt constrained at the French court, since she was a foreigner and also from a merchant family, which caused many ridicule among the courtiers. In addition, her husband did not pay any attention to her, because even before the wedding he was madly in love with 37-year-old Diane de Poitiers , whom he did first by Countess Saint-Valle, and later by the Duchess Valentinois. The deceived wife remained in the background and learned over time to obey circumstances and to endure.

Their marriage was childless for ten years, and Henry expressed a desire to declare it invalid. At that time Catherine tried to defeat her fruitlessness with all sorts of medical devices and finally wanted to go to the monastery, thus allowing her husband to marry again. Her intentions, however, were not approved by the king, who commanded only to strengthen the medical treatment of his daughter-in-law. These actions bore fruit on January 20, 1544, when Catherine gave birth to her first child, heir to the throne, Francis II . The child was born small, weak and had breathing problems, so everyone was afraid that he would die soon. Catherine was very worried about her son, on whom her entire fate depended in large part. Much to the parents' relief, the baby soon recovered and Catherine gave birth to nine more children in the next 11 years, three of whom died in infancy.

Elizabeth was the second child in the family and was raised with her brothers and sisters. In contrast to her older brother, who grew up very painful, the young princess was quick-witted and inquisitive. In addition, she very soon turned into a beautiful young girl, who with her beauty attracted the attention of contemporaries. Writer Pierre de Bourdelier, Brant , expressed his admiration for the princess:

Elizabeth inherited black hair, dark eyes and high intelligence from her Italian mother. But unlike her mother, Elizabeth had a softer character and more tact in her behavior; she was also distinguished by great piety. Catherine was surprised to find in her daughter those qualities that she lacked and over time they established close trusting relationships, which, after Elizabeth’s marriage, continued in the form of lively correspondence.

The merits of Elizabeth did not go unnoticed at the European courts, and soon numerous candidates began to seek the hand of the daughter of the French king. France was weakened by numerous wars with Spain, so Heinrich and Catherine decided to betray their daughter with the Spanish heir to the throne, Don Carlos, and thus strengthen relations with Spain. However, Philip II unexpectedly, after the death in 1558 of his second wife, Maria I Tudor, the Queen of England, broke off the engagement between his son and Elizabeth and sent Duke Alba as a matchmaker to Elizabeth’s mother, Catherine de Medici.

The French queen was at first puzzled by this unexpected change. However, in the end, she agreed to the engagement of her daughter with the Spanish king, much older in the hope that Elizabeth would be able to influence Spain’s policy in the right direction for France. It is also possible that Catherine heard rumors about the poor physical and mental state of Don Carlos, plying throughout Europe. We have not reached written sources describing the feelings of Elizabeth herself at this eventful time.

As part of the wedding festivities, Elizabeth II’s father Henry II staged a joust on June 30, 1559. Heinrich was an avid tournament fighter, and this day he competed with Count Gabriel de Montgomery . During the battle, his spear bounced off his armor and pierced the king’s eye. He never recovered from such a severe wound and, despite intensive medical assistance, died a few days later on July 10, 1559. The wedding ceremony, marred by a hard struggle for the life of Father Elizabeth, was held by proxy ( Latin per proration ) on July 21, 1559 in Paris. In the role of the groom was the Duke of Alba. From that moment on, death became for Elizabeth and her girlfriend of her youth, Maria Stewart, a constant companion. Six months later, Elizabeth left France in the direction of Spain and arrived after a tiring journey through the Pyrenees to Guadalajara , where she first saw her husband, who was 18 years older than her. Philip II asked his young wife, concerned, when they first met, whether his gray hair and his age were disgusting to her. This marriage took place on February 2, 1560 in Toledo and Elizabeth Valois after Mary of Portugal and Mary I Tudor, Queen of England, became the third wife of King of Spain Philip II.

Early years

The Spanish people called the French princess Isabel de la Paz (Isabel the Peace), because her marriage with King Philip II crowned the long-awaited peace between Spain and France, according to the Kato-Kambrezi treaty. Elizabeth was only 15 years old when she married; all contemporaries admired her beauty. With a dark color of her eyes and hair, a noble face shape, a graceful figure, a white face, elegant manners and fashionable wardrobe, she conquered her spouse, courtiers and all the Spanish people.

At first, in her new homeland, Elizabeth was very homesick and tried to get used to the new role of the Queen of Spain. In February 1560, she fell ill with chickenpox and recovered only after a rather long time. At the end of the year, her weakened body also suffered from smallpox , so the queen spent most of her time in bed. During this period, Philip II, despite the danger of infection, almost did not leave her bed and selflessly courted her. Elizabeth was touched by this attitude of the king and gradually overcame her initial fear of the silent spouse. In subsequent years, until her untimely death, Elizabeth was a confidant for her husband, with whom he discussed many problems, including important political issues.

Venetian ambassador Giovanni Soranzo wrote in his message after visiting the Spanish royal court .

Philip, as described by contemporaries, is a very prudent, cold-blooded and inhospitable person, under the influence of his young wife turned into a cheerful and loving husband, who literally read his wife’s lips all the lips. Elizabeth tried to get rid of her childhood memories of her unhappy parents, create an idyll of family life and be a faithful wife to the king. During the marriage between Elizabeth and Philip, the ossified palace etiquette was softened a bit, and the young queen filled the gloomy Spanish courtyard with life, French lightness and French fashion. Although Philip really loved Elizabeth, family life in his daily routine stood in the background. Fipippus II was a monarch, as they say, soul and body and could spend days on end planning future military campaigns and making important political decisions.

The dream of the heir to the Spanish throne

In the life of Elizabeth came the changes. She had a purpose in life, she felt more and more free in her new role as Queen of Spain. She helped her husband in public affairs and turned more and more from a young French princess into an intelligent, merciful, pious and compassionate Spanish queen, for whom the welfare of the people came first. Catherine, who, before her daughter's marriage, had hoped for Spain’s friendly policy towards France, was shocked by this development and noted in her letters that her daughter had become very Spanish . To which she replied as follows in one of her letters:

Elizabeth concentrated on her role as a spouse and queen and tried with eagerness to fulfill the duties of the Spanish queen. However, the most important task of the queen, namely, the birth of the heir to the throne, she, because of her fragile physique, was never able to fulfill. Elizabeth was pregnant five times. Compared to the rest, her first pregnancy was completely harmless: in April 1560 she gave birth to a son who died a few hours after birth. Elizabeth consoled herself with the thought that she would still have other children. In May 1564, her second pregnancy began, and with her the real torment continued until her death.

In the fourth month, she had a fever, which the Spanish doctors tried to treat with bleeding and turgulation , which were usual at the time. As a result of these treatments, she had a preterm birth and lost two twin girls. After that, Elizabeth stayed between life and death for many days and at times lost consciousness. Frequent illnesses and unsuccessful deliveries did not pass without a trace for her health. She grew more pale, thin, and weak. Despite this, she tried to help her husband in public affairs.

But at the end of 1565, she became pregnant again, and after difficult births, two daughters were born, in 1566, Isabella Clara Eugenia and a year later, Catalina Michaela . At the next pregnancy in the fall of 1568, the queen became ill and had not recovered. On the morning of October 3, she had a premature birth. The child, again the girl, barely had time to christen before death. Elizabeth repeatedly lost consciousness and on the same day she died in the presence of her husband, and did not give him an heir to the throne. She died in Aranjuez and was buried in the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial .

In 1570, Philip II married for dynastic reasons for the fourth time, this time to his niece Anna of Austria , who on April 14, 1578 bore him the long-awaited heir to the throne - Philip III . However, the Spanish monarch did not manage to transfer those deep feelings that he had for his third wife to his fourth spouse as well as to establish close relations with children from his fourth marriage. His two daughters, Isabella Clara Eugene and Katharine Michaela, were his agents, from whom, like his mother, he asked for advice on important political issues.

1. Son (1560).
2. Daughter (1564).
3. Daughter (1564).
4. Isabella Clara Eugene (August 12, 1566 - December 1, 1633), wife of Archduke Albrecht VII , ruler of the Spanish Netherlands .
5. Catalina Michaela (October 10, 1567 - November 6, 1597) is the wife of Carl Emmanuel I of Savoy . From this marriage come the kings of Sardinia and Italy from the Savoy dynasty up to Umberto I. Among the descendants of this pair were the famous commander Prince Eugene of Savoy (male line) and King Louis XV of France (maternal line)
6. Daughter (1568).

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  Isabella Clara Eugene .

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  Catalina Michaela .

According to legend, Elizabeth had a love affair with her stepson, Don Carlos , which inspired Friedrich Schiller to write the drama Don Carlos .

Don Carlos was the eldest legitimate son of Philip II and, thus, heir to the Spanish throne. It is believed that he was mentally and physically ill, probably due to the close relationship of his parents, Philip was a cousin of his first wife, Mary of Portugal . However, there is another assumption that Don Carlos, as a child, fell, while receiving brain damage, which from time to time caused his uncontrollable behavior. Don Carlos was considered capricious, subject to frequent change of mood, painful youths. Philip II was forced to keep him locked up, isolated from the outside world.

Elizabeth spent a lot of time with her stepson, trying to take part in his tragic fate. Over time, young people, in addition to all the same age, a feeling of deep mutual trust. Elizabeth tried to smooth out the deep contradictions that existed between Philip II and Don Carlos, which led to a temporary improvement in the relationship between father and son. Shortly after the birth of her second daughter, she was stunned by the news of the arrest of Don Carlos. Elizabeth took the stepson's conclusion so close to her heart that she locked herself up for a few days in her chambers and cried. Don Carlos died four months before the death of Elizabeth Valois.

Despite the misinterpretation of a possible love relationship between an equal stepmother and her painful stepchild, the connection between them was built on compassion, friendship and kindheartedness, and only later she was given the form of a love affair.

• Martha Walker Freer . Elizabeth de Valois - Queen of Spain and the Court of Philip II. - Bd. 1 und 2. - L. , 1857 ( Volume 1. Online , Volume 2. PDF; 10.6 MB ).