Isabella Clara of Austria
Isabella Clara of Austria (born August 12, 1629 in Innsbruck , † February 24, 1685 in Mantua ) was an Archduchess of Austria and by marriage Duchess of Mantua . From 1665 to 1669 she was regent of the duchy for her son.
Life
Isabella Clara was a daughter of Archduke Leopold V of Austria-Tyrol (1586-1632) from his marriage to Claudia de 'Medici (1604-1648), daughter of Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany . Her sister Maria Leopoldine was by her marriage to Ferdinand III. Roman-German Empress since 1648. Isabella Clara was considered gentle and pious but also not very graceful and intellectually inferior.
She married Duke Carlo II Gonzaga of Mantua (1626-1665) on November 7, 1649 . The marriage was for purely political reasons. At the time of his marriage, Carlo had a long-lasting love affair with Margareta Casalasco della Rovere. After Isabella Clara became aware of this connection, she managed, with the involvement of Pope Alexander VII , to have Margaret removed to Rome. The relationship between the couple remained cool, however, and Isabella Clara began a relationship with Count Carlo Bulgarini.
After the sudden death of her husband, Isabella Clara became regent of the Duchy of Mantua for her son in 1665. She made her lover Bulgarini prime minister. The reign was considered successful and even after her son reached the age of majority, she stood by his side in an advisory capacity. She also arranged his marriage to the heiress of the Duchy of Guastalla .
Due to the publicly scandalous "bullying" of the Dowager with the baptized Jew Bulgarini, but more because the couple pursued a policy that was increasingly independent of Austria, Emperor Leopold I was forced to intervene in 1671. As a special envoy, he sent Gottlieb Amadeus von Windisch-Graetz to Mantua and Isabella Clara fled to the Ursulines , Bulgarini to the Dominicans . Both Bulgarini and Isabella Clara were exiled to the monasteries to which they had both fled by imperial order.
Isabella Clara remained under the name Magdalena II until the end of her life in the convent of the Ursulines and died in the reputation of the highest piety. She was buried in the monastery church of the convent.
progeny
From their marriage, Isabella Clara had a son:
- Carlo II (1652–1708), Duke of Mantua
- ⚭ 1. 1670 Princess Anna Elizabeth Gonzaga of Guastalla (1655–1703)
- ⚭ 2. 1704 Princess Susanne Henriette of Lorraine-Guise (1686–1710)
literature
- Constantin von Wurzbach : Elisabeth also Isabella Clara von Oesterreich . No. 77. In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 6th part. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1860, p. 178 ( digitized version ).
- Johann Samuel Publication: Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste , Volume 74, P. 171, J. f. Gleditsch, 1862
- Bernardino Biondelli: The last of the Gonzaga family as dukes of Mantua , Verlag von Neuse, 1863, p. 156 ff.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich Benedikt: The Austrians in Italy 1700 to 1866 , Verlag Herold, 1964, p. 142
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 21, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Isabella Clara of Austria |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Archduchess of Austria, by marriage Duchess of Mantua |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 12, 1629 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | innsbruck |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 24, 1685 |
| Place of death | Mantua |