Elisabeth of France, Queen of Spain
1602 – 1644 · Generation XIII · Consort
Elisabeth (1602 – 1644). Consort. Married Philip in 1615. First wife of Philip IV; daughter of Henry IV of France, sister of Louis XIII. Born at Fontainebleau to Henry IV’s second wife, Marie de’ Medici — who reportedly treated her with cold indifference — she grew up at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, especially close to her brother Louis. Her marriage formed half of a Franco-Spanish double match: on Pheasant Island in the Bidassoa in November 1615 she was exchanged for the Infanta Anne, Louis’s bride, and never saw her brother again. Known in Spain as Isabel, she was admired for her beauty and intelligence, but the chief minister Olivares kept her out of politics until the Catalan Revolt. As regent in 1640–42 and again from 1643, she won praise for supplying the troops and pledging her own jewels as security for bank loans, and she was said to have helped bring Olivares down. She died in Madrid of complications from erysipelas; of her eight children only Balthasar Charles and Maria Theresa, later Queen of France, outlived her.
Place in the family
- Elisabeth of France, Queen of Spain married Philip IV of Spain, a great-grandson of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Partners
- Married Philip IV of Spain (1605 – 1665) in 1615 — 2 children together
Children
- Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias (1629 – 1646)
- Maria Theresa of Spain (1638 – 1683)
Life
- 1602 — Born
- 1615 — Married Philip
- 1644 — Died