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Princess Isabella of Parma

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Isabella of Parma
Archduchess of Austria
A young woman wearing an ornate silver dress, with a white bow around her neck. Her short hair is powdered white, with black lace braided into it and a pink rose on top of her head. She is looking into the distance and holding flowers.
Portrait by Jean-Marc Nattier
Born31 December 1741
Buen Retiro Palace, Madrid, Spain
Died27 November 1763(1763-11-27) (aged 21)
Hofburg, Vienna, Austria
Burial
Maria Theresa Vault, Imperial Crypt, Capuchin Church, Vienna, Austria
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1760)​
Issue
Names
Spanish: Isabel María Luisa Antonieta Fernanda Josefa Javiera Dominica Juana de Borbón-Parma
German: Isabella Maria Luise Antonia Ferdinanda Josepha Xaveria Dominika Johanna von Bourbon-Parma French: Isabelle Marie Louise Antoinette Ferdinande Josèphe Xavière Dominique Jeanne de Bourbon
HouseHouse of Bourbon-Parma (by birth)
House of Habsburg-Lorraine (by marriage)
FatherPhilip, Duke of Parma
MotherLouise Élisabeth of France
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Isabella of Bourbon-Parma (Spanish: Isabel María Luisa Antonieta Fernanda Josefa Javiera Dominica Juana de Borbón-Parma, German: Isabella Maria Luise Antonia Ferdinanda Josepha Xaveria Dominika Johanna von Bourbon-Parma; 31 December 1741[1] – 27 November 1763[2]) was a princess of Parma[3] and infanta of Spain from the House of Bourbon-Parma as the daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma.[1] She became an archduchess of Austria and princess of Bohemia and Hungary in 1760 by her marriage to Archduke Joseph of Austria, the future Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.[4]

Although her husband loved her, she did not fully return his feelings and found more fulfillment in her (likely romantic, possibly sexual) relationship with her sister-in-law, Archduchess Maria Christina.[5] The loss of her beloved mother,[1] an arranged marriage in which she was unhappy, a court life that did not fit her,[5] and a difficult birth followed closely by two miscarriages and another hard pregnancy[1] all affected her mental health, leading to a depression.[6] She died at the age of 21 from smallpox.[2]

Life

Two toddlers, one in white and the other in white and gold in front of a red background, playing with a small dog.
Isabella (right) with her cousin Maria Isabella Anna of Naples and Sicily (1743–1749) on The Family of Philip V by Louis Michel van Loo.

Early life

The Infanta Isabel María Luisa Antonieta Fernanda Josefa Javiera Dominica Juana of Spain was born on 31 December 1741 at Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid, Spain as the first child of the Infante Philip of Spain (1720–1765) and his wife, born Princess Louise Élisabeth of France, Madame Royale (1727–1759).[1]

Isabella's parents were first cousins once removed with an age difference of almost seven years, Louise Élisabeth being only 12 years old when she married then-19-years-old Philip. She considered it beneath her, the firstborn daughter of the king of France, to marry anyone who was not a monarch or an heir apparent, and Philip was only the third son of his father. She also had a contentious relationship with her mother-in-law Queen Elisabeth, the de facto ruler of Spain.[7] Because of the unhappy marriage of her parents, Isabella remained an only child for ten years but eventually had two siblings. As a result of these factors, Louise Élisabeth had a very close relationship with her daughter,[citation needed] whom she had at the age of 14.

A young, short-haired girl in a white gown with red and golden embellishments and lace, standing before a landscape.
Isabella in 1749, at the age of 7 on a portrait by Jean-Marc Nattier.

For the first seven years of her life, she was raised at the Madrid court of his paternal grandfather, Philip V, King of Spain. Between December 1748 and December 1749, she spent a year in Versailles when her mother visited her family.[8] Following the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, her father became the Duke of Parma, a title formerly belonging to the House of Farnese, his mother's family.[3] This made Isabella a princess of Parma and a member of the new House of Bourbon-Parma. She arrived in her new home with her mother in December 1749. When Louise Élisabeth's twin sister Princess Henriette of France (1727–1752) died in early 1752, Isabella's mother visited her grave in the Basilica of Saint-Denis, spending almost a year in France and returning to Parma in October 1753.[9] This time, she did not take her children with her.[10]

In September 1757, the Duchess of Parma and her daughter travelled to Versailles again to participate in the ongoing negotiations between France and the Habsburg monarchy. It was during this time that her mother arranged Isabella's marriage with the Archduke Joseph of Austria (1741–1790), the eldest son and heir of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor(1708–1765) and Empress Maria Theresa, ruler of the Habsburg monarchy (1717–1780). While still in the French royal court, Louise Élisabeth caught smallpox and died on 6 December 1759, at the age of 32,[11] devastating her daughter, who might have become convinced at this time that she, too, would die young.[1] This belief was only strengthened by a prediction Isabella received from a Romani woman in Parma, who told her that she would only live for a few more years, and might have said that she would not reach her 22nd birthday.[12]

Marriage

Background

A family sitting in a luxurious salon. The mother, a middle-aged woman in white, is sitting in the front-left, next to her is the father in brown with golden embroidery. Behind them and on their right is Isabella in light purple, showing her father a drawing. On the other side of the couple are two small children playing with a sword, a boy in blue and a girl in yellow. An older woman, the governess of the children is also visible from the back in the far-right of the picture.
Isabella (standing, in a light purple dress) with her family in 1757, at the age of 16.

Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress followed a marriage policy intending to strengthen the relationship between the Houses of Bourbon and Habsburg. Influenced by his maîtresse-en-titre Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764) Louis XV, King of France (1710–1774) also decided to shift alliances and join forces with Austria against England and Prussia.[13] When Maria Theresa's eldest son and heir, the Archduke Joseph (1741–1790) reached the right age, he was presented with a list and portraits of marriageable princesses fitting his mother's goals. He chose the Infanta Isabella, who had been endorsed by the Austrian ambassador to France, the Count of Mercy-Argentau.[6] He mostly relied on the opinions of his strong-willed mother and was not enthusiastic about marrying because of his low opinion of women. After the betrothal, the two courts decided to wait for some time so that the young couple could mature.[13] Shortly before the wedding, Joseph wrote to a friend that he would do everything to win his bride's respect and trust, but that he considered it "impossible for [him] to be agreeable, to pose as a lover".[14]

Wedding

Wedding festivities as depicted by van Meytens
A giant hall with gilded white walls with a table with three branches in the middle, surrounded by a crowd. Four people are sitting under a tall golden canopy, the rest next to two longer branches. Most people are standing. The chandeliers and the ceiling is decorated with pink and white flowers and green leaves, and a band in red is playing from two balconies..
The public wedding supper and banquet in the Redoute Wing of the Hofburg. Only the imperial family is seated, with the emperor and the empress in the middle, Joseph on their right and Isabella on the left.
A giant audience looking on a stage which is not visible. They are all wearing colourful dresses. The chandeliers and the ceiling is decorated with pink and white flowers and green leaves,
A serenade in the same place. The imperial family is seated in the first row with a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In reality, the composer was not present at the time, only arriving in Vienna two years later, in 1762.

Following a marriage by proxy, Isabella was sent with Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein (1696–1772) to Vienna in late 1760.[14] They travelled from Parma through the Alps, were greeted at the border by the widowed Countess Miklós Erdődy, born Countess Antónia Battyhány of Németújvár, her newly appointed Oberhofmeisterin and reached a castle near Vienna at the end of September, where they were received by her future father-in-law, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. They travelled together to Laxenburg castles where they met the rest of the imperial family. Isabella charmed almost all of them. Her groom, who had previously declared multiple times that he was more afraid of marriage than of battles, reportedly turned red upon seeing her and now could not wait for the wedding.[15]

Countless carriages and horsemen are marching in front of a Viennese landscape.
An allegoric depiction of the wedding procession by Martin van Meytens. The square shown here did not exist, houses were left off the picture to better showcase the procession.

The emperor, the empress, the archdukes and the archduchesses were also enchanted by her, one of them, Maria (Christina) (1742–1798) writing that she did not know anyone as attractive as Isabella and that she had "beautiful eyes and hair, a pretty mouth, and a delightfully shaped bosom".[15] The only person who disliked her was the eldest archduchess, Maria Anna (1738–1789), who had been the first lady of the court after the empress, but was now displaced by Isabella. She was also jealous of her being instantly adored by everyone, while she had always been slighted by her family.[16]

After arriving in Vienna, Isabella was accommodated in the Belvedere,[17] separate from her new family in line with the strict etiquette forbidding brides from spending the night in the same house as their grooms.[15] The wedding took place on 6 October. The guests went to the Augustinekirche [4] in 120 gilded carriages, riding among a cheering crowd, with musicians playing on every corner.[15] The wedding was celebrated by the apostolic nuncio Vitaliano Borromeo (1720–1793).[4]

Following the ceremony, there was a display of decorative lighting in Vienna at night, with almost 3000 lanterns burning between the Hofburg and the Stephansdom and the same amount of white wax candles in two lines, complete with many torches in the courtyard of the palace. At night, there was a public banquet at the Hofburg, where the pure golden tableware brought to Vienna as part of Isabella's dowry was used. The festival surrounding the wedding lasted for days and was commemorated in a series of paintings by Martin van Meytens, and can be viewed in the Hall of Ceremonies in Schönbrunn Palace as of 2022.[18] All of this was organised despite the ongoing Seven Years' War (1756–1763) draining the treasury, as Maria Theresa wished to distract attention and display the wealth of her empire.[19]

120 expensive carriages of different kinds came slowly, embellished with horses of rare beauty and build, gold and silver tacks, numerous gentlemen in beautiful, pretty attire going next to them and before them, and especially with the gala dresses of the princes and counts who sat in them (...)
[The bride's] middling, attractive stature, her black eyes, eyebrows and her hair, frilled with rare craftsmanship, her coronal laden with precious stones, her dress made of silver material and her faint pink cheeks attracted the eyes of all.

— György Rettegi of Kisbudak, The Notes of György M. Rettegi, 1759–67, [20]

Married life and relationship with her husband

A bedroom with a young woman in white laying on the pink, canopy bed. A man in a gray coat is sitting next to her, leaning towards her. A woman in white is seated in the middle, nursing a swaddled baby, with a young woman in blue looking on. Next to them is a crib.
Joseph at Isabella's bedside after the birth of their daughter Maria Theresa.

While Joseph fell in love with Isabella and was a good, attentive husband, she did not fully reciprocate his feelings. It quickly became apparent to everyone at court that while Joseph was deeply in love and showered his wife with signs of his affection, she remained reserved towards him. As an archduchess, it was her duty to produce an heir as quickly as possible, and everyone except for her was delighted when she became pregnant in late 1761.[5]

A young, blonde girl in a greenish-blue dress and a white cap. Her dress is embellished with white lace, greenish-blue bows and golden embroidery.
Isabella's daughter, Maria Theresa.

Her pregnancy was especially difficult with many physical symptoms accompanied by depression and a lingering fear of death. This was only worsened by her inexperienced husband not understanding her problems.[21] On 20 March 1762, she gave birth to a daughter, Archduchess Maria Theresa (1762–1770), named after her paternal grandmother. The court rejoiced at the birth of the imperial couple's first grandchild, and Joseph especially adored the baby.[22] She remained bedridden for six weeks after the complicated delivery.[citation needed] Soon, she was pregnant again, miscarrying in August 1762, once more in January 1763, and then for a third time. These pregnancies deepened her depression, which in turn eroded her will to live. Her death anxiety was aggravated by the well-known risks of pregnancy.[1]

Relationship with Archduchess Maria Anna

A young woman in a red-and-pink dress with lace. Her hair is uncovered and powdered white, and she is wearing a greenish-blue bow around her neck.
Marianna in 1762 in a portrait by Jean-Étienne Liotard.

While most of her family loved and respected her, her relationship with her eldest sister-in-law, the Archduchess Maria Anna "Marianna" (1738–1789) only deteriorated. Isabella was beautiful, while everyone considered Marianna to be the least attractive among her sisters; she was lovely and charming, while Marianna was always ignored by her mother and siblings.[23] The infanta was also very intelligent, and the sciences had been Marianna's refuge, something she shared with her father the Emperor Francis – who now also adored Isabella. The Spanish princess was even a better singer and violinist than the archduchess. Marianna considered Isabella a rival and greeted her coldly, hardly even extending her hand upon their first meeting.[16]

Marianna's coldness, motivated by jealousy and a feeling of inferiority deeply hurt Isabella and she decided not to trust her. She considered her a born schemer, a false, duplicitous, and hypocritical person.[16] It seems like Marianna was the only one to at least suspect the lesbian love affair between Isabella and Marie, and she spied on them. In many letters by Isabella to Marie, she warned her to take care to keep their notes safe from Marianna, and her short dissertation titled The Lure of False Friendship was clearly about her. The two women exchanged hugs, kisses, and compliments in public.[24] Their coldness, slowly turning into hostility,[25] worsened the already distant relationship between Marianna and Joseph, and after Isabella's death Joseph never forgave Marianna for not loving his wife.[26] As emperor and head of the family, he often used his power to take revenge on her.[24]

Death and aftermath

According to the custom introduced by Maria Theresa, the imperial court spent summers in Schönbrunn. In 1763, warm weather lasted so long that they only returned to the Hofburg on 14 November.[27] In that year, it was recorded that Isabella did not want to travel back, even at that late time.[28] She was heavily pregnant, and her fateful 22nd birthday was in less than two months. Reports of smallpox cases were made around Vienna. Only a few days after arriving in the city, on 18 November, Isabella developed a fever, and it soon became clear that she had caught the disease. The fever induced labour three months early, and on 22 November, she gave birth to a second daughter. The baby was baptised Maria Christina, as Isabella had requested, but died the same day.[2]

Three grey, ornamental sarcophagi standing next to each other, with a fourth underneath the one in the centre.
Isabella's tomb (center), with that of her daughter Christina underneath. In the foreground is the sarcophagus of her older daughter Maria Theresa ,and in the background that of Joseph's second wife, Josepha.

Following the birth, Isabella was rarely conscious. The odour coming from her bedroom was so strong that most people could not pass its door, but Joseph stayed by her side and took care of her without a break. On 26 November, the doctors had to tell him that Isabella was agonising, and she died on the next day at dawn, one month and three days before her 22nd birthday. As her body was still infectious, it was buried quickly without an autopsy or embalming,[2] and placed in the Maria Theresa Vault of the Imperial Crypt.[29] The tomb of her daughter Archduchess Christina was placed beneath hers, and an unusually long mourning period of 3 months was ordered by the empress.[2]

This tragedy, along with the death of smallpox of three or four of the imperial children and the suffering most family members underwent because of the disease contributed to Maria Theresa's 1768 decision to have younger members of the family variolated, and the subsequent acceptance of the practice in Austria.[30]

Impact on her husband

Joseph was devastated by her death and never fully recovered.[31] He nevertheless remarried on the insistence of his mother in 1765 to Princess and Duchess (Maria) Josepha of Bavaria (1739–1767). They lived in a miserable, loveless and childless marriage for two years before she also died of smallpox.[32] He adored his only child, Maria Theresa, who died in 1770, at the age of 7, of pleurisy.[33] While the love he had felt for his wife brought forward his more positive attributes, he closed off to the world after her death. He became even more sarcastic, easily irritable and often unreasonably aggressive than before their marriage.[33]

I have lost everything, my wife worthy of worship, object of my every tenderness, my only girlfriend is no more. In my pain and despair, I do not even know how to go on living. What an abhorrent separation! Will I survive it? If yes, then only to be unhappy for the rest of my life. (...) My (...) consolation is that, as long as my spouse was alive, I fulfilled my every duty towards her, for which she paid with tender friendship. I never left her side, neither at day, not at night, and I was more dead than alive as I watched her breath out her beautiful soul, of which I know with certainty that it feels better up there than us down here.

— Archduke Joseph of Austria, in a letter to her father-in-law Ferdinand, Duke of Parma

Writings

Isabella left many writings from the time of her marriage, contemplating and analysing her live, her philosophy and the state of the world around her. Influenced by the Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 1762 treatise Emile, or On Education (Émile, ou De l'éducation), she wrote her own Réflexions sur l'éducation ("Reflections on Education"), describing a pedagogy based on Enlightenment philosophies. In her Christian Reflections, which was published after Maria Theresa's death, she contemplated many religious questions and especially death. She was also planning a longer study titled On the Customs of Peoples, but could only write the part about Ancient Egyptians before her early death. In another, shorter dissertation, she summarised the Viennese court's efforts to join the Habsburg monarchy into world trade.[34] Another short dissertation titled The Lure of False Friendship was clearly about her sister-law Marianna, with whom she had a hostile relationship.[35]

The Fate of Princesses

A young woman in a simple white dress with a light blue coat is sitting next to a gilded table with fruits on it. Her hair is powdered white with black lace braided into it. A toddler in a light pink dress is running near her, with a small black dog and a white parrot.
Isabella with her daughter Maria Theresa.

One of Isabella's writings is a study titled The Fate of Princesses, in which she wrote that she was the "victim of the a minister's unfortunate policies", clearly alluding to State Chancellor Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg, Maria Theresa's main advisor who played an important role in the arrangement of the Habsburg-Bourbon marriages. She criticised the idea of allying countries through marriages, saying that this cannot lead to a lasting alliance.[34]

What could a prince's daughter expect? (...) Already at birth she is exposed to the prejudices of the people; she was created to endure all that false honour and rules of etiquette which, in the eyes of the world, her rank deserves (...) Because of her position she cannot get to know the people living around her, her rank, which bears not the slightest advantage for her, deprives her of the greatest pleasure of life, to which everyone else has a right: company (...) She must live in the world, but has no one, neither friends, nor acquiaintances with whom she could talk.(...)
In the end, they want to marry her off. She is therefore condemned to leave everything behind, family, homeland – and for whose sake? For a stranger whose thinking and character she does not know and for a family who might look at her with jealousy, but in the best case with suspicion.

— Archduchess Isabella of Austria, The Fate of Princesses, [36]

Traité sur les hommes

Two young men with hair powdered white, one in white-and-red, the other in black-and-gold military uniforms standing next to a statue of a Greek or Roman goddess.
Her husband Joseph (right) with his brother Leopold in 1769 on a portrait by Pompeo Batoni.

Isabella wrote a highly critical piece examining the status and behaviour of men in highly patriarchal contemporary European society, titled Traité sur les hommes ("Treaty on Men"). She argued that women were at least as good and capable as men if not better and mocked the male gender. Somewhat humourously, she described men as "useless animals" only existing to "do bad things, be impatient, and create confusion". Based on her experiences, she concluded that men "deprived of feelings, only loved themselves". In her opinion, men are born to think but instead spend their lives "with entertainment, yelling, playing heroes, running up and down, in other words, doing nothing but what flatters his vanity or requires no thought of him".

She summarised why, in her opinion, men were nevertheless above women in society in a list: firstly, so that their "faults can make [women's] virtues shine brighter", secondly to become better every day, and, thirdly, "to be endured in the world, from which, if they did not hold all power in their hands, they would be exiled entirely". In conclusion, Isabella argued that the "slavery" of women is caused by men feeling that women are superior to them.[35][37]

Conseils à Marie

In what could be called her last will and testament, Isabella wrote a long letter to her sister-in-law and possible lover, Archduchess Maria (Christina). This was a part of her preparation for death, as she was certain that she would die young and even looked forward to this. The Conseils à Marie ("Advice to Maria") consisted mostly of descriptions of their family members, including Maria Theresa and Joseph. In her view, her husband was "not primarily emotional" and viewed usual expressions of love such as [terms of endearment or hugs to be mere flattery or even hypocrisy. She described her father-in-law Emperor Francis as an honourable and good-hearted man on whom one can rely as a true friend, but someone who is prone to listening to bad advisors. Of Empress Maria Theresa, she wrote that "a kind of mistrust and seeming coldness" is mixed in her love for her children. She stated that her death will not be a great loss for her mother-in-law, but will nevertheless cause her pain and that she will "transfer all of the friendship she feels for [Isabella] to [Maria]".[38]

Relationship with Archduchess Maria Christina

A young woman in a simple white dress with a black apron and a white cap is sitting before a background of small paintings. She is weaving on a small loom.
Marie in a self-portrait from 1765.

Her sister-in-law, Archduchess Maria Christina "Marie" or "Mimi" (1742–1798) was Isabella's best friend and closest, if not only confidante in Vienna. She was the third surviving child of the imperial couple, less than five months younger than Isabella. She was the favourite child of the empress, intelligent and artistically inclined just like Isabella. The two quickly developed a very close relationship[39] and spent so much time together that they earned a comparison with Orpheus and Eurydice.[40] Despite living in the same place, they exchanged countless letters and small notes in French. Only those written by Isabella have survived, those of Marie were burned after her death, but even these amount to more than 200.[32] In the beginning of their relationship, she addressed Marie formally and called her "my dear sister", then "my dear heart", even later "my precious angel", "my worshipped sister", "my precious and holy sister", "the most excellent of all creatures", and "divine beauty".[41]

The two women agreed on dates in hidden places and Isabella even wrote short notes to Marie during mass. In her letters, there are many sentences such as "I kiss all that you let me kiss", "I kiss your archangelic little ass", or saying that her face is ill but "[Marie's] favourite place [is] not". About her feelings, she declared that "I worship you. If you did not exist (...) all that would remain for me would be to jump into the Danube. (...) As a saint or in a satanic way, but I love you and will love you till the grave". The two women gifted each other contemporary toilets, chairs with a hole under which chamber pots could be placed, and Isabella commented that she hoped Marie would think of her each time she used it. If the weather kept Joseph from going on a hunt, the sisters-in-law cancelled their date in hurried, disappointed notes.[42]

While earlier historians dismissed the heated language of these letters as a fashionable, overly emotional expression of friendly love, later it became consensus that the two had a secret lesbian affair.[39] Hans Bankl, who analysed the letters, concluded: "The wife of the heir to the throne was in love, and, as she wrote, "à la rage", to the point of madness. Only, not with her husband but with his sister".[43] It seems that Marie was the great love of Isabella's life, who was not romantically or sexually attracted to her husband.[44] From what remains, Marie looks to have been more reserved, despite returning her feelings. This inequality made Isabella unhappy in the relationship,[citation needed] while their shared perception of homosexuality as sinful led to feelings of guilt. Moreover, Isabella felt guilty because she did not completely return the love of her husband and properly fulfill her duty as a wife.[45] This worsened her depression and convinced her that the only solution was death.[14] She wrote to Marie that "only the Almighty knows how gladly I would part with this life in which grievance is inflicted upon Him daily".[46]

After Isabella's death

There is no record of Marie's reaction to Isabella's death.[47] In 1766, she married Prince Albert Casimir of Saxony (1738–1822). She was the only one of the empress' children to choose her own spouse and marry for love.[48] After her death, a miniature of Isabella and her daughter Maria Theresa was found in Marie's prayer book. On its back, she had written the date and cause of Isabella's death and that she was her best and truest friend. She finished the note saying "this woman was endowed with all conceivable virtues, attractiveness, and advantageous properties. She lived as an angel and died as an angel".[47]

"I am writing to you again, cruel sister, though I have only just left you. I cannot bear waiting to know my fate and to learn whether you consider me a person worthy of your love (...) I cannot tolerate this uncertainty, I can think of nothing but that I love you madly. If only I knew why this is so, for you are so cruel that one should not love you, but I cannot help myself."
"I still love you madly and I hope that I can kiss you thoroughly and you will kiss me back. (...) you will eat dinner with me, and in this case there will be no cercle or games tonight. I can report that I burn with impatience to die on your bosom. (...) Farewell, I kiss you, and I worship you with such passion that I cannot express it with words, I am just trembling before your feet."
"I am told that the day begins with God. I, however, begin the day by thinking of the object of my love for I think of her incessantly. I start my days with thinking of the object of my love and I end it with occupying myself with the being who never leaves my thoughts."
"Believe me: my dearest, even my only joy is if I can see you and be with you (...) I cannot think of anything other than my love for you. I love you like a madwoman, if only I knew why!"

— Excerpts from letters by Isabella to Marie that point to a love affair between them, [49][50][14]

Personality and appearance

Four children around a table, a toddler in a blue dress on the left, a young teenager in pink seated and drawing, on her right a girl stands and helps her. A 6-year-old boy in a white-and-red military uniform is standing on the right with a book.
Isabella's daughter Maria Theresa (on the left) with her youngest paternal aunts and uncle, (Maria) Carolina (1752–1814), (Maria) Antonia (1755–1793), and Maximilian (Francis) (1756–1801) in 1763 on a portrait by Martin van Meytens.

Isabella was a very intelligent and well-educated woman especially interested in philosophy, morality, music, history, physics, and metaphysics.[45] She was also artistically inclined, painted, drew, sang, played the violin (something rare even among men), and wrote poems and studies.[51] She also studied mechanics, worked on various machinery, and enjoyed doing sports.[52] The imperial court and even her husband, who had previously viewed chatting with women an empty pastime,[53] considered her a witty conversationalist. Despite her shy and reserved nature, she managed to fit in everywhere and be liked by most people. She observed others consciously and analysed their personalities.[14] When her best friend and possible lover, Archduchess Maria (Christina) wrote a description of Isabella, she mentioned being biased in favour of those she loved and changing her opinions reluctantly among her negative traits. She also stated that Isabella liked to "torture" people, but that once she had reached her goal and upset them she was devastated.[54] Her physical appearance was the opposite of fashionable among noble ladies: she had olive skin and short hair.[6]

Depression

Isabella was melancholic, as depression was known in the 18th century. Despite her usual liveliness and love of sports, she had sudden periods of being unable to move and sitting in her place staring in front of herself.[6] It has been suggested by Ursula Tamussino that her depression was hereditary as both of her grandfathers (Philip V of Spain and Louis XV of France) suffered from the same illness. Burdened by her marriage, difficult pregnancies and homosexual desires, she became suicidal. She admitted to Maria that she would feel "great temptation" to commit suicide if it was not forbidden by the church. As reasons for this she listed that she felt she was good for nothing, only did bad things, and saw no way for her salvation.[55] By 1763, her yearning for death reached the extent that she declared to have heard a voice telling her that the end is near, which put her in a "gentle, peaceful, festive mood", encouraged her to do anything and gave her a "mysterious power over [herself]".[56]

Issue

Isabella had five known pregnancies during the three years of her marriage to Archduke Joseph. Three of these ended in a miscarriage and the two live births produced two daughters, only one of whom survived infancy and neither of whom lived to adulthood.[45]

Name Birth Death Notes
Archduchess Maria Theresa Elizabeth Philippine Louise Josepha Joanna 20 March 1762 23 January 1770 Died at the age of 7 of pleurisy.[33]
Child* August 1762 August 1762 Suffered a miscarriage.
Child* January 1763 January 1763 Suffered a miscarriage.
Child* ? ? Suffered a miscarriage.
Archduchess Maria Christina 22 November 1763 22 November 1763 Born three months premature and died shortly after birth.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Timms 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e Falvai 2012, pp. 34–36.
  3. ^ a b Anderson 1996, p. 198.
  4. ^ a b c Weissensteiner 1995, p. 66.
  5. ^ a b c Falvai 2012, p. 15, 28.
  6. ^ a b c d Falvai 2012, p. 11.
  7. ^ Latour 1927, pp. 221–225.
  8. ^ Latour 1927, pp. 228–229.
  9. ^ Latour 1927, p. 233.
  10. ^ Tamussino 1989, p. 55.
  11. ^ Latour 1927, p. 241.
  12. ^ Falvai 2012, p. 15.
  13. ^ a b Falvai 2012, p. 12.
  14. ^ a b c d e Goldsmith 1935, Chapter Twelve.
  15. ^ a b c d Falvai 2012, pp. 13–14.
  16. ^ a b c Leitner 1994, p. 70.
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  18. ^ "Isabella of Parma". Die Welt der Habsburger. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
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  57. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 96.

Sources

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Journals

  • Torma, Károly (January 1884). Abafi, Lajos; Szokoly, Viktor (eds.). "Rettegi György emlékiratai 1718-1767" [The Memoires of György Rettegi 1718-1767]. Hazánk. Történelmi közlöny. 1. 1884: 378–379. Retrieved 11 June 2022 – via Arcanum Digitális Tudománytár.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

Books

Web pages

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