Infanta isabella clara eugenia of spain biography

Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia was the most prominent female patron of Jan Brueghel. The infanta was born on August 12, 1566 into the powerful Habsburg family. She was the eldest daughter of King Philip II and his third wife Elisabeth de Valois, who died just two years after Isabella’s birth.

Subsequently, Isabella and her sister Catalina Micaela (one year her junior) were left in the care of Doña Johanna de Jacincourt, the mistress of the robes and in the latter half of Isabella’s life, her close friend. Though little is known about Isabella’s court education, she was reputed to be an adept horseman, skilled with an arquebus, and fluent in Portuguese, all of which skills endeared her to her father.

As the first-born child of King Philip II, Isabella was entitled to rule the Low Countries, but succession laws required that she take on a male consort before claiming her sovereign position.

On April 18, 1599, Isabella was married to her cousin Archduke Albert of Austria with whom she