Princess Isabella of Parma

Isabella of Bourbon-Parma (, ; 31 December 1741 – 27 November 1763) was a princess of Parma and infanta of Spain from the House of Bourbon-Parma as the daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma. 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.

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. The loss of her beloved mother, an arranged marriage in which she was unhappy, a court life that did not fit her, and a difficult birth followed closely by two miscarriages and another hard pregnancy all affected her mental health, leading to a depression. She died at the age of 21 from smallpox.

Life

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).

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. 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, whom she had at the age of 14.

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. 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. 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. This time, she did not take her children with her.

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, devastating her daughter, who might have become convinced at this time that she, too, would die young. 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.

Marriage

Background

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. 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. 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. 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 imto be agreeable, to pose as a lover"''.

Wedding

Following a marriage by proxy, Isabella was sent with Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein (1696–1772) to Vienna in late 1760. 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,_she_wrote_that_''"a_kind_of_Distrust.html" "title="erms 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 Distrust">mistrust