Princess ''Isabella'' Hedwig Franziska Natalie of Croÿ (27 February 1856 – 5 September 1931) was by birth member of the

House of Croÿ The House of Croÿ () is an old European noble family of princely and historically sovereignty, sovereign rank, which held a seat in the Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire), Imperial Diet from 1486, and was elevated to the rank of Princes of the Holy Ro ...

and by marriage member of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

Biography

Early life and family

Princess Isabella was daughter of Rudolf, 11th Duke of Croÿ (1823–1902) and Princess Natalie of Ligne (1835–1863). Her paternal grandparents were Alfred, 10th Duke of Croÿ (1789–1861) and Princess Eleonore of Salm-Salm (1794–1861). Her maternal grandparents were Eugène, 8th Prince of Ligne (1804–1880) and Nathalie de Trazegnies (1811–1835).

Marriage and issue

She married

Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen (Friedrich Maria Albrecht Wilhelm Karl; 4 June 1856 – 30 December 1936) was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and the Supreme Commander of the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces of the Austro-Hungaria ...

on 8 October 1878. They had eight daughters and one son: * Maria Christina, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1879–1962), married Prince Emanuel of

Salm-Salm The Principality of Salm-Salm (; ) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was located in the present-day French departments of Bas-Rhin and Vosges (department), Vosges; it was one of a number of partitions of Salm (state), Salm. History Salm-Sa ...

* Maria Anna, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1882–1940), married Elias, Duke of Parma * Maria Henrietta, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1883–1956), married Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst * Natalie Maria, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1884–1898) * Stephanie Maria Isabelle, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1886–1890) * Gabriele Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1887–1954) * Isabella, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1888–1973), married Prince Georg of Bavaria * Maria Alice, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1893–1962), married Baron Friedrich von Waldbott-Bassenheim (their daughter Countess Maria Immaculata Waldbott von Bassenheim was the second wife of Count Hans Heribert of Toerring-Jettenbach, son of

Duchess Sophie Adelheid in Bavaria Duchess Sophie in Bavaria (; 22 February 1875 in Possenhofen, Kingdom of Bavaria, Bavaria – 4 September 1957 in Kreuth, West Germany).''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XVI. "Toerring-Jettenbach". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2001, ...

) * Albrecht Franz, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Teschen (1897–1955)

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

In the mid-1890s, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne,

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassination in Sarajevo was the ...

began visiting Isabella and Friedrich's home. At first, it was assumed that he was there to court one of their many daughters. Eventually, it was discovered that in fact he was courting Countess Sophie Chotek von Wognin, lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella and daughter of Austrian ambassador Bohuslav, Count Chotek of Chotkow and Wognin. Isabella became infuriated that Franz Ferdinand had not singled out one of her eight daughters as his bride and future empress; as a result she engaged in a crusade to thwart the marriage of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. Sophie was dismissed from service, thus beginning an ongoing conflict between Friedrich and Franz Ferdinand, who married Sophie in 1900. The marriage was

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

; Sophie was subjected to the indignities of a much lower rank at court than that of her husband, and none of their children could succeed to their father's dynastic honours—all chiefly as a result of Isabella's machinations. A decade later, Isabella created a similar furore when her nephew, Karl, 13th Prince von Croÿ, sought to marry Nancy Leishman, the charming young daughter of John George Alexander Leishman,

United States Ambassador to Germany The United States has had diplomatic relations with the nation of Germany under its various forms of governments and leaders since 1871, and its principal predecessor nation, the Kingdom of Prussia, since 1835. These relations were broken twice ...

, the former president of

Carnegie Steel Carnegie Steel Company was a steel-producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was formed in ...

. The Archduchess felt that Nancy, being an American and a commoner, was not an appropriate spouse for a prince of Croÿ. Karl and Nancy were wed, nonetheless, and their grandson became the Duke of Croÿ.

Death

Archduchess Isabella died on 5 September 1931 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, aged 75. Her body was buried, alongside her husband, in the church of St.Gotthard,

Mosonmagyaróvár Mosonmagyaróvár (; ; also known by other alternative names) is a town in Győr-Moson-Sopron County in northwestern Hungary. It lies close to both the Austrian and Slovak borders and has a population of 32,752 (). Mosonmagyaróvár used ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

Honours

Isabella received the following awards:
Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie
' (1918), Genealogy p. 12 * Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian Order of Elizabeth, ''1901'' (

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) * Dame of the Dame of the Starry Cross, 1st Class (Austria-Hungary) * Order of Merit of the Red Cross, 1st Class with War Decoration (Austria-Hungary) * Dame Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion, with Distinction for Jerusalem (

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

) * Order of the Sun, 2nd Class in Diamonds (

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

) * Dame of the

Order of Queen Maria Luisa The Royal Order of Noble Ladies of Queen Maria Luisa is an Order created by King Charles IV of Spain by royal decree on April 21, 1792, at the request of his wife, Queen Maria Luisa, to reward noble women who distinguished themselves for their ...

, ''30 August 1883'' (

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) * Dame of Honour of the

Order of Theresa The Order of Theresa was an order for noble ladies in the Kingdom of Bavaria. It continues to function today as an honorary society to which belong the princesses of the House of Wittelsbach as well as other ladies from Bavarian noble families. H ...

(

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

) * Dame of the Order of Saint Elizabeth (Kingdom of Bavaria) * Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Civil Merit (

Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria (), also known as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom (), usually known in English as the Kingdom of Bulgaria, or simply Bulgaria, was a constitutional monarchy in Southeastern Europe, which was established on , when the Bulgaria ...

)

Ancestry

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isabella Of Croy, Princess 1856 births 1931 deaths People from Dülmen People from the Province of Westphalia House of Croÿ House of Habsburg-Lorraine Duchesses of Teschen Austrian princesses Hungarian people of Austrian descent