Die Sforza III: Isabella von Aragon und ihr Hofmaler Leonardo da Vinci
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Elisabeth oder Isabella war das zweite Kind und die älteste Tochter des französischen Königs Heinrich IV. (1553-1610) und seiner zweiten Gattin Maria de' Medici (1575-1642). Über ihre Mutter war sie somit eine Urenkelin des Kaisers Ferdinand I. Sie hatte noch drei Brüder und zwei Schwestern, u. a. den zukünftigen französischen König Ludwig XIII. (1601-1643).
Elisabeths zukünftige Heirat mit dem spanischen Thronfolger Philipp IV. war schon im Jahr 1611 beschlossen worden.
Elisabeth hatte noch zwei jüngere Schwestern: Christine (1606-1663), die zukünftige Herzogin von Savoyen, und Henriette Maria (1609-1669), die zukünftige Königin von England.
Elisabeth wurde am 18. Oktober 1615 mit dem spanischen Thronfolger Philipp [IV.] verheiratet. Sie brachte in ihrer Ehe acht Kinder auf die Welt, von denen nur zwei die frühe Kindheit überlebten, ihr Sohn Baltasar Carlos (1629-1646) und ihre Tochter Maria Teresa (1638-1683).
"Four years after these contracts had been concluded [als die Heiratsverträge zwischen den spanischen und französischen Königshäusern abgeschlossen worden waren, also im Jahr 1615] his Catholic Majesty [König Philipp III.] proceeded to Burgos, where the marriage between Louis XIII. and the Infanta [Anna] was celebrated by proxy; while, at the same time, the Prince of Asturias [Philipp IV.] was united to his bride [Elisabeth von Frankeich] by the performance of a similar ceremony at Bourdeaux. The two princesses were exchanged with much pomp, and a great attendance of Grandees, on the banks of the Bidassoa, which separates the two kingdoms. The new Princess of Asturias was received at Burgos by the King of Spain, and was thence conducted in full state to Madrid. In the reception of the princess, destined one day to become their queen, the Spanish grandees surpassed all their former exhibitions of a similar description, by the splendour of their processions and equipages; while the populace in the different towns through which she passed, greeted her arrival amongst them, by bullfights, illuminations. and masquerades." (in: John Dunlop: Memoirs of Spain – During the reign of Philip IV. and Charles II. From 1621 to 1700, Vol 1, id., p. 7).
"Both Philip [Elisabeths Gatte] and his wife Isabel [Elisabeth wurde in Spanien "Isabella" oder "Isabel" genannt] were indefatigable in their pursuit of pleasure, in which their tastes agreed. The two main amusements were the theatre and the devotional celebrations in churches and monasteries... Not only was she an ardent lover of the bull-fight ... nocturnal tumults would be provoked for her amusement in the gardens of Aranjuez or other palaces; and it is related that, when she was in one of the grated aposentos of a public theatre, snakes or noxious reptiles would be secretly let loose upon the floor or in the cazuela, to the confusion and alarm of the spectators, whilst the gay red-cheeked young Queen would almost laugh herself into fits to see the stampede." (in: Martin Hume: The Court of Philip IV. - Spain in Decadence. London 1907, p. 144/149-150).
Im März 1644 war Elisabeth von Bourbon noch einmal schwanger geworden, aber sie verlor das Kind (Fehlgeburt) und wurde krank. Ihr Gatte war in dieser schwierigen Zeit in Aragon, um den Krieg gegen die Franzosen zu organisieren. "Philip was still rejoicing over the capture of the important city of Lerida at the middle of August 1644, and the relief of Tattagona in September, when ill news came to him of his wife's health. ... Messengers were sent to the King, whilst the doctors, as was their wont, bled the patient copiously until they had left her bloodless, thought with symptoms which now would be recognised at once as those of diphtheria. Then, in their desperation, the dead body of St. Isidore the Husbandman and the sainted image of the Atocha were brought to the palace; though the dying woman protested that she was unworthy to have them brought to her bedside. But the inflammation of the throat increased, notwithstanding all the charms of the Church and the prayers of young Baltasar Carlos [her son], who was devotedly attached to his mother. There was no church nor convent in Madrid that did not bring out in procession its crucifixes and most sacred images in prayer for the Queen's restoration to health ... On the 5th October the Queen tried to make a new will, but she was too weak to sign it, and only left verbal testamentary instructions before witnesses for the King to be informed of her wishes. At noon that day she sent for a fleur de lys which formed one of the ornaments of the crown, and in which there was a fragment of the true Cross. This she worshipped fervently, and her two children, Baltasar Carlos and Maria Teresa, were brought to her; but she would not suffer them to approach her for fear of infection, though she blessed them fervently from a distance. The next day, at a quarter past four in the afternoon, stout-hearted loyal Isabel of Bourbon breathed her last, aged 41." (in: Martin Hume: The Court of Philip IV. - Spain in Decadence, id., pp. 392-393).
Philipp IV. schrieb an die Äbtissin Maria von Agreda anlässlich des Todes seiner Gattin Folgendes: "I find myself in the most oppressed state of sorrow possible ... for I have lost in one person everything that can be lost in this world; and if I did not know, according to the faith that I profess, that the Lord disposes for us what is best, I do not know what would become of me." (in: Martin Hume: The Court of Philip IV. - Spain in Decadence, id., p. 395).
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