Death of Isabella of Austria
Isabella was born to Philip of Burgundy and his wife Juana “the Mad” of Castile.
Isabella’s family life was unconventional even for the time.
She was left with her father’s step-mother-in-law, and then his sister, while her parents frequently travelled to Spain.
Her father Philip, died when Isabella was only five years old.
Her mother was declared mad and eventually locked up in Castile by Isbella’s grandfather Ferdinand of Aragon.
Isabella was put under the care of her aunt Margaret, at the opulent court in Mechelen.
Her grandfather Maximilian, the Holy Roman Emperor, acted as a father figure in the young Isabella’s life.
When she was fourteen, Isabella became Queen of Denmark, when she was married to King Christian II of Denmark.
The marriage was not happy one for Isabella.
Christian had a mistress called Dyveke, and Isabella soon found that she came second in both her husband’s heart and at court, where she had very little influence.
After Dyveke died, Isabella’s relationship with her husband improved vastly over the next few years, especially when she gave birth to three sons (of whom two died in infancy) and two daughters.
In 1523 her husband was overthrown as King of Denmark, and Isabella was given a choice between exile with her husband, or staying in Denmark under the protection of the new King.
She chose her husband, and the pair of them moved to Germany, seeking allies who would help Christian regain his throne.
The Danish royal family then journeyed to England, where they had an audience with king Henry VIII at the Royal Palace in Greenwich.
They later stayed a while at Hampton Court Palace.
They visited Berlin in 1523, where Isabella became interested in the teachings of Luther.
Although she felt sympathy for Protestantism, Isabella never officially converted.
In the spring of 1525, Isabella caught some kind of serious illness.
Later that year, her illness worsened after she travelled through a storm.
Isabella died at the castle of Zwijnaarde near Ghent, aged twenty-four, on 19th January 1526.
