Infanta Isabel, Duchess of Burgundy
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- Other people with the same name include Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539).
Isabella of Portugal (or Isabel in Portuguese, pron. IPA: [izɐbɛɫ]) (February 21, 1397 – December 17, 1471) was the only surviving daughter of king John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster. She was the sister, amongst others, of Henry the Navigator, Pedro, duke of Coimbra and king Duarte of Portugal. She was the third wife of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in right of which she was Duchess consort of Burgundy; her son by Philip was Charles the Bold.
[edit] Early life
Isabel was born in Évora and spent her youth in the Portuguese court in Lisbon. The only surviving daughter amongst five sons, she was brought up according to her mother's strict notions of etiquette and formality, but also indulged and protected. She, like her brothers, was given a good education by her parents, who desired their children to be not only healthy but intelligent: the Infanta was thus taught several languages, given a good grounding in mathematics, and allowed to experiment in the sciences. Her father, the romantic but sensible John I, ensured that she was given a good understanding of politics, allowing her to share with her brothers their instructions in affairs of state; her mother, the conservative and pragmatic Philippa, demonstrated an example of commitment to duty, firm discipline, and religious faith that would later prove very important to Isabel, as well as instilling in the Portuguese infanta a favourable view of England based as much on pragmatic recognition of the advantages to any nation allied with that kingdom as on sentiment. With her brothers she would ride and hunt, and she became skilled in Latin, French, English and Italian through her studies with the princes.
Two events of importance happened to Isabel in 1415. The first was an offer of marriage by her cousin, Henry V of England, who desired to form closer links between England and Portugal against France. The marriage negotiations led nowhere; Isabel, despite being, at 18 years old, already slightly old to be a first time bride, was apparently not particularly disappointed. She would not receive another offer for another 13 years. More importantly for her, in that year, came the death of her mother, Philippa, who died on 19 June 1419. Isabel, who had been very close to her mother, briefly withdrew from court life in grief, taking refuge in her chambers with her ladies in waiting, and practicing her skills in needlework and singing.
By 1428, Isabel – despite being, at age 31, far beyond the common age of marriage for women – was considered attractive as a potential consort: shrewd, proud and skilful, she was perfectly capable of both maintaining diplomatic silences and giving good advice; herself healthy, her mother had borne six surviving children and came from a similarly fertile family; and she possessed the emotional, intellectual and ideological strength necessary to benefit any future husband's governance. Accordingly, when Philip the Good of Burgundy desired to choose a new bride from an ally of the English, Isabel was a natural choice: although this was partially because the merchants of Flanders and Portugal enjoyed profitable trading that he wished to reinforce.
In 1430 she married Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. They had three sons: Antoine and Joseph (who died in childhood) and Charles the Bold (born November 10, 1433).
Isabel was a very refined and intelligent woman, who liked to be surrounded by artists and poets. She funded numerous scholarships and was a patron of the arts. Also in politics, she had a great influence on her son, but especially on her husband, whom she represented on several diplomatic conferences. She died in Dijon in 1471.
