Philip IV of Spain and Elisabeth of France
When Elisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of King Henri IV and Marie de Medici, arrived at the Spanish court, Elisabeth under went significant change from a carefree young girl to a serious politician in her own right, acquiring political experience that would serve the crown well during the last years of her life. As the political situation grew more complicated, Elisabeth responded competently to the important matters that Philip IV gradually began to delegate to her. Elisabeth of France’s period of governance came at a crucial moment for the Spanish Monarchy, from 1642 to 1644, when it was undergoing an intense economic, military, and political crisis. At this same time, the king’s favourite and minister Count-Duke of Olivares fell from power,creating a vacuum that the queen hurried to fill, and her political influence notably increased after January 1643.
Even though the power she wielded was necessarily delegated by Philip IV, in times of political crisis, her role crucially influenced the Spanish government. While Olivares’s fall had facilitated her assuming this role, it was the queen’s extraordinary political skills and, in particular, her success in negotiating financial support and military maneuvers that proved she was equal to the task of governing in the king’s absence. The first time the queen had been given power were the years 1626 and 1632, when the king left Madrid to summon the Cortes or Parliaments of Aragon, Valencia, and Catalonia.
In August 1627, the queen’s role took on greater importance, as the king became seriously ill, precipitating one of the most critical moments of his reign. Given what seemed to be the likelihood of his death, Philip wrote a will and testament according to which Elisabeth, who was pregnant at the time, would become regent until the unborn child, if a son, would reach majority. If a daughter, she was to marry her paternal uncle, the infante Carlos, and the couple would inherit the crown. The king recovered the first week of September.
The revolt of Catalonia, which began on June 7, 1640, was followed by the revolt of Portugal in December that same year. These unprecedented rebellions within the Iberian peninsula coincided with other armed conflicts through out Europe in which Spain participated. France had declared war on Spain just five years earlier, and since then, Philip IV had mentioned several times that he wished to go to the battlefront. News that Louis XIII had visited the French troops in March 1642 caused Philip to visit his as well. He departed from Madrid in April 1642, leaving Elisabeth and her son, Baltasar Carlos, in tears. In addition to her activities with the Junta de Gobierno, the queen attended council meetings and royal ceremonies in the company of Baltasar Carlos, who had just turned thirteen. Her actions as head of government served as an example to the young prince. The queen took charge of the government for nearly eight months, until the king returned in early December.
Elisabeth had two main concerns during her final year as governor: first, she had to find the monies to supply the armies fighting both the Catalonian rebels and the French; and second, she had to secure funds for the defense of the Portuguese border. In both cases she was assisted by Chumacero, the Council president, with whom she consulted daily. Thanks in part to her efforts, the army at long last achieved several victories in 1644. Philip and Elisabeth wrote to each other regarding government affairs, just as Charles V and Empress Isabel had done a century earlier. Elisabeth of France retained an active role in governance until September 1644, when the first symptoms of erysipelas, the disease that would eventually lead to her death, first appeared. A few days after his wife’s death, in a letter to the queen’s close friend, the Countess of Paredes, the king wrote,
“Countess, you may judge how I have reached this point; in one day I have lost my wife, my friend, my helper and counselor in all my labors. Surely I must be made of bronze, for I have not lost my mind or my life.”
Alejandra Franganillo Álvarez, Isabel de Borbón and the Governance of the Spanish Monarchy
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