Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France

Born 5 July 1554, Elisabeth was a Habsburg — daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria of Spain — raised in the heart of Europe's most powerful dynasty. In 1570, at sixteen, she became Queen of France as the wife of Charles IX. The marriage lasted four years. Charles died in 1574, and Elisabeth's reign ended with him. She lived another eighteen years after losing the throne, dying on 22 January 1592 at thirty-seven.