Isabella Clara Eugenia

Isabella Clara Eugenia was born 12 August 1566, daughter of the Spanish Habsburgs. In 1598 she became sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands and the Free County of Burgundy, ruling jointly with her husband Archduke Albert VII of Austria. Their reign brought a Golden Age: after peace was concluded with the breakaway Dutch Republic, the economy and arts revived. When Albert died in 1621, sovereignty returned to the Spanish crown, but Isabella stayed on as governess of the Spanish Netherlands. She ruled in that capacity until her death on 1 December 1633, having spent thirty-five years at the head…