Isabella and her husband Albert

Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain (12 August 1566 - 1 December 1633) was Infanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria and the joint sovereign of the Seventeen Provinces. In some sources, she is referred to as "Clara Isabella Eugenia". Daughter of Phillip II of Spain and Elizabeth of Valois, on 6 May 1598 she married Archduke Albert of Austria. From 1601 they ruled the Spanish Netherlands together, and after Alberts death Isabella became the governor of the Netherlands herself on behalf of the King of Spain. The reign of Albert's and Isabella's is considered the Golden Age of the Netherlands.

Isabella Clara Eugenia, possibly around 1584

The reign of the Archdukes Isabella Clara Eugenia and Albert of Austria is a key period in the history of the Low Countries. After fort decades of war it brought a period of much needed peace and stability to the economy of the Southern Netherlands. In addition to economic prosperity, actions of archdukes stimulated the growth of a separate South-Netherlandish identity, and built the foundations for the independence of the Netherlands. The Archdukes consolidated the authority of the House of Habsburg over the territory of the Southern Netherlands and largely succeeded in reconciling previous anti-Spanish sentiments.

Isabella's husband

When it became clear that independence would not be possible, Archdukes goal became to reincorporate the Southern Provinces into the Spanish monarchy. In pursuit of that goal and to get their political agenda to all Flemish social classes, the Archdukes used the most diversemediums. The visual arts, with the baroque popularized in the wake of the Catholic Reformation, was the perfect tool. Thus Isabella and her husband stimulated the growth of this artistic movement, which resulted in the creation of the Flemish Baroque.

Their patronage of such artists as Rubens, Brueghel, Coebergher, the De Nole family, the Van Veens and many others were the beginning of a Golden Age in the Southern Netherlands. This coupled with the political configuration of the period made the Archdukes Court at Brussels one of the foremost political and artistic centres in Europe of that time. It became the testing ground for the Spanish Monarchy's European plans, boiling pot full of people of all sorts: from artists and diplomats to defectors, spies and penitent traitors, from Spanish confessors, Italian counsellors, Burgundian functionaries, English musicians, German bodyguards to the Belgian nobles. The Treaty of London and the Twelve Years Truce were brought about thanks to the active involvement of the Archdukes in the negotiations. Brussels became a vital link in the chain of Habsburg courts and the diplomatic conduits between Madrid, Vienna, Paris, London, Lisbon, Graz, Innsbruck, Prague and The Hague could be said to run through Brussels.

When Albert died in 1621, Isabella joined the order of the Sisters of St. Clare, and became the governor of the Netherlands on behalf of the King of Spain. She was succeded as Governor by Philip IV's brother, the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1633.