Princess Isabella of Parma
Isabella of Bourbon-Parma (Isabel María Luisa Antonieta, Isabella Maria Ludovica Antonia; 31 December 1741 – 27 November 1763) was a princess of Parma and infanta of Spain from the House of Bourbon-Parma as the daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma. She became an archduchess of Austria and crown princess of Bohemia and Hungary in 1760 by her marriage to Archduke Joseph of Austria, the future Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. Although her husband loved her, she did not fully return his feelings and found more fulfillment in her (likely romantic, possibly sexual) relationship with her sister-in-law, Archduchess Maria Christina. An austere and lonely childhood, the sudden loss of her unaffectionate but beloved mother, an unhappy arranged marriage, a court life that did not fit her, and a difficult birth followed closely by two miscarriages and a fourth pregnancy all affected her mental health, leading to depression or bipolar disorder, to which she was likely genetically predisposed. She died at the age of twenty-one from smallpox. Infanta Isabel María Luisa Antonieta of Spain was born on 31 December 1741 at Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid, Kingdom of Spain as the first child of Infante Philip of Spain and his wife, born Marie Louise Élisabeth of France (known as Madame before her marriage and as Madame Infante afterwards).Isabella's parents were first cousins once removed with an age difference of almost seven years; Élisabeth had been only twelve when she was married to then-nineteen-years-old Philip. She considered it beneath her, the firstborn daughter of the King of France, to marry anyone who was not a monarch or an heir apparent, and Philip was only the third son of Philip V, King of Spain. She soon dominated her husband as she was more ambitious and strong-willed than him. However, she had a contentious relationship with her mother-in-law, Queen Elisabeth Farnese, the de facto ruler of Spain. Élisabeth was only fourteen when she gave birth to Isabella, and the difficult labour lasted for two days.
