Archduchess Isabella Clara of Austria
| Isabella Clara of Austria | |
|---|---|
| Duchess of Mantua and Montferrat | |
Portrait by anonymous hand, ca. 1648. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
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| Born |
12 August 1629 Innsbruck, Tyrol |
| Died | 24 February 1685 (aged 55) Mantua, Duchy of Mantua |
| Spouse | Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat |
| Issue | Ferdinand Charles, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat |
| Father | Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol |
| Mother | Claudia de' Medici |
Not to be confused with Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Netherlands.
Isabella Clara of Austria (12 August 1629 – 24 February 1685), was by birth Archduchess of Austria as a member of the Tyrolese branch of the House of Habsburg and by marriage Duchess consort of Mantua, Montferrat, Nevers (until 1659), Mayenne (until 1654) and Rethel (until 1659).
During 1665–1671 she was Regent of the Duchies of Mantua and Montferrat on behalf of her minor son. Accused of marrying her lover without Imperial consent, she was forced to take the veil as a nun and imprisoned at the Ursuline monastery of Mantua until her death.
Isabella Clara was born in Innsbruck on 12 August 1629 as the third child and second (but eldest surviving) daughter of Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol and his wife Claudia de' Medici. On her father's side her grandparents were Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his wife Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria and of her mother's side her grandparents were Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife Princess Christina of Lorraine.
From her mother's first marriage, she had an older half-sister, Vittoria della Rovere, Duchess of Rovere and Montefeltro suo jure and later Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany. From her four surviving full-siblings, her sister Maria Leopoldine was briefly Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia until her death in childbirth in 1649, and her two brothers Ferdinand Charles and Sigismund Francis were the last male members of their branch who ruled Further Austria and the County of Tyrol.
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