Isabella Jagiello
Encyclopedia
Isabella Jagiellon (18 January 1519 – 15 September 1559) was queen consort
of Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
as the wife of John Zápolya
.
to King Sigismund I of Poland
and Bona Sforza
, Princess of Milan
, Isabella was brought up in the Polish royal court. Her mother taught her the Italian language and Renaissance
culture, so she became an educated young lady, who spoke four languages.
In 1539 Isabella was married to the claimant of the Hungarian throne, John Zápolya
. Their son John II Sigismund Zápolya
was born on 8 July 1540. Her husband died two weeks after the child was born, and from this time on Isabella began her struggle to keep the Hungarian throne as a widow queen and the guardian of her child, who was elected electus rex in the meantime.
In 1541, after the reoccupation of Buda
, Isabella went to Transylvania
on the order of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent
, where she reigned with her child over the territories under her authority. However, the real governor was the appointed George Martinuzzi
. In the summer of 1551 she left Transylvania, which fell into the hands of Ferdinand of Austria
in accordance with the treaty of Nyírbátor
.
According to a legend, when Isabella stopped to have a rest at the gates of Meszes
, she cut the abbreviation of her slogan into the bark of an old oak tree: SFV – Sic fata volunt, i.e. it is the will of fate. By the request of the Hungarian orders she returned to the country together with her child and her advisor, Mihály Csáky, in the autumn of 1556. After this Isabella set up her Transylvanian chancellery with the help of Mihály Csáky, and the new state started to function. She reigned in the new state with her son until her death in Alba Iulia
in 1559.
Isabella is notable as being "the first ruler to issue an edict of universal toleration" in religion. The edict was passed in 1558, preceding the more famous Edict of Nantes
(1598), by forty years.
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
The Eastern Hungarian Kingdom was the name of the area under the rule of King John I of Hungary. John I of Hungary was the former voivode of Transylvania and the wealthiest and the most powerful landlord after Mohács, secured the eastern part of the kingdom with the help of the Ottomans...
as the wife of John Zápolya
John Zápolya
John Zápolya was King of Hungary from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary between 1526 and 1540. He was the voivode of Transylvania before his coronation.- Biography :...
.
Life
Born in KrakówKraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
to King Sigismund I of Poland
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...
and Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza was a member of the powerful Milanese House of Sforza. In 1518, she became the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and became the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania.She was the third child of Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his wife...
, Princess of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Isabella was brought up in the Polish royal court. Her mother taught her the Italian language and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
culture, so she became an educated young lady, who spoke four languages.
In 1539 Isabella was married to the claimant of the Hungarian throne, John Zápolya
John Zápolya
John Zápolya was King of Hungary from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary between 1526 and 1540. He was the voivode of Transylvania before his coronation.- Biography :...
. Their son John II Sigismund Zápolya
John II Sigismund Zápolya
John II Sigismund Zápolya was King of Hungary from 1540 to 1570 and Prince of Transylvania from 1570–1571.-Family:The son of King John I and Isabella Jagiełło, he succeeded his father as an infant...
was born on 8 July 1540. Her husband died two weeks after the child was born, and from this time on Isabella began her struggle to keep the Hungarian throne as a widow queen and the guardian of her child, who was elected electus rex in the meantime.
In 1541, after the reoccupation of Buda
Buda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
, Isabella went to Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
on the order of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
, where she reigned with her child over the territories under her authority. However, the real governor was the appointed George Martinuzzi
George Martinuzzi
George Martinuzzi was a Croatian nobleman, a monk, bishop of Oradea, archbishop of Esztergom, cardinal and Hungarian statesman.-Biography:Martinuzzi was born in Kamičac, Dalmatia...
. In the summer of 1551 she left Transylvania, which fell into the hands of Ferdinand of Austria
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
in accordance with the treaty of Nyírbátor
Nyírbátor
Nyírbátor /ˈɲiːɾbaːtoɾ/ is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. With its historic atmosphere, this city is known for its 15th- and 16th-century ecclesiastic and secular built heritage and for the family of the former landowners, the Báthory...
.
According to a legend, when Isabella stopped to have a rest at the gates of Meszes
Meszes
- External links :*...
, she cut the abbreviation of her slogan into the bark of an old oak tree: SFV – Sic fata volunt, i.e. it is the will of fate. By the request of the Hungarian orders she returned to the country together with her child and her advisor, Mihály Csáky, in the autumn of 1556. After this Isabella set up her Transylvanian chancellery with the help of Mihály Csáky, and the new state started to function. She reigned in the new state with her son until her death in Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
in 1559.
Isabella is notable as being "the first ruler to issue an edict of universal toleration" in religion. The edict was passed in 1558, preceding the more famous Edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
(1598), by forty years.