Eleanor of Austria (1498-1558), widow of the King of Portugal, became the second wife of Francis I in 1530. An instrument of negotiation for her brother Charles V and of revenge for the King of France, she would struggle to find her place at the court of her tempestuous husband. During the seventeen years of her life as a French wife and queen, this sister of the enemy would feel the animosity of the king and his sons. Rejected for being a foreigner, Eleanor of Austria would return to her country upon her husband’s death and would be “erased” from French memory, not even being admitted to the Basilica of Saint-Denis!
Youth of Eleanor of Austria
Eleanor of Austria, the first child of Philip the Handsome and Joanna the Mad, was born on November 15, 1498, in Louvain, obtaining her patronym from her grandfather Maximilian of Austria, with Margaret of York, the widow of Charles the Bold, as her godmother. Eighteen months later, her brother Charles of Ghent, the future Charles V, was born, and upon their parents’ death, they were entrusted to their aunt Margaret of Austria.
A smiling, cheerful young girl, skilled in horseback riding and hunting, she learned music, painting, and letters. Her simple tastes, modesty, and feelings made her “a fool without ambition.” At eighteen, she fell in love with a penniless younger son, the Palatine Prince Frederick, son of Philip of Bavaria; Charles V disapproved and sought a “proper” suitor, at least a king… of France, England, or Poland, thus ruling out the Duke of Lorraine, the King of Denmark, and the King of Navarre.
Queen of Portugal
He finally opted for the King of Portugal, Manuel I, born in 1469, ugly, old, hunchbacked, and widowed for the second time. Eleanor of Austria was offered to him in 1517, and in September, she left Flanders accompanied by her brother for a long journey fraught with obstacles: burning ships, storms, crossing the Asturias towards Madrid, which was an arid and desolate country. On July 13, 1518, considered “a masterpiece, so wise, joyful, honest, and gentle in all things,” she married by proxy Emmanuel the Fortunate, becoming Queen of Portugal for three years, and would have a boy who died young and a little girl named Maria whom the Portuguese would want to marry off as they saw fit.
Upon the king’s death in 1521, she left Portugal to join Charles V in Spain. Promised to Charles de Bourbon, on the condition that he manage to recover Provence or part of Italy, Charles V still hesitated. Bourbon was a traitor since he had entered the service of Spain. It’s not exactly clear what the young woman thought of this, but it’s certain that she wasn’t in favor of it.
Eleanor of Austria, Queen of France
In 1525, Francis I was imprisoned in Spain and signed a pact to be released: among other things, he would marry Eleanor (snatching her from Bourbon!). Charles V accepted (better to hold than to chase), but his sister would remain in Spain with the royal children until all the terms of the agreement were fulfilled, including the donation of French provinces. Eleanor and Francis I got to know each other during his illness, and she was even happy to hear that the Treaty of Madrid “gave her” to the King of France.
A marriage promise was thus signed on January 19, 1526; the future spouses were allowed to correspond and met for the celebrations given in their honor, but everyone remained on guard. Eleanor was sincere, devoted real affection to the King of France, but was torn between the two men: she took care of the future Philip II (her brother’s child) and tried to soften the conditions of captivity for Francis I’s children.
After the Ladies’ Peace signed in 1529, Eleanor became the new queen but found herself in a strange situation: sister of the enemy, a pledge of not-so-honest friendship, a sort of instrument for her brother. She finally joined her husband in 1530, accompanying the young hostages, but it was Cardinal de Tournon who welcomed her on July 1… the king waiting in Bordeaux, only coming to meet her on July 4.
Testimonies in favor of Eleanor are numerous: “she was the most joyful lady ever seen.” Pretty, she was blonde with dark eyes, still fresh despite her thirty-two years, dressed in dark velvet, she adopted a white dress and a triple necklace of pearls, rubies, and diamonds around her neck. Nevertheless, she had the too-strong lower lip of the Habsburgs, and Brantôme added, “under a giant’s body, sloping downwards, she appeared a dwarf, so short were her thighs and legs”! Finally, on July 6, the king could embrace his children, greet the queen, and go to bed, for the next day was the wedding and the exchange of consents.
A Neglected Foreigner
They set out to travel up to Saint-Denis for the queen’s coronation on March 5. Arriving fifteen days late, she received as a gift from the city a pair of candlesticks topped with a phoenix with her motto “unica semper avis,” a bird that is reborn from its ashes, a symbol of her double royalty and her faithful love. She triumphed… but would quickly be sidelined, as her aunt Margaret of Austria had warned her: “it is necessary that she conduct herself according to the King’s will, that she act according to his desire… she will gain more through gentleness than by pressing too much.” Gentleness and docility!
She thus expected consideration from the king… but she was quickly disappointed, even hurt: Francis I displayed his official mistress, which he had not done with Claude. He showed her no marks of affection, was not ready to give her a child (he already had some and did not want a half-brother for his sons). This marriage was part of the treaty that had to be obtained, the king harbored a great grudge against Charles V, and could not forgive: Eleanor was the sister of his enemy!
Moreover, she was shy, reserved, and the king preferred strong-willed women. A maternity would have given her a place beside the king, but he didn’t want it, she wouldn’t have it. She turned to her “stepchildren” but received a very cold welcome: Henry still had not forgiven either. Only Francis showed her a little kindness: Eleanor was a foreigner!
Louise of Savoy was already dead, there remained Margaret her sister-in-law, with whom she had formed a bit of friendship in Spain during Francis I’s detention. But Margaret had just married Henry of Navarre in 1527 and had returned to Navarre. Of superior intelligence to Eleanor, they did not have the same culture, nor the same ambitions: there was a gulf between the two ladies.
An Instrument of Parade
At court, clans formed around the royal mistress, but not around the queen! She thus confined herself to her role of parade, following the king on his travels without difficulty, being in good health, holding her place in ceremonies, not always as Queen of France, but: as sister of Charles V!
She would not succeed, however, in reconciling these two sovereigns! It was not for lack of trying in 1532 when she appealed to her sister Mary, widow of the King of Hungary, or again in 1535 during the talks at Cambrai. And when war resumed in 1536, Eleanor took it as a personal failure, especially as on this occasion the Dauphin Francis caught cold and died: Charles V was accused of assassination. She resumed her role as intermediary in 1538-1539 for negotiations between the two sovereigns and Pope Paul III to stop the wars in Italy… to no avail! These two men would never manage to reconcile, it was mission impossible!
Her services were still needed in 1544 after the signing of the Treaty of Crépy to lead an important delegation (the young Duke of Orléans, the Duchess of Étampes) to the festivities in the Netherlands.
Eleanor of Austria After the Death of Francis I
Then came the coup de théâtre: Francis I died in March 1547. Informed two days later, Eleanor sincerely mourned him, even if some ambassadors took her tears for “propriety.” Good and pious, she had been his wife for seventeen years! With no one loving her, rejected, she could no longer stay in France. She returned the crown jewels (as was customary), Henry II offered her financial compensation (as was also customary), but there were no ceremonies, no farewells, no escort to leave the country for Brussels where she arrived in December 1548.
She ended her life as a dowager, among her own (her sister, her nephew Philip, Maximilian II). In 1556, when Charles V abdicated and ceded the throne to his son, Eleanor and her sister accompanied him and settled near his retreat at the monastery of Yuste, in Spain. It was on her return from meeting her daughter Maria at the Portuguese border that she was struck by a violent asthma attack, so much so that she died in mid-February 1558, shortly before her brother, who would have a funerary monument erected for her at the Escorial.
Eleanor of Austria never felt at home in France, as Anne of Austria would experience a few years later… except that Anne would have children! She did not have this chance! Worse: she would not be installed at Saint-Denis beside Francis I! Eleanor is truly a rejected queen, almost “erased” from French memory!
