page_title: Elisabeth of France (1602–1644)
section_title: Childhood
hierarchical_section_title: Elisabeth of France (1602–1644) / Life / Childhood
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Isabella von Bourbon, französische Prinzessin, älteste Tochter König Heinrichs IV. und Maria von Medici, erste Frau Phlipps IV. von SpanienEnglish: Portrait of Elisabeth of France (1602–1644)
context_page_description: Elisabeth of France or Isabel of Bourbon was Queen Consort of Spain and Portugal as the first spouse of King Philip IV of Spain. She served as regent of Spain during the Catalan Revolt in 1640-42 and 1643-44.
  She was the eldest daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second spouse Marie de' Medici.
context_section_description: Élisabeth, Madame Royale, was born at the Château de Fontainebleau on 22 November 1602; reportedly her mother showed a cruel indifference to her, because she had believed the prophecy of a nun who assured her that she would give birth to three consecutive sons.
  Shortly after her birth, she was betrothed with Philip Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont, eldest son and heir of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, by Catherine Michelle, a daughter of King Philip II of Spain. Philip Emmanuel died in 1605.
  As a daughter of the King of France, she was born a Fille de France. As the eldest daughter of the king, she was known at court by the traditional honorific of Madame Royale.  The early years of Madame Royale were spent under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a quiet place away from the Parisian court in which she shared education and games with her legitimate siblings (besides Dauphin, the other Fils de France were Christine Marie, later Duchess of Savoy; Nicholas Henri, Duke of Orléans, who died in infancy; Gaston, Duke of Orléans; and Henrietta Maria, later Queen of England) and the bastard children that her father had from his constant love affairs. When King Henry IV was assassinated outside the Palais du Louvre in Paris on 14 May 1610, her brother the Dauphin (with whom Élisabeth had a very close relationship) succeeded him to the throne as King Louis XIII of France under the Regency of their mother Marie de' Medici.
  When Elisabeth was ten years old, in 1612, negotiations were begun for a double marriage between the royal families of France and Spain; Elisabeth would marry the Prince of Asturias (the future Philip IV of Spain) and her brother Louis the Spanish Infanta Anne.
caption: Elisabeth as young girl in France
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