Португалиялық Изабелла: Бургундия Герцогинясының өмірі мен саясаты

Isabella of Portugal (Isabel de Portugal; 21 February 1397 – 17 December 1471) was Duchess of Burgundy from 1430 to 1467 as the third wife of Duke Philip the Good. Their son was Charles the Bold, the last Valois Duke of Burgundy. Born a Portuguese infanta of the House of Aviz, Isabella was the only surviving daughter of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster. She served as the regent of the Burgundian Low Countries during the absence of her spouse in 1432 and in 1441–1443. Isabella served as her husband's representative in negotiations with England regarding trade relations in 1439 and those with the rebellious cities of Holland in 1444.

Isabella was born to John I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, who had six children survive infancy. Born in 1397 in Évora, and raised in the Portuguese court in Lisbon, Isabella was the fourth child and only daughter to survive to adulthood. Philippa instilled in all her children, including her daughter, a sense of duty, faith and belief in education. Isabella was an avid reader and held an interest in politics. Her father ensured that she was given a good understanding of politics, joining her brothers in their instructions in affairs of state and she became proficient in Latin, French, English and Italian during her studies with the princes. She was fond of riding and hunting with her brothers. In 1415 Isabella received an offer of marriage from her cousin Henry V of England, an effort for England to form closer links with Portugal against France. The negotiations failed and Isabella remained unmarried. Also in 1415 she grieved at the death of her mother on 19 July, with whom she had a close relationship.

Isabella did not leave Portugal for another eight weeks. Her father had a fleet and trousseau prepared and on 19 October 1429, with a flotilla of about 20 ships, Isabella—accompanied by almost 2000 Portuguese—left Portugal forever. After an eleven week journey when the fleet was beset by storms, causing the loss of several ships and much of her bridal trousseau, the convoy reached Sluys on 25 December 1429. The Duchess disembarked the following day where she and Philip celebrated their formal religious marriage two weeks later, on 7 January 1430. With her husband, and accompanied by the Countess of Namur, Jeanne de Harcourt, Isabella then travelled through the main territories of Burgundy: from Ghent (16 January) to Kortrijk (13 February) to Lille, and then to Brussels, Arras, Péronne en Mélantois, Mechelen and, by mid March Noyon, where Isabella, now pregnant, chose to rest through the spring, only leaving when Joan of Arc led a campaign against the nearby Compiègne. She then returned to Ghent, where she dealt with a potential guild uprising. Isabella was a refined and intelligent woman who liked to be surrounded by artists and poets. She was a generous patron of the arts. In politics, she had a great influence on her son, but even more so on her husband, whom she represented on several diplomatic conferences and for whom she governed when he was absent. Most notably, she negotiated many of the marriages of the members of her court, among them the marriage of her son Charles to Catherine of France. She also took special pains on behalf of Mary of Guelders, who attended upon Catherine. Isabella helped arrange her marriage to James II of Scotland, which would make her queen.

By 1457, however, she had withdrawn from the court and distanced herself from her husband, partly to side with her son in his estrangement with him, partly out of a desire to live a more devout and quieter life. Her personal feelings came into conflict with the decisions of her husband, resulting in her abandoning court and taking up refuge in the castle of La Motte au Bois, where she established a parallel court, which became a protectorate for the victims of her husband's official politics. At that time she assisted the Flemish harmed by Philip's military actions and, under her protection, advanced Josse van Huerter to her nephew, Ferdinand of Portugal. Following the death of Henry VI of England, who had no surviving heirs, Isabella asserted her right to the English throne in a charter dated 17 June 1471, declaring herself to be Henry's universal heiress on account of the consanguinity conferred by her grandfather (and Henry's great grandfather), John of Gaunt. She would later relinquish the claim to her son, Charles, one month before her death. She died in Aire sur la Lys in December 1471.