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Infanta Catalina Michaella of
Spain (1567-1597)
Born 10 October 1567 Madrid
Died 6 November 1597 Torino
Married 11 March 1585 Saragossa
Charles Emanuel I, Duke of Savoie 1580-1630,
son of Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoie 1553-1580
and Marguerite de France
Born 12 January 1562 Rivoli
Died 26 July 1630 Savigliano
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After the birth of one daughter, the Spanish Queen, Elisabeth de Valois,
gave birth to another daughter, Catalina Michaella, on 6 October 1567.
Philip II was present at the birth but, disappointed at having another
daughter, soon went to Aranjuez and was not present
when the baby was baptised. However, by May 1568 the young queen was
again pregnant, only to become seriously ill and, on 3 October, miscarried
of another girl and
died herself the next day.
The two daughters he had fathered by Elisabeth de Valois were the two
people Philip II loved most dearly and with whom he spent a great deal
of time, playing cards and dice for money. After 1583 he began to take
his meals with his daughters. While away in Portugal from 1580 until 1583,
he wrote them a letter on every Monday; thirty-four of those letters have
survived as Catalina took them to Turin when she married in 1585.
When she left he wrote to her: "I was unable to say goodbye as I had
wished either to you or the duke, nor could I say some of the things I
was thinking about." He wrote this after he had climbed a nearby church
tower to see the last glimpse of the galley that took
her away. In 1588 he again wrote to her: "Yesterday was the third anniversary
of your embarkation. I have not seen you since then, which has given me
little comfort, and I know very well that you would bring me comfort because
of the love you have for me and the love I have for you."
Philip II was stoical with the deaths of his small children but behaved
differently once grown up children died. In 1597 he received the news of
Catalina's death and broke down; he wept and raged, howled and shouted
in a manner never seen before. At the age of sixteen
Catalina had married the five-years-older Duke of Savoy and they were
the parents of ten children. When she died she was only just thirty years
of age.
Source: Leo van de Pas |
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