The first years at court, however, were not easy mainly due to the strict ceremonial rules to which she was subjected and also due to the distance from her affections; she became ill, continually falling into a state of anxiety. Her relationship with Archduchess Sophia, mother of the emperor and charged with transforming her into a worthy empress, rapidly deteriorated, in part due to the sacrifices and rigor she intended. Criticized at court due to her modest education, the empress became pregnant and gave birth to her first daughter in March 1855; It was named Sofía in honor of her grandmother.
The next year, Isabel gave birth to Gisella. Between 1856 and 1857, Isabel and her husband traveled to Italy: where she was able to see how the empire was not well accepted by all nations, and that the militaristic regime launched by Austria had brought them hatred from the Italians. The same climate of hostility found him in Hungary, where little Sofia fell ill and died on May 19, 1857.
Isabel of Bavaria, not yet twenty years old, was shocked by the event, and once back in Austria, she refused any public appearance. He entrusted Gisella’s education to grandmother Sofía, considering himself guilty of the death of her other daughter.
The following year she became the mother of Rodolfo, crown prince of the empire, after a complicated delivery that wreaked havoc on her health for several months. After receiving a visit from his sister María Sofía, the future wife of Francisco II of the Two Sicilies, his condition seemed to improve.
After being defeated by the Austrian army at the Battle of Magenta, Francisco Jose He left Vienna and went to Italy to lead the army in person: Isabel He fell into a terrible state of despair due to the distance, asked to travel to join him, but did not get his permission. He reacted by deserting all his scheduled social engagements, rode continuously, and underwent a drastic weight loss cure, arousing the disapproval of the entire court.
The situation worsened after the Battle of Solferino, where the Austrians suffered another defeat: the people demanded the abdication of the emperor Francisco Jose, while Isabel organized a military hospital at Laxenburg Castle. Added to the political crisis was a personal crisis: relations between the empress and her husband became more difficult due to disagreements with the mother-in-law Sofia and the spread of news about the emperor’s infidelity.
IsabelRemembering the pain suffered by her mother because of her husband’s absence, she was afraid of ending the same way, not counting on the fact that her husband was the only connection to a court that she hated and detests. His reaction was an insult to etiquette: he organized balls inviting the young sons of Vienna’s high society without their parents (behavior totally contrary to the custom of the time).
In July 1860 Elizabeth took her daughter Giselle and after leaving the court of Vienna, she went to Possenhofen. She returned to court a month later, on the occasion of her husband’s birthday, to avoid a scandal. His poor health caused him problems again in October, when weight loss cures and nervous breakdowns caused him to collapse. To get away from the court and try to heal herself, the empress, then twenty-two years old, moved to the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira.
In 1868, Isabel gave birth to Maria Valeria, her last daughter, in Budapest: a tribute to her most beloved subjects, the Hungarians. Isabel He dealt with the first-person education of the new princess’s education, unlike what happened with the first three children. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Empress devoted herself entirely, ignoring court commitments and spending time receiving treatments, to maintain her appearance and beauty: just to dress, she spent three hours each day (since dresses were sewn over her), while washing her hair took a full day.
In 1889 his son Rodolfo, committed suicide with his lover María Vetsera, Isabel He suffered a new crisis: he continued to travel throughout Europe, but always in mourning and constantly suffering from nervous breakdowns.
While the criminal was captured by four passersby as he tried to flee, the empress collapsed to the ground after the blow but, feeling no pain, got up and began to walk towards the ship she was to board. Once on the boat, he turned pale and fainted in the arms of Countess Staray: on the way back to the hotel, he died without regaining consciousness. The dagger had pierced the left ventricle, and the cause of death was internal bleeding.
The empress was buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna where, next to her, are the tombs of her husband and son.