| Isabella Jagiellon | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1553 | |
| Queen consort of Hungary | |
| Tenure | 1539–1540 |
| Coronation | 23 February 1539 Székesfehérvár, Hungary |
| Born | 18 January 1519 Kraków, Poland |
| Died | 15 September 1559 (aged 40) Gyulafehérvár, Transylvania, Ottoman Empire |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | John Zápolya |
| Issue | John Sigismund Zápolya |
| Dynasty | Jagiellon |
| Father | Sigismund I the Old |
| Mother | Bona Sforza |
Isabella Jagiellon (Hungarian: Izabella királyné; Polish: Izabela Jagiellonka; 18 January 1519 – 15 September 1559) was the queen consort of Hungary. She was the oldest child of Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland, and his Italian wife Bona Sforza.
In 1539, she married John Zápolya, Voivode of Transylvania and King of Hungary. At the time Hungary was contested between Ferdinand of Austria who wanted to add it to the Habsburg domains (see Royal Hungary), local nobles who wanted to keep Hungary independent (see Eastern Hungarian Kingdom), and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who saw it as a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire (see also Little War in Hungary). While Isabella's marriage lasted only a year and a half, it did produce a male heir – John Sigismund Zápolya born just two weeks before his father's death in July 1540.
She spent the rest of her life embroiled in succession disputes on behalf of her son. Her husband's death sparked renewed hostilities but Sultan Suleiman established her as a regent of the eastern regions of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary on behalf of her infant son. The region developed as a semi-independent buffer state noted for its freedom of religion.[1]
Ferdinand, however, never renounced his claims to reunite Hungary and conspired with Bishop George Martinuzzi who forced Isabella to abdicate in 1551. She returned to her native Poland to live with her family. Sultan Suleiman retaliated and threatened to invade Hungary in 1555–56 forcing nobles to invite Isabella back to Transylvania.[2] She returned in October 1556 and ruled as her son's regent until her death in September 1559.
- ^ Ritchie 2014, pp. 21–22.
- ^ Patrouch 2010, pp. 53–54.