Cecelia of Bohemia (1528-1558) was the Archduchess of Bohemia as the sister of Archduke Ferdinand. She died at Fontainebleau Palace in France after falling from a window, allegedly a suicide due to a broken heart.
Biography[]
Cecelia was the daughter of King Philip I of Castile and Joanna the Mad and the sister of Archduke Ferdinand. In 1557, she accompanied her husband to the court of King Henry II of France, where Ferdinand had intended to complain about France's unprovoked firing on a Bohemian ship. Cecelia took a liking to Henry, while Ferdinand took a liking to Mary, Queen of Scots' lady-in-waiting and Henry's mistress Lady Kenna, and the two couples secretly engaged in affairs with the other. However, while King Henry and Cecelia were in a moment of passion near King Henry's bedroom window, Cecelia accidentally fell to her death over the ramparts. Henry was ironically forced to seek the help of his wife, Queen Catherine de Medici, with covering up Cecelia's accidental death, and they forged a letter making it seem as if Cecelia had committed suicide out of shame for engaging in an extramarital affair. When Ferdinand pointed out that Cecelia never learned to write, Catherine explained that the note was written by her lover so as to rescue her dignity.