Isabel Osorio

Isabel Osorio (circa 1522 – October 1589) was a Spaniard courtier and the long-term mistress of Philip II, King of Spain.

Isabel's father was a descendant of Selomóh Ha-Leví, rabbi of the Jewish quarter of Burgos who later converted to Christianity and became the bishop of the same diocese.

[2] Isabel was orphaned at a very young age and raised by her maternal uncle, Luis Osorio, whose name she later adopted.

Philip gave her a substantial income, which enabled her to buy numerous estates,[2] and might have given her a secret document declaring her his wife.

[1] Osorio retired to the Palace of Saldañuela near Burgos which she had built after acquiring the tower that stood there with a sum of 2 million maravedís she received from the king.