Archduke Joseph, the future Emperor Joseph II, was born on 13 March 1741. He was the firstborn son of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephan. In retrospect, when the significant roles of mother and son in history are widely recognised, it is rather difficult to comprehend the vital importance of this event. During the few months […]
Margaret Theresa of Spain, the first wife of Leopold I, passed away on 12 March 1673. She was the daughter of Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria, the sister of Leopold. It is somewhat simplifying to say that the spouses were uncle and niece; owing to the Habsburgs’ persistent intermarriage, their parents, grandparents, […]
Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal married on 10 March 1526. This event could easily be called another ‘wedding of the century’ — though only for the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs. Through their shared grandparents, Isabella of Castile and Fernando of Aragon, the newlyweds were first cousins. While Isabella had previously declared that […]
Archduke Joseph, the seventh son of Leopold II and Maria Luisa of Spain, was born on 9 March 1776. His happy childhood in Florence among his numerous siblings provided him with an excellent education in languages, history, natural sciences, law, and ethics. His teenage years, however, were more turbulent: first because of Leopold’s accession to […]
Maria Anna of Bavaria, wife of the future Ferdinand II, died on 8 March 1616. By Habsburg standards, they were not closely related, being “only” double cousins on both their paternal and maternal sides. She was chosen as Ferdinand’s bride by his ambitious and politically active mother, herself a former Bavarian princess. Maria Anna was […]
In the mid-19th century, the beginning of March must have seemed an ominous time — at least for some members of the imperial family. On 1 and 2 March, in 1792 and 1835 respectively, two emperors — father and son, Leopold II and Francis II — passed away. It would be hard to find two […]
Leopold III, Margrave of Austria, passed away on 28 February 1326. He was one of the younger grandsons of Rudolf I of Habsburg, the first Habsburg to ascend the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. His father, Albert I of Germany, although elected King of the Romans, failed to secure the position permanently. Some years […]
Archduchess Maria Amalia was born on February 26, 1746. She was the fourth surviving daughter of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephan. As there was a remarkable age difference between her and her elder and younger sisters, she grew up somewhat lonely and withdrawn. Unlike her siblings, she developed a great love of animals and enjoyed […]
Today marks the birthday of two Habsburg emperors. True, beyond their shared date of birth, they had rather little in common. On 24 February 1500, Charles V was born. From his very first breath, he seemed destined to rise to the Imperial throne and to inherit several kingdoms and principalities — not to mention numerous […]
Ladislaus the Posthumous, King of Hungary and Bohemia, was born on 22 February 1440. He was the son of Albert of Habsburg, the elected King of the Romans, and Elisabeth of Luxembourg, the only child and heiress of Emperor Sigismund. Through his parents, he inherited both the Austrian lands and the crowns of Hungary and […]
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