Drumroll for the wedding of the 18th century, please! Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis Stephan of Lorraine were married on 12 February 1736. As Heinz Rieder charmingly notes in his book “Maria Theresa: Schicksalstunde des Habsburgs,” at first glance and from the perspective of the Empire, the marriage did not seem to promise anything […]
I must beg your pardon for starting this post with a cheap sensational announcement. However, to the best of my knowledge, 10 February marks the first recorded instance of a caesarean section being performed on a Habsburg princess. On this day in 1595, Archduchess Anna (born 1573), Queen of Poland and Sweden, passed away. As […]
Meinhard, Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count of Tyrol, was born on 9 February 1344. A member of the House of Wittelsbach, his short life and early death nevertheless played a significant role in the rise of the House of Habsburg. Had events unfolded as expected, Meinhard would one day have succeeded his grandfather, Emperor […]
It is rare for the death of a young child to shift the balance of European power and trigger a full-scale war. Yet that is precisely what happened when six-year-old Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria died on 6 February 1699. By the late 1690s, it was clear that Charles II would be the last Spanish Habsburg […]
Archduchess Johanna Gabriela of Habsburg-Lorraine, the eighth daughter of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephan, was born on 4 February 1750. As she died at the age of 12, little is known about her life. She was closest to her sister Maria Josepha, who was only a year younger. The two girls were raised and educated […]
On 2 February 1622, Emperor Ferdinand II married his second wife, Eleonora of Gonzaga (1598–1655). In addition to both being grandchildren of Emperor Ferdinand I, her future husband—20 years her senior—was also her godfather. As a result, a double dispensation from the Holy See was required for their marriage. Eleonora became a loving stepmother to […]
Archduke Charles Joseph, the second son of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephen, was born on 1 February 1745. Owing to his short life, Charles Joseph’s biography is necessarily sparse, and only a few basic details recur consistently in historical accounts. Foremost among these is the unanimous praise for his bright, friendly nature and charming manner, […]
A shocking scene was discovered in the small hunting lodge of Mayerling on the morning of 30 January 1889: the bodies of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and the teenage Baroness Mary Vetsera were found dead. Both had been shot. Thirty-one-year-old Rudolf — an intelligent but emotionally deeply troubled young man — had long suffered […]
Archduchess Sophie of Bavaria was born on 27 January 1805 as the daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. Her elder half-sister Caroline Augusta became the third wife of Emperor Francis II, although their marriage did not produce any children. Soon, the Bavarian royal line became even more closely intertwined with the Imperial dynasty. […]
Archduchess Joanna, the youngest daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I and Empress Anne of Bohemia, was born on 24 January 1547. Like all her sisters, she received the traditional upbringing of Habsburg archduchesses, centred on religion and discipline. In the early 1560s, the imperial court in Vienna functioned almost like a real marriage market. It may […]
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