Francis I Stephan, the Holy Roman Emperor, was born on 8 December 1708. In his youth, he was expected to inherit the Duchy of Lorraine one day. Instead of that rather modest destiny, he became the husband of Maria Theresa and the highest sovereign of the Western world. In history books, Francis Stephan has long […]
Empress Eleonora Gonzaga, called the Younger, died on 6 December 1686. She should not be confused with her namesake and godmother, known as the Elder. The two Empresses were grandaunt and grandniece, wives of Emperors Ferdinand II and Ferdinand III, respectively. When Eleonora married Ferdinand III, he had already been widowed twice and had children […]
Emperor Matthias I and Anna of Tyrol were married on 4 December 1611. I cannot help but suspect that it was something of a hurried wedding — not due to any suspicion of premarital haste, as one might mischievously imagine, but because of the political circumstances of the moment. Only a few months earlier, Matthias […]
No tale lasts forever. We leave Archduchess Marianne at the moment she closes the palace door behind her. Now that her investigation is over, what shall she occupy herself with in the evenings? Where might her curiosity and inquisitive mind lead her next? Shall we meet her again one day? Will The Archduchess Investigates project […]
From an eagle’s perspective, today marks a significant loss in Habsburg political history. Two princesses — Archduchess Margaret of Austria and Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain — passed away on 1 December 1530 and 1633, respectively. These politically gifted ladies governed the Netherlands on behalf of the Austrian and Spanish branches of the dynasty […]
Empress Maria Theresa died on 29 November 1780. Without doubt, it was one of the most significant events in the Habsburg family’s calendar in the entire eighteenth century. Earlier that month, the Imperial court was preparing for its annual departure from Schönbrunn Palace to move to the Hofburg for the winter season. The sixty-three-year-old Empress […]
Isabella of Parma, the first wife of Joseph, the future Emperor, died on 27 November 1763. However strange it may sound, among all persons concerned one could hardly find two more opposing views of this event than those of the married couple themselves. For Joseph, it was as if the sun had set forever. He […]
Empress Maria Luisa of Spain was born on 24 November 1745, exactly on her mother’s 21st birthday. She was born in Italy, where her father Charles ruled as King of Naples and Sicily. In 1759, Charles succeeded his childless brother on the Spanish throne, and the family moved to Spain. Together with her surviving siblings, […]
Emperor Francis Joseph I passed away on 21 November 1916. At the age of eighty-six, he had ruled for nearly sixty-eight years. The old Emperor’s last years were rather sad and lonely. Many of his closest family members had died — his son and wife, all his siblings except one unmarried brother, and almost all […]
Archduchess Maria Anna of Habsburg-Lorraine, my protagonist, passed away on 19 November 1789. The details of her life have been discussed throughout this webpage. Unmarried and childless, Marianne lived a withdrawn life at the Imperial court in Vienna until the death of her mother, Maria Theresa, in 1780. In the final decade of her life, […]
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