Category Archives: Former Monarchies

The Honours of Scotland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Honours of Scotland: Credit – Historic Environment Scotland Facebook Page

On July 5, 2023, King Charles III was presented with the Honours of Scotland during a National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Honours of Scotland, also known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and are the oldest surviving set of crown jewels of the United Kingdom. The Crown of Scotland (1540), the Scepter (circa 1494), and the Sword of State (1507) are the three main Honours of Scotland. They were first used together as coronation regalia at the coronation of the nine-month-old Mary I, Queen of Scots in 1543, and subsequently at the coronations of her infant son James VI, King of Scots (later also King James I of England) in 1567 at Stirling Castle, her grandson Charles I, King of Scots (also King of England) in 1633 at Holyrood Palace, and her great-grandson Charles II, King of Scots (also King of England) in 1651 at Scone. The Honours of Scotland are on display in the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Queen Elizabeth II being presented with the Crown of Scotland in 1953

During her first visit to Scotland after her coronation, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom received the Honours of Scotland during a National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 24, 1953. During the service, the Honours of Scotland were formally presented to Queen Elizabeth II by Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton. The Queen then returned them to the Duke of Hamilton. The Duke of Hamilton is the senior dukedom in the Peerage of Scotland and the Hereditary Bearer of the Crown of Scotland.

King Charles III will be presented with the Honours of Scotland during a National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland on July 5, 2023. Queen Camilla and The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, as The Prince and Princess of Wales are known in Scotland, will also be attending. During the service, Dame Katherine Grainger (a Scottish former rower, world champion, Olympic gold and silver medalist and current Chair of UK Sport) will carry the new Elizabeth Sword, the Sceptre will be carried by Leeona Dorrian, Lady Dorrian, The Lord Justice Clerk, the second most senior judge in Scotland, and the Crown of Scotland will be carried by Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton in his role as the Hereditary Bearer of the Crown of Scotland.

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The Crown of Scotland

 

Made in 1540 by Edinburgh goldsmith John Mosman, the Crown of Scotland is the oldest surviving crown in the United Kingdom and among the oldest in Europe. A crown must have been made during the reign of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots (reigned 1306 – 1329) or his son, David II, King of Scots (reigned 1329 – 1371) from the House of Bruce, as David was anointed and crowned, as were all the subsequent Scottish monarchs from the House of Stuart through Charles II. Most likely, it was this crown that was remodeled into the current crown. The current crown was remade for James V, King of Scots who first wore it to the coronation of his second wife Marie of Guise at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland on February 22, 1540.

The base of the Crown of Scotland is a circlet of solid gold set with twenty-two large pearls and twenty gemstones, all from the old crown. On the top edge of the circlet are forty gold half circles. Each half circle is topped by an alternating sequence of twenty pearls, ten gold fleurs-de-lis, and ten gold crosses fleury with pearls and gemstones. The circlet supports the four solid gold arches from the old crown. The arches are topped by a gold orb, enameled blue and covered with small gold stars, and topped by a gold cross with eight pearls and a large amethyst. James V’s royal cypher ‘JR5’ appears on the lower arm of the cross.

The Crown of Scotland was used in the coronations of the infant monarchs Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543 and her son James VI, King of Scots in 1567. In 1603, upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England, James VI, King of Scots succeeded her as King James I of England. Until the Acts of Union were passed in 1707 during the reign of Queen Anne, uniting England and Scotland into a single kingdom called Great Britain, the Stuart monarchs were both Kings/Queens of England and Kings/Queens of Scots. During this period, the Stuart monarchs lived nearly all the time in England. In the absence of a resident monarch of Scotland, the Honours of Scotland were carried to sittings of the Parliament of Scotland in Edinburgh to symbolize the monarch’s presence and the royal assent to legislation.

The Crown of Scotland was used at the coronation of Charles I as King of Scots at the Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh in 1633, and of Charles II as King of Scots at Scone Abbey in Scone in 1651. The remainder of the monarchs of Scotland were never crowned but rather just took the Scottish coronation oath. During the English Civil War when Oliver Cromwell seized power and the monarchy was overthrown, Cromwell had the Crown Jewels of England destroyed. Cromwell also wanted to destroy the Honours of Scotland but they were secretly buried at Dunnottar Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland until the monarchy under Charles II was restored in 1660.

Until the Acts of Union in 1707, the Crown of Scotland was present as a symbol of royal authority at the opening of each Parliament of Scotland. With the union of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Honours of Scotland no longer had a ceremonial role in the new Parliament of Great Britain in London. The Honours of Scotland were locked away in a chest at Edinburgh Castle where they remained forgotten until 1818, when a group of people, including the author Sir Walter Scott, set out to find them. Since 1819, the Honours of Scotland have been on display in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle. They are removed only for state occasions which first happened in 1822 when they were presented to King George IV at Holyrood Palace during his visit to Edinburgh, the first visit to Scotland by a reigning monarch since King Charles II in 1651. Since 1999, the Crown of Scotland has been present at each Opening Ceremony of the Scottish Parliament.

The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II with the Crown of Scotland in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland; Credit – British Monarchy Facebook Page

After the death of Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle, her home in Scotland, her coffin was transported first to Holyrood Palace, the Royal Family’s residence in Edinburgh, Scotland. The next day, Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin traveled by procession from Holyrood Palace up the Royal Mile to St. Giles Cathedral where it lay in state with the Crown of Scotland upon it.

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The Sceptre

The Sceptre; Credit – Credit – Historic Environment Scotland

The Sceptre, a rod held by the sovereigns at their coronation, was a gift from Pope Alexander VI to James IV, King of Scots in 1494, replacing a 14th-century sceptre that had been lost. The silver-gilt sceptre has a handle attached to the bottom of a hexagonal rod topped by a finial. The rod is engraved with grotesques, urns, leaves, thistles, and fleurs-de-lis. The finial features small figures of the Virgin and Child, St. James the Great and St. Andrew within Gothic canopies, flanked by stylized dolphins, a symbol of Christ’s Church and topped by a polished globe of rock crystal.

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Sword of State

The old Sword of State, now too fragile to use in ceremonies; Credit – Historic Environment Scotland

In 1507, James IV, King of Scots was granted the title Protector and Defender of the Christian Faith by Pope Julius II. Along with the title, the blessed sword and the blessed hat were gifts offered by popes to Catholic monarchs in recognition of their defense of Christendom. The sword given to James IV later became the Scottish Sword of State. Made by Italian craftsman Domenico da Sutri, the sword measures 5 feet / 137.8 cm long. Etched on either side of the steel blade are figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and the words: JULIUS II PONT MAX (Julius II Supreme Pontiff) in inlaid gold lettering. The silver-gilt handle is decorated with oak leaves and acorns, with two stylized oak leaves which overlap the scabbard, and a crossguard in the form of dolphins. The Sword of State’s wooden scabbard is bound in crimson velvet with silver-gilt repoussé work and hung from a sword belt made from woven silk and thread of gold with a silver-gilt buckle.

King James IV’s sword was presented to Queen Elizabeth II at the 1953 Service of Thanksgiving, however, it was considered too fragile to be used during the presentation of the Honours of Scotland to King Charles III in 2023. With the approval of the Scottish government, Joseph Morrow, Lord Lyon King of Arms, who is responsible for overseeing state ceremonial in Scotland, commissioned a new sword to replace it.

The new Elizabeth Sword

The new Sword of State is called the Elizabeth Sword in honor of Queen Elizabeth II. It was designed by former Ormond Pursuivant of Arms Mark Dennis based upon traditional Scottish flora and made by expert Scottish craftspeople. The sword’s pommel is made of Lewisian gneiss from Iona and the hilt is made of oak from Perthshire. The hilt and the crossguard are a swirling thistle, the floral emblem of Scotland. The blade is engraved with the royal motto of Scotland: “In my defens God me defend” on one side and on the other side with the motto of the Order of the Thistle in Latin: “Nemo me impune lacessit” – “None attack me unpunished.”

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The Stone of Scone

The Stone of Scone under the Coronation Chair; Credit – Wikipedia

The Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny will also be in St. Giles Cathedral during the ceremony on July 5, 2023. It is a large block of red sandstone, weighing about 335 pounds, which was used for centuries in the coronation ceremonies of the sovereigns of Scotland. During the First War of Scottish Independence in 1296, the Stone of Scone was seized by King Edward I of England, who brought it to Westminster Abbey. He then had the Coronation Chair made to house the stone, and it has been used for every English and British coronation since 1308. In 1996, the Stone of Scone was returned to Scotland with the provision that it will be brought to Westminster Abbey for the coronation of future British sovereigns. It was last used in the coronation of King Charles III in 2023.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Crown of Scotland (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_Scotland (Accessed: 03 July 2023).
  • Elizabeth Sword (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Sword (Accessed: 03 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021) St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/st-giles-cathedral-in-edinburgh-scotland/ (Accessed: 03 July 2023).
  • Honours of Scotland (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honours_of_Scotland (Accessed: 03 July 2023).
  • Honours of Scotland (no date) Edinburgh Castle. Available at: https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/see-and-do/highlights/honours-of-scotland (Accessed: 03 July 2023).
  • Mehl, Scott. (2023) The Coronation Chair and Stone of Scone, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/the-coronation-chair-and-stone-of-scone/ (Accessed: 03 July 2023).
  • Sceptre; Pre 1494; medieval; Edinburgh Castle: Hist env Scotland (no date) Sceptre; Pre 1494; Medieval; Edinburgh Castle | Hist Env Scotland. Available at: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/archives-and-collections/properties-in-care-collections/object/sceptre-pre-1494-medieval-edinburgh-castle-13021 (Accessed: 03 July 2023).
  • Scottish Coronation Event: Details Revealed for Edinburgh Ceremony (2023) BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-66056826 (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

Maria Josepha of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Josepha of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony was the wife of Archduke Otto Franz of Austria and the mother of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria. Maria Josepha Louise Philippina Elisabeth Pia Angelica Margaretha was born on May 31, 1867, in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony. She was the fifth of the eight children and the youngest of the four daughters of King Georg of Saxony and Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal. Maria Josepha’s paternal grandparents were King Johann of Saxony and Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Maria II of Portugal and her second husband Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry.

Maria Josepha had seven siblings:

Maria Josepha, circa 1893; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Josepha was raised in a strict Catholic environment. In 1883, her youngest sibling Albert became very ill. Their mother Maria Ana took care of him intensively for months until he recovered, but overworked herself so much that she died of exhaustion on February 5, 1884, at the age of 40. Maria Ana’s death occurred before her husband, who never remarried, became King of Saxony.

Otto Franz and Maria Josepha at the time of their engagement; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 2, 1886, in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, 19-year-old Princess Maria Josepha married her 21-year-old second cousin Archduke Otto Franz of Austria, the son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and his second wife Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Maria Josepha’s father-in-law Karl Ludwig was the younger brother of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and Archduke Maximilian of Austria, the executed Emperor of Mexico. Her new husband Otto Franz was the brother of the ill-fated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination in 1914 was one of the causes of World War I

The marriage was not a love match. Otto Franz’s first cousin Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Otto’s brother Franz Ferdinand had snubbed the Saxony court by rejecting Maria Josepha’s elder sister Mathilde as a bride. Relations between Austria-Hungary and Saxony improved only when Otto Franz, under pressure from the Austrian-Hungarian court, married Mathilde’s younger sister Maria Josepha. The marriage of Otto Franz and Maria Josepha was increasingly unhappy. Otto Franz had many affairs and Maria Josepha was very religious and was insultingly called “the nun” by her husband because of her deeply pious beliefs.

Otto Franz and Maria Josepha with their two sons Karl and Maximilian Eugen, circa 1897; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Josepha and Otto Franz had two sons:

In 1889, Otto Franz’s first cousin Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria died by suicide at his hunting lodge Mayerling. Crown Prince Rudolf, the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, had no sons, and the succession would pass to Emperor Franz Joseph’s brother Archduke Karl Ludwig and his eldest son Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Maria Josepha’s father-in-law and brother-in-law. There have been suggestions that Karl Ludwig renounced his succession rights in favor of his son Franz Ferdinand. However, an act of renunciation was never formally signed and Karl Ludwig was never officially designated heir to the throne. He was only three years younger than Franz Joseph and not a realistic choice. When Karl Ludwig died in 1896, Maria Josepha’s brother-in-law Franz Ferdinand became the heir to his uncle’s throne.

Meanwhile, Otto Franz was involved in many scandals, including jumping nude from a window in a private dining room in the Hotel Sacher in Vienna in front of a visiting British peeress and being spotted in the hallway at the same hotel about to enter a lady’s room, wearing nothing but a sword. The imperial court gradually became alienated from Otto Franz as did his wife.


Maria Josepha and Otto Franz; Credit – Wikipedia

By 1900, it was clear that Maria Josepha’s husband Otto Franz had contracted the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. He withdrew from public life and spent a year in Egypt where he temporarily improved. After returning to Austria, Otto Franz became quite ill. He was in agonizing pain for the last two years of his life and was forced to replace his nose with a rubber prosthetic due to the facial deformity caused by syphilis. During the last months of his life, Otto Franz lived in a villa in Währing, a district of Vienna, and was nursed by his last mistress Luise Robinson and his stepmother, his father’s second wife Maria Theresa of Portugal. On November 1, 1906, Archduke Otto Franz, aged forty-one, died. He was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria. After the death of her husband, Maria Josepha remained unmarried. The German-Austrian stage and film actor Otto Tressler was a close friend, and possibly Maria Josepha and Otto had a relationship.

Karl and Zita’s wedding: (L – R) Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Archduchess Maria Josepha, Emperor Franz Joseph, Karl, and Zita; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 21, 1911, Maria Josepha’s son Karl married Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the daughter of the deposed Robert I, Duke of Parma and his second wife, Maria Antonia of Portugal at Schwarzau Castle, an Austrian home of Zita’s family. 

Maria Josepha’s son Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Josepha’s brother-in-law Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austrian throne until his assassination on June 28, 1914, an event that was one of the causes of World War I. Franz Ferdinand had been allowed to make a morganatic marriage with the condition that the children of the marriage would not have succession rights. Upon Franz Ferdinand’s death, Maria Josepha’s son Karl became the heir to the Austrian throne. He succeeded to the throne as Emperor Karl I of Austria upon the death of Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1916. Karl reigned until the monarchy was abolished in 1918, at the end of World War I.

At the end of World War I, the armistice required that the Austrian-Hungarian Empire allow for autonomy and self-determination of the government of its various ethnic populations. The various areas proclaimed independence and by October 1918 there was not much left of the empire. On November 11, 1918, the same day as the armistice ending World War I, Karl issued a proclamation in which he recognized the rights of the people of Austria to determine their form of government and released his government officials from their loyalty to him. On November 13, 1918, Karl issued a similar proclamation for Hungary. Karl did not use the term “abdicate” in his proclamations and would never admit that he had abdicated.

On March 23, 1919, Karl and his family, including his mother Maria Josepha, left for Switzerland. On April 3, 1919, the Austrian Parliament passed the Habsburg Law which forbade Karl or his wife Zita from ever returning to Austria. The law also prevented other Habsburgs from returning to Austria unless they renounced all intentions of claiming the throne and accepted the condition of living as ordinary citizens. In 1921, Karl returned to Hungary twice, attempting to regain the throne of Hungary. After the second attempt, the Council of Allied Powers decided to exile Karl and his family to the Portuguese island of Madeira. In March 1922, Karl caught a cold which developed into bronchitis and further developed into pneumonia. After suffering two heart attacks and respiratory failure, Karl died on April 1, 1922, at the age of 34. Due to the Habsburg Law, Karl could not be buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria. He was buried at the Church of Our Lady of the Mount on the island of Madeira in Portugal.

The restrictions on the Habsburgs entering Austria were eventually rescinded, but only for those Habsburgs born after April 10, 1919. In 1982, the restrictions were eased and after 63 years, Karl’s widow Zita could return to Austria for visits. When Zita died in 1989, the government of Austria allowed her funeral to take place in Austria provided that the Habsburg family pay the cost and Zita was allowed to be buried in the Habsburg traditional burial site, the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria. However, the remains of her husband Karl are still interred in Portugal.

Beatification of Karl in 2004

Maria Josepha had raised Karl with a very religious upbringing, and upon marrying Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, also a very devout Roman Catholic, Karl told her, “Now, we must help each other to get to Heaven.” Karl was beatified on October 3, 2004, by Pope John Paul II, is known as Blessed Karl of Austria. Beatification is the third of four steps toward sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church.

Tomb of Maria Josepha, to the right of her husband’s tomb in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna; Credit – www.findagrave.com

After Karl and his family were exiled to the Portuguese island of Madeira, Maria Josepha settled in Bavaria, Germany where she lived in Geiselgasteig near Munich. Because of Allied bombings during World War II, Maria Josepha moved to the safety of Wildenwart Castle in Chiemgau, Bavaria, Germany. The castle belonged to the former Bavarian royal family, and Maria Josepha lived there with Princess Hildegard and Princess Helmtrud, two unmarried daughters of Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria. Maria Josepha died at Wildenwart Castle on May 28, 1944, at the age of 76, and was allowed to be buried in the New Vault of the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, beside her husband.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2014) Karl I, Emperor of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-i-emperor-of-austria/ (Accessed: 29 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Archduke Otto Franz of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/archduke-otto-franz-of-austria/ (Accessed: 29 May 2023).
  • Maria Josepha von Sachsen (1867–1944) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Josepha_von_Sachsen_(1867%E2%80%931944) (Accessed: 29 May 2023).
  • Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony (1867–1944) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Maria_Josepha_of_Saxony_(1867%E2%80%931944) (Accessed: 29 May 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew, 1995. The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Archduke Gottfried of Austria, Pretender to the Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Archduke Gottfried of Austria was the Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany from 1948 until he died in 1984.

Archduke Gottfried of Austria as a child – source: Wikipedia

Archduke Gottfried Maria Joseph Peter Ferdinand Hubert Anton Rupert Leopold Heinrich Ignaz Alfons was born Mary 14, 1902 in Linz, Austria, the elder son of Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria and Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had three siblings:

Gottfried was raised in Salzburg and Vienna in Austria until the family relocated to Lucerne, Switzerland at the end of World War I.

Wedding of Gottfried and Dorothea of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

Gottfried married Princess Dorothea of Bavaria in civil and religious ceremonies held on August 2 and 3, 1938 in Sárvár, Hungary. She was the daughter of Prince Franz of Bavaria and Princess Isabella Antonie of Croÿ. The couple had four children:

  • Archduchess Elisabeth (1939) – married Friedrich Edler von Braun, had issue
  • Archduchess Alice (1941) – married Baron Vittorio Manno, had issue
  • Archduke Leopold Franz of Austria, Prince of Tuscany (1942) – married Laetitia de Bezunce d’Arenberg, had issue
  • Archduchess Marie Antoinette (1950) – married Baron von Proff zu Irnich, had issue

After World War II, Gottfried and his family settled in Sankt Gilgen, just outside Salzburg, Austria. They lived a very quiet life, despite Gottfried succeeding his father as pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany in 1948.

Archduke Gottfried died in Bad Ischl, Austria on January 21, 1984. He is buried in the parish cemetery of Sankt Gilgen, in Salzburg. Gottfried was succeeded by his only son, Archduke Leopold Franz.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Grand Duchy of Tuscany Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him. His power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1564 – 1576) was also King of Bohemia (reigned 1562 – 1576), King of Hungary and Croatia (reigned 1563 – 1576), Archduke of Austria (reigned 1564 – 1576), among many other titles. Born on July 31, 1527, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria, Maximilian was the second of the fifteen children and the eldest of the four sons of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. His paternal grandparents were Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León. His maternal grandparents were King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his third wife Anne of Foix-Candale.

Maximilian with his younger brothers Ferdinand and Johann; Credit – Wikipedia

Maximilian had fourteen siblings, and all but two reached adulthood:

Maximilian’s powerful uncle Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, among other titles; Credit – Wikipedia

At the time of Maximilian’s birth, his paternal uncle Charles V was the Holy Roman Emperor and King (Carlos I) of Spain, among many other titles. Charles was one of the most powerful ever monarchs. He had a large number of titles due to his vast inheritance of the Burgundian, Spanish, and Austrian realms from his parents Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy and Archduke of Austria, the ruler of the vast and wealthy Burgundian State and the Austrian Habsburg realms, and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León, Queen of Aragon which were combined into the Kingdom of Spain under Charles.

Archduke Maximilian, circa 1544; Credit – Wikipedia

Maximilian II spent his early childhood at his father’s court in Innsbruck, County of Tyrol, now in Italy. Among his teachers were humanist scholars Kaspar Ursinus Velius and Georg Tannstetter. While Maximilian and his family were Roman Catholic, some rulers of the constituent states of the Holy Roman Empire had converted to Lutheranism during the Reformation. He developed a relationship with the Lutheran Augustus, Elector of Saxony who spent some time at the court of Maximilian’s father in Vienna. Maximilian learned about Lutheranism and after Augustus left Vienna, he corresponded with Maximilian. At the age of seventeen, Maximilian began to gain some military experience during the Italian War of 1542 – 1546 which pitted Maximilian’s uncle Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and King Henry VIII of England against King François I of France and Sultan Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire.

Maximilian’s wife and first cousin Maria of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

On September 13, 1548, Maximilian married his first cousin Infanta Maria of Spain, the daughter of his uncle Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who was also King Carlos I of Spain and Isabella of Portugal. Maria and her siblings were raised in Spain and with this marriage, Charles V intended to strengthen the ties between the Austrian Habsburgs and the Spanish Habsburgs. While Maria’s father Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was occupied with the affairs of his other realms, Maria and Maximilian acted as regents of Spain from 1548 to 1551, during the absence of Maria’s brother, the future King Felipe II of Spain. In 1552, the couple moved to live at the court of Maximilian’s father in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria.

Maximilian and his wife Maria with their three eldest surviving children Anna, Rudolf, and Ernst; Credit – Wikipedia

Maximilian and Maria had fifteen children:

Maximilian’s first cousin Felipe II, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Physically exhausted after forty years of ruling, Maximilian’s paternal uncle Charles abdicated in 1555 and retired to the peace of the Monastery of Yuste in Extremadura, Spain where he died in 1558. Charles’ younger brother, Maximilian’s father Ferdinand, who had already been given Charles’ Austrian lands in 1521, became the Holy Roman Emperor. The Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands, Italy, and the New World, was inherited by Charles’ son and Maximilian’s first cousin who reigned as Felipe II, King of Spain. In December 1562, Ferdinand had his eldest son Maximilian elected King of the Romans, meaning he would become Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. In addition, Ferdinand passed the crown of Hungary to his son in 1563. Plagued by fever attacks during the last years of his life, Ferdinand died in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria, on July 25, 1564, aged 61. Maximilian was now Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, and Archduke of Austria.

During his reign, Maximilian II had to deal with the ongoing Ottoman-Habsburg wars, conflicts with his Spanish Habsburg cousins, and the effects of the 1555 Peace of Augsburg. The Peace of Augsburg officially ended the religious struggle between Lutherans and Catholics, and made the legal division of Christianity permanent within the Holy Roman Empire, allowing the rulers of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire to choose either Lutheranism or Roman Catholicism as the official religion of their state.

There has been much debate about the nature of Maximilian’s religious beliefs. There was a pro-Protestant contingent among the nobility at the court in Vienna. Johann Sebastian Pfauser, Maximilian’s court chaplain, had originally been Roman Catholic but converted to Lutheranism. Through his influence, Maximilian abandoned purely Catholic customs, read Protestant writings, and refused to receive Communion according to the Catholic rite. He once told his father that worshiping saints was meaningless and idolatrous. Maximilian’s wife Maria was a devout Catholic and frequently disagreed with her religiously ambiguous husband about his religious tolerance. However, Maximilian remained Roman Catholic and never converted to Lutheranism.

Maximilian’s son and successor Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1572, Maximilian II passed the crown of Hungary to his son Rudolf, and in 1575, Rudolf was also granted the crown of Bohemia and the Habsburg hereditary territories. Rudolf was elected King of the Romans in 1575, ensuring that he would succeed his father as Holy Roman Emperor.

Tomb of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, his wife Anna, and their son Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 27, 1576, after a family outing, Maximilian suffered a severe relapse of an illness that had been bothering him for a long time, with attacks of sharp gastrointestinal pain. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged forty-nine, in the Imperial City of Regensburg, now in the German state of Bavaria, on October 12, 1576, while planning an invasion of Poland. On his deathbed, Maximilian refused to receive the Last Rites of the Roman Catholic Church. He was interred with his parents in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. After Maximilian’s death, his wife Maria of Spain remained in Vienna for six years and greatly influenced her sons Rudolf and Matthias who were both Holy Roman Emperors. Maria returned to Spain in 1582, where she died, aged seventy-four, on February 26, 1603, having survived her husband by twenty-seven years.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/charles-v-holy-roman-emperor-carlos-i-king-of-spain-karl-i-archduke-of-austria-charles-ii-lord-of-the-netherlands-duke-of-burgundy/ (Accessed: 17 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, S. (2023) Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinand-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-hungary-croatia-and-bohemia-archduke-of-austria/ (Accessed: 21 May 2023).
  • Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 21 May 2023).
  • Maximilian II. (HRR) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_II._(HRR) (Accessed: 21 May 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew, 1995. The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter, 2016. Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Archduke Otto Franz of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Archduke Otto Franz of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Archduke Otto Franz of Austria was the father of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, and the brother of the ill-fated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination in 1914 was one of the causes of World War I. Otto Franz Joseph Karl Ludwig Maria was born on April 21, 1865, in Graz, Austrian Empire, now in Austria. He was the second of the three sons and the second of the four children of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and his second wife Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Archduke Karl Ludwig’s elder brothers were Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and Archduke Maximilian of Austria, the executed Emperor of Mexico. Otto Franz’s paternal grandparents were Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and Princess Sophie of Bavaria. His maternal grandparents were King Ferdinando II of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria.

Otto Franz had three siblings:

L to R: Franz Ferdinand, Otto Franz, Karl Ludwig (father), Margarete Sophie, Maria Theresa (stepmother), and Ferdinand Karl, 1873; Credit – Wikipedia

When Otto Franz was six-years-old, his mother, 28-year-old mother Maria Annunciata, died from tuberculosis on May 4, 1871. Two years after his mother’s death Otto Franz’s father Karl Ludwig married Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugal, daughter of the deposed King Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.

Half-sisters Elisabeth Amalie and Maria Annunciata, 1893; Credit – Wikipedia

Otto had two half-sisters from his father’s second marriage:

Otto Franz was raised with his elder brother Franz Ferdinand under the supervision of Count Ferdinand Christoph Eberhard von Degenfeld-Schonburg, (link in German), a Lieutenant Field Marshal in the Austrian-Hungarian army. When in Vienna, the family resided at the Palais Archduke Karl Ludwig. Villa Wartholz in Reichenau an der Rax and Artstetten Castle in Artstetten-Pöbring were used as the family’s summer residences.

Otto Franz and Maria Josepha at the time of their engagement, 1886; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 2, 1886, in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, 21-year-old Otto Franz married 19-year-old Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony, daughter of the future King Georg I of Saxony and Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal. Otto’s first cousin Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Otto’s brother Franz Ferdinand had snubbed the Saxon court by rejecting Maria Josepha’s elder sister Mathilde as a bride. Relations between Austria-Hungary and Saxony improved only when Otto Franz, under pressure from the Austrian-Hungarian court, married Mathilde’s younger sister Maria Josepha. The marriage of Otto Franz and Maria Josepha was increasingly unhappy. Otto Franz had many affairs and Maria Josepha was very religious and was insultingly called “the nun” by her husband because of her deeply pious beliefs.

Otto Franz with his wife Maria Josepha and their two sons Karl and Maximilian Eugen, circa 1897; Credit – Wikipedia

Otto Franz and Maria Josepha had two sons:

In 1889, Otto Franz’s first cousin Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria died by suicide at his hunting lodge Mayerling. Crown Prince Rudolf, the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph, had no sons, so the succession would pass to Emperor Franz Joseph’s brother Archduke Karl Ludwig and his eldest son Archduke Franz Ferdinand. There have been suggestions that Karl Ludwig renounced his succession rights in favor of his son Franz Ferdinand. However, an act of renunciation was never formally signed and Karl Ludwig was never officially designated heir to the throne. He was only three years younger than Franz Joseph and not a realistic choice. When Karl Ludwig died in 1896, Franz Ferdinand became the heir to his uncle’s throne.

Meanwhile, Otto Franz was involved in many scandals, including jumping nude from a window in a private dining room in the Hotel Sacher in Vienna in front of a visiting British peeress and being spotted in the hallway at the Hotel Sacher about to enter a lady’s room, wearing nothing but a sword. The imperial court gradually became alienated from Otto Franz as did his wife.

Otto Franz had two children with his mistress Marie Schleinzer (1874 – 1949):

  • Alfred Joseph Edler von Hortenau (1892 – 1957), married Charlotte Böhler, had one daughter
  • Hildegard von Hortenau (1894 – ?)

Otto Franz, circa 1900; Credit – Wikipedia

By 1900, it was clear that Otto Franz had contracted syphilis. He withdrew from public life and spent a year in Egypt where he temporarily improved. After returning to Austria, Otto Franz became quite ill. He was in agonizing pain for the last two years of his life and was forced to replace his nose with a rubber prosthetic due to the facial deformity caused by syphilis. During his last months, Otto Franz lived in a villa in Währing, a district of Vienna, and was nursed by his last mistress Luise Robinson and by his stepmother Maria Theresa of Portugal. On November 1, 1906, Archduke Otto Franz, aged forty-one, died. He was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria.

Tomb of Archduke Otto Franz of Austria; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Otto Franz’s brother Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the throne until his assassination on June 28, 1914, an event that was one of the causes of World War I. Franz Ferdinand had been allowed to make a morganatic marriage with the condition that the children of the marriage would not have succession rights. Upon Franz Ferdinand’s death, Otto Franz’s son Karl became the heir. He succeeded to the throne as Emperor Karl I of Austria upon the death of Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1916. Karl reigned until the monarchy was abolished in 1918, at the end of World War I. Since that time, the pretenders to the throne of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire have been Otto Franz’s descendants through his son Karl.

Otto Franz’s son Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Karl and his father were as different as night and day. Karl was raised with a very religious upbringing by his pious mother Maria Josepha. Upon marrying Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, also a very devout Roman Catholic, Karl told her, “Now, we must help each other to get to Heaven.”  Karl was beatified on October 3, 2004, by Pope John Paul II, and he is known as Blessed Karl of Austria. Beatification is the third of four steps toward sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Archduke Otto of Austria (1865–1906) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Otto_of_Austria_(1865%E2%80%931906) (Accessed: 20 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021) Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/archduke-karl-ludwig-of-austria/ (Accessed: 20 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2014) Karl I, Emperor of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-i-emperor-of-austria/ (Accessed: 20 May 2023).
  • Otto Franz Joseph Von österreich (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Franz_Joseph_von_%C3%96sterreich (Accessed: 20 May 2023).
  • Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony (1867–1944) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Maria_Josepha_of_Saxony_(1867%E2%80%931944) (Accessed: 20 May 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew, 1995. The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria, Prince of Tuscany was the Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany from 1921 until he died in 1948.

Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria – source: Wikipedia

Peter Ferdinand (Pietro Ferdinando) was born in Salzburg, Austria on May 12, 1874, the third son of Ferdinando IV, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his second wife, Princess Alicia of Parma. He had 9 siblings:

  • Archduke Leopoldo Ferdinando (1868) – married 3 times, no issue
  • Archduchess Luisa (1870) – married (1) Crown Prince Friedrich August of Saxony, had issue; (2) Enrico Toselli, had issue
  • Giuseppe Ferdinando (1872) – married (1) Rosa Kaltenbrunner, no issue; (2) Gertrude Tomanek von Beyerfels-Mondsee, had issue
  • Archduke Enrico Fernando (1878) – married Maria Ludescher, had issue
  • Archduchess Anna Maria (1879) – married Johannes, Prince of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein, had issue
  • Archduchess Margherita (1881) – unmarried
  • Archduchess Germana (1884) – unmarried
  • Archduke Roberto Ferdinando (1885) – died in childhood
  • Archduchess Agnese (1891) – unmarried

He also had an older half-sister from his father’s first marriage to Princess Anna of Saxony:

Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. source: Wikipedia

On November 8, 1900, in Cannes, France, Peter Ferdinand married Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. She was the daughter of Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta and Princess Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. The couple had four children:

Pietro Ferdinando with his wife and children, c1911. source: Wikipedia

Peter Ferdinand had a long military career, quickly climbing through the ranks to become Fieldmarshal in 1914. At the beginning of World War I, he was commanding the 25th Infantry Division, fighting against Russian forces in Galicia and southern Poland. However, he was blamed for the force’s failures and was relieved of his command in June 1915. Two years later, in April 1917, he was reinstated as General of the Infantry and took command of army troops on the Italian front. He continued to command positions until the end of the war.

Archduke Peter Ferdinand died in St. Gilgen, Salzburg, Austria on November 8, 1948. He is buried in the local cemetery.

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Grand Duchy of Tuscany Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, Queen of the Romans, Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Anne of Bohemia and Hungary; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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The wife of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Anna of Bohemia and Hungary was born in Buda, Kingdom of Hungary, now Budapest, Hungary, on July 23, 1503. Anna died before her husband became Holy Roman Emperor so she never held the title Holy Roman Empress. She was the oldest of the two children and the only daughter of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his third wife Anne of Foix-Candale. Anna’s paternal grandparents were King Casimir IV of Poland and Elisabeth of Austria. Her maternal grandparents were Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale and Catherine de Foix.

Anna had one younger brother:

King Casimir IV of Poland wearing a crown with his son King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his grandchildren Anna and Ludovicus. This is an idealized painting because Casimir’s grandchildren were born more than ten years after his death; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna’s 22-year-old mother died on July 26, 1506, a little more than three weeks after the birth of her son due to birth complications from delivery. Anna’s father Vladislaus never remarried and died ten years after his wife’s death, on March 13, 1516, two weeks after his 60th birthday. His son Ludovicus was previously crowned as King of Hungary in 1508 and as King of Bohemia in 1509, before his father died, a common practice in some monarchies, and so his succession was assured. The death of King Vladislaus II in 1516 left Anna and her brother under the guardianship of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and the ruler of the Archduchy of Austria, and the Duchies of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola. It was arranged for Anna to marry his grandson, then Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. The marriage contract stipulated that Ferdinand should succeed Anna’s brother Ludovicus as King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in case Ludovicus died without legitimate male heirs.

Anna’s husband Ferdinand, the future Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 26, 1521, in Linz, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria, 18-year-old Anna married 18-year-old Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, the son of Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, the ruler of the vast and wealthy Burgundian State from the House of Habsburg, and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara.  At the time of his marriage in 1521, Ferdinand was governing the Habsburg hereditary lands on behalf of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. After her marriage, Anna was titled Archduchess of Austria.

Three sons of Anna and Ferdinand: Maximilian and his younger brothers Ferdinand and Johann; Credit – Wikipedia

Similar to the situation with King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, Ferdinand and Anna at first seemed to suffer from a lack of sexual instruction, but eventually, the marriage proved extremely successful both personally and politically. Anna and Ferdinand had fifteen children and all but two reached adulthood. Unusual for that time, Anna and Ferdinand personally looked after their children, who grew up simply and modestly. They were not taught exclusively taught by private tutors but attended a public school together with other children where particular attention was paid to learning languages.

Anna’s brother Ludovicus II, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia died without a legitimate male heir after he was thrown from his horse at the Battle of Mohács against the Ottoman Empire in 1526. Anna’s husband Ferdinand claimed both kingdoms and was elected King of Bohemia later in 1526. Ferdinand was proclaimed King of Hungary by a group of nobles, but another group of Hungarian nobles refused to allow a foreign ruler to hold that title and elected Hungarian John Zápolya as an alternative king. Although this conflict lasted until 1570, Ferdinand had the support of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and was generally recognized as King of Hungary. Additionally, in 1531, Charles V recognized his brother Ferdinand as his successor as Holy Roman Emperor, and Ferdinand was elevated to the title King of the Romans, the title of the successor to the Holy Roman Elector elected during the lifetime of a sitting Holy Roman Emperor, and Anna was then Queen of the Romans.

Anna and Ferdinand were rarely separated, and she accompanied him on most trips. Anna was trusted by her husband with many important responsibilities. Shortly after their marriage, Ferdinand appointed Anna, together with Bernardo Clesio, Bishop of Trento, as Co-Chairs of his Hofrat (Court Council). There were times when Anna served as Regent and presided over the Diet, the legislative assembly, in Ferdinand’s name.

Tomb of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, his wife Anna, and their son Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Sadly, Anna died, aged forty-four, due to childbirth complications on January 27, 1547, in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic, three days after giving birth to her fifteenth child. She was buried in a tomb at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. Her husband Ferdinand and their son Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor were also buried with Anna. Despite being encouraged to remarry, Ferdinand could not forget his wife and never remarried. He did not become Holy Roman Emperor until nine years later, in 1556, following the abdication of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Ferdinand survived Anna by seventeen years, dying in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria, on July 25, 1564, aged 61.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Anne Jagellon (2022) Wikipedia (French). Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Jagellon (Accessed: 18 May 2023).
  • Anne of Bohemia and Hungary (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Bohemia_and_Hungary (Accessed: 18 May 2023).
  • Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 18 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinand-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-hungary-croatia-and-bohemia-archduke-of-austria/ (Accessed: 18 May 2023).
  • Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary (2018) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladislaus_II_of_Bohemia_and_Hungary (Accessed: 18 May 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter, 2016. Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Archduke Giuseppe Ferdinando of Austria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Archduke Giuseppe Ferdinando of Austria was the Pretender to the Grand Ducal Throne of Tuscany from 1908 until 1921 when he married unequally and was forced to renounce his rights.

Archduke Giuseppe Ferdinando of Austria – source: Wikipedia

Archduke Giuseppe Ferdinando of Austria was born in Salzburg on May 24, 1872, the second son of Ferdinando IV, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his second wife Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma. He was given the names Giuseppe Ferdinando Salvatore Maria Francesco Leopoldo Antonio Alberto Giovanni Battista Carlo Ludovico Roberto Maria Ausiliatrice. He had 9 siblings:

He also had an older half-sister from his father’s first marriage to Princess Anna of Saxony:

Giuseppe Ferdinando attended the Oberrealschule at Hranice and the Maria Theresa Military Academy at Wiener Neustadt. He was then commissioned in the Austrian military and served in various regiments. During World War I, he held several command positions but was forced to retire in June 1916 after suffering devastating losses during the Brusilov Offensive. He later served as Inspector General of the Imperial Air Force from July 1917 until September 1918.

Giuseppe Ferdinando was fascinated with aviation, especially hot air balloons. He made several attempts to incorporate both into his military service, with little success. He did, however, arrange for a balloon flight from his home in Linz, landing in Dieppe, France 16 hours later.

Giuseppe was married twice. His first marriage, on May 2, 1921, was to Rosa Kaltenbrunner. The couple divorced in 1928 with no issue. He married again on January 27, 1929 to Gertrude Tomanek von Beyerfels-Mondsee. The couple had two children:

  • Claudia von Habsburg-Lothringen (1930) – unmarried
  • Maximilian von Habsburg-Lothringen (1932) – married to Doris Williams, had issue

He had become his father’s heir in 1902 when his elder brother renounced his membership in the Imperial House to marry. Giuseppe also lost his claim to the former throne in 1921, when he also renounced his membership in the Imperial House and his claim to the throne. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Pietro Ferdinando.

In 1938, Giuseppe Ferdinando was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the Dachau Concentration Camp. After three months, he was released but remained under constant observation by the Gestapo. He settled in Vienna, where he died on August 28, 1942.

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Grand Duchy of Tuscany Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, Archduke of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1556 – 1564), King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia (reigned 1526 – 1564), Archduke of Austria (reigned 1521 – 1564) was born at the Archiepiscopal Palace of Alcalá de Henares in Alcalá de Henares, Kingdom of Castile, now in Spain, on March 10, 1503. He was the fourth of the six children and the second of the two sons of Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, the ruler of the vast and wealthy Burgundian State from the House of Habsburg, and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara. Ferdinand’s paternal grandparents were Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and the ruler of the Archduchy of Austria, and the Duchies of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and the first of his three wives, Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, the ruler of the Burgundian State in her own right. His maternal grandparents were Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León.

A portrait of the extended Habsburg family: standing (left to right) Maximilian I. Holy Roman Emperor; Maximilian I’s son Philip of Austria; Maximilian I’s first wife Mary of Burgundy; sitting (left to right) Maximilian I and Mary’s grandsons Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor; and Louis II, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, the husband of Maximilian and Mary’s granddaughter Mary of Austria; (Note: This portrait is anachronistic. Mary of Burgundy died in 1482 when her son Philip of Austria was 4 years old and her son Philip died in 1506 when his son Ferdinand was 4 years old); by Bernhard Strigel painted after 1515; Credit – Wikipedia

Ferdinand had five siblings. His brother was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, among many other titles, and his sisters were all queen consorts.


Ferdinand’s parents Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León; Credit – Wikipedia

Before Ferdinand was seven years old, his father had died and his mother had been declared too mentally ill to reign as Queen of Castile and León and was confined in a convent for the rest of her life. Ferdinand’s father Philip of Habsburg (also known as Philip the Handsome) was the heir to both his father’s and mother’s dominions. His mother Mary, Duchess of Burgundy was the only child of Charles I (the Bold), Duke of Burgundy, ruler of the vast and wealthy Burgundian State (parts of the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Germany), and succeeded him after his death at the Battle of Nancy during the Burgundian Wars in 1477. In March 1482, Philip’s mother Mary, Duchess of Burgundy died from internal injuries received in a horse-riding accident. Philip, who was not quite four years old, succeeded his mother as ruler of the Burgundian State under the guardianship of his father Maximilian.

Philip’s father Maximilian was the son of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, today part of Austria and Slovenia. Maximilian was elected King of the Romans in 1486. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could, and often did, have a male relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent bore the title King of the Romans. Maximilian became Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, and Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola when his father Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola died in 1493. However, Philip predeceased his father Maximilian, and never succeeded to his father’s dominions but his eldest son, Ferdinand’s elder brother, did. Best known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Carlos I, King of Spain, he was one of the most powerful ever monarchs and had a large number of titles due to his vast inheritance of the Burgundian, Spanish, and Austrian realms.

A year after his birth, Ferdinand’s maternal grandmother Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León died. Ferdinand’s mother Juana became Queen of Castile and León but her father Ferdinand II, King of Aragon proclaimed himself Governor and Administrator of Castile and León. In 1506, Ferdinand’s father Philip became King of Castile and León jure uxoris (by the right of his wife) as Philip I, initiating the rule of the Habsburgs in the Spanish kingdoms which would last until 1700 when the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg became extinct. However, Philip’s rule lasted only from July 12, 1506 to September 25, 1506, when he died, aged 28, apparently of typhoid fever, although an assassination by poisoning was rumored at the time.

Ferdinand’s father Philip had spread rumors about Juana’s supposed mental illness and her misunderstood behavior after his death may have reinforced these rumors. In 1509, Juana’s father Ferdinand II, King of Aragon convinced the parliament that Juana was too mentally ill to govern, and was appointed her guardian and the regent of Castile and León. Juana was confined in the Royal Convent of Santa Clara in Tordesillas, Castile, now in Spain, under the orders of her father. In 1516, Ferdinand II, King of Aragon died. In his will, Ferdinand named his daughter Juana and her eldest son Charles the co-heirs of the Kingdom of Aragon. However, Juana would never reign as her son Charles would continue keeping her confined. Juana would not be released from her confinement until she died in 1555. Many historians feel that Juana was not mentally ill but had been manipulated by her father, husband, and her son. Juana’s father Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and her son Charles had a lot to gain from Juana being declared unfit to rule and confined.

Ferdinand’s wife Anne of Hungary and Bohemia; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 26, 1521, in Linz, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria, Ferdinand married Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, daughter of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his third wife Anne of Foix-Candale. Anna’s mother died due to birth complications shortly after giving birth to her second child, the future Ludovicus II, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The death of Anna’s father King Vladislaus II in 1516 left Anna and her brother under the guardianship of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. It was arranged for Anna to marry his grandson, then Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. At the time of his marriage in 1521, Ferdinand was governing the Habsburg hereditary lands on behalf of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The marriage contract stipulated that Ferdinand should succeed Anna’s brother Ludovicus as King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in case Ludovicus died without legitimate male heirs.

Three sons of Ferdinand and Anna: Maximilian and his younger brothers Ferdinand and Johann; Credit – Wikipedia

Similar to the situation with King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, Ferdinand and Anna at first seemed to suffer from a lack of sexual instruction, but eventually, the marriage proved extremely successful both personally and politically. Ferdinand and Anna had fifteen children and all but two reached adulthood. Sadly, Anna died due to childbirth complications on January 27, 1547, at the age of forty-four, three days after giving birth to her fifteenth child. Despite being encouraged to remarry, Ferdinand could not forget his wife and never remarried.

Ludovicus II, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia died without a legitimate male heir after he was thrown from his horse at the Battle of Mohács against the Ottoman Empire in 1526. Ferdinand claimed both kingdoms and was elected King of Bohemia later in 1526. Ferdinand was proclaimed King of Hungary by a group of nobles, but another group of Hungarian nobles refused to allow a foreign ruler to hold that title and elected Hungarian John Zápolya as an alternative king. Although this conflict lasted until 1570, Ferdinand had the support of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and was generally recognized as King of Hungary. Additionally, in 1531, Charles V recognized Ferdinand as his successor as Holy Roman Emperor, and Ferdinand was elevated to the title King of the Romans.

Ferdinand’s brother Charles several years before his abdication; Credit – Wikipedia

Physically exhausted after forty years of ruling, Ferdinand’s older brother Charles abdicated in 1555, the same year his 75-year-old mother Juana, confined in a convent for forty-six years, died. Charles retired to the peace of the Monastery of Yuste in Extremadura, Spain where he died in 1558. Upon Charles’s abdication, his younger brother Ferdinand, who had already been given Charles’ Austrian lands in 1521, became the Holy Roman Emperor. The Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands, Italy, and the New World, was inherited by Charles’ son who reigned as Felipe II, King of Spain.

Division of the Habsburg lands after the death of Charles V, Holy Roman Empeor; Credit – By Barjimoa – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93587376

Unlike his father Maximilian I and his brother Charles V, Ferdinand I did not travel between his domains. In 1533, he had moved his residence to Vienna and spent most of his time there. After Ferdinand became Holy Roman Emperor, Vienna became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. During his reign as Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand pursued a policy aimed at strengthening peace between the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire, worked on reaching compromises between Catholics and Protestants, and consolidated imperial forces to fight the Ottoman Empire’s invasion in Central Europe. In December 1562, Ferdinand had his eldest son Maximilian elected King of the Romans, meaning that he would become Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. In addition, Ferdinand passed the crown of Hungary to his son in 1563.

Funeral of Ferdinand I, Holy Romand Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Plagued by fever attacks during the last years of his life, Ferdinand died in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria, on July 25, 1564, aged 61, and was buried next to his wife Anna in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. Their son Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor was buried with his parents.

Tomb of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, his wife Anna, and their son Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 17 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/charles-v-holy-roman-emperor-carlos-i-king-of-spain-karl-i-archduke-of-austria-charles-ii-lord-of-the-netherlands-duke-of-burgundy/ (Accessed: 17 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Queen of Aragon. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/juana-i-queen-of-castile-and-leon-and-queen-of-aragon/> [Accessed 17 May 2023].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, King of Castile and León. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/philip-of-austria-duke-of-burgundy-king-of-castile/> [Accessed 17 May 2023].
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew, 1995. The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter, 2016. Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Bianca Maria Sforza, Holy Roman Empress, Archduchess of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Bianca Sforza; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

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Bianca Maria Sforza was the third wife of the three wives of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria. Born in Pavia, Duchy of Milan, now in Italy, on April 5, 1472, she was the third of the four children and the elder of the two daughters of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, 5th Duke of Milan and his second wife Bona of Savoy. Bianca Maria’s paternal grandparents were Francesco Sforza, 4th Duke of Milan, and her namesake Bianca Maria Visconti. Her maternal grandparents were Ludovico I, Duke of Savoy and Anne de Lusignan of Cyprus.

Bianca Maria had three siblings:

Bianca Maria’s father was notorious for being cruel, tyrannical, and vengeful. On December 26, 1476, when Bianca Maria was four years old, her 32-year-old father was stabbed to death while attending Mass at the Church of Santo Stefano in Milan by three high-ranking officials of the Milanese court. Bianca Maria’s father was succeeded by his 7-year-old son Gian Galeazzo Sforza, 6th Duke of Milan with his mother Bona serving as Regent of Milan. However, in 1481, in a power play, the young Duke’s paternal uncle Ludovico Sforza forced Bona to resign her position as Regent. Ludovico quickly gained power and became the de facto ruler of the Duchy of Milan. Ludovico imprisoned his nephew Gian Galeazzo and later became the 7th Duke of Milan after Gian Galeazzo’s death, which was widely viewed as suspicious.

In 1476, at the age of four, Bianca Maria married her 11-year-old first cousin Philibert I, Duke of Savoy, who died from tuberculosis at the age of 17. After the death of Philbert, 10-year-old Bianca Maria returned to Milan, where she was placed under the care of her paternal uncle Ludovico Sforza. Ludovico placed little value on Bianca Maria’s education, so she was ill-educated and free to do whatever she wanted.

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of his beloved first wife Mary, Duchess of Burgundy in her own right and a second very short annulled marriage in name only to Anne, Duchess of Brittany in her own right, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria decided to marry for a third time to Bianca Maria Sforza. The marriage was arranged by Bianca Maria’s uncle Ludovico Sforza, who wanted recognition and the title of Duke of Milan to be confirmed by Maximilian.  Ludovico offered a dowry of 400,000 ducats in cash and a further 40,000 ducats in jewels to make the marriage more desirable to Maximilian. Twenty-one-year-old Bianca Maria and thirty-four-year-old Maximilian were married by proxy on November 30, 1493, in the Duchy of Milan. Bianca Maria then traveled with her large dowry and la arge escort to Innsbruck, County of Tyrol, now in Austria. However, because Maximilian was dealing with a Turkish invasion of his Duchy of Styria, Bianca had to wait until March 16, 1494, to marry Maximilian in person.

The marriage was not a happy one. Maximilian complained that Bianca Maria may have been more beautiful than his first wife Mary of Burgundy, but she was not as intelligent. He considered Bianca Maria uneducated, talkative, naive, careless, and wasteful with money. Bianca Maria had a miscarriage shortly after her marriage and it seems that she was never able to conceive again. She was a stepmother to the two surviving children of Maximilian and his first wife Mary of Burgundy. They were relatively close in age to Bianca Maria and she very much liked them.

Bianca Maria’s stepchildren:

After 1500, Maximilian lost all interest in Bianca Maria. She lived with her own court of 150 – 200 people from Milan, traveling to various castles. Maximilian did not allow Bianca Maria to control her own finances. As a result, she seemed to be living in luxury one day and poverty the next day.  Bianca Maria’s court was arranged around the Roman Catholic church feasts with lavish celebrations at Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi. Carnivals, dances, tournaments, music, theater, hunting, and fishing were integral parts of Bianca Maria’s court life.

The Abbey Church at Stams Abbey where Bianca Maria is buried; Credit – Di Zairon – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50155281

In the last years of her life, Bianca Maria suffered from a debilitating illness, and died on December 31, 1510, aged 38, in Innsbruck, County of Tyrol, now in Austria. Maximilian was not in Innsbruck when she did and did not return to attend her funeral. Bianca Maria was buried at the Abbey Church in the Crypt of the Princes of Tyrol at Stams Abbey (link in Italian) in Stams, County of Tyrol, one of Maximilian’s lands, now in Austria. Traditionally, a gilded statue of those interred in the Crypt of the Princes of Tyrol was placed in the crypt but no gilded statue or any memorial was ever made for Bianca Maria. She is only memorialized in the Hofkirche (Court Church) in Innsbruck where her bronze statue is one of twenty-eight statues on Maximilian’s cenotaph that depicts twenty-four events in Maximilian’s life. Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I built The Hofkirche and the cenotaph as a memorial to his grandfather Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. One has to doubt that Bianca Maria would have been included if Maximilian had designed his cenotaph.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Abbazia di Stams (2021) Wikipedia (Italian). Available at: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbazia_di_Stams (Accessed: 13 May 2023).
  • Bianca Maria Sforza (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bianca_Maria_Sforza (Accessed: 13 May 2023).
  • Bianca Maria Sforza (2022) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bianca_Maria_Sforza (Accessed: 13 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maximilian-i-holy-roman-emperor-duke-of-styria-carinthia-and-carniola-archduke-of-austria/ (Accessed: 13 May 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.