Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Wedding of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and Alix of Hesse and by Rhine

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Nicholas and Alexandra’s Feodorovna engagement photo; Credit – Wikipedia

Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine were married on November 26, 1894, at the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.

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Nicholas’ Early Life

Nicholas (standing behind his father) with his parents and siblings

Nicholas was the eldest of the four sons and the eldest of the six children of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Empress Maria Feodorovna (born Princess Dagmar of Denmark). He was born May 18, 1868, at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, Russia. Nicholas’s brother Alexander, who was one year younger, died at the age of ten months from meningitis, and so Nicholas was raised with his brother George who was three years younger in a relatively simple manner considering their status. Nicholas and George slept in cots, woke up at 6:00 AM, took cold baths, and ate simple, plain meals. Their rooms were furnished with simple furniture. Both brothers were fluent in Russian, English, French, German, and Danish. The boys enjoyed shooting and fly fishing with their English tutor.

On March 13, 1881, Nicholas’ grandfather Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia was assassinated in St. Petersburg, a victim of a bombing by the underground organization, Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will), and Nicholas’ father succeeded to the Russian throne as Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia. 13-year-old Nicholas became the Tsesarevich of Russia, the heir to the throne.

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Alix’s Early Life

Alix (in the middle, being hugged by her mother) with her parents and siblings, 1876; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine was the sixth of the seven children and the fourth of the five daughters of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria. Alix was born on June 6, 1872, at the Neues Palais in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany,

Nicknamed Sunny, she was a happy and beautiful child. The family lived a rather simple life, as they were not very wealthy by royal standards. In 1877, Alix’s father became the reigning Grand Duke, but the children’s lives remained mostly unchanged. They spent time with their grandmother Queen Victoria each year, relishing their visits to ‘Grandmama’ and looking forward to the next one. This relationship would become even closer in the coming years.

Tragedy struck the family in 1873, a week before Alix’s first birthday. Alix’s two-and-a-half-year-old brother Friedrich, known as Frittie had been diagnosed with hemophilia after a cut on his ear took several days to stop bleeding. On May 29, 1873, Frittie and his brother Ernst were playing in their mother’s bedroom. Ernst went into another room to look through the window which was at an angle to the window in Alice’s bedroom. While Alice was out of the room to get Ernst, Frittie climbed up to the window in the bedroom to try and see Ernst. From all accounts, the chair he had climbed on tipped over and Frittie fell from the window to the ground below. Due to his hemophilia, Frittie died from his injuries. As it turned out, Alix and her sister Irene were hemophilia carriers.

Tragedy struck again in 1878, when Alix was six-and-a-half years old. In November 1878, the family began to fall ill with diphtheria. Alix’s mother Alice quickly slipped into her role as caregiver, nursing her husband and children back to health. Sadly, her youngest child, four-year-old May, succumbed to the illness and died on November 16, 1878. Alice tried to keep the news from her husband and other children until they were in better health. Eventually telling her son Ernst, who was quite devoted to the young May, Alice broke the one rule of nursing this horrible illness. She comforted him with hugs and a kiss. Soon after, Alice herself began to fall ill and was also diagnosed with diphtheria. Her condition quickly deteriorated, and in the early morning of December 14, 1878, the 17th anniversary of the death of her father Prince Albert, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine died at the age of 35. Queen Victoria stepped in to serve as a surrogate mother to the children, managing nearly every detail of their lives.

On March 13, 1892, when Alix was nineteen years old, her father Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine died from a heart attack at the age of 54. Alix deeply felt the loss of her father because he had been her only parent since she was six years old.

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The Engagement


Queen Victoria, surrounded by her extended family, gathered for the wedding of Alix’s brother Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine to his first cousin Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1894. Nicholas and Alix are standing in the first row, second and third on the left. The photo was taken on April 21, 1894, the day after their engagement; Credit – Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2022

In June 1884, 16-year-old Nicholas attended the wedding of his uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich to Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (Ella) in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was during the wedding festivities that he first met the bride’s younger sister, 12-year-old Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine. The two were second cousins through their mutual great-grandparents, Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his wife Wilhelmine of Baden.

In 1889, 17-year-old Alix visited her sister Ella in St. Petersburg, Russia for six weeks. Alix and 21-year-old Nicholas saw each other at receptions, suppers, and balls. Nicholas took Alix ice skating and sledding. Before Alix returned home, Nicholas persuaded his parents to give her a special tea dance at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo which later would become their favorite residence. Nicholas was smitten with Alix. In 1892, he wrote in his diary: “ My dream is someday to marry Alix H. I have loved her a long time and still deeper and stronger since 1889 when she spent six weeks in St. Petersburg. For a long time, I resisted my feeling that my dearest dream will come true.”

After the 1889 meeting, Alix thought Nicholas to be polite, charming, and gentle and liked his blue eyes. She noticed that Nicholas quietly persisted in pursuing her against his parents’ wishes. However, as a devout Lutheran, she was unwilling to give up her religion and convert to the Russian Orthodox religion, as would be required of her. Alix did have feelings for Nicholas and this caused her much turmoil, doubt, and self-examination.

A possible marriage between Alix and Nicholas was met with opposition from both Nicholas’ parents, and Alix’s grandmother Queen Victoria. Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna felt that Alix was not suitable enough for their son, in part because of their dislike and distrust for all things German. They also hoped for a higher-profile bride and future Empress. As for Queen Victoria, she quite liked Nicholas personally. Ironically, considering what would happen to both Alix and her sister Ella in 1918, Queen Victoria also felt uneasy about another of her granddaughters marrying into the Russian Imperial Family. Instead, Queen Victoria pushed for a marriage between Alix and her first cousin Prince Albert Victor, known as Prince Eddy. Eddy was then second in line to the British throne after his father, the future King Edward VII. Eddy did propose and Alix rejected his proposal. Eddy died in 1892, resulting in his brother eventually succeeding to the throne as King George V.

In April 1894 in Coburg, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, Nicholas represented his father at the wedding of Alix’s brother Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Nicholas and Alix’s mutual first cousin. The wedding was attended by Queen Victoria, the grandmother of both the bride and groom, and much of her extended family. Before Nicholas left for Coburg, after much pestering, he received permission from his father to propose to Alix.

When Nicholas arrived in Coburg, Alix greeted him at the train station. That evening, they went to dinner and an operetta with the family. The next morning Nicholas proposed to Alix. Tearfully, Alix rejected his proposal because she objected to changing her religion. Later that day Queen Victoria arrived in Coburg. Apparently, she had a change of heart and now supported the marriage. Queen Victoria told her granddaughter that the Russian Orthodox religion was really not all that different from Lutheranism. The following day, Alix’s first cousin Wilhelm II, German Empire had a conversation with Alix, insisting that it was her duty to marry Nicholas, despite her religious objection. However, it was Alix’s sister Ella who made all the difference. Although Ella’s husband Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was the son of an Emperor of All Russia, he was far removed from the throne and Ella was not required to convert to Russian Orthodoxy. However, she had converted voluntarily and she told Alix that a change of religion was not an enormous or unusual experience.

On April 19, 1894, during the wedding ceremony, a still saddened Nicholas closely watched Alix. Later in the day, he wrote in his diary, “How much I would have liked to have been able to look into the depths of Alix’s soul.” However, by the next day, things had completely changed. Alix had decided to marry Nicholas. The jubilant Nicholas wrote in his diary: “A marvelous, unforgettable day. Today is the day of my engagement to my darling, adorable Alix. After ten she came to Aunt Miechen [Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the wife of Nicholas’ eldest uncle Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich] and after a talk with her, we came to an understanding. O God, what a mountain has rolled from my shoulders…The whole day I have been walking in a dream, without fully realizing what was happening to me…I went straight with Alix to the Queen [Victoria]… The whole family was simply enraptured.”

Alix’s first cousin Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, who was the same age as Alix, wrote in her memoir: “I remember sitting in my room. I was quietly getting ready for a luncheon party when Alix stormed into my room, threw her arms around my neck, and said, ‘I’m going to marry Nicky!’”

The wedding was planned for the spring of 1895 but another tragedy caused those plans to be disrupted.

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Disruption of the Wedding Plans

Alexander III’s death in Livadia by M.Zichy (Hermitage); Credit – Wikipedia

In 1894, Nicholas’s father Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia became ill with nephritis, a kidney disorder. Alexander was on his way to the Greek isle of Corfu where he hoped to recuperate at Mon Repos, the villa of his wife’s sister-in-law, Queen Olga of Greece. Born Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, Queen Olga was also Alexander III’s first cousin. However, when Alexander reached Crimea, he was too ill to continue traveling and stayed at the Small Palace in Livadia, his home in Crimea. It was soon obvious that Alexander III would not survive and various relatives came to Crimea.

Alexander III instructed Nicholas to send for Alix, who arrived on October 22, 1894. Despite his ailing health, Alexander III insisted on greeting Alix in full uniform and gave her his blessing. Alexander III’s condition rapidly deteriorated and he died on November 1, 1894, at the age of 49, leaving the 26-year-old Nicholas as the new Emperor of All Russia. Since her engagement in April, Alix had been receiving instruction in the Russian Orthodox religion. The day after the death of Alexander III, Alix was received into the Russian Orthodox Church and was given the title and name Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia. On November 18, 1894, after two weeks of Russian Orthodox ceremonies, and a procession from Crimea to St. Petersburg, via Moscow, Nicholas’s father was interred at the Cathedral of Peter and Paul in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Nicholas and Alix’s wedding had been scheduled for the spring of 1895. Planning for the wedding had been ongoing since the April engagement and would have included a week of public celebrations and parades. However, Alexander III’s death necessitated a change in the wedding plans due to court mourning. Nicholas wanted to be married privately in Livadia before his father’s funeral and his mother agreed to this. However, his uncles, the brothers of his father, Grand Dukes Vladimir, Alexei, Sergei, and Paul argued that, as Nicholas was now the Emperor of All Russia, the wedding should be held in St. Petersburg with some pomp. With Nicholas unwilling to wait until the end of official mourning to marry, it was decided to hold the wedding on his mother’s birthday (November 26), which would allow for court mourning to be somewhat relaxed.

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The Wedding Site

The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia; Credit – By Alex ‘Florstein’ Fedorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49250446

The wedding site was the Grand Church of the Winter Palace on the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the photo above of the Winter Palace, the golden cupola of the Grand Church can be seen on the left side of the photo. The Grand Church of the Winter Palace was a Russian Orthodox church that had cathedral status and was the site of most Romanov christenings, weddings, conversions of foreign princesses marrying into the family, and memorial services.

The Grand Church of the Winter Palace; Credit – By Januarius-zick – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42460200

I have visited the Winter Palace on the banks of the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia and it is truly awe-inspiring. It was the official residence of the Russian Emperors and Empresses from 1732 to 1917. Today, part of the palace houses the State Hermitage Museum, one of the world’s premier art museums. The Winter Palace’s monumental scale was intended to reflect the might and power of Imperial Russia and it is still a mighty and powerful building. It is said to contain 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms, and 117 staircases.

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The Wedding Guests

Many of the foreign royalty who had come to St. Petersburg for the funeral of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia remained in Russia for the wedding.

Family of the Groom

  • Empress Dowager Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (born Dagmar of Denmark), mother of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, sister of Nicholas II, and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia, brother-in-law and first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, brother of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, sister of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, paternal uncle and his wife Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna of Russia (born Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin)
  • Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, paternal uncle of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, paternal uncle of Nicholas II, and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia (born Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine), sister of Alexandra
  • Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, paternal uncle of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia (born Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg), paternal great aunt by marriage of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II, and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna of Russia (born Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg)
  • Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Duchess Vera of Württemberg (born Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna of Russia), first cousin once removed of Nicholas II (representing the King Wilhelm II of Württemberg)
  • Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia, paternal great-uncle of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Christian IX, King of Denmark, maternal grandfather of Nicholas II
  • George I, King of the Hellenes, maternal uncle of Nicholas II, and his wife Queen Olga of the Hellenes (born Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia), first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Prince George of Greece and Denmark, first cousin of Nicholas II
  • Prince Valdemar of Denmark, maternal uncle of Nicholas II

Family of the Bride

  • Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, brother of Alexandra
  • Prince Heinrich of Prussia, brother-in-law and first cousin of Alexandra, and Princess Heinrich of Prussia (born Irene of Hesse and by Rhine), sister of Alexandra (representing
  • Wilhelm II, German Emperor, first cousin of Alexandra)
  • The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom), maternal uncle of Alexandra, and The Princess of Wales (born Alexandra of Denmark), maternal aunt of Nicholas II (representing Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, maternal grandmother of Alexandra)
  • The Duke of York (the future King George V of the United Kingdom), first cousin of both Nicholas II and Alexandra
  • Prince Alfred of the United Kingdom, Duke of Edinburgh and Sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, maternal uncle of Alexandra, and The Duchess of Edinburg and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia), paternal aunt of Nicholas II
  • Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania (the future King Ferdinand I of Romania), husband of Marie of Edinburgh, Crown Princess of Romania, first cousin of both Nicholas II and Alexandra (representing King Carol I of Romania)

Foreign Royalty

  • Duke Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg, second cousin once removed of Nicholas II (representing Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin)
  • Prince Wilhelm of Baden and Princess Maria Maximilianovna of Baden (born Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg), second cousin once removed of both Nicholas and Alexandra, and first cousin once removed of Nicholas II (representing Friedrich I, Grand Duke of Baden)
  • Prince Eugen Maximilianovich Romanowsky, 5th Duke of Leuchtenberg, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Prince George Maximilianovich Romanowsky (the future 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg), first cousin once removed of Nicholas II, and his wife Princess Anastasia of Leuchtenberg (born Anastasia of Montenegro)
  • Duke Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg, second cousin once removed, and Duchess Eugenia Maximilianovna of Oldenburg (born Eugenia Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg), first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, second cousin of Nicholas II
  • Duke Konstantin Petrovich of Oldenburg, second cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, second cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Duke Karl Michael of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, second cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Prince Albrecht of Saxe-Altenburg, third cousin once removed of both Nicholas and Alexandra, and Princess Helene of Saxe-Altenburg (born Helene of Mecklenburg-Strelitz), second cousin once removed of Nicholas II (representing Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg)

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Groomsmen

In Romanov weddings, there were no bridesmaids, only groomsmen. Their main job was to hold the gold marriage crowns over the heads of the bride and groom during the Russian Orthodox wedding ceremony. The groomsmen for Nicholas and Alexandra’s wedding were:

  • Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, brother of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
  • Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
  • Prince George of Greece and Denmark, first cousin of Nicholas II

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The Wedding Attire

Nicholas wore the ceremonial dress uniform of a colonel in the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. The red tunic of the uniform was decorated with gold braid, gold epaulets, several rows of medals, and the orange sash of the Order of Hesse and by Rhine. The dark blue breeches were trimmed with gold braid.

Alexandra wore a dress modeled on the traditional Russian court dress. The silver brocade bodice was adorned with diamonds and embroidered with a leaf design in gold thread. The neckline was edged in white ermine and revealed Alexandra’s neck and shoulder. The long sleeves were edged in white ermine and hung in folds below the waist. The silver brocade overskirt was open in the front in an inverted V, revealing a silver tissue underskirt edged in ermine. The overskirt spread out from the waist into a fifteen-foot train edged in white ermine.

Alexandra’s hair was styled in the traditional style of Romanov brides. Her hair was in a bun at the back of her head and two ringlets that hung down to her shoulders were attached on either side of her head. She wore the same lace wedding veil designed by her grandfather Prince Albert for her mother Princess Alice. Alexandra’s sisters Victoria, Elisabeth, and Irene also wore the same veil when they got married. On her head, Alexandra wore the diamond Romanov nuptial tiara, formed like the traditional Russian kokoshnik headdress. In addition, she wore the diamond Romanov nuptial crown with a cross. For more information on the Romanov wedding jewelry see: The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor: Russian Imperial Wedding Splendor

The photo below is not Alexandra but rather the first cousin of Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna. The photo was taken on the day of Elena Vladimirovna’s wedding to Prince Nicholas of Greece in 1902. There is no photo of Alexandra on her wedding day but she would have been dressed in a similar manner. Notice on Elena’s head the Romanov nuptial tiara, in the front and the Romanov nuptial crown with the cross in the back.

Maria Alexandrovna’s niece Elena Vladimirovna dressed as her aunt would have been dressed on her wedding day; Credit – Wikipedia

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The Wedding

The Wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra by Laurits Tuxen, 1895; Credit – Wikipedia

As the guns from the Peter and Paul Fortress, just across the Neva River, fired a fifty-one-gun salute, the wedding procession began. Three thousand guests had been invited to witness the procession and they lined the halls of the Winter Palace. Proceeded by one hundred officials in pairs, Nicholas’ mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna led Alexandra at the head of the procession, with Nicholas right behind. Members of Nicholas’s entourage came next, followed by the foreign royal guests headed by King Christian IX of Denmark, Nicholas’ maternal grandfather. Members of the Russian imperial family came next followed by Russian high-ranking government officials. As the procession reached the 1812 Gallery, members of the diplomatic corps, the Imperial Council, and the Council of Ministers joined the procession.

This 1894 painting by Ilya Repin shows the golden nuptial crowns being held over the heads of the bride and groom and shows where the guests stood; Credit – Wikipedia

Father Ioann Yanishev, the private imperial confessor and chief of the palace clergy, along with other clergymen, conducted the wedding service. After Nicholas had walked up the several steps to the dais, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna led Alexandra up the steps. Nicholas and Alexandra stood on a crimson carpet before a lectern on which lay the Gospels in a bejeweled cover. Father Yanishev announced the betrothal of Nicholas to Alexandra and then handed them their rings. After exchanging the rings three times in recognition of the Holy Trinity, Nicholas and Alexandra knelt and exchanged formal wedding vows. The four groomsmen took turns holding the golden nuptial crowns over the heads of the bride and groom, exchanging them three times. Nicholas and Alexandra joined hands and were led around the altar three times. They then knelt before the lectern and kissed a gold cross. Following a final prayer, Nicholas and Alexandra were pronounced man and wife. The church bells rang across St. Petersburg and guns were fired from the Peter and Paul Fortress.

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After the Wedding

After the wedding, it was straight back to strict court mourning. There was no wedding breakfast or reception, and no honeymoon trip. Nicholas and Alexandra changed into traveling clothes and left the Winter Palace in an open landau drawn by four horses for the nearby Anichkov Palace, where Nicholas had spent his childhood. Nicholas wrote in his diary, “The streets were so crowded that we could hardly drive through them.” Nicholas saluted the crowds and Alexandra, in tears, nervously repeatedly bowed her head. The couple stopped at Kazan Cathedral, crowded with people, to pray before its famous icon. The landau proceeded to Anichkov Palace where the newlyweds were met by Nicholas’ mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna with the traditional Russian welcome of bread and salt signifying plenty and good luck. Nicholas and Alexandra spent their first night as husband and wife in Nicholas’ former childhood bedroom. Meanwhile, in England, Queen Victoria held a banquet at Windsor Castle to celebrate the wedding, toasting the bride and groom and reading telegraphs from the new Empress Alexandra and from The Prince and Princess of Wales, who had traveled to Russia as her representatives.

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Children

Nicholas and Alexandra with their children (circa 1913-1914); Credit – Wikipedia

Nicholas and Alexandra had four daughters and one son. Unfortunately, Alexandra was a hemophilia carrier and her son was a hemophiliac.

Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children, along with three of their most loyal servants and the court doctor, were shot to death by a firing squad during the Russian Revolution on July 17, 1918.

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Works Cited

  • Ceremony of the wedding of Nicholas and Alexandra. Available at: https://www.alexanderpalace.org/wedding/ (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
  • King, Greg. (2006) The Court of the Last Tsar: Pomp, Power, and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II. Hoboken: Wiley.
  • Laurits Regner Tuxen (1853-1927) – The Marriage of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, 26th November 1894 (no date) Royal Collection Trust. Available at: https://www.rct.uk/collection/404465/the-marriage-of-nicholas-ii-tsar-of-russia-26th-november-1894 (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
  • Massie, Robert K. (1967) Nicholas and Alexandra. New York: Random House.
  • Mehl, Scott. (2015) Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/princess-alix-of-hesse-and-by-rhine-empress-alexandra-feodorovna-of-russia/ (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
  • Mehl, Scott. (2015) Nicholas II of Russia, Emperor of All Russia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/tsar-nicholas-ii-of-russia/ (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
  • Royal Wedding,: 1894-12-01: Weekly Mail – Welsh Newspapers (1894) ROYAL WEDDING,|1894-12-01|Weekly Mail – Welsh Newspapers. Available at: https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3369740/3369752/105/ (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
  • The Court Jeweller (2021) Romanov Splendor: The wedding tiara and jewels of Russia’s last Empress, The Court Jeweller. Available at: https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2021/11/romanov-splendor-the-wedding-tiara-and-jewels-of-russias-last-empress.html (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
  • The life and tragedy of Alexandra – chapter V – marriage and first year in Russia. Available at: https://www.alexanderpalace.org/alexandra/V.html (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
  • To re-form the Russian Ministry; the usual pomp will be wanting in the marriage of czar Nicholas II. (1894) The New York Times. The New York Times. Available at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1894/11/19/106879632.html?pageNumber=1 (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
  • Wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Nicholas_II_and_Alexandra_Feodorovna (Accessed: November 22, 2022).

Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Mariana of Austria was the second wife of her uncle Felipe IV, King of Spain, and Regent of Spain for her son Carlos II, King of Spain from 1665 – 1675. Born Maria Anna of Austria (she was called Mariana after her marriage to Felipe IV) on December 24, 1634, in Wiener Neustadt, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire, now in Austria, she was the second of the six children and the elder of the two daughters of first cousins Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria and his first wife Maria Anna of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Portugal. Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria and his first wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. Mariana’s maternal grandparents were Felipe III, King of Spain and Margaret of Austria.

Mariana, on the right, with her brother Ferdinand, circa 1636; Credit Wikipedia

Mariana had five siblings but only two of her siblings survived childhood:


Mariana’s parents Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III and Maria Anna of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

When Mariana was twelve-years-old her 39-year-old mother died. On May 12, 1646, Mariana’s pregnant mother Maria Anna suddenly felt ill with a fever and heavy bleeding. She died the next morning, and her unborn child, a girl named Maria, was delivered by cesarean section but she lived only a few hours.

In 1648, Mariana’s father married sixteen-year-old Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Tyrol, daughter of Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and Claudia de’ Medici. A year later, Maria Leopoldine died in childbirth giving birth to Mariana’s half-brother who died at the age of fourteen:

In 1650, Mariana’s father made a third marriage to 21-year-old Eleonora Gonzaga, born a Princess of Mantua, Nevers, and Rethel. Eleanora was the daughter of Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, the heir of the Duchy of Mantua, and his wife and cousin Maria Gonzaga, heiress to the Duchy of Montferrat.

Mariana had four half-siblings from her father’s marriage to Eleonora Gonzaga but only two survived childhood:

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and they wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. In 1646, continuing the Habsburg practice of intermarriage, King Felipe IV of Spain, Mariana’s uncle, the brother of her mother, arranged a marriage for his son and heir Balthasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias with his first cousin Mariana. However, Balthasar Carlos died three months later from smallpox, leaving his father with no male heir.

Mariana’s uncle and husband Felipe IV, King of Spain, circa 1644; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1644, Elisabeth of France, the wife of King Felipe IV of Spain, weakened by her multiple pregnancies and miscarriages, died at the age of forty-one, after miscarrying a son. After the death of his son Balthasar Carlos in 1646 left King Felipe IV with no male heir, he arranged to marry his son’s former fiancée Mariana. As Mariana was still young, the marriage was delayed. On October 7, 1649, the 44-year-old Felipe IV married his 14-year-old niece Mariana in Navalcarnero, outside Madrid, Spain. Of course, this marriage led to more inbreeding in the House of Habsburg.

Mariana and Felipe IV had five children but only two survived childhood:

Mariana and King Felipe IV’s son King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw); Credit – Wikipedia

The Spanish House of Habsburg would end with the reign of Mariana and Felipe IV’s physically and mentally disabled son Carlos II, King of Spain. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation. Seven of his eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. See the family tree of the ancestors of Carlos II, King of Spain at Wikipedia: Ancestors of Charles II of Spain. Carlos II’s Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw, was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. He did not learn to walk until he was eight and was unable to be educated as befitted the heir to the throne.

In early September 1665, Mariana’s husband Felipe IV began to feel unwell. His stools were bloody which meant he may have had dysentery. After great suffering, Felipe IV, King of Spain, aged 60, died on September 17, 1665, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, located at the site of today’s Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. He was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Mariana was appointed Regent for their nearly four-year-old son Carlos II, King of Spain. In his will, Felipe IV ordered the creation of a government commission consisting of carefully selected important people from politics, the church and, society to assist Mariana in her role as Regent of Spain. Although Mariana ceased to be Regent when her son Carlos II reached the age of 14 on November 6, 1675, due to Carlos’ physical and mental issues, Mariana remained an influential figure during his reign, until her death.

The Mariana Islands, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, were named after Mariana. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first Europeans to see the islands while on a Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation under Magellan’s command. In 1667, Spain formally claimed the islands as a colony and established a capital on the largest island, Guam. The following year, Mariana approved the establishment of a Jesuit mission on the islands under Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores and Saint Pedro Calungsod. After the 1898 Spanish-American War, the Mariana Islands were ceded to the United States. Today, Guam is a United States territory and the Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth of the United States. The deepest trench in the Earth’s oceans, located to the southeast of the Mariana Islands, owes its name to Queen Mariana.

Mariana in her later years, circa 1683–1693; Credit – Wikipedia

Mariana survived her husband by thirty-one years, dying on May 16, 1696, at Uceda Palace in Madrid, Spain, at the age of sixty-one, probably from breast cancer. She was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Tomb of Queen Mariana of Spain; Credit – De AldanaN – Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15342544

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

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Charles II of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain> [Accessed 18 November 2022].
  • Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_III,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iv-king-of-spain-filip-iii-king-of-portugal/> [Accessed 18 November 2022].
  • Mariana de Austria (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_de_Austria (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Mariana of Austria (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_of_Austria (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Maria Anna von Österreich (1634–1696) (2021) Wikipedia (German). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_von_%C3%96sterreich_(1634%E2%80%931696) (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

Besides being King of Spain, Felipe was also King of Portugal (from 1621 to 1640) and King of Sardinia, King of Naples, King of Sicily, Duke of Milan, Duke of Lothier, Duke of Brabant, Duke of Limburg, Duke of Luxemburg, Count Palatine of Burgundy, Count of Flanders, Count of Hainaut and Count of Namur from 1621 until his death in 1665.

Felipe Domingo Víctor de la Cruz was born on April 8, 1605, at the Royal Palace of Valladolid in Valladolid, Spain. He was the eldest of the four sons and third but the second surviving of the eight children of Felipe III, King of Spain and Margaret of Austria. His paternal grandparents were Felipe II, King of Spain and his fourth wife and niece Anna of Austria. Felipe IV’s maternal grandparents were Karl II, Archduke of Austria-Styria and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria. As the heir to the Spanish throne, Felipe was titled Prince of Asturias.

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and they wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Of the eleven marriages of Spanish monarchs between 1450 and 1661, nearly all contained some element of consanguinity, marriages between very closely related people. Felipe IV’s parents, King Felipe III and Margaret of Austria, both children of parents who were an uncle and his niece, were first cousins once removed and second cousins, adding to more inbreeding.

Felipe with his elder sister Ana María Mauricia: Credit – Wikipedia

Felipe IV had seven siblings but only four survived childhood. His elder sister Ana María Mauricia, better known as Queen Anne of France, married King Louis XIII of France. They were the parents of King Louis XIV of France. When Felipe IV was ten years old, his mother died at the age of twenty-six from childbirth complications eleven days after giving birth to her eighth child.

Felipe IV’s siblings:

An assassination caused an early marriage for Felipe IV. On May 14, 1610, King Henri IV of France was assassinated by a Catholic zealot François Ravaillac, and his nine-year-old son ascended the French throne as King Louis XIII. The widowed Queen, Marie de’ Medici, was appointed Regent for her son. During this period, there were struggles in France between the Catholics and the Protestants (French Huguenots). The new Regent, Marie de’ Medici promoted a strong alliance with the Spanish monarchy and favored Catholicism over Protestantism. To strengthen this bond, she arranged the marriages of her son King Louis XIII to Felipe IV’s elder sister Ana María Mauricia and her eldest daughter Elisabeth of France to the future King Felipe IV of Spain.

Felipe IV’s first wife Elisabeth of France; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 13, 1615, at the Louvre Palace in Paris, France, both young couples were married by proxy and soon, Elisabeth and her brother Louis XIII left Paris to meet their respective spouses. On Pheasant Island in the Bidassoa River that divides France and Spain, the two couples first met and the brides were exchanged. On November 25, 1615, at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Burgos, Spain, 13-year-old Elisabeth married 10-year-old Felipe in a religious ceremony.

Because of the couple’s young age, the marriage was not consummated. The situation changed when Elisabeth’s father-in-law King Felipe III became ill, the marriage was consummated, and Elisabeth quickly became pregnant. King Felipe III died on March 31, 1621, and was succeeded by his 16-year-old son as King Felipe IV of Spain and King Filip III of Portugal

Felipe IV and Elisabeth’s only child to survive to adulthood, Maria Theresa, at age 14; Credit – Wikipedia

Felipe and Elisabeth had eight children but only their youngest child survived to adulthood. Besides having so many children die young, Elisabeth had three miscarriages. It is very probable that her husband transmitted a venereal disease he had contracted with one of his mistresses to Elisabeth. This may explain the miscarriages and the many dead infants.

  • Maria Margarita of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1621)
  • Margarita Maria Catalina of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1623)
  • Maria Eugenia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1625 – 1627)
  • Isabella Maria of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1627)
  • Balthasar Carlos of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1629 – 1646), died at age 16 from smallpox
  • Francisco Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (born and died 1634)
  • Maria Ana Antonia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1636)
  • Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1638 – 1683), married King Louis XIV of France, had six children but only one son survived childhood

Elisabeth was aware of Felipe IV’s mistresses. There were rumors about her relationship with the diplomat Juan de Tassis, 2nd Count of Villamediana, her gentleman-in-waiting. Throughout her marriage, Elisabeth suffered in silence over the deaths of her children and her miscarriages. The fact that Felipe IV’s mistresses gave him children – it has been estimated that Felipe IV was the father of at least thirty illegitimate children – made Elisabeth feel even worse. Her feelings are evident in her letters to her brother King Louis XIII and sister-in-law Queen Anne of France. Weakened by her multiple pregnancies and miscarriages, Elisabeth died at the Royal Alcázar in Madrid, Spain on October 6, 1644, at the age of forty-one, after miscarrying a son. She was buried in the Pantheon of the Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Mariana of Austria, Felipe IV’s niece and second wife; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1646, continuing the Habsburg practice of intermarriage, Felipe IV arranged a marriage for his son and heir Balthasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias with his first cousin Mariana of Austria, the daughter of King Felipe IV’s sister Maria Anna and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III. However, Balthasar Carlos died three months later from smallpox, leaving his father no male heir. Three years later, on October 7, 1649, 44-year-old Felipe IV married his son’s former fiancée, his 14-year-old niece Mariana of Austria, adding to more inbreeding.

Felipe IV and Mariana had five children but only two survived childhood:

Felipe IV and Mariana’s son King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw); Credit – Wikipedia

The Spanish House of Habsburg would end with the reign of Felipe IV and Mariana’s physically and mentally disabled son Carlos II, King of Spain. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation. Seven of his eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. See the family tree of the ancestors of Felipe IV’s parents, Felipe III and his wife, at Wikipedia: Family Tree of Felipe III of Spain.

Carlos II’s Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw, was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. He did not learn to walk until he was eight and never was educated as befitted the heir to the throne. Carlos II died at the age of thirty-eight. Neither of his two marriages produced children, and so Carlos was succeeded by 16-year-old Philip of Anjou, the  French grandson of his elder half-sister Maria Theresa of Austria and King Louis XIV of France who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Spanish king of the House of Bourbon which is still the reigning house of Spain.

Felipe IV painted by Diego Velázquez in 1656; Credit – Wikipedia

Felipe IV, King of Spain is best remembered for his patronage of the arts, including supporting such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648), one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history. In 1640, Felipe IV lost the Kingdom of Portugal which the King of Spain had held since 1580. The Portuguese House of Braganza came to power in Portugal after deposing the Spanish Habsburg dynasty in the Portuguese Restoration War, resulting in João, 8th Duke of Braganza becoming King João IV of Portugal. During the reign of Felipe IV, the Spanish Empire reached approximately 4.7 million square miles/12.2 million square kilometers in area. However, in other aspects, the Spanish Empire was in decline, and Felipe IV’s inability to achieve successful domestic and military reform was part of the reason.

In early September 1665, Felipe IV began to feel unwell. His stools were bloody which meant he may have had dysentery. After great suffering, Felipe IV, King of Spain, aged 60, died on September 17, 1665, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, located at the site of today’s Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. He was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Tomb of Felipe IV, King of Spain; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Felipe IV’s second wife Mariana of Austria was appointed Regent for their three-year-old son Carlos II, King of Spain. Due to Carlos’ physical and mental issues, Mariana remained an influential figure during his reign, until her death. She survived her husband by thirty-one years, dying on May 16, 1696, at Uceda Palace in Madrid, Spain, at the age of sixty-one.

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

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Mariana of Austria – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_of_Austria> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Philip IV of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_IV_of_Spain> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. Felipe IV de España – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felipe_IV_de_Espa%C3%B1a> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, S., 2019. Elisabeth of France, Queen of Spain, Queen of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/elisabeth-of-france-queen-of-spain/> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Felipe III, King of Spain, King of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iii-king-of-spain/> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain, Queen of Portugal

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain, Queen of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

Archduchess Margaret of Austria was the wife of Felipe III, King of Spain who was also Filipe I, King of Portugal. Born on December 25, 1584, in Graz, Duchy of Styria, now in Austria, Margaret was the eleventh of the fifteen children and the seventh of the nine daughters of Karl II, Archduke of Austria-Styria and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria. Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. Margaret’s maternal grandparents were Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria.

Margaret had fourteen siblings:

Margaret and Felipe III’s grandson, King Carlos II of Spain, had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw); Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret and her sisters were not considered beauties. The Habsburg jaw, (mandibular prognathism) a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw, was evident in all the sisters.

In 1596, Francisco de Mendoza, Admiral of Aragon, a Spanish nobleman, arrived at the court in Graz to obtain portraits of three daughters of Karl II, Archduke of Austria-Styria: Gregoria, Eleanor, and Margaret, who were potential brides for Felipe, Prince of Asturias, the son and heir of Felipe II, King of Spain. Felipe, Prince of Asturias preferred the portrait of Margaret but his father chose Gregoria because she was the oldest of the three sisters.

Preparations began for the wedding celebrations, which were going to be held in Milan, the capital of the Duchy of Milan, under the rule of the House of Habsburg. On September 17, 1597, Felipe, Prince of Asturias arrived at the court of his future father-in-law in Graz. At this time, sixteen-year-old Gregoria, Felipe’s intended bride, was seriously ill. In addition to the Habsburg jaw, Gregoria had several serious physical disabilities. She died three days after Felipe’s arrival. After the death of her sister, Margaret became betrothed to Felipe. However, because of her young age, the wedding was delayed.

Felipe III, King of Spain in 1600; Credit – Wikipedia

In the meantime, Felipe II, King of Spain died on September 13, 1598, and his twenty-year-old son succeeded him as Felipe III, King of Spain. Besides being King of Spain, Felipe III was also King of Portugal, King of Sardinia, King of Naples, King of Sicily, and Duke of Milan. On April 18, 1599, at Valencia Cathedral in Valencia, Spain, 21-year-old Felipe III married 14-year-old Margaret of Austria. Felipe and Margaret, both children of parents who were an uncle and niece, were first cousins once removed and also second cousins, adding to more inbreeding in the House of Habsburg.

Margaret and Felipe III’s two eldest surviving children, the future King Felipe IV and the future Queen Anne of France, wife of King Louis XIII of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret and Felipe III had eight children, including King Felipe III’s successor King Felipe IV and Ana María Mauricia (better known as Queen Anne of France) who married King Louis XIII of France. They were the parents of King Louis XIV of France.

Like many women of the House of Habsburg, Queen Margaret was a skilled politician. Queen Margaret, Maria of Austria (Felipe’s maternal grandmother and paternal aunt, and the widow of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II), and Maria’s daughter Archduchess Margaret of Austria, a Poor Clare nun, were a powerful Catholic and pro-Austrian faction in the court of King Felipe III.

Tomb of Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain, Queen of Portugal; Credit – www.findagrave.com

On October 3, 1611, at the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain, Margaret died at the age of twenty-six from childbirth complications eleven days after giving birth to her eighth child Alonso who lived for only one year. Margaret was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Felipe III never remarried. He survived his wife by ten years, dying in Madrid, Spain on March 31, 1621, two weeks before his forty-third birthday, due to erysipelas, a bacterial skin infection. He was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

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

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Margarete von Österreich (1584–1611) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarete_von_%C3%96sterreich_(1584%E2%80%931611)> [Accessed 5 October 2022].
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  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. Margarita de Austria-Estiria – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarita_de_Austria-Estiria> [Accessed 5 October 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Felipe III, King of Spain, King of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iii-king-of-spain/> [Accessed 5 October 2022].

Helena of Nassau, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Helena of Nassau, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont; Credit – Wikipedia

Helena of Nassau was the first wife of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Helena Wilhelmine Henriette Pauline Marianne was born on August 18, 1831, in Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau, now in the German state of Hesse. She was the eldest of the three surviving children and the elder of the two surviving daughters of Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau and his second wife Princess Pauline of Württemberg. Both Helena’s parents were descendants of King George II of Great Britain. Helena’s paternal grandparents were Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau, and Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg. Her maternal grandparents were Prince Paul of Württemberg and his wife Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

Helena had two surviving siblings:

Helena had eight half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen including Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg:

Georg Viktor and Helena; Credit – Pinterest 

On September 26, 1853, in Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau, now in the German state of Hesse, Helena married Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the son of  Georg II, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Emma of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym. Helena proved to be very successful in finding suitable marriages for their children by making contacts with various European royal houses. Because of her efforts, the relatively poor House of Waldeck-Pyrmont was linked to the richer ruling dynasties of Würtemberg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Georg Viktor and Helena are the ancestors of the Dutch royal family through their daughter Emma and the Swedish royal family through their daughter Helena.

Georg Viktor and Helena with their five elder daughters circa 1864; Credit – Wikipedia

Georg Viktor and Helena had six daughters and one son:

Helena focused on charitable work, chairing many charitable organizations, and involving her children in charitable work from a very young age. Her daughter Emma said of Helena, “Mother had a great talent for dealing with people, to do them justice. We daughters have tried to follow mother’s example, also in her social interest.”

Princely Mausoleum and Cemetery; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Helena was in ill health for the last decade of her life. She died on October 28, 1888, aged 57, in Pyrmont, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. She was buried at the Princely Cemetery at Schloss Rhoden (link in German) in Rhoden, Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse.

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 (2021) Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/georg-viktor-prince-of-waldeck-and-pyrmont/ (Accessed: October 26, 2022).
  • Helena av Nassau-Weilburg (2022) Wikipedia (Swedish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_av_Nassau-Weilburg (Accessed: October 26, 2022).
  • Helene von Nassau (2021) Wikipedia (German). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helene_von_Nassau (Accessed: October 26, 2022).
  • Princess Helena of Nassau (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Helena_of_Nassau (Accessed: October 26, 2022).
  • William, Duke of Nassau (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William,_Duke_of_Nassau (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain, Queen of Portugal

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna of Austria was the niece and the fourth of the four wives of Felipe II, King of Spain, King of Portugal. Born on November 2, 1549, in Cigales, Spain, Anna was the eldest of the six daughters and the eldest of the fifteen children of first cousins Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria and Maria of Spain. Anna’s paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anne of Bohemia and Hungary. Her maternal grandparents were Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, among many other titles, and Isabella of Portugal.

Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, his wife Maria of Spain with their three eldest surviving children Anna, Rudolf, and Ernst in the cradle; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna had fourteen younger siblings:

As the eldest daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Anna was considered a desirable royal wife. Her parents thought that a Spanish marriage would strengthen the relationships between the Austrian branch and the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg. Talks began to arrange a marriage between Anna and her first cousin Carlos, Prince of Asturias, the only son of Felipe II, King of Spain and his deceased first wife and double first cousin Maria Manuela of Portugal. However, the marriage plans were scrapped when Carlos died in 1568 at the age of twenty-three.

Felipe II, King of Spain, circa 1568; Credit – Wikipedia

Later in 1568, Felipe II’s third wife Elisabeth of Valois died a few hours after giving birth to a premature daughter who also died. Felipe was a widower for a third time, with two young daughters who had lost their mother. He planned to remarry because he no longer had a male heir. Despite being his niece and twenty-two years younger than him, Felipe decided to marry Anna. The consanguinity or close genetic relationship between Felipe and his niece Anna caused Pope Pius V to have serious reservations but eventually he granted the necessary dispensation. The marriage contract was signed in Madrid on January 24, 1570, and a proxy wedding was held at Prague Castle on May 4, 1570.

In the autumn of 1570, Anna traveled from Austria to Spain accompanied by her brothers Albrecht and Wenceslaus. When Anna traveled through the English Channel, Queen Elizabeth I of England sent her admirals, Charles Howard and William Wynter, to offer support and safe passage. Anna arrived in Spain on October 3, 1570. Anna and Felipe were married in person on November 14, 1570, in the chapel of the Alcázar of Segovia. Anna’s new household was under the direction of Margarita de Cardona, who Anna knew well as she had previously been the lady-in-waiting of her mother Maria of Spain, Felipe II’s sister.

Anna and Felipe II’s only surviving child, the future Felipe III, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna and Felipe had five children but only one survived childhood:

Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela, Anna’s stepdaughters, the daughters of Felipe II and his third wife Elisabeth of Valois; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna was the stepmother of Felipe’s two daughters from his third marriage to Elisabeth of Valois who died in 1568:

Contemporary accounts show that Anna and Felipe’s marriage was happy and that Anna was Felipe’s most beloved wife. There are no records of Felipe having lovers during his marriage to Anna. Anna was a good stepmother to Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela. She also managed to ease some of the rather stiff atmosphere of the Spanish court.

In 1578, King Sebastian of Portugal from the House of Aviz was killed in battle without any heirs, causing a succession crisis. He was succeeded by his elderly great-uncle Henrique, a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who had no descendants because he had taken a vow of chastity as a priest. When Cardinal-King Enrique died two years later, three grandchildren of Manuel I, King of Portugal (1469 – 1521) claimed the Portuguese throne. Ultimately, the grandchild who was successful in his claim was Felipe II, King of Spain. The Iberian Union was the union of the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Portugal that existed between 1580 and 1640, under the Spanish Habsburg kings Felipe II, Felipe III, and Felipe IV who reigned in Portugal under the names and regnal numbers Filipe I, Filipe II, and Filipe III.

Tomb of Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain in the Pantheon of the Kings, Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial; Credit – www.findagrave.com

In 1580, Felipe’s court was in the Spanish city of Badajoz, close to the border with Portugal, because of Felipe’s claim to the Portuguese throne. While in Badajoz, Anna died from influenza at the age of 30, on October 26, 1580, eight months after giving birth to her youngest child Maria. Initially, Anna was buried in the Royal Monastery of Santa Ana in Badajoz. Several years later, Anna’s remains were transferred to the Pantheon of Kings in the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain. Anna’s entrails were allowed to remain buried in the floor of the choir at the Royal Monastery of Santa Ana in Badajoz, and they remain buried there today.

The Pantheon of Kings where Anna and Felipe II are interred; Credit – By Bocachete – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6493547

Felipe never remarried. He survived Anna by eighteen years, dying after a long illness, at the age of 71 on September 13, 1598, in his chambers at the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. He was buried in the Pantheon of Kings in the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

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

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_of_Austria,_Queen_of_Spain> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. Ana de Austria (reina de España) – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_de_Austria_(reina_de_Espa%C3%B1a)> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. King Philip II of Spain. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-philip-ii-of-spain/> [Accessed 18 August 2022].
  • Louda, Jiri and Maclagan, Michael, 2002. Lines of Succession. London: Little, Brown.

Maria Manuela of Portugal, Princess of Asturias (Spain)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Maria Manuela of Portugal, Princess of Asturias; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Manuela of Portugal, Princess of Asturias was the first of the four wives of Felipe II, King of Spain but she died before he became king. Born in Coimbra, Portugal on October 15, 1527, she was the eldest of the three daughters and the second but the eldest surviving of the nine children of João III, King of Portugal and Catherine of Austria. Maria Manuela was the heir presumptive to the throne of Portugal from her birth until her brother Manuel was declared the heir in 1535. Maria Manuela’s paternal grandparents were Manuel I, King of Portugal and his second wife Maria of Aragon. Her maternal grandparents were Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Queen of Aragon.

João Manuel, Maria Manuela’s only sibling who survived childhood; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Manuela had eight siblings. Of her eight younger siblings, only João Manuel survived childhood but he died at age sixteen after producing a son who succeeded to the throne of Portugal.

Felipe, Prince of Asturias, later King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Manuela’s upbringing was influenced by her mother’s deep religious piety and the expectation that as the only daughter of the King of Portugal, she would marry a high-ranking prince. Her groom was to be Felipe, Prince of Asturias (the title used by the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the throne of Spain), the eldest son and heir of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, one of the most powerful ever monarchs who had a large number of titles due to his vast inheritance of the Burgundian, Spanish, and Austrian realms. Maria Manuela and Felipe were double first cousins. Maria Manuela’s father João III, King of Portugal and Felipe’s mother Isabella of Portugal were siblings and Maria Manuela’s mother Catherine of Austria and Felipe’s father Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor were siblings.

The two sixteen-year-olds were to be married in Salamanca, Kingdom of Castile and León, now in Spain, and in October 1543, Maria Manuela left Portugal to travel to her new homeland. During her trip from Lisbon, Portugal, there were festivities at every stop. An incognito Prince Felipe followed Maria Manuela’s traveling party. When the royal party arrived at a town where they were going to rest, Felipe mixed with the crowds in the streets to watch his future wife.

Maria Manuela was met by the dignitaries of Salamanca and made a magnificent entrance into the city. Prince Felipe arranged to be on a balcony and Maria Manuela, aware that he would be on the balcony, covered her face with a fan as she passed by. However, the court jester distracted Maria Manuela with his jokes causing her to move the fan, revealing her face. Later that afternoon, Felipe left the Salamanca incognito, and then made a grand entrance into the city accompanied by Cardinal Juan Álvarez de Toledo and Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba.

On November 15, 1543, the betrothal was celebrated at 1:00 AM with Cardinal Juan Álvarez de Toledo giving the couple the nuptial blessing. A nuptial mass was then celebrated at 4:00 AM. The rest of the day and several of the following days were spent in parties and tournaments. Maria Manuela and Felipe traveled to the Royal Convent of Santa Clara in Tordesillas, Kingdom of Castile and León to visit their mutual grandmother Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Queen of Aragon. Juana was very pleased to see and embrace her grandchildren, and the story goes that she made them dance in her presence.

The tomb of Maria Manuela is on the right, the tomb of her son Carlos is on the left; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Sadly, Maria Manuela and Felipe had a short marriage. On July 8, 1545, Maria Manuela gave birth to a son in Valladolid, Kingdom of Castile and León. Four days later, on July 12, 1545, she died, aged seventeen, due to childbirth complications. Maria Manuela was initially buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada but in 1549 her remains were transferred to the Royal Crypt at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, now in Spain, where she was interred in the Pantheon of Infantes which houses the tombs of Infantes, Infantas, and Queen Consorts who were not the mothers of a future King of Spain.

Maria Manuela and Felipe’s son Carlos, Prince of Asturias, circa 1562; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Manuela and Felipe’s son Carlos, Prince of Asturias (1545 – 1568), died unmarried. Carlos was mentally unstable and was imprisoned in his rooms by his father Felipe in early 1568 after participating in a plot to murder his father. Carlos died, aged twenty-three, after six months of solitary confinement.

Felipe married three more times, to his first cousin once removed Queen Mary I of England, to Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of King Henri II of France and Catherine de’ Medici, and to his niece Anna of Austria, daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria of Austria, who was Felipe’s sister. Felipe was a widower three more times and had children with his third and fourth wives. Having survived all four of his wives, Felipe II, King of Spain died at the age of 71 on September 13, 1598, and was buried in the Pantheon of the Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain.

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

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. John III of Portugal – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_III_of_Portugal> [Accessed 17 August 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Manuela,_Princess_of_Portugal> [Accessed 17 August 2022].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. María Manuela de Portugal – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Manuela_de_Portugal> [Accessed 17 August 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. King Philip II of Spain. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-philip-ii-of-spain/> [Accessed 17 August 2022].
  • Louda, Jiri and Maclagan, Michael, 2002. Lines of Succession. London: Little, Brown.
  • Pt.wikipedia.org. 2022. Maria Manuela de Portugal – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre. [online] Available at: <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Manuela_de_Portugal> [Accessed 17 August 2022].

Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Spain, Holy Roman Empress

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Isabella of Portugal; 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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Isabella, Infanta of Portugal was the wife of her first cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor who was also King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, among many other titles. She was born on October 24, 1503, in Lisbon, Portugal, the second of the nine children and the elder of the two daughters of Manuel I, King of Portugal and his second wife Infanta Maria of Aragon. Isabella’s paternal grandparents were Fernando, Duke of Viseu (son of Duarte, King of Portugal) and Beatriz of Portugal (daughter of Infante João, Constable of Portugal). Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León. Isabella was named for her maternal grandmother and her paternal aunt Isabella, Princess of Asturias who was her father’s first wife.

King Manuel I with his second wife Maria of Aragon and their children; On the center-right is Maria of Aragon, followed by her daughters Isabella and Beatriz; On the center-left is King Manuel I, followed by his sons in descending order of age; Credit – Wikipedia

Isabella had nine siblings:

Isabella had one half-sibling from her father’s first marriage to Isabella of Aragon, Princess of Asturias who died giving birth to:

Isabella had two half-siblings from her father’s third marriage to Eleanor of Austria (Isabella’s first cousin):

Isabella was educated under the supervision of Elvira de Mendoza, who had accompanied Isabella’s mother, Maria of Aragon, to Portugal as her lady-in-waiting when she married King Manuel. Isabella studied mathematics, the Renaissance classics, French, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, and Catholic doctrine. When Isabella was fourteen years old, her 34-year-old mother died, exhausted from nine pregnancies in fourteen years.

Isabella’s future husband Charles; Credit – Wikipedia

Isabella’s father had started preliminary negotiations for a marriage between Isabella and her first cousin Charles of Austria, best known in history as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles was the son and heir of both his parents, Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, the ruler of the Burgundian State from the House of Habsburg, and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara. His paternal grandparents were  Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and the ruler of the Archduchy of Archduke 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. Charles’ maternal grandparents were  Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León. Charles would be the heir of all four of his grandparents.

Before the marriage negotiations were completed, Isabella’s father Manuel I, King of Portugal died and was succeeded by his eldest son João III, King of Portugal. Eventually, negotiations between the two kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula resulted in double Spanish-Portuguese weddings. João III, King of Portugal married Catherine of Austria, daughter of Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy and Juana I, Queen of Castile. Isabella would marry Catherine’s brother Charles of Austria. On March 11, 1526, at the Royal Alcázar of Seville in Seville, Spain, Isabella and Charles were married.

Twenty-six-year-old Charles had already inherited and reigned over the dominions of his mother Juana (Castile and León, and Aragon which would be united under Charles as the Kingdom of Spain), the dominions of his father Philip (the Burgundian State which Philip had inherited from his mother Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, consisting of parts of the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Germany), and also the Habsburg dominions of his paternal grandfather Maximilian (Archduchy of Austria, Duchy of Styria, Duchy of Carinthia, and Duchy of Carniola, today parts of Austria and Slovenia). Charles had been elected Holy Roman Emperor after the death of his paternal grandfather Maximilian in 1519.

Isabella and her eldest child Felipe, a portrait in the manner of the Virgin and Child; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles and Isabella had five children but only three survived to adulthood. Their son Felipe (also known as Philip) would become King of Spain (1555 – 1598), King of Portugal (1581 – 1598), King of Naples and Sicily (1554 – 1598), Duke of Milan (1540 – 1598), Lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands (1555 – 1598) and jure uxoris (by right of his wife) King of England and Ireland during his marriage to his second wife Queen Mary I of England from 1554 until Mary died in 1558. Felipe is probably best remembered for sending the Spanish Armada on its unsuccessful mission to invade England in 1588.

Charles and Isabella’s main residence was in Spain because the Spanish nobles had insisted that their children be raised there. Charles was often away from his family to lead military campaigns and administer his other realms, and Isabella was appointed regent in his absence. She attended meetings of the governing councils and consulted with the ministers. Isabella took an active role in the policy-making process, suggesting her own solutions rather than merely accepting recommendations. She supervised her children’s education and taught them Portuguese. Isabella wrote to her husband regularly but often spent months without receiving letters from him.

Double portrait of Charles and Isabella by Peter Paul Rubens after a portrait by Titian; Credit – Wikipedia

Isabella and Charles’ happy marriage lasted for thirteen years. In 1539, during the third month of Isabella’s seventh pregnancy, she developed a fever causing her to miscarry. The fever caused her condition to worsen and Isabella died two weeks later in Toledo, Spain, on May 1, 1539, aged thirty-five. Isabella was interred in the Royal Chapel of Granada in Spain, the burial place of Charles’ parents Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and his maternal grandparents Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León. Charles was so grief-stricken that he shut himself up in a monastery for two months where he prayed and mourned for Isabella in solitude. He never recovered from her death, dressed in black for the rest of his life, and despite being only thirty-nine, never remarried.

Titian’s La Gloria, one of the several paintings commissioned by Charles V in memory of his wife Isabella; On the right are Charles, his wife Isabella, his son Felipe, his daughter Juana, and his sisters Mary and Eleanor, all wearing their shrouds Credit – Wikipedia

In memory of Isabella, Charles commissioned several musical and artistic tributes to her. Probably his favorite tributes were the portraits of Isabella that he commissioned from his favorite painter Tiziano Vecelli, better known as Titian. Titian painted several portraits of Isabella, which included his Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (the portrait of Isabella at the beginning of this article), La Gloria (directly above, read about the painting at the link), and a double portrait of Isabella and Charles (above). Charles kept these paintings with him whenever he traveled and after he retired to the Monastery of Yuste.

Physically exhausted after forty years of ruling and suffering from crippling gout, Charles abdicated in 1555 and retired to the peace of the Monastery of Yuste in Extremadura, Spain. In August 1558, Charles became seriously ill with malaria. He survived Isabella by nineteen years, dying at the age of fifty-eight, at the Monastery of Yuste on September 21, 1558, holding the same cross Isabella had been holding when she died. Charles was originally buried in the chapel at the Monastery of Yuste. However, in his will, he asked for the establishment of a new religious site where he could be reburied with his beloved Isabella.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Vista_aerea_del_Monasterio_de_El_Escorial.jpg

To fulfill his father’s wish, in 1563, Charles and Isabella’s son King Felipe II of Spain started building the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial about 28 miles/45 kilometers from Madrid, Spain. The complex includes a palace, basilica, monastery, and library. When the Royal Crypt was completed in 1574, the remains of Charles and Isabella were re-interred in a small vault directly underneath the altar of the Royal Chapel. In 1654, after the basilica and royal tombs were finally completed during the reign of their great-grandson Felipe IV, King of Spain, the remains of Charles and Isabella were moved into the Royal Pantheon of Kings. Since then, the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial has been the burial place of Spanish monarchs and many members of the Spanish royal family.

The Royal Pantheon of Kings where Isabella and Charles are interred; 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.

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor> [Accessed 21 July 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Isabella of Portugal – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_of_Portugal> [Accessed 23 July 2022].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. Carlos I de España – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_I_de_Espa%C3%B1a> [Accessed 21 July 2022].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. Isabel de Portugal – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_de_Portugal> [Accessed 23 July 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy. [online] 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 23 July 2022].
  • Pt.wikipedia.org. 2022. Isabel de Portugal, Imperatriz Romano-Germânica – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre. [online] Available at: <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_de_Portugal,_Imperatriz_Romano-Germ%C3%A2nica> [Accessed 23 July 2022].
  • Wilson, Peter, 2016. Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy; 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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Best known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles 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. He was born on February 24, 1500, at the Prinsenhof in Ghent, County of Flanders, Burgundian State, now in Belgium. He was the second of the six children and the elder of the two sons of Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, the ruler of the Burgundian State from the House of Habsburg, and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara.

A portrait of the extended Habsburg family: standing (left to right) Maximilian I. Holy Roman Emperor; Maximilian and Mary’s son Philip of Austria; Maximilian’s first wife Mary of Burgundy; sitting (left to right) Maximilian 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 Charles was 6 years old); by Bernhard Strigel painted after 1515; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles’ 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. Charles would turn out to be the heir to all four of his grandparents’ dominions.

The three eldest children of Philip and Juana: Eleanor, Charles, and Isabella; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles had five younger siblings who were all monarchs or consorts of monarchs:

Four years after his birth, Charles’ maternal grandmother Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León died. His 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, Juana’s husband 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.

Philip had spread rumors about Juana’s supposed madness and her misunderstood behavior after his death may have reinforced these rumors. Juana decided to transfer Philip’s remains from Burgos in the north of present-day Spain, where he had died and had already been buried, to Granada in the south of present-day Spain, a journey that took eight months. This trip was used as evidence of Juana’s madness. Juana did show excessive grief as she traveled through Castile with Philip’s coffin. What is overlooked is that her 28-year-old husband died suddenly after a five-day illness and that Juana was fulfilling Philip’s wish to be buried in Granada. In addition, her father Ferdinand deliberately blocked Philip’s burial in Granada causing major delays in Juana’s journey.

Charles in 1519; Credit – Wikipedia

As can be seen in the above portrait, Charles suffered from an enlarged lower jaw, often called the Habsburg jaw, a congenital deformity that became considerably worse in later Habsburg generations. The deformity was probably caused by the family’s long history of inbreeding, commonly practiced in royal families of that time to maintain dynastic control of territories.

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. Was Juana mad or was she manipulated by her father, her husband, and her son? Juana’s father Ferdinand and her son Charles had much to gain from Juana being declared unfit to rule and confined.

Territories controlled by the 19-year-old Charles in 1519; Credit –  by Lucio Silla, modification by Paul2, recreated by Schoeneh – Modification of Europa02.jpg, using Europe-central-blank.svgEste archivo deriva de: Empire-Roman-Emperor-Charles-V.jpg de original author, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=106952839

Charles would inherit and reign over the dominions of his mother Juana (Castile and León, and Aragon which would be united under Charles as the Kingdom of Spain), the dominions of his father Philip (the Burgundian State Philip had inherited from his mother Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, consisting of parts of the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Germany), and also the Habsburg dominions of his paternal grandfather Maximilian (Archduchy of Austria, Duchy of Styria, Duchy of Carinthia, and Duchy of Carniola, today parts of Austria and Slovenia). Charles would be elected Holy Roman Emperor after the death of his paternal grandfather Maximilian in 1519. In addition, Charles oversaw the continuation of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.

Charles’ Titles

Portrait of Isabella of Portugal by Titian; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 11, 1526, at the Royal Alcázar of Seville in Seville, Spain, Charles married his first cousin Isabella of Portugal, daughter of Manuel I, King of Portugal and his second wife Maria of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León. Charles and Isabella’s main residence was in Spain. Charles was often away from his family to lead military campaigns and administer his other realms, and Isabella was appointed regent in his absence.

Charles and his son and successor Felipe; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles and Isabella had five children but only three survived to adulthood:

Double portrait of Charles and Isabella by Peter Paul Rubens after a portrait by Titian; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles and Isabella’s happy marriage lasted for thirteen years. In 1539, during the third month of Isabella’s seventh pregnancy, she developed a fever causing her to miscarry. The fever caused her condition to worsen and Isabella died two weeks later on May 1, 1539, aged thirty-five. Charles was so grief-stricken that he shut himself up in a monastery for two months where he prayed and mourned for her in solitude. He never recovered from Isabella’s death, dressed in black for the rest of his life, and despite being only thirty-nine, never remarried.

Titian’s La Gloria, one of the several paintings commissioned by Charles V in memory of his wife Isabella; On the right are Charles, his wife Isabella, his son Felipe, his daughter Juana, and his sisters Mary and Eleanor, all wearing their shrouds Credit – Wikipedia

In memory of Isabella, Charles commissioned several musical and artistic tributes to Isabella. Probably his favorite tributes were the portraits of Isabella that he commissioned from his favorite painter Tiziano Vecelli, better known as Titian. Titian painted several portraits of Isabella, which included his Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (the portrait of Isabella above in this article), La Gloria (directly above, read about the painting at the link), and a double portrait of Isabella and Charles (above). Charles kept these paintings with him whenever he traveled and after he retired to the Monastery of Yuste.

Charles several years before his abdication; Credit – Wikipedia

Physically exhausted after forty years of ruling, Charles abdicated in 1555, the same year his 75-year-old mother Juana, confined for forty-six years, died. Charles retired to the peace of the Monastery of Yuste in Extremadura, Spain. He suffered from epilepsy and had a serious case of gout. As he aged, his gout progressed from painful to crippling. In his retirement, Charles was carried around the monastery in a sedan chair. A ramp was specially constructed to allow him easy access to his rooms.

Charles’ bedroom at the Monastery of Yuste; Credit – By Alonso de Mendoza – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78867364

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 and Italy, was inherited by Charles’ son who reigned as Felipe II, King of Spain. In addition, Felipe II also added the Kingdom of Portugal to the House of Habsburg’s dominions. In 1578, King Sebastian of Portugal from the House of Aviz was killed in battle without any heirs, causing a succession crisis. He was succeeded by his elderly great-uncle Henrique who was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and had no descendants because he had taken a vow of chastity as a priest. When Cardinal-King Enrique died two years later, three grandchildren of Manuel I, King of Portugal claimed the Portuguese throne. Ultimately, the grandchild who was successful in his claim was Felipe II, King of Spain. The Iberian Union was the union of the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Portugal that existed between 1580 and 1640, under the Spanish Habsburg kings Felipe II, Felipe III, and Felipe IV who reigned in Portugal under the names Filipe I, Filipe II, and Filipe III. In 1640, the Portuguese House of Braganza came to power in Portugal after deposing the Spanish Habsburgs in the Portuguese Restoration War.

In August 1558, Charles became seriously ill with malaria. He died, aged fifty-eight, at the Monastery of Yuste on September 21, 1558, holding the same cross his wife Isabella had been holding when she died. Charles was originally buried in the chapel at the Monastery of Yuste. However, in his will, he asked for the establishment of a new religious site where he could be reburied with his beloved wife Isabella.

Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial; Credit – By Turismo Madrid Consorcio Turístico from Madrid, España – Monasterio EscorialUploaded by Ecemaml, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6581920

To fulfill his father’s wish, in 1563, Charles’s son King Felipe II of Spain started building the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial about 28 miles/45 kilometers from Madrid, Spain. The complex includes a palace, basilica, monastery, and library. When the Royal Crypt was completed in 1574, the remains of Charles and Isabella were re-interred in a small vault directly underneath the altar of the Royal Chapel. In 1654, after the basilica and royal tombs were finally completed during the reign of their great-grandson Felipe IV, King of Spain, the remains of Charles and Isabella were moved into the Royal Pantheon of Kings. Since then, the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial has been the burial place of Spanish monarchs and many members of the Spanish royal family.

The Royal Pantheon of Kings where Charles and his wife Isabella are interred; 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

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor> [Accessed 21 July 2022].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. Carlos I de España – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_I_de_Espa%C3%B1a> [Accessed 21 July 2022].
  • 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 21 July 2022].
  • 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 21 July 2022].
  • Wilson, Peter, 2016. Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, King of Castile and León

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, King of Castile and León; Credit – Wikipedia

Also known as Philip of Habsburg, and Philip the Handsome, Philip was born in Bruges in the  County of Flanders, now in Belgium, on July 22, 1478. He was the husband of Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Queen of Aragon. Philip was the elder of the three children and the elder but the only surviving of the two sons of Maximilian I, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and Holy Roman Emperor, and the first of his three wives, Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, the ruler of the Burgundian State in her own right. The Burgundian State consisted of parts of the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Germany. Philip’s paternal grandparents were Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor (also Friedrich V, Archduke of Austria and Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola) and Eleanor of Portugal. His maternal grandparents were Charles I (the Bold), Duke of Burgundy and the second of his three wives Isabella of Bourbon.

Philip had two younger siblings but only his sister survived childhood:


Philip’s parents; Credit – Wikipedia

Philip was the heir to both his father’s and mother’s dominions. His mother Mary was the only child of Charles I (the Bold), Duke of Burgundy, and succeeded him after his death at the Battle of Nancy during the Burgundian Wars in 1477. Philip’s father Maximilian was the heir to the Archduchy of Austria and the Duchies 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 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 died in 1493. However, Philip predeceased his father and never succeeded to his father’s dominions but his eldest son Carlos did.

In March 1482, Philip’s parents Mary and Maximilian were participating in a hunt. Mary was an experienced rider and held her falcon in one hand and the reins in the other hand. However, her horse stumbled over a tree stump while jumping over a newly dug canal. The saddle belt under the horse’s belly broke causing Mary to fall out of the saddle and into the canal with the horse on top of her. Twenty-five-year-old Mary, who was pregnant, was seriously injured and died several weeks later from internal injuries.

Philip at the age of five; Credit – Wikipedia

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 now held the following titles and was the ruler of the following:

Beginning in 1480, Philip was educated by Olivier de la Marche, a soldier, diplomat, poet, and chronicler of the Burgundian court, and François de Busleyden (link in French), a priest and later Archbishop of Besançon and Philip’s chancellor in Flanders. In September 1494, Philip was declared of legal age and released from his father’s guardianship.

Philip’s bride, then Infanta Juana of Aragon; Credit – Wikipedia

During the First Italian War (1494 – 1495), Philip’s father Maximilian made an alliance with the husband and wife rulers of what is now Spain, Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León, for a double marriage between their children. Juan, Prince of Asturias, the only son and heir of Ferdinand and Isabella, would marry Maximilian’s only daughter Margaret of Austria, and Ferdinand and Isabella’s second daughter Infanta Juana of Aragon would marry Maximilian’s only son Philip. These marriages were part of Ferdinand and Isabella’s foreign policy of building a network of alliances through their children’s marriages to strengthen their kingdoms against France, their major rival. The double marriages were never intended to allow the Spanish kingdoms to fall under the control of the House of Habsburg, which they eventually did. Philip’s intended bride Juana was third in line to the thrones of Aragon, Castile, and León after her elder brother Juan and her elder sister Isabella. Juana would fall further down the line of succession if her elder siblings had children.

18-year-old Philip and 16-year-old Juana were married by proxy at the Palacio de los Vivero in Valladolid, Kingdom of Castile. On August 22, 1496, Juana began her journey to her new home. The wedding was formally celebrated on October 20, 1496, at the Collegiate Church of Saint Gummarus in the small town of Lier, then in the County of Flanders, now in Belgium, near the city of Antwerp.

The three eldest children of Philip and Juana: Eleanor, Carlos, and Isabella; Credit – Wikipedia

Philip and Juana had six children, all were kings or queen consorts:

Within four years of her marriage to Philip, Juana became the heir to her parents’ kingdoms after the death of her childless only brother Juan, Prince of Asturias in 1497, the death of her eldest sister Isabella of Aragon, Princess of Asturias, Princess of Portugal in childbirth in 1498, and the death of her sister Isabella’s only child Prince Miguel da Paz of Portugal in 1500, shortly before his second birthday.

Juana and Philip, stained glass, Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges, Belgium; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Juana deeply loved Philip, their married life was unhappy. Philip was unfaithful and politically insecure. He constantly attempted to usurp Juana’s legal birthright. This led to the rumors of Juana’s insanity because those rumors benefited Philip politically. Most historians now agree Juana was clinically depressed and not insane as commonly believed.

On November 26, 1504, Juana’s mother Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León died. 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, Juana’s husband 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. However, Philip’s rule lasted only from July 12, 1506 to September 25, 1506, when he died, aged 28, at Casa del Cordón in Burgos, Castile, apparently of typhoid fever, although an assassination by poisoning was rumored at the time.

A 19th-century painting of Juana holding vigil over Philip’s coffin by Francisco Pradilla Ortiz, 1877; Credit – Wikipedia

Philip had spread rumors about Juana’s supposed madness when he was still alive and her misunderstood behavior after his death may have reinforced these rumors. Juana decided to transfer Philip’s remains from Burgos in the north of present-day Spain, where he had died and had already been buried, to Granada in the south of present-day Spain. Philip wanted to be buried in Granada. The distance from Burgos to Granada is 423 miles/681 kilometers, a 6 1/2 hour car ride today, but an extraordinary distance in 1506. Pregnant with her last child, Juana traveled with her husband’s body from Burgos to Granada. The trip would take eight months. During the trip, Juana gave birth to her last child, named Catherine after Juana’s youngest sister Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. Finally, Philip was interred at the Royal Chapel of Granada where his mother-in-law Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León was interred and where his father-in-law Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and his wife Juana I, Queen of Castile and León, Queen of Aragon would also be interred.

Was Juana mad or was she manipulated by her father, husband, and son? Juana’s father Ferdinand, her husband Philip, and eventually her son Carlos had much to gain from Juana being declared unfit to rule. Juana did show excessive grief as she traveled through Castile with Philip’s coffin. What is overlooked is that her 28-year-old husband died suddenly after a five-day illness and that she was fulfilling Philip’s wish to be buried in Granada. In addition, her father Ferdinand deliberately blocked Philip’s burial in Granada causing delays in Juana’s journey.

In 1509, Juana’s father Ferdinand convinced the parliament that Juana was too mentally ill to govern, and was appointed her guardian and regent of Castile and León. Juana was confined in the Royal Convent of Santa Clara in Tordesillas, Castile, now in Spain, under her father’s orders. In 1516, Ferdinand II, King of Aragon died. In his will, Ferdinand named his daughter Juana and her eldest son Carlos (also known as Charles in history) as the co-heirs of the Kingdom of Aragon. However, Juana would never really reign as she would not be released from her confinement until her death.

Philip and Juana’s son Carlos; Credit – Wikipedia

It would be Philip and Juana’s son Carlos who would reign and inherit the dominions of his mother Juana (Castile, León, and Aragon), the dominions of his father Philip (the Burgundian State which were parts of the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Germany, see the list of Philip’s titles above), and also the dominions of his paternal grandfather Maximilian I, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and Holy Roman Emperor who died after Philip’s death. When Juana died in 1555, it resulted in the personal union of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, as her son Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, among many other titles, also became King of Castile and León and King of Aragon, effectively creating the Kingdom of Spain. Carlos I was not only the first King of a united Spain and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, but also Charles I, Archduke of Austria, and Charles II, Lord of the Netherlands, among many other titles.

Tomb of Philip and Juana at the Royal Chapel of Granada; Credit – By Javi Guerra Hernando – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35974698

Juana survived her husband Philip by forty-nine years, dying on April 12, 1555, aged 75, at the Royal Convent of Santa Clara in Tordesillas. She had spent the last forty-six years of her life confined, living through decades of internment, isolation, and sometimes inhumane treatment by the guards.

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.

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