Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, the church can be seen on the left; Credit – By Deensel – Lisbon, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69227699

The Roman Catholic Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal contains the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza, the burial site for members of the House of Braganza that reigned in Portugal from 1640 until the monarchy was abolished in 1910. In 1640, the Braganzas came to rule the Kingdom of Portugal when the Portuguese Restoration War ended the sixty-year rule of Portugal by the Spanish Habsburgs. João II, Duke of Braganza became King João IV of Portugal. From 1640 – 1822, the Braganzas ruled Portugal and the Portuguese Empire. In 1822, Brazil, part of the Portuguese Empire, became independent and the Braganzas also reigned as rulers of the Empire of Brazil. The Braganzas lost their power when Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was deposed in Brazil in 1889 and when King Manuel II of Portugal was deposed Portugal in 1910.

The Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal was founded in 1147 as an Augustinian monastery by Afonso Henriques, the first King of Portugal (reigned 1139 – 1185). It was dedicated to São Vicente de Fora (Saint Vincent of Saragossa), patron saint of Lisbon, who was martyred by the Romans around 304. The monastery we see today is the result of a reconstruction project started by King Felipe II of Spain from the House of Habsburg, who also became King of Portugal (as Felipe I) after the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580.

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The Church of the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora

The Church of the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora; Credit – By Andreas Manessinger – Arriving at São Vicente, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46171873

The construction of the monastery church began in 1582 under the supervision of the Italian architect and engineer Filippo Terzi using designs by the Spanish architect Juan de Herrera. After they both died in 1597, Portuguese architect Baltasar Álvares (link in Portuguese) supervised the work on the monastery church until he was replaced by Pedro Nunes Tinoco in 1624. The monastery church was completed in 1627, however, the entire monastery reconstruction project was not completed until the 1700s.

The façade of the monastery church designed by Portuguese architect Baltasar Álvares in the Late Renaissance style known as Mannerism is simple and yet majestic. Below the two towers are several niches with statues of saints. The lower part of the façade has three arched doorways that lead to the entrance hall.

The nave looking toward the altar. The barrel-vaulted ceiling and the dome can also be seen; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24603843

The interior of the monastery church is a Latin cross building with a one-aisled nave with several side chapels. The ceiling is covered by barrel vaulting and has a large dome over the crossing.

The main altar; Credit – © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24603847

Joaquim Machado de Castro, one of Portugal’s most famous sculptors, is responsible for the main altar in the Baroque style. It is in the shape of a baldachin, the canopy of state placed over an altar or throne, and is decorated with several statues.

King Carlos I of Portugal and his elder son and heir Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal laying in state at the Church of the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1908, after the assassination of King Carlos I of Portugal and his elder son and heir Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal, called the Lisbon Regicide, their bodies lay in state in front of the main altar at the Church of the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora.

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Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza

Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza Credit – Wikipedia Commons

After the nationalization of the property of monasteries in 1834, the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora became the palace for the Archbishops of Lisbon. Fernando II, King Consort of Portugal (born Fernando of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), second husband of Queen Maria II of Portugal, had the monks’ old refectory, the dining room of a monastery, transformed into the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza, a burial site for members of the House of Braganza. Originally, members of the House of Braganza had been interred in the Church of the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora. Their remains were transferred to the new pantheon in 1855.

Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza; Credit – Wikipedia

The majority of the tombs are located on the sides of the pantheon. Those tombs are simple marble boxes in groups of four tombs. If the tomb belongs to a monarch, a crown has been engraved in gold on the side of the tomb and a crown placed on top of the entire group of tombs. This can be seen in the photos above.

Tombs of Carlos I, King of Portugal and his son and heir Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

Two tombs of the four in the center aisle of the pantheon belong to King Carlos I of Portugal and his son and heir Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal, who were shot to death in 1908 by assassins sympathetic to republican interests. In 1933, a statue of a crying woman symbolizing the country crying for its martyrs was erected next to the tombs. The two other tombs in the center aisle belong to Amélie of Orléans, the last Queen Consort of Portugal, wife of King Carlos I, and her son Manuel II, the last King of Portugal.

Statue of a crying woman symbolizing the country crying for its martyrs was erected next to the tombs of Carlos I and his son; Credit – Wikipedia

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Burials at the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza

Sign over the entrance to the Pantheon of the House of Braganza; Credit – By Bobo Boom – Igreja de São VincenteUploaded by tm, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78979281

Note: Unofficial Royalty articles for kings and queens from 1640 – 1826 will be published in the upcoming months and the links will be added below. Until then, their Wikipedia article links will be listed. Also note, that some listed below do not have Wikipedia articles.

The following members of the royal family of Portugal are buried in the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza:

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Former Burials at the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza

The Pantheon of the House of Braganza in the early 20th century, before the Lisbon Regicide of 1908; Credit – By Charles Chusseau-Flaviens – George Eastman Museum, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38249250

Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil/Pedro IV, King of Portugal (1798 – 1834) died in 1834, at the age of 35, from tuberculosis at his birthplace, the Royal Palace of Queluz in Lisbon, Portugal. He was first buried at the Pantheon of the House of Braganza at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1972, Pedro’s remains were transferred to the Brazilian Imperial Crypt and Chapel under the Monument of the Ipiranga (Monument to the Independence of Brazil) in São Paulo, Brazil.

Amélie of Leuchtenberg, Empress of Brazil (1812 – 1873) was the second wife of Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil/Pedro IV, King of Portugal. When her husband died, Amélie was left a widow at the age of twenty-two with a three-year-old daughter. Amélie remained in Portugal, never remarried, and devoted herself to the care and education of her daughter Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil (1831 – 1853). Sadly, Maria Amélia became ill with tuberculosis, the same disease that had killed her father, and died in 1853, at the age of twenty-one. She was first buried in the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza. In 1982, Maria Amélia’s remains were transferred to Brazil and buried in the Convento de Santo Antônio (Convent of Saint Anthony) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where some other Brazilian royals are also interred. When Amélie died at the age of 60 in 1873, she was first buried in the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza. In 1982, her remains were transferred to Brazil and placed in the Brazilian Imperial Crypt and Chapel under the Monument of the Ipiranga (Monument to the Independence of Brazil) in São Paulo, Brazil next to her husband Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil/Pedro IV, King of Portugal and his first wife Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil, Queen of Portugal (1797 – 1826).

Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825 – 1891), the son of Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil/Pedro IV, King of Portugal, reigned for 58 years before he was deposed in 1889. He lived in exile in Paris, France for the last two years of his life. When he died, he was buried in the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza. His wife Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, Empress of Brazil (1822 – 1889) had predeceased her husband and was also initially buried in the Royal Pantheon. In 1920, the decree banning the former Brazilian Imperial Family was rescinded and in 1921 the remains of Emperor Pedro II and his wife were brought from the Royal Pantheon in Lisbon, Portugal to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where they were temporarily housed in the old Metropolitan Cathedral. In 1925, their remains were transferred to the Imperial Crypt of the Imperial Crypt at the newly completed Cathedral of St. Pedro of Alcantara in Petrópolis, Brazil

King Carol II of Romania (1893 – 1953), who had been deposed in 1940, died while in exile in Portugal. He was first buried in the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza. His former mistress and third wife Magda Lupescu (1899 – 1977) was also buried there when she died 24 years later. In 2003, their remains were brought back to Romania and buried in a chapel outside the Curtea de Argeş Monastery in Argeş, Romania.

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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Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Panteão da Casa de Bragança – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pante%C3%A3o_da_Casa_de_Bragan%C3%A7a> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Monastery of São Vicente de Fora – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_S%C3%A3o_Vicente_de_Fora> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Pantheon of the House of Braganza – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon_of_the_House_of_Braganza> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Portuguese Royal Burial Sites – House of Braganza. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/portuguese-royal-burial-sites/> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
  • Pt.wikipedia.org. 2022. Igreja de São Vicente de Fora – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre. [online] Available at: <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igreja_de_S%C3%A3o_Vicente_de_Fora> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
  • Pt.wikipedia.org. 2022. Panteão da Dinastia de Bragança – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre. [online] Available at: <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pante%C3%A3o_da_Dinastia_de_Bragan%C3%A7a> [Accessed 23 February 2022].

Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation in Athens, Greece

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation; Credit – By George E. Koronaios – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78384160

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation, located in central Athens near the Acropolis, is a three-aisled, domed basilica designed in a mixed Romanesque–Renaissance–Byzantine style.

Some Greek History

King Otto in traditional Greek dress; Credit – Wikipedia

Greece’s monarchy came late and lasted for a total of 130 years. Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century until 1821 when Greece declared its independence. The Greeks and the Ottoman Empire fought the Greek War of Independence (1821 – 1832), and with the help of the three Great Powers – France, Russia, and the United Kingdom – the Ottoman Empire was finally defeated. In 1832, the Convention of London established Greece as a kingdom, and the Great Powers appointed 17-year-old Prince Otto of Bavaria, the second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, to be the new kingdom’s first king. Having dismissed his regency council in 1835 when he came of age, Otto ruled as an absolute monarch for a few years, until uprisings by the Greek people occurred, demanding a constitution. Otto had no recourse but to give in to the demands and allow for a constitution and the establishment of a Greek National Assembly. In 1862, while Otto was away from Athens, a coup d’état led to the formation of a provisional government, and Otto was deposed.

King George I in 1864; Credit – Wikipedia

Still wanting a monarchy, Greece began searching for a new king. While several European princes were put forward as possible kings, the Greek people and the Great Powers soon chose Prince Vilhelm of Denmark, the second son of King Christian IX of Denmark, as their king. On March 30, 1863, the 17-year old Vilhelm was unanimously elected by the Greek National Assembly and took the name King George I of the Hellenes. In 1924, the Second Hellenic Republic was declared and the monarchy was abolished. The monarchy was restored in 1935. On April 21, 1967, a coup d’état led by a group of army colonels took over Greece. King Constantine II remained the head of state in exile until June 1, 1973, when the monarchy was officially abolished.

The Greek government did not permit former King Constantine II to return to Greece until 1981 when he and his family were allowed to enter Greece for several hours to attend the burial of his mother Queen Frederica in the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace. Constantine and his family made a private visit to Greece in 1993. After 2003, when a property dispute between Constantine and the Greek government was resolved, Constantine and his family were able to make visits to Greece and purchase a summer home there. In 2013, former King Constantine II permanently returned to reside in Greece.

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History of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation in Athens, Greece

1918 postcard of the Metropolitan Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

Like the modern Greek monarchy, the major cathedral in Athens is also not old. In 1833, with the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece, the new government decided to form its own national church and broke away from the Patriarch of the Orthodox Churches in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, now Istanbul, Turkey. Known as the Church of Greece, it is part of the worldwide Greek Orthodox Church. Authority of the Church of Greece is vested in the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, comprised of diocesan bishops who have metropolitan status.  The head of the Church of Greece is the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.

A new cathedral in the capital city of Athens was part of a comprehensive building program that King Otto carried out. The cornerstone of the new cathedral was laid in the presence of King Otto on Christmas Day 1842. The relationship of the new Church of Greece with King Otto and his wife Amalia of Oldenburg, who he married in 1836, was strained. Although King Otto agreed that his children would be raised in the Greek Orthodox religion, he refused to convert from Roman Catholicism. Likewise, Queen Amalia refused to convert from Lutheranism. Otto and Amalia never had children and their refusal to convert to the Greek Orthodox religion led to them being greatly disliked by the Greek people and were contributing factors to King Otto being deposed in 1862.

King Otto and Queen Amalia in the Metropolitan Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation was built in several stages, and four architects worked on its construction: Danish architect Theophilus von Hansen (1842 – 1843), Greek architect Dimitrios Zezos (1846 – 1857), French architect Francois Boulanger, and Greek architect Panagiotis Kalkos (1857 – 1862). Marble from 72 demolished churches was used to build the cathedral. Work was stopped on the cathedral for three years, 1843 – 1846, due to financial problems. On May 21, 1862, the completed cathedral was dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary in the presence of King Otto and Queen Amalia.

The Metropolitan Cathedral in 2008 while it was still being repaired due to the damage caused by the 1999 earthquake: Credit – Από Badseed – Own work CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4309396

The cathedral was damaged by an earthquake on September 7, 1999. Renovations and repairs were extensive and the scaffolding was not removed until 2016.

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The Exterior of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation

Exterior of the Metropolitan Cathedral in 2016 after the end of the repair work caused by the 1999  earthquake; Credit – Από C messier – Έργο αυτού που το ανεβάζει, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51359657

The exterior of the cathedral is in a simple Byzantine-modern style with two bell towers. Above the main doors is a mosaic representing the Annunciation, the announcement of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary that she would conceive and bear a son through a virgin birth and become the mother of the Son of God.

The mosaic of the Annunciation above the main doors; Credit – By Κυριάκος Κ. – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84743057

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The Interior of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation

The layout of the traditional interior of an Orthodox church; Credit – By Phiddipus at en.wikipedia – self-made, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13396583

Orthodox churches are set up differently than other Christian churches. They are divided into three main parts: the narthex, the nave, and the sanctuary.

The narthex is the connection between the church and the outside world. It used to be the practice that non-Orthodox people had to remain in the narthex but this practice has mostly fallen into disuse.

The nave looking toward the iconostasis; Credit – By George E. Koronaios – https://www.flickr.com/photos/140911325@N02/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99501816

The congregation stands in the nave during services. Traditionally there is no sitting during Orthodox services and so Orthodox churches usually do not have pews or chairs. The Metropolitan Cathedral has no pews but chairs are sometimes used.

The iconostasis; Credit – © Ad Meskens / Wikimedia Commons Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83302715

In Orthodox Christianity, an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings that divides the sanctuary from the nave. The sanctuary is where the Eucharist or Divine Liturgy is performed behind the iconostasis. The iconostasis usually has three doors, one in the middle and one on either side. The middle door is traditionally called the Beautiful Gate and is only used by the clergy. The doors on either side are called the Deacons’ Doors or Angel Doors as they often have depicted on them the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. These doors are used by deacons and servers to enter the sanctuary. Traditionally, only males may enter the sanctuary, however, no one may enter the sanctuary without a blessing from the priest or bishop.

Decorations of the interior of the Metropolitan Cathedral; Credit – By C messier – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73200702

The interior of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation is richly decorated with frescoes, icons, and stone carvings.

Icon of the Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus; Credit- By Tzim78 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37693059

The cathedral has the tombs of Saint Philothei of Athens (1522 – 1589) and Saint Georgios V, Patriarch of Constantinople (1746 – 1821), who were killed by the Ottoman Turks while Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire. They are revered as martyrs for the freedom of Greece and the Orthodox faith.

Shrine of Saint Georgios V, Patriarch of Constantinople; Credit – By Χρήστης Templar52 – Transferred from el.wikipedia to Commons by Alaniaris using CommonsHelper.(Original text: Φωτογράφηση ρξ ιδίων), Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4313193

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Royal Events at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation

Wedding of Prince Philippos and Nina Nastassja Flohr in 2021

The Metropolitan Cathedral has been the site of important ceremonies including weddings and funerals of notable personalities including Greek royalty. It is likely that there would have been more royal events at the Metropolitan Cathedral had the Greek royals not been in exile from 1924 – 1935 during the Second Hellenic Republic and from 1967 – 2003, after the monarchy was abolished and until former King Constantine II was allowed to once again to enter Greece. Most recently, the religious wedding of Prince Philippos, the youngest child of former King Constantine II, and Nina Nastassja Flohr was held at the Metropolitan Cathedral on October 23, 2021.

Christening of Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece in 1967; Credit – https://www.pinterest.com/pin/385761524301918610/

Royal christenings held at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation include:

Embed from Getty Images
Wedding of King Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark in 1964

Royal weddings held at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation include:

The coffin of Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, wife of Prince Nicholas of Greece, is carried by members of the Royal Guard at her funeral in 1957, followed by King Paul of Greece

Royal funerals held at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation include:

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. Kathedrale Mariä Verkündigung (Athen) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathedrale_Mari%C3%A4_Verk%C3%BCndigung_(Athen)> [Accessed 14 February 2022].
  • El.wikipedia.org. 2022. Μητροπολιτικός Ναός Αθηνών – Βικιπαίδεια. [online] Available at: <https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CE%B7%CF%84%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B9%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C%CF%82_%CE%9D%CE%B1%CF%8C%CF%82_%CE%91%CE%B8%CE%B7%CE%BD%CF%8E%CE%BD> [Accessed 14 February 2022]. (Greek Wikipedia)
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Eastern Orthodox church architecture – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_church_architecture> [Accessed 14 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Iconostasis – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconostasis> [Accessed 14 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Cathedral_of_Athens> [Accessed 14 February 2022].
  • The Royal Watcher. 2022. The Royal Watcher. [online] Available at: <https://royalwatcherblog.com/> [Accessed 14 February 2022]. (for event dates)
  • Van Der Kiste, John, 1999. Kings of the Hellenes: The Greek Kings 1863 – 1974. Stroud: Sutton Publishing.

Notre-Dame de Reims in Reims, France (Reims Cathedral)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Reims Cathedral; Credit – Par Tim Hodson — https://www.flickr.com/photos/informationtakesover/6593926237/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18031986

Notre-Dame de Reims, also called Reims Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Reims, France dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was the coronation cathedral and most Kings of France from 1027 – 1825 were crowned there. Reims Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Reims. The construction of the present Reims Cathedral began in the 13th century and was completed in the 15th century but there were three other cathedrals on the site.

Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims baptizing Clovis I, King of the Franks; Credit – Wikipedia

The first Christian church in Reims was founded between 250 and 300. In the 5th century, a new church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary was built on the site. About 496, Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims baptized Clovis I, the first King of the Franks to be baptized. Although there had been some Christians in the Kingdom of the Franks, Clovis’ baptism led to the conversion of the entire population of the Kingdom of the Franks to Christianity.

In 816, Louis I the Pious, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor was crowned in Reims Cathedral by Pope Stephen IV. The coronation revealed the poor condition and inadequate size of the first cathedral. Beginning in 818, a much larger cathedral was built on the site using stone from the old city ramparts. The interior of the new cathedral was decorated with mosaics, paintings, sculptures, and tapestries. The cathedral was consecrated in 862 and, in 976, it began to be enlarged.

Seal of Reims Cathedral, showing how it appeared in the 12th century; Credit – CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32910537

By the 12th century, the second cathedral was considered too small. The existing nave and transept were preserved but the two ends of the cathedral were enlarged. The west front and its adjoining tower were demolished and replaced by two matching flanking towers. The major additions to the third cathedral were in the Gothic style but much of the original Carolingian style of the second cathedral remained.

On May 6, 1210, the third Carolingian/Gothic cathedral was destroyed by fire. Construction on the fourth and current cathedral in the High Gothic style began exactly a year later and was completed in 1275, which was exceptionally quick.

On July 24, 1481, during a renovation of the roof, two workers in charge of the lead for the roof, forgot to turn off a furnace, located in the attic of the cathedral. In a short time, the frame of the cathedral was on fire. The fire destroyed the roof, the central bell tower and its ten bells, and part of the transept. Molten lead from the roof destroyed several stained glass windows. King Charles VIII and then King Louis XII provided funds for the necessary renovations.

Interior of Reims Cathedral after World War I bombing; Credit – Wikipedia

Reims Cathedral was near the front lines of World War I and was hit by more than three hundred artillery shells. A major restoration project began in 1919 and was completed in 1938.

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The High Altar

The nave looking east toward the high altar; Credit – By Johan Bakker – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28038332

The high altar, made of French and Italian marble, is a copy of the 1747 altar which was destroyed by bombing during World War I.

The High Altar; Credit – By Zairon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65334623

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The Gallery of Kings

 

On the west facade, above the entrance to the cathedral and the central rose window and continuing on the sides of the cathedral is the Gallery of Kings, statues of French monarchs, each fifteen feet/4.5 meters high. The Gallery of Kings was constructed from 1300 – 1350. At the center is Clovis I, the first King of the Franks to be baptized, with his wife Saint Clotilde on the left and Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims who baptized him, on the right (see photo below). Saint Clotilde was raised as a Christian and played a role in her husband’s conversion to Christianity and the spreading of Christianity throughout western Europe.

Clovis I, King of the Franks in the center with his wife Saint Clotilde on the left and Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims on the right; Credit – Wikipedia

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Coronation of Charles VII, King of France and the Impact of Joan of Arc

Coronation of King Charles VII of France at Reims Cathedral. Joan of Arc is standing behind him holding her battle standard. This painting is at the Pantheon in Paris, France; Credit – Wikipedia

Perhaps the most historically symbolic coronation of a French king was the coronation of King Charles VII (reigned 1422 – 1461). He inherited the French throne in desperate times. France was fighting England in the Hundred Years’ War, caused by disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagenet and the French House of Valois. English forces occupied northern France including Paris and Reims. In 1420, King Charles VI of France had disinherited his son and recognized his son-in-law King Henry V of England and his heirs as the legitimate successors to the French crown. Meanwhile, a civil war was occurring in France between the Armagnacs, supporters of the House of Valois, and the Burgundians, supporters of the House of Valois-Burgundy and allies of the English.

Charles VII’s political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a military and spiritual leader. The teenage Joan of Arc said she had visions of Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Margaret of Antioch, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII in his efforts to purge the English from France.

Joan of Arc led French troops to victories at the Siege of Orléans and the Battle of Patay. With the English troops dispersed, the population of Reims switched their allegiance to King Charles VII and opened the city’s gates. This allowed for the coronation of King Charles VII on July 17, 1429, at Reims Cathedral with Joan of Arc standing nearby holding her battle standard. After the coronation, Joan knelt before Charles VII and joyously called him king for the first time.

On May 23, 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundian faction and handed over to the English. She was tried on several charges including heresy by the pro-English Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, declared guilty, and then burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. In 1456, the Catholic Church ordered a second trial. The first trial and its conclusions were declared “null, void, without value or effect” and Joan and her family were fully rehabilitated.

By the time of her second trial in 1456, Joan of Arc had already become a symbol of France and she remains an important symbol of French identity and unity. On May 16, 1920, Pope Benedict XV canonized Joan of Arc as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She is remembered at Reims Cathedral with two statues: an equestrian statue outside the cathedral and another statue in the cathedral.

Statue of Joan of Arc in Reims Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

French sculptor Prosper d’Epinay created a polychrome statue of Joan of Arc which he exhibited at the Salon des artistes français of 1902, an art exhibition held every year in early February in Paris. Seven years later, one of his patrons offered the statue to Reims Cathedral, at the time of Joan of Arc’s beatification as Blessed Joan of Arc. It stands in the place where Joan of Arc stood during the coronation of King Charles VII. The helmet and the armor were made from silvered bronze, the face was carved in ivory, and the tunic is yellow marble dotted with fleur-de-lis in lapis lazuli.

The original placement of the equestrian statue of Joan of Arc; Credit – Wikipedia

The bronze equestrian statue of Joan of Arc holding a sword in front of Reims Cathedral was designed by French sculptor Paul Dubois and was inaugurated by French President Félix Faure on Bastille Day, July 14, 1896. Originally the statue stood in front of Reims Cathedral with its back toward the cathedral depicting Joan of Arc riding away after Charles VII’s coronation. Today the statue faces the cathedral on the far end of Place du Cardinal-Luçon, the plaza in front of Reims Cathedral, as shown in the photo below.

 

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Coronations

Coronation of Louis XIII, King of France; Credit – CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35561924

The fact that Clovis I had been baptized at Reims Cathedral and the political power of the Archbishop of Reims led to the cathedral becoming the coronation site of Kings of France. After King Henri I was crowned at Reims Cathedral in 1027, the tradition of holding coronations there was firmly established. Since 987, when the House of Capet began its reign, and continuing through the House of Valois and the House of Bourbon, all but seven of France’s kings were crowned at Reims Cathedral. Hugh Capet, Robert II, Louis VI, and Henri IV were crowned elsewhere, Jean I reigned as the posthumous son and successor of Louis X for the five days he lived, and Louis XVIII and Louis Philippe I chose not to have coronations.

In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Napoleon I, Emperor of France at Notre Dame de Paris. With the Bourbon Restoration in 1814 after the downfall of Napoleon I, the practice of royal coronations at Reims Cathedral was resumed, but only once. The Bourbon Restoration saw two brothers of the beheaded King Louis XVI on the French throne. King Louis XVIII decided not to have a coronation. However, in 1825, his younger brother King Charles X was the last King of France to be crowned and his coronation was at Reims Cathedral. King Charles X was overthrown in the Revolution of 1830 and replaced by a constitutional monarch, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans I, who reigned as Louis Philippe, King of the French and was sworn in at the Parliament in Paris rather than crowned in Reims.

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, became President of France after Louis Philippe, King of the French was deposed in the Revolution of 1848. Not content with being simply President, he arranged for a referendum to decide if he should be declared Emperor. On December 2, 1852, following an overwhelming vote in his favor, the Second French Republic ended and the Second French Empire was declared. Louis-Napoleon took the throne as Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. However, Napoleon III chose not to have a coronation ceremony. In 1870, after France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the Third French Republic was declared, ending, for the last time, the French monarchy.

Coronation of Philippe V and his wife Joan of Burgundy at Reims Cathedral in 1317; Credit – Wikipedia

Several queen consorts were crowned with their husbands at Reims Cathedral. A queen’s coronation could take place years after her marriage or her husband’s accession to the throne. Queen consorts were crowned either together with their husband at Reims Cathedral, alone at Sainte-Chapelle in Paris or the Basilica of Saint-Denis, or not at all.

Coronations at Reims Cathedral

Coronation of King Charles X in 1825 by François Gérard, the last coronation held at Reims Cathedral; Credit – By François Gérard – Web Gallery of Art:   Image  Info about artwork, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15883911

When Saint Louis IX, King of France was crowned in 1226, the current cathedral was still under construction. The coronation of kings before Louis IX took place at the earlier cathedrals in Reims.

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. Kathedrale von Reims – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathedrale_von_Reims> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Reims Cathedral – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims_Cathedral> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath%C3%A9drale_Notre-Dame_de_Reims> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Incendie de Notre-Dame de Reims (1481) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incendie_de_Notre-Dame_de_Reims_(1481)> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Sacre des rois de France — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacre_des_rois_de_France> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Statue équestre de Jeanne d’Arc (Paul Dubois) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_%C3%A9questre_de_Jeanne_d%27Arc_(Paul_Dubois)> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Jenkins, Simon, 2021. Europe’s 100 Best Cathedral. London: Penguin Random House UK.

Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Interior of the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles; Credit – By Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66026550

In 1623, King Louis XIII of France (reigned 1610 – 1643) built a hunting lodge in Versailles, France, about 12 miles/19 km west of Paris. From 1631 – 1634, the hunting lodge was replaced by a small château. King Louis XIV (reigned 1643 – 1715) expanded the château into the magnificent Palace of Versailles, which this writer has visited, in several phases from 1661 – 1715. He eventually moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France, and this was continued during the reigns of Louis XIV’s successors, his great-grandson King Louis XV and then Louis XV’s grandson King Louis XVI.

The Palace of Versailles; Credit – By ToucanWings – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28505340

The Chapel Royal that we see today at the Palace of Versailles is the fifth chapel royal at Versailles. It was built from 1699 to 1710, at the end of the 72-year reign of King Louis XIV who died in 1715. Therefore, Louis XIV used the fifth chapel royal for only the last five years of his life but his successors Louis XV and Louis XVI used the fifth chapel royal during their entire reigns. The Chapel Royal, originally a Roman Catholic church, is no longer a church. It was deconsecrated in the 19th century and since then has served as a venue for government and private events and musical concerts.

Aerial view of the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles; Credit – By ToucanWings – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36855710

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The Previous Chapels

First Chapel Royal

The first chapel royal dates from the reign of Louis XIII (reigned 1610 – 1643). It was a detached building located near the château that had replaced the original hunting lodge. This chapel royal was demolished during the construction of the Grotto of Téthys (link in French), an artificial grotto constructed in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles in 1666 during the reign of Louis XIV.

Second Chapel Royal

The second chapel was constructed during Louis XIV’s second building campaign (1669–1672) When this new part of the Palace of Versailles was completed, the chapel royal was located in the Queen’s Grand Apartment The second chapel royal was used by the royal family and court until 1678 when a new chapel royal was built

Third Chapel Royal

The third chapel royal, used from 1678 – 1682, was located next to the site of the second royal chapel which had become the Queen’s Guard Room. In 1682, Louis XIV officially moved the French court from Paris to the Palace of Versailles, and the third chapel royal became inconvenient and did not meet the needs of either Louis XIV or the court.

Fourth Chapel Royal

King Louis XIV at prayer in the fourth chapel; Credit – Wikipedia

When the north wing of the Palace of Versailles was constructed, a new chapel royal was built in 1682. When the fourth chapel was constructed, a balcony-like, upper level, was built where the king and select members of the royal family and the court heard daily Mass. The fourth chapel royal remained in use until 1710 and it was here that many important religious events of the court and royal family during the reign of Louis XIV occurred.

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The Fifth Chapel Royal

Credit – Par Nono vlf — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76828541

The Chapel Royal that is seen today at the Palace of Versailles was created by King’s Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. From 1677 until his death in 1708, Hardouin-Mansart worked on the expansion of the Palace of Versailles, including the famous Hall of Mirrors. He was also responsible for other major projects during Louis XIV’s reign including Les Invalides in Paris, and the Place des Victoires and Place Vendôme, squares in Paris.

The current Chapel Royal was built near the corner formed by the wing of the King’s Grand Apartment and the north wing of the Palace of Versailles. Construction started in 1689 but was soon stopped due to the Nine Years’ War (1688 – 1697) between France and a European coalition. In 1699, construction resumed and Hardouin-Mansart continued working on the chapel until his death in 1708. His brother-in-law Robert de Cotte finished the construction. On June 5, 1710, the Royal Chapel was consecrated by Cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris. The Royal Chapel was dedicated to Saint Louis IX, King of France (reigned 1226 – 1270), the patron saint of the House of Bourbon and the ancestor of King Louis XIV. Until the French Revolution, the Chapel Royal was the religious center of the French court.

The Chapel Royal is a traditional two-story palace church. The upper level, the royal tribune, a balcony lined with Corinthian columns, overlooks the nave of the chapel. This was where the King and his family sat. The royal tribune can be entered directly from the north wing of the palace through a vestibule known as the Chapel Hall. Originally, the Chapel Royal contained stalls, a pulpit, confessionals, and furniture for the use of the King and his family. Today, only the altars and the organ remain.

The Floor

The floor of the nave; Credit – Par Lionel Allorge — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15557485

The floor of the nave is paved with multi-colored marble. At the foot of the steps to the altar is a crowned monogram of two intertwined letter Ls for Saint Louis IX, the patron of the Chapel Royal, and King Louis XIV, the builder of the Royal Chapel. This can be seen in the photo above, at the bottom, although it is upside down.

The Paintings

God the Father in His Glory Bringing to the World the Promise of Redemption, painted by Antoine Coypel: Credit – Par Jebulon — Travail personnel, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20081779

Above, the painting on the ceiling of the nave is entitled God the Father in His Glory Bringing to the World the Promise of Redemption, painted by Antoine Coypel.

Charles de la Fosse’s The Resurrection of Christ; Credit – Par Brian Jeffery Beggerly — originally posted to Flickr as IMG_5327, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11700443

Above, the half-dome of the apse is decorated with Charles de la Fosse‘s The Resurrection of Christ.

Jean Jouvenet’s The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles; Credit – Par Lionel Allorge — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15557787

Above, over the royal tribune is Jean Jouvenet‘s The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles.

Altars

The High Altar; Credit – By Zairon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70191334

The altarpiece over the high altar is a gilt bronze bas-relief of The Lamentation of the Dead Christ by French sculptor Corneille Van Clève (link in French).

One of the side altars; Credit – By Lionel Allorge – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15557313

The nine other altars in the Chapel Royal were consecrated to the Blessed Sacrament, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to the main patron saints of the royal family: Saint Louis of France, Saint Anne, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Philip the Apostle, Saint Charles Borromeo, Saint Victoire, and Saint Adelaide of Burgundy.

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Royal Events

The view from the royal tribune where the King and the royal family heard daily Mass

At 10:00 every morning, the King’s Mass was said in the Chapel Royal and attended by the court. The King and his family sat in the royal tribune, a balcony that overlooked the nave of the chapel. The ladies of the court sat in the side tribunes, the side balconies. Seated below in the nave were other members of the court.

Te Deums, short religious services of blessing or thanks, were sung to celebrate military victories and the births of children. Ceremonies of the Order of the Holy Spirit, a French order of chivalry founded by King Henri III in 1578, and baptisms and weddings of princes and princesses were held in the Chapel Royal.

Among the baptisms held at the Chapel Royal were those of five future Kings of France: Louis XV, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis-Philippe I, and two future titular Kings of France: Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France (Louis XVII, son of Louis XVI) and Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (Louis XIX, son of Charles X). In addition, Felipe V, the first Bourbon King of Spain, born Philippe, Duke of Anjou was baptized at the Chapel Royal. He was the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son and heir of Louis XIV who predeceased his father. Among the funerals held at the Chapel Royal were those of Louis XIV and Louis XV.

Wedding of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin & Marie Adélaïde of Savoy in the 4th Chapel Royal. King Louis XIV, the grandfather of the groom, can be prominently seen in the middle; Credit – Wikipedia

Note: The Princes of Condé (below) were from the French Princely House of Bourbon-Condé which was a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. From 1589 – 1709, the Princes of Condé held the rank of premier prince du sang royal (First Prince of the Blood Royal). The Princes of Conti (below) were a cadet branch of the Princely House of Bourbon-Condé.

Among the weddings at the Chapel Royal were:

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

  • Château du Versailles. 2022. Restoration of the Royal Chapel. [online] Available at: <https://en.chateauversailles.fr/news/life-estate/restoration-royal-chapel/royal-chapel> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • Château du Versailles. 2022. The Royal Chapel – The Palace of Versailles. [online] Available at: <https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/palace/royal-chapel> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Schlosskapelle (Versailles) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlosskapelle_(Versailles)> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Chapels of Versailles – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapels_of_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Palace of Versailles – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Chapelle royale de Versailles — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelle_royale_de_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Château de Versailles — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].

Basilica of Saint-Denis in Saint-Denis, France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Basilica of Saint-Denis; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Basilica of Saint-Denis, which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France. The current Gothic cathedral was built in the 12th century. The Kings of France and their families were buried for centuries at the Basilica of Saint-Denis and it is often referred to as the “royal necropolis of France.” The remains of all but three monarchs of France from the 10th century until 1789 are interred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The basilica is named after Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, who became the first Bishop of Paris in the third century. He was decapitated on the hill of Montmartre and is said to have carried his head to the site of the current church, indicating where he wanted to be buried.

Saint Denis holding his head – Notre Dame de Paris; Credit – Wikipedia

A shrine-mausoleum was erected on the site of Saint Denis’ grave in about 313 AD. It was enlarged into a basilica with the addition of tombs and monuments and became a place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. Dagobert, King of the Franks (reigned 628 to 637) re-founded the church as the Abbey of Saint-Denis, a Benedictine monastery, and commissioned a new shrine to house Saint Denis’ remains. Abbot Suger (lived c. 1081 – 1151), a confidant of French kings and Abbot of Saint-Denis from 1122, began work around 1135 to rebuild and enlarge the Abbey of Saint-Denis into the Gothic cathedral we see today.

The interior of the Basilica of St. Denis; Credit – By Rita1234 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8784509

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Coronations of the Queen of France

The Coronation in Saint-Denis of Marie de Medici by Peter Paul Rubens; Credit – Wikipedia

Not all Queens of France, wives of the Kings of France, were crowned. A queen’s coronation could take place years after her marriage or her husband’s accession to the throne. Queens of France were crowned either together with their husband at Notre-Dame de Reims, or alone at Sainte-Chapelle or the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Marie de Medici, the wife of King Henri IV, was the last of Queen of France to be crowned. She was crowned ten years after her marriage and her husband was assassinated the day after her coronation.

The Queens of France who were crowned at the Basilica of Saint-Denis include the following:

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Destruction and Restoration

Violation of the royal tombs of Saint-Denis by Hubert Robert (Musée Carnavalet, Paris); Credit – https://uk.tourisme93.com/basilica/desecration-of-the-royal-tombs.html

During the French Revolution, the remains of French royals were desecrated and some tombs and effigies were destroyed. By the decree on August 1, 1793, the National Convention ordered: “The tombs and mausoleums of the former kings, mounted in the Church of Saint-Denis, in temples and in other places, across the entire Republic, will be destroyed.”  This occurred systematically from August 1793 – October 1793. The remains of 46 kings, 32 queens, and 63 other royals were thrown into two large pits in the monks’ cemetery adjacent to the Basilica of  Saint-Denis and covered in quicklime and soil. A combination of seventy effigies and tombs were saved because of the efforts of archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir who claimed them as artworks for his Museum of French Monuments.

Crypt where Louis VII, Louis de Lorraine, Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and Louis XVIII are buried at Saint-Denis; Credit – By Fbrandao.1963 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64407677

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French reopened the Basilica of Saint-Denis in 1806 but left the royal remains in their mass graves. One of the first things King Louis XVIII, a younger brother of the guillotined King Louis XVI, did after the Bourbon Restoration in 1814 was to order a search for the remains of his brother and sister-in-law, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. They had been originally been buried in the cemetery at the Madeleine Church and covered with quicklime. The few remains that were found were reburied at the Basilica of Saint-Denis on January 21, 1815, the twenty-second anniversary of King Louis XVI’s execution.

Door leading to the crypt where the desecrated royal remains were re-interred at Saint-Denis. The large plaques on either side of the door are engraved with the names of those who were re-interred; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 1817, King Louis XVIII ordered the mass graves adjacent to the Basilica of Saint-Denis to be opened but due to the damage from the quicklime, identification of the remains was impossible. The remains were collected into an ossuary, a site serving as the final resting place of human skeletal remains, in the crypt of the basilica. Large marble plates on either side of the gated door leading to the crypt are engraved with the names of those whose remains are buried in the crypt. The seventy effigies and tombs that Alexandre Lenoir saved were returned to the Basilica of Saint-Denis and are now mostly in their original places.

Some of the effigies rescued and preserved by archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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The Heart of Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XVI

Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, and sometimes called King Louis XVII, died from tuberculosis on June 8, 1795, at the age of ten while imprisoned at the Temple, the remains of a medieval fortress in Paris. He was buried at the Cimetière Sainte-Marguerite in Paris in a grave without any marker. However, before Louis-Charles was buried, an autopsy was performed. Following the tradition of preserving royal hearts, Louis-Charles’s heart was removed and smuggled out during the autopsy by Dr. Philippe-Jean Pelletan, a royalist, who then preserved the heart in alcohol. After the Bourbon Restoration in 1815, Dr. Pellatan offered the heart to Louis-Charles’ paternal uncle King Louis XVIII but he refused because he could not bring himself to believe that it was the heart of his nephew. Following the July Revolution in 1830, Dr. Pelletan’s son found the heart in the remnants of a looted palace and placed it in the crystal urn where it still resides. After the death of Dr. Pelletan’s son in 1879, Eduard Dumont, a relative of Dr. Pelletan’s wife, took possession of the heart.

Louis-Charles’ heart in the crystal urn; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 1895, Carlos, Duke of Madrid, the Legitimist claimant to the French throne, accepted the heart from Eduard Dumont. The heart was kept at Schloss Frohsdorf near Vienna, Austria. Upon the death of his father Carlos, Duke of Madrid in 1909, Jaime, Duke of Madrid, the next Legitimist claimant to the French throne, inherited the heart and gave it to his sister Beatriz.

During World War II, Schloss Frohsdorf suffered damage and the heart was rescued by descendants of Carlos, Duke of Madrid and ultimately came into the possession of his granddaughter Princess Marie des Neiges Massimo. In 1975, the princess offered the heart to the Memorial of Saint-Denis in Paris, the organization that oversees the royal graves at the Basilica of St. Denis. The heart was placed in an underground crypt at the basilica where the remains of French royals that were desecrated during the French Revolution were subsequently interred.

In 2004, DNA tests using mitochondrial DNA proved the heart really did belong to Louis-Charles. Comparison samples were taken from descendants of Marie Antoinette’s sisters, members of the Bourbon-Parma family including Queen Anne of Romania who was born a Princess of Bourbon-Parma, and a strand of Marie Antoinette’s hair. With the approval of the French government, the Legitimists organized a ceremony at the Basilica of St. Denis on June 8, 2004, the 209th anniversary of Louis-Charles’ death. His heart was placed in a niche near the graves of his parents Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette whose remains were transferred to the basilica in 1815.

The resting place of Louis-Charles’ heart; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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Royal Burials

*Unofficial Royalty article

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_personnes_enterr%C3%A9es_dans_la_basilique_Saint-Denis

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

  • Basilique cathédrale de Saint-Denis. 2022. Basilique cathédrale de Saint-Denis. [online] Available at: <http://www.saint-denis-basilique.fr/en/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Basilica of Saint-Denis – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint-Denis> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2018. French Royal Burial Sites – House of Bourbon, House of Bonaparte, House of Orléans. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/current-monarchies-article-index/french-royal-index/french-burial-sites-house-of-bourbon-house-of-bonaparte-house-of-orleans/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. French Royal Burial Sites – House of Valois. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/french-royal-burial-sites-house-of-valois/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Basilique Saint-Denis — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilique_Saint-Denis> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Liste des personnes enterrées dans la basilique Saint-Denis — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_personnes_enterr%C3%A9es_dans_la_basilique_Saint-Denis> [Accessed 14 March 2022].

Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St. Cajetan) in Munich, Germany

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Theatinekirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St. Cajetan), which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church located in Munich in the German state of Bavaria. The church was founded by Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (reigned 1651 to 1679) and his wife Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, in gratitude for the birth of a long-awaited male heir. Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide had married in 1650. Henriette Adelaide had a daughter in 1660, a stillbirth in 1661, and finally gave birth to a male heir, the future Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, in 1662, twelve years after her marriage.

The Theatinekirche has two patron saints. Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene (1480 – 1547), known as Saint Cajetan, was an Italian Catholic priest and co-founder of the Theatine Order and was canonized as a saint in 1671. Saint Adelaide (Adelheid) of Italy (931 – 999) (also known as Saint Adelaide of Burgundy) was the wife of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. Adelaide was devoted to charitable work and supported the founding of monasteries. Because of her charity, Adelaide was widely revered after her death and was canonized in 1097.

Italian architect Agostino Barelli introduced Italian Baroque architecture to Bavaria with his design for the Theatinekirche. The design was modeled after the mother church of the Theatine Order, Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome. Construction began in 1663. Barelli completed the shell of the church and left Munich in 1674 because of arguments with the site manager Antonio Spinelli and Henriette Adelaide’s confessor. The incomplete church was consecrated in 1675. Barelli’s successor as the chief architect of the Bavarian court, Enrico Zuccalli, actually Johann Heinrich Zuccalli, a Swiss architect, added the two towers which were not in the original plans, from 1684 -1692. The interior was completed in 1688 and the dome in 1690. For a long time, the outer facade of the Theatinerkirche remained unfinished. Despite many discussions, no agreement was reached. Finally, in 1765, the Bavarian court architect François de Cuvilliés the Elder designed a facade in the Rococo style which his son François de Cuvilliés the Younger completed.

During World War II, the Theatinekirche was bombed four times by the Allied Forces and suffered great damage. An altarpiece by Italian painter Antonio Zanchi was destroyed, along with the choir (the area between the nave and the sanctuary), the altar, and the south chapel. Reconstruction began in 1946 and was completed enough by 1955 to allow church services to resume.

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Interior of the Theatinekirche

Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Stucco Decorations

Stucco decorations; Credit – By marsupium photography – https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagdorned/10382855675/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57528584

The interior of the Theatinekirche is richly decorated with stucco in the Baroque and Rococo styles with Corinthian columns decorated with acanthus leaves, ornaments, and religious figures.

The Pulpit

The pulpit; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62189862

The 1686 black oak pulpit is the work of Austrian sculptor Andreas Faistenberger (link in German).

The High Altar

The high altar; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62189854

Before the World War II bombing, over the high altar hung a 1675 painting (below) by Italian painter Antonio Zanchi that depicted the patron saints of the church St. Cajetan and St. Adelaide, the founders of the church Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and his wife Henriette Adelaide of Savoy with their children, and two pages holding a model of the Theatinekirche. Sadly, the painting was destroyed during a bombing in 1944.

A draft of Antonio Zanchi’s destroyed painting: Credit – Wikipedia

The high altar now contains a 1646 painting (below) by Flemish painter Gaspar de Crayer showing an enthroned Mary holding the infant Jesus surrounded by saints.

Gaspar de Crayer’s painting; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62189858

Statues of the Four Evangelists

The statues of the four evangelists on the high altar can be seen in this photo; Credit – Von © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62189657

In 1722, Bavarian sculptor Balthasar Ableithner (link in German) created the larger-than-life statues of the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which were placed around the high altar. Only the statues of Mark and John survived the World War II bombing intact. The statue of Luke was able to be reconstructed. A new statue of Matthew was created by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ducrot and placed on the altar in 2017.

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July 11, 2011: Requiem Mass for Otto von Habsburg

 

Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria and later in his long life, a member of the European Parliament, was the eldest and the longest surviving of the eight children of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria and his wife Zita of Bourbon-Parma. Otto and his wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen lived at Villa Austria in Pöcking, Bavaria, Germany, and Otto died there on July 4, 2011, aged 98. Multiple requiem masses were celebrated for Otto von Habsburg including one at the Theatinekirche in Munich, in Bavaria, Germany.

On July 11, 2011, a requiem mass was celebrated in the Theatinekirche by Cardinal Reinhard Marx and his predecessor Cardinal Friedrich Wetter. Munich’s Chief Rabbi Steven Langnas recited a Jewish funeral prayer. At the end of the requiem mass, the “Kaiserhymne” (Emperor’s Hymn), the old Austrian imperial anthem, was sung.

The requiem mass was screened on big screens at the Odeonsplatz, the large square in front of the Theatine Church, and was broadcast by Bavarian Television. Following the requiem mass, the Prime Minister of Bavaria Horst Seehofer hosted a reception for 700 invited guests in the Kaisersaal of the Munich Residenz, the former royal palace of the Wittelsbachs. Among the royalty and nobility attending the requiem mass and reception were Otto von Habsburg’s seven children: Andrea von Habsburg (born 1953), Monika von Habsburg (born 1954, twin of Michaela), Michaela von Habsburg (born 1954, twin of Monika), Gabriela von Habsburg (born 1956), Walburga von Habsburg (born 1958), Karl von Habsburg (born 1961), and Georg von Habsburg (born 1964). Also attending were members of the House of Wittelsbach – Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria and his wife Princess Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria – and Gloria, Princess Dowager of Thurn and Taxis.

On July 16, 2011, following a requiem mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria, Otto was interred in the Crypt Chapel of the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the traditional burial site of the House of Habsburg. His mother Zita of Bourbon-Parma was interred in the Crypt Chapel in 1989. At the time of his burial, Otto’s wife Regina who died in 2010, was also interred in the Crypt Chapel.

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Royal Burials

Coffins in the Princely Crypt of the Theatinekirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Besides the Theatinerkirche, rulers of the House of Wittelsbach have been interred at the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Munich, Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church in Munich, and Andechs Abbey in Andechs. In 1977, Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne from 1955 until his death in 1996, set up a Wittelsbach private family cemetery near Andechs Abbey due to the lack of space in the other Wittelsbach burial sites. The cemetery complex is now the main burial place of the Wittelsbach family.

The Theatine Church has two burial areas.

The side chapel with the tombs of Maximilian II, King of Bavaria (on left) and Marie Friederike of Prussia, Queen of Bavaria (on right); Credit – By User:Mattes – Self-photographed, CC BY 2.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40079208

Interred in stone sarcophagi in a side chapel of the main nave:

Sign for the Princely Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

When I visited the Theatinekirche, my husband did not want to pay the two euros admission to the Princely Crypt, and so I went into the crypt alone – just me and 47 coffins of members of the House of Wittelsbach – no one else was there. Being alone was a fairly creepy experience. I looked around, took photos, and exited quickly!

A view of the dark and creepy (if you are alone!) Princely Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Interred in the Princely Crypt:

  • Luise Margarete Antonie of Bavaria (1663 – 1665) – daughter of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Ludwig Amadeus Viktor of Bavaria (born and died 1665) – son of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Stillborn son (1666) – son of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Kajetan Maria Franz of Bavaria (born and died 1670) – son of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, Electress of Bavaria (1636 – 1676) – wife of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (1636 – 1679)
  • Leopold Ferdinand of Bavaria (born and died 1689) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Anton of Bavaria (born and died 1690) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Wilhelm of Bavaria (1701 – 1704) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Alois of Bavaria (1702 – 1705) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maximilian Emanuel Thomas (1704 – 1709) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maximiliana Maria of Bavaria (born and died 1723) – daughter of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (1662 – 1726)
  • Therese Kunigunde of Poland, Electress of Bavaria (1676 – 1730) – 2nd wife of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Josef Ludwig of Bavaria (1728 – 1733) – son of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maximilian Joseph Franz of Bavaria (1720 – 1738) – son of Ferdinand Maria Innocenz of Bavaria and grandson of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Ferdinand Maria Innozenz of Bavaria (1699 – 1738) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria (1697 – 1745)
  • Maria of Bavaria (born and died 1748)
  • Unnamed prince (born and died 1753)
  • Maria Anna of Bavaria (born and died 1754)
  • Unnamed prince (born and died 1755)
  • Maria Amalia of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (1701 – 1756) – wife of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor
  • Clemens Franz de Paula of Bavaria (1722 – 1770) – son of Ferdinand Maria Innocenz of Bavaria and grandson of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maria Anna of Bavaria, Margravine of Baden-Baden (1734 – 1776) – daughter of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, wife of Ludwig Georg, Margrave of Baden-Baden
  • Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria (1727 – 1777)
  • Maria Anna of Pfalz-Sulzbach, Princess of Bavaria (1722 – 1790), wife of Clemens Franz de Paula of Bavaria
  • Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony, Electress of Bavaria (1728 – 1797) – wife of Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria
  • Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria (1724 – 1799)
  • Maximilian Joseph Karl Friedrich of Bavaria (1800 – 1803) – son of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria
  • Maximiliana Josephe Karoline of Bavaria (1810 – 1821) – daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria

Tombs of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria and his 2nd wife Caroline of Baden, Queen of Bavaria; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Theatinerkirche (München) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatinerkirche_(M%C3%BCnchen)> [Accessed 6 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Death and Funeral of Otto von Habsburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_and_funeral_of_Otto_von_Habsburg> [Accessed 6 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Theatine Church, Munich – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatine_Church,_Munich> [Accessed 6 January 2022].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2012. Royal Burial Sites of the Kingdom of Bavaria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/german-royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-kingdom-of-bavaria/> [Accessed 6 January 2022].
  • Theatinerkirche.de. 2022. Theatinerkirche München. [online] Available at: <http://www.theatinerkirche.de/> [Accessed 6 January 2022].

Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church) in Munich, Germany

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Michaelskirche in Munich; Credit – By Andrew Bossi – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2918246

Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church), which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church located in Munich in the German state of Bavaria. The patron of the church is Saint Michael the Archangel. In 1556, Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria granted the Jesuit Order permission to establish a school in Munich which is still in existence and known as the Wilhelmsgymnasium. A church was to be built in conjunction with the founding of the Jesuit school. However, the school and the church did not get beyond the planning stage during Albrecht V’s lifetime.

Neuhauser Street and Michaelskirche, 1830s; Credit – Wikipedia

Eventually, the school and church were built during the reign of Albrecht V’s son and successor Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria, hence the name of the school, Wilhelmsgymnasium. Wilhelm V had received a Jesuit education and was a strong supporter of the Counter-Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church’s reaction to the Protestant Reformation. The Michaelskirche, built in the Renaissance architectural style, and the school built from 1583 – 1597 were spiritual centers of the Counter-Reformation. With the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773, Michaelskirche and Wilhelmsgymnasium came into the possession of the House of Wittelsbach. After the end of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1918, the church passed into the possession of the State of Bavaria. In 1921, the pastoral care of Michaelskirche returned to the Jesuit Order.

After the severe damage caused by bombings during World War II, Michaelskirche was renovated and then rededicated at Pentecost in 1953. Most recently, the interior was renovated from 1980 – 1983 for the 400th anniversary. From 2009 to 2013, the facade including the statues was renovated.

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The Facade of Michaelskirche

The facade of Michaelskirche; Credit – Credit – By Luidger – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=718322

The large, impressive facade of Michaelskirche has bronze statues of Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and earlier rulers of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach in the form of a family tree. A large bronze statue between the two entrances shows Saint Michael the Archangel battling Lucifer. The statue was made by Dutch sculptor Hubert Gerhard.

Saint Michael the Archangel vanquishing Lucifer; Credit – By pingnews.com – Sculpture in Munich, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97462767

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The Interior of Michaelkirche

The interior of Michaelskirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The main altarpiece has a painting of Saint Michael the Archangel fighting Lucifer by Bavarian painter Christoph Schwarz.

The main altar; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The church contains the 1830 monument by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen to Eugène de Beauharnais who is interred in the crypt. Eugène was the son of Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon Bonaparte’s first wife, and her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais, who was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution. Eugène de Beauharnais marrried Princess Auguste of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, and was created Duke of Leuchtenberg.

The monument by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen to Eugène de Beauharnais; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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The Princely Crypt

Sign with a photo of King Ludwig II at the entrance to the Princely Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The House of Wittelsbach ruled as Dukes, Electors, and Kings of Bavaria from 1180 until 1918. A princely crypt was in the original plans of Michaelskirche. Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria was buried in the crypt at his request, as was his son Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria.

Stairs down to the Princely Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The best-known Bavarian ruler interred at Michaelskirche is Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, the builder of Neuschwanstein Castle who died in 1886 under mysterious circumstances. Ludwig’s brother Otto, King of Bavaria is also interred at Michaelskirche.

Tomb of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Besides Michaelskirche, rulers of the House of Wittelsbach have been interred at the Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St. Cajetan) in Munich, the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Munich, and the Andechs Abbey in Andechs. In 1977, Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne from 1955 until his death in 1996, set up a Wittelsbach private family cemetery near Andechs Abbey due to the lack of space in the other Wittelsbach burial sites. The cemetery complex is now the main burial place of the Wittelsbach family.

The following members of the House of Wittelsbach are interred in the crypt:

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. St. Michael (München) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael_(M%C3%BCnchen)> [Accessed 28 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. St. Michael’s Church, Munich – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Church,_Munich> [Accessed 28 February 2022].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2012. Royal Burial Sites of the Kingdom of Bavaria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/german-royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-kingdom-of-bavaria/> [Accessed 28 February 2022].
  • St-michael-muenchen.de. 2022. St. Michael – die Jesuitenkirche in der Münchner Innenstadt. [online] Available at: <https://www.st-michael-muenchen.de/index.php> [Accessed 28 February 2022].

Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Munich, Germany

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Frauenkirche in Munich, Bavaria, Germany; By Diliff – CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5825439

The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) also called Münchner Dom (Munich Cathedral), which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church and the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Munich located in Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria.

Frauenkirche in 1870 looking toward the main altar; Credit – Wikipedia

In the 12th century, a Romanesque church was built on the site replacing an earlier church. This new church served as a second parish in Munich following the older Alter Peter Church. A new late Gothic cathedral commissioned by Sigismund, Archduke of Austria and the people of Munich, was erected in the 15th century. The cathedral was built from 1468 – 1488 by bricklayer and architect Jörg von Halsbach. Red brick was chosen as the building material for financial reasons and because there was no nearby rock quarry. The cathedral was consecrated In 1494 but the towers were not completed until 1525.

Frauenkirche in ruins after World War II. The steps led to the main altar; Credit – https://www.muenchner-dom.de/die-kathedrale/geschichte/baugeschichte/

The Frauenkirche was severely damaged by the Allied Forces’ bombing raids during World War II. The roof collapsed, one of the towers was damaged, and much of the interior was destroyed. A major restoration was required and continued until 1994.

Interior of the restored Frauenkirche looking towards the main altar; Credit – By Chabe01 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64107752

From 1971 – 1972 the main altar area was redesigned according to the reforms and specifications of the Second Vatican Council. From 1989 – 1994, the interior decorations of the original architect Jörg von Halsbach and the oak choir stalls with the sculptures of the original sculptor Erasmus Grasser were reconstructed and new altarpieces were created. Artwork from notable 14th to 18th-century artists like Peter Candid, Erasmus Grasser, Jan Polack, Hans Leinberger, Hans Krumpper, and Ignaz Günther replaced the artwork destroyed in the World War II bombing raids.

The main altar; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62161379

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Cenotaph of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor

The Cenotaph of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

A cenotaph, an empty tomb erected in honor of a person whose remains are elsewhere, for Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor who died in 1347, stands in the south aisle. The remains of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor are interred in the Frauenkirche crypt. The cenotaph was the work of sculptor Hans Krumpper (circa 1570 – 1634) who was the chief sculptor to the Bavarian court during the reigns of Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria.  During the World War II-related restoration of the Frauenkirche in the 1980s, the cenotaph was restored with financial help from the Messerschmitt Foundation whose primary goal is the preservation and maintenance of German cultural monuments.

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The Crypt

The 1971 crypt in the Frauenkirche; Credit – By User: Bbb at wikivoyage shared, CC BY-SA 1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22660042

The crypt we see today was created in 1971 when a larger crypt with exposed brick walls and a concrete beam ceiling was built during World War II-related reconstruction. The coffins of members of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach were then transferred to new wall niches with grave markers. The House of Wittelsbach ruled as Dukes, Electors, and Kings of Bavaria from 1180 until 1918.

Besides the Frauenkirche, rulers of the House of Wittelsbach have mostly been interred at the Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St Cajetan) in Munich and Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church) in Munich, and the Andechs Monastery in Andechs. In 1977, Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne from 1955 until his death in 1996, set up a Wittelsbach family cemetery near Andechs Abbey due to the lack of space in the other Wittelsbach burial sites. The cemetery complex is now the main burial place of the Wittelsbach family.

Burial site of some members of the House of Wittelsbach; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62160767

The following members of the House of Wittelsbach are interred in the crypt:

Burial site of Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria, his wife and five of their children; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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. 2021. Frauenkirche (München) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frauenkirche_(M%C3%BCnchen)> [Accessed 29 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Munich Frauenkirche – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Frauenkirche> [Accessed 29 December 2021].
  • Muenchner-dom.de. 2021. Der Münchner Dom: Baugeschichte. [online] Available at: <https://www.muenchner-dom.de/die-kathedrale/geschichte/baugeschichte/> [Accessed 29 December 2021].
  • Muenchner-dom.de. 2021. Der Münchner Dom: Home. [online] Available at: <https://www.muenchner-dom.de/> [Accessed 29 December 2021].

St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

St. Stephen’s Cathedral; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34672766

St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which this writer has visisted, is dedicated to St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. It is the main church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria, and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. In 1137, construction began on the first St. Stephen’s Church. The church in the Romanesque style, which was probably not completely finished at the time, was consecrated in 1147. A second Romanesque church was constructed from 1200 – 1225. Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339 – 1365) commissioned a major extension of the previous church and also founded the University of Vienna before his early death at age 25.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral survived the bombing raids during World War II. However, on April 12, 1945, during the final days of the war, civilian looters lit fires in nearby shops as the Soviet Army troops entered Vienna. Winds carried the fire to the cathedral, severely damaging the roof and causing it to collapse. Fortunately, protective brick shells built around the pulpit, Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III’s tomb, and other treasures prevented major damage to the interior except for the 1487 choir stalls which could not be saved. Reconstruction began immediately after the war and St. Stephen’s Cathedral was reopened in 1952.

Double-headed Habsburg eagle on the roof; Credit – Von kodiak – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1820946

The original wooden roof was replaced by a roof of 230,000 colored glazed tiles in a zig-zag pattern. On the south side of the cathedral, the tiles form the double-headed eagle, a symbol of the Habsburg dynasty, and on the north side, the tiles form the coats of arms of the City of Vienna and the Republic of Austria.

The coats of arms of the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63314921

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Altars

St. Stephen’s Cathedral has eighteen altars and additional altars in the various chapels. The High Altar and the Wiener Neustadt Altar are the most famous.

The High Altar; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63298940

The High Altar was built from 1641 – 1647 by Johann Jacob Pock (link in German), a stonemason, sculptor, and architect, and by his brother painter Tobias Pock who painted the altarpiece. The High Altar shows the stoning of the cathedral’s patron saint St. Stephen in front of the walls of Jerusalem.

Wiener Neustädter Altar, Sunday panels; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56638264

The Wiener Neustädter Altar made in 1447 is considered the most important altar in the cathedral. It is a pentaptych, a convertible altar with a main shrine, two movable outer and two movable inner wings. On weekdays, the panels are closed and display a painted scene involving 72 saints. On Sundays, the panels are opened showing gilded wooden figures depicting events in the life of the Virgin Mary. Originally, the altar was given as a gift by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III to the Cistercian Viktring Abbey. In 1786, the altar was sent to the Cistercian monastery of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, founded by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III, in the city of Wiener Neustadt. When the Wiener Neustadt monastery was closed after merging with Heiligenkreuz Abbey in 1885, the altar was sold to St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Wiener Neustädter Altar weekday panels; Credit – Von Uoaei1 – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25932276

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Pulpit

Pulpit at St. Stephen’s Cathedral; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66368821

The carved stone pulpit has long been attributed to Austrian sculptor and architect Anton Pilgram but today it is thought that Dutch sculptor Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden is more likely to be the carver. The pulpit stands against a pillar in the nave, instead of in the chancel at the front of the church. This placement of the pillar would allow the congregation to better hear the sermon before the advent of microphones and loudspeakers. Beneath the stairs is a stone self-portrait of the sculptor looking out a window. The chisel in the subject’s hand and the stonemason’s signature mark on the shield above the window led to the speculation that it could be a self-portrait of the sculptor.

Stone self-portrait of the sculptor looking out a window; Credit – Von Markus Leupold-Löwenthal – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3868897

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Tomb of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor

Tomb of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56696439

Friedrich III (1415 – 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death. In 1469, he succeeded in obtaining the necessary permissions from Pope Paul II to establish the Diocese of Vienna. Upon his death, Friedrich was interred in the Ducal Crypt at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. In 1463, thirty years before his death, Friedrich commissioned Dutch sculptor Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden to build a monumental tomb in St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Van Leyden died in 1473 and the work was completed by Austrian stonemason and sculptor Michael Tichter (link in German). On November 12, 1513, the remains of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor were transferred in a grand ceremony from the Ducal Crypt to the tomb. The tomb lid shows Emperor Friedrich in his coronation regalia surrounded by the coats of arms of all his dominions. The sides of the tomb are decorated with 240 small statues. The tomb is considered a masterpiece of medieval sculptural art.

Depiction of the tomb lid; Credit – Von Georges Jansoone – Selbst fotografiert, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1061466

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Royal Events at St. Stephen’s Cathedral

1989 Funeral of Zita of Bourbon-Parma, wife of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria

This may not be a complete list.

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What is Separate Burial?

A separate burial is a form of partial burial in which internal organs are buried separately from the rest of the body. Separate burials of the heart, viscera (the intestines), and the body were common in the House of Habsburg starting with the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans in 1654 until the death of Archduke Franz Karl in 1878. Ferdinand IV of the Romans (1633 – 1654), son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III, had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and requested that his heart be interred in the Loreto Chapel at the Augustinekirche in Vienna. This established the tradition of interring the hearts of members of the Habsburg family in a crypt alongside the heart of Ferdinand IV. Until then, the hearts of Habsburgs had mostly been buried with the body in the coffin at the Imperial Crypt in the nearby Capuchin Church in Vienna or in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna where the entrails of the Habsburgs were traditionally interred. With the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans, it became traditional for the body to be interred in the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the heart to be placed in an urn in the Herzgruft, the Heart Crypt in the Loreto Chapel of the Augustinerkirche in Vienna, and the entrails to be placed in an urn in the Ducal Crypt of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

After the end of the monarchy in 1918, some members of the Habsburg family resumed the tradition of heart burial but not viscera burial. When Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, died in 1922, he was not allowed to be buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and instead was buried at the Church of Our Lady of Monte on the island of Madeira in Portugal. His heart remained with his widow Empress Zita until it was interred in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland in 1971. When Empress Zita died in 1989, her body was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna and her heart was interred with her husband’s heart in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland. Karl and Zita’s son Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria, requested that his heart be buried in the crypt of the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma in Hungary. His body was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church. The body of Otto’s wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen was also interred in the Imperial Crypt but she requested that her heart be interred in her family’s crypt at Veste Heldburg (link in German) in Heldburg, Germany.

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Royal Burials in the Ducal Crypt

Coffins in the Ducal Crypt; Credit – Von Burkhard Mücke – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54225621

In the Ducal Crypt (German: Herzogsgruft), located beneath the chancel of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, sixteen bodies of members of the House of Habsburg are buried along with copper urns containing the viscera (intestines) of members of the Habsburg dynasty. When Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339 – 1365) commissioned an extension of the previous church, he also ordered a crypt to be built for his remains. After Rudolf IV, the family of the ruling line of Habsburg Dukes of Austria was buried here. However, after the House of Habsburg became Holy Roman Emperors beginning in 1440, they were buried in various cities as Vienna was not yet the settled seat of the Holy Roman Emperor. After the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna opened in 1633, it became the new burial site of the House of Habsburg.

In 1956, the Ducal Crypt was renovated and redesigned, with the coffins moved into the oval crypt space and niches built into the rectangular crypt space, in which the urns with entrails were placed behind gates.

The bodies of the following members of the House of Habsburg are interred in the Ducal Crypt:

  • King Friedrich III of the Romans, Duke of Austria (1289 – 1330), originally buried at Mauerbach Monastery, which he had founded. He was reburied at St. Stephen’s Cathedral after the monastery was dissolved in 1782.
  • Friedrich III, Duke of Austria (1347 – 1362) – son of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria
  • Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339 – 1365) – son of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria
  • Catherine of Bohemia, Duchess of Austria (1342 – 1395) – wife of Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria
  • Albrecht III, Duke of Austria (1348 – 1395) – son of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria
  • Albrecht IV, Duke of Austria (1377 – 1404) – son of Albrecht III, Duke of Austria
  • Wilhelm, Duke of Austria (1370 – 1406) – son of Leopold III, Duke of Austria
  • Leopold IV, Duke of Austria (1371 – 1411) – son of Leopold III, Duke of Austria
  • Duke Georg (born and died 1435) – infant son of Albrecht II, King of the Romans, Duke of Austria
  • Albrecht VI, Archduke of Austria (1418 – 1463) – son of Ernst I, Duke of Austria
  • Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (1551 – 1552) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
  • Eleonora Gonzaga, Holy Roman Empress (1598 – 1655) – second wife of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, originally buried in the Discalced Carmelites convent she founded in Vienna. In 1782, she was reburied at St. Stephen’s Cathedral after the convent was dissolved.
  • Archduchess Maria of Austria (born and died 1564) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
  • Archduke Karl of Austria (1565 – 1566) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
  • Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France (1554 – 1592) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, wife of King Charles IX of France, originally buried at the Convent of Poor Clares Mary, Queen of Angels, also known as the Queen’s Monastery, which she founded in Vienna. In 1782, she was reburied at St. Stephen’s Cathedral after the convent was dissolved.

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A Note About Two Habsburg Rulers

Empress Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Empress Maria Theresa: Born Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, she was the second and eldest surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. Her only brother died several weeks before she was born and her two younger siblings were sisters. The fact that Maria Theresa’s father did not have a male heir caused many problems. Maria Theresa’s right to succeed to her father’s Habsburg territories in her own right was the cause of the eight-year-long War of the Austrian Succession. Upon her father’s death in 1740, Maria Theresa became the sovereign in her own right of all the Habsburg territories which included Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. However, she was unable to become the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female. The Habsburgs had been elected Holy Roman Emperors since 1438, but in 1742 Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria from the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII. He died in 1745 and via a treaty Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the snub, the formidable Maria Theresa wielded the real power and in reality, ruled the Holy Roman Empire. She is generally referred to by historians simply as Empress Maria Theresa and that is how she is referred to in this article.

Emperor Franz I of Austria, formerly Holy Roman Emperor Franz II; Credit – Wikipedia

Holy Roman Emperor Franz II = Emperor Franz I of Austria: Upon the death of his father Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II in 1792, Franz was elected the last Holy Roman Emperor and reigned as Holy Roman Emperor Franz I. Franz feared that Napoleon Bonaparte could take over his personal Habsburg territories within the Holy Roman Empire, so in 1804 he proclaimed himself Emperor Franz I of Austria and reigned until he died in 1835. Franz’s decision proved to be a wise one. Two years later, after Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved and lands that had been held by the Holy Roman Emperor were given to Napoleon’s allies creating the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Württemberg, and the Grand Duchy of Baden. Franz is referred to as Emperor Franz I of Austria in this article.

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Royal Viscera Burials

In the foreground are the gated niches with urns containing the viscera of members of the House of  Habsburgs; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66345452

Gated niches in the original burial vault outside the entrance to the current burial vault contain the copper urns with the viscera (intestines) of the following members of the House of Habsburg.

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Works Cited

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  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ducal Crypt, Vienna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducal_Crypt_(Vienna)> [Accessed 26 December 2021].
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  • Jenkins, Simon, 2021. Europe’s 100 Best Cathedrals. Dublin: Penguin Random House.
  • Stephanskirche.at. 2021. Domkirche St. Stephan. [online] Available at: <https://www.stephanskirche.at/> [Accessed 26 December 2021].

Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Capuchin Church in Vienna (Cloister on left, Church in middle, Imperial Crypt on right); Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Capuchin Church (German: Kapuzinerkirche), a Roman Catholic church in Vienna, Austria, which this writer has visited, contains the Imperial Crypt, the burial site for members of the House of Habsburg. The Imperial Crypt is in the care of the Capuchin monks from the cloister attached to the church. The burial place of the Habsburgs is so unlike the soaring structures containing the other burial sites I have visited and certainly not as grandiose. The Capuchin Church is small and is on a street with traffic, shops, stores, restaurants, and cafes. One cafe is directly across from it. Walking past the church, one would never think the burial place of emperors was there.

The Capuchin Church was founded by Anna of Tyrol and her husband Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor in 1617. Anna of Tyrol had come up with the idea of a Capuchin monastery and burial place for her and her husband and wanted to build it near Hofburg Palace in Vienna. In her will, Anna left funds to provide for the church’s construction. Anna died in December 1618, a year after she had made her will, and her husband Matthias died three months later. The foundation stone was laid in 1622, but the church was not completed and dedicated until 1632 because of the Thirty Years’ War. On Easter of 1633, the two sarcophagi containing the remains of Matthias and Anna were transferred to the Capuchin Church and placed in what is now called the Founders Vault.

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Interior of the Capuchin Church; Credit – Wikipedia

Although there have been renovations over the years, the main part of the church is more like a chapel with one main altar and two side altars. Father Norbert Baumgartner (1710 – 1773), a Capuchin friar at the cloister, painted the three altarpieces.

The High Altar; Credit – By Ricardalovesmonuments – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69156888

The right side altar is dedicated to St. Felix of Cantalice, the first Capuchin friar to be named a saint.

The right side altar; Credit – By Ricardalovesmonuments – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69156891

The left side altar is dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua.

The left side altar; Credit – By Ricardalovesmonuments – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69156894

Two side chapels contrast the simpler church. The Imperial Chapel contains a series of life-size statues of rulers from the House of Habsburg and a high altar with a painting of Mary, Help of Christians. The last heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Otto von Habsburg, who died in July 2011, and his wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen, who died in 2010 but was temporarily interred elsewhere, lay in repose in the Imperial Chapel before their burial in the Imperial Crypt.

The coffins of Otto von Habsburg and his wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen lying in repose in the Imperial Chapel; Credit – By Gryffindor –  CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17173925

The Pietà Chapel has a marble altar with a life-size Pietà, created by Austrian sculptor and painter Peter Strudel. The statue was originally in the Imperial Crypt and was moved into the Pietà Chapel at the end of the 18th century. In the floor in front of the altar is the burial place of Blessed Marco d’Aviano, an Italian Capuchin friar beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003. Marco d’Aviano’s name has often been given to Austrian royals and other Roman Catholic royals. See Wikipedia: Marco d’Aviano Honorary Protection.

The altar in the Pietà Chapel; Credit – By Ricardalovesmonuments – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69156907

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What is Separate Burial?

A separate burial is a form of partial burial in which internal organs are buried separately from the rest of the body. Separate burials of the heart, viscera (the intestines), and the body were common in the House of Habsburg starting with the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans in 1654 until the death of Archduke Franz Karl in 1878. Ferdinand IV of the Romans (1633 – 1654), son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III, had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and requested that his heart be interred in the Loreto Chapel at the Augustinekirche in Vienna. This established the tradition of interring the hearts of members of the Habsburg family in a crypt alongside the heart of Ferdinand IV. Until then, the hearts of Habsburgs had mostly been buried with the body in the coffin at the Imperial Crypt in the nearby Capuchin Church in Vienna or in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna where the entrails of the Habsburgs were traditionally interred. With the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans, it became traditional for the body to be interred in the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the heart to be placed in an urn in the Herzgruft, the Heart Crypt in the Loreto Chapel of the Augustinerkirche in Vienna, and the entrails to be placed in an urn in the Ducal Crypt of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

After the end of the monarchy in 1918, some members of the Habsburg family resumed the tradition of heart burial but not viscera burial. When Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, died in 1922, he was not allowed to be buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and instead was buried at the Church of Our Lady of Monte on the island of Madeira in Portugal. His heart remained with his widow Empress Zita until it was interred in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland in 1971. When Empress Zita died in 1989, her body was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna and her heart was interred with her husband’s heart in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland. Karl and Zita’s son Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria, requested that his heart be buried in the crypt of the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma in Hungary. His body was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church. The body of Otto’s wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen was also interred in the Imperial Crypt but she requested that her heart be interred in her family’s crypt at Veste Heldburg (link in German) in Heldburg, Germany.

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The Imperial Crypt is entered by descending the stairs marked by a sign “Zur Kaisergruft” (To the Imperial Crypt); Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Underneath the Capuchin Church lies the Imperial Crypt (German: Kaisergruft) which contains nearly 150 tombs of the Habsburg family. Through the years, additional vaults have been added and Capuchin friars still look after the tombs. By tradition, the bodies of the Habsburgs were buried at three locations. The hearts were interred in the Heart Crypt (German: Herzgruft) in the nearby Augustinerkirche in Vienna. The intestines were placed in copper urns in the Ducal Crypt (German: Herzogsgruft) of the Catacombs in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Their bodies were entombed in the Imperial Crypt. All the caskets and tombs in the Imperial Crypt are labeled in German with the identity of the person and the relationship to a Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of Austria, or Archduke.

Read more about my visit to the Imperial Crypt at Unofficial Royalty: A Visit to the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt) in Vienna.

Imperialcryptvault layout

Credit – Wikipedia

A. Founders Vault: is the oldest part of the Imperial Crypt, dating from the original construction of the church which was completed in 1632.
B. Children’s Columbarium: was built in the 1960s and contains the sarcophagi of 12 children who had previously been in either the Founders Vault or the main hall of Leopold’s Vault
C. Leopold’s Vault: was built under the nave of the Capuchin Church beginning in 1657 by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I following the edict of his father Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III that the hereditary burial place of the imperial family would be in the Capuchin Church.
D. Karl’s Vault: was built in 1710 by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I and extended in 1720 by Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI
E. Maria Theresa’s Vault:  started construction in 1754. It is behind the Capuchin Church with its dome rising into the cloister courtyard.
F. Franz’s Vault: was built in 1824 by former Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, now Emperor Franz I of Austria. The octagonal Franz’s Vault is attached to the right wing of the Maria Theresa Vault.
G. Ferdinand’s Vault: was built in 1842, along with the Tuscan Vault, in conjunction with the reconstruction of the cloister above. There are only two visible sarcophagi but Ferdinand’s Vault contains one-fourth of the Imperial Crypt’s burials, walled up into the corner piers.
H. New Vault: was built between 1960 and 1962 under the monastery grounds as an enlargement to eliminate overcrowding in the other nine vaults, and to provide a climate-controlled environment to protect the metal sarcophagi from further deterioration.
I. Franz Joseph’s Vault: and the adjacent crypt chapel (J) were built in 1908 as part of the celebrations of Emperor Franz Joseph’s 60 years on the throne.
J. Crypt Chapel: The Crypt Chapel was built, along with the Franz Joseph Vault, in 1908. It is usually entered from the south doorway of the Franz Joseph Vault. The most recent burials are here.
K. The Tuscan Vault:  was built in 1842, along with the Ferdinand Vault. This vault takes its name from burials here of the many descendants of the younger sons of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, who reigned as Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 – 1790, before he became Holy Roman Emperor.

Founders Crypt

Tombs of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias and his wife Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Von Welleschik – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6619836

Located under the Imperial Chapel, the Founders Crypt is the oldest part of the Imperial Crypt, dating from the original construction of the Capuchin Church. The Founders Crypt cannot be entered by visitors and is visible through a gate from the Leopold Crypt. It contains the two sarcophagi of the founders of the Capuchin Church.

Leopold’s Crypt

Leopold’s Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Leopold’s Crypt was built under the nave of the Capuchin Church beginning in 1657 by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I following the edict of his father Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III that the burial place of the House of Habsburg would be at the Capuchin Church.

Children’s Columbarium

Children’s Columbarium; Credit – By Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada – Austria-00826 – Emperor Tomb, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66921927

In the 1960s, the Children’s Columbarium, twelve niches in the wall of Leopold’s Crypt, was built for the coffins of twelve young children. The coffins were originally in the Founders Crypt or Leopold’s Crypt.

  • Archduke Philipp August of Austria (1637 – 1639) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduke Maximilian Thomas of Austria (born and died 1639) – son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduchess Theresia Maria of Austria (1652 – 1653) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduke Ferdinand Josef of Austria (1657 – 1658) – son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel of Austria (1667 – 1668) – son of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduke Johann Leopold of Austria (born and died 1670) – son of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (born and died 1672) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduchess Anna Maria Sophia of Austria (born and died 1674) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduchess Maria Josepha (1675 – 1676) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduchess Christina of Austria (born and died 1679) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Unnamed (born and died 1686) – son of Johann Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuberg and Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria and grandson of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduchess Maria Margareta of Austria (1690 – 1691) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I

Karl’s Crypt

Tomb of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

What is now known as Karl’s Crypt was first built in 1710 by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph. In 1720, the crypt was enlarged on the orders of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. Karl VI’s famous tomb has a death’s head at each corner wearing one of the crowns of his major realms, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Hungary, and the Archduchy of Austria.

Maria Theresa’s Crypt

Tomb of Maria Theresa and her husband with the tomb of their son Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II in the foreground; Credit – By Wotau – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21894136

A Note About Maria Theresa: Born Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, she was the second and eldest surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. Her only brother died several weeks before she was born and her two younger siblings were sisters. The fact that Maria Theresa’s father did not have a male heir caused many problems. Maria Theresa’s right to succeed to her father’s Habsburg territories in her own right was the cause of the eight-year-long War of the Austrian Succession. Upon her father’s death in 1740, Maria Theresa became the sovereign in her own right of all the Habsburg territories which included Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. However, she was unable to become the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female. The Habsburgs had been elected Holy Roman Emperors since 1438, but in 1742 Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria from the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII. He died in 1745 and via a treaty Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the snub, the formidable Maria Theresa wielded the real power and in reality, ruled the Holy Roman Empire. She is generally referred to by historians simply as Empress Maria Theresa and that is how she is referred to in this article. Maria Theresa and her husband had sixteen children. Eight of the couple’s children died in childhood and four of the eight died from smallpox.

Construction of the Maria Theresa Crypt started in 1754. It is located behind the Capuchin Church with its dome rising into the monastery courtyard.

Franz’s Crypt

Tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II/Emperor Franz I of Austria; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Holy Roman Emperor Franz II = Emperor Franz I of Austria: Upon the death of his father Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II in 1792, Franz was elected the last Holy Roman Emperor and reigned as Holy Roman Emperor Franz I. Franz feared that Napoleon Bonaparte could take over his personal Habsburg territories within the Holy Roman Empire, so in 1804 he proclaimed himself Emperor Franz I of Austria and reigned until his death in 1835. Franz’s decision proved to be a wise one. Two years later, after Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved and lands that had been held by the Holy Roman Emperor were given to Napoleon’s allies creating the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Württemberg, and the Grand Duchy of Baden. Franz is referred to as Emperor Franz I of Austria in this article.

In 1824, Emperor Franz I of Austria built the octagonal Franz’s Crypt attaching it to the Maria Theresa Crypt. The crypt contains the tomb of Franz surrounded by the caskets of his four wives (two died in childbirth, one died of tuberculosis, and one survived him) in the crypt’s corners.

Tomb of Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, second wife of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the mother of his children. Maria Theresa died giving birth to her twelfth child who also died; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Ferdinand’s Crypt

Tomb of Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria; Credit – By Jebulon – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19158475

Ferdinand’s Crypt was built in 1842, along with the Tuscan Crypt, during the renovation of the monastery which is above the crypt. Only two sarcophagi, those of Emperor Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Maria Anna of Savoy, are visible, but 25% of the tombs in the Imperial Crypt are interred in the walls of Ferdinand’s Crypt.

Sarcophagi placed in the vault:

Interred in wall niches:

  • Archduchess Ludovica Elisabeth of Austria (1790 – 1791) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduchess Karoline Leopoldine of Austria (1794 – 1795) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria (1772 – 1795) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria (1780 – 1798) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Archduchess Karoline Louise of Austria (1795 – 1799) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Luisa of Naples and Sicily, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1773 – 1802), granddaughter of Empress Maria Theresa, first wife of Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
  • Archduchess Amalie Therese of Austria (born and died 1807) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduke Joseph Franz of Austria (1799 – 1807) – son of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduke Johann Nepomuk Karl of Austria (1805 – 1809) – son of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduchess Karoline Ferdinanda of Austria (1793 – 1802), daughter of Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany and granddaughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1835 – 1840) – sister of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
  • Archduchess Maria Karolina of Austria (1821 – 1844) – daughter of Archduke Rainer of Austria and granddaughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Archduchess Sophie Friederike of Austria (1855 – 1857) – daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
  • Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1804 – 1858) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduchess Maria Eleonore of Austria-Teschen (born and died 1864) – daughter of Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria-Teschen
  • Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1796 – 1865) – 2nd wife of Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany
  • Archduchess Maria Antoinetta of Austria (1858 – 1883) – daughter of Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany
  • Archduchess Henriette Maria of Austria (1884 – 1886) – daughter of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduke Rainer Salvator of Austria (1880 – 1889) – son of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduchess Stephanie of Austria (1886 – 1890) – daughter of Archduke Friedrich of Austria, Duke of Teschen
  • Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria (1874 – 1891) – daughter of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduke Ferdinand Salvator of Austria (1888 – 1891) – son of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria (1839 – 1892) – son of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
  • Archduke Robert Ferdinand (1885 – 1895) – son of Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany
  • Archduke Albrecht Salvator of Austria (1871 – 1896) – son of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduchess Natalie of Austria (1884 – 1898) – daughter of Archduke Friedrich of Austria, Duke of Teschen
  • Archduke Leopold of Austria (1823 – 1898) – son of Archduke Rainer of Austria and grandson of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1814 – 1898) – 2nd wife of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany
  • Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Archduchess of Austria (1844 – 1899) – wife of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduke Ernst of Austria (1824 – 1899) – son of Archduke Rainer of Austria and grandson of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Adelgunde of Bavaria, Duchess of Modena (1823 – 1914) – wife of Francesco V, Duke of Modena
  • Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria-Teschen (1825 – 1915) – daughter of Archduke Karl, Duke of Teschen and wife of Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria
  • Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria (1847 – 1915) – son of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany
  • Archduke Joseph Ferdinand of Austria (1872 – 1942) – son of Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany
  • Maria Theresa of Portugal, Archduchess of Austria (1855 – 1944) – 3rd wife of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria
  • Archduke Leopold of Austria (1897 – 1958) – son of Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria

Tuscan Crypt

Tuscan Crypt; Credit – By Welleschik – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6656990

The Tuscan Crypt was built in 1842 at the same time as the Ferdinand Vault. The vault takes its name from the many descendants of the younger sons of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II. Leopold reigned as Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 – 1790. He abdicated as Grand Duke of Tuscany in favor of his second son Ferdinando when he was elected Holy Roman Emperor.

New Crypt

New Crypt: Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The New Crypt was built under the monastery grounds from 1960 – 1962 to provide more space. The two most famous tombs in the New Vault stand directly across from each other: Empress Marie-Louise of France, daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the second wife of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, second son of Archduke Franz Karl and brother of Emperor Franz Joseph. Emperor Maximilian of Mexico was deposed and executed by a firing squad.

Franz Joseph’s Crypt

Left to Right: Tombs of Empress Elisabeth, Emperor Franz Joseph I, and Crown Prince Rudolf; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28243562

In 1908, Franz Joseph’s Crypt was built along with the adjacent Crypt Chapel in celebration of Emperor Franz Joseph’s sixty years on the throne. Currently, Franz Joseph, with a reign of 67 years and 355 days, is the sixth longest-reigning monarch in history. Along with Franz Joseph’s tomb, the crypt contains the tombs of his wife Elisabeth of Bavaria, known as Sissi, who was assassinated, and their only son Crown Prince Rudolf who died by suicide along with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera at his Mayerling hunting lodge.

Crypt Chapel

Crypt Chapel; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Crypt Chapel, where the most recent interments have occurred, was built in 1908 along with Franz Joseph’s Crypt. Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the wife of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, two of her sons Otto and Carl Ludwig, and Otto’s wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen are buried here. There is a space reserved for Carl Ludwig’s widow Princesse Yolande de Ligne. The Crypt Chapel contains a memorial to Emperor Karl I, who has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church and who is buried at the Church of Our Lady of Monte on the island of Madeira, Portugal. There is also a memorial to Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg. Both were assassinated at Sarajevo, an event that was one of the causes of World War I. Franz Ferdinand and his wife are buried at Artstetten Castle in Austria.

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Works Cited

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  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kapuzinerkirche (Wien) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapuzinerkirche_(Wien)> [Accessed 22 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Capuchin Church, Vienna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_Church,_Vienna> [Accessed 22 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Imperial Crypt – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Crypt> [Accessed 22 December 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2012. A Visit to the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt) in Vienna. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/austrian-imperial-burial-sites/a-visit-to-the-kaisergruft-imperial-crypt-in-vienna/> [Accessed 22 December 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2012. Burial Sites – House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Emperors of Austria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/austrian-imperial-burial-sites/house-of-habsburg-lorraine-emperors-of-austria/> [Accessed 22 December 2021].