Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Bertha Louise of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, Princess of Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Bertha Louise of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, Princess of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Bertha Louise of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld was the first of the two wives of Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe. Born on October 25, 1874, in Burgsteinfurt, a city under the control of the noble Bentheim-Steinfurt family, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bertha Louise was the eldest of the four children and the only daughter of Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, a rear admiral in the Prussian and German Imperial Navy, and his second wife Princess Juliane of Bentheim-Steinfurt.

Bertha Louise had three younger brothers but two died in infancy:

  • Chlodwig, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1876 – 1954), married Karoline of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, had five children
  • Prince Eduard of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1878 – 1879), twin of Julian, died in infancy
  • Prince Julian of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (born and died 1878), twin of Eduard, died in infancy

When Bertha Louise was three-and-half years old, her mother Juliane, age thirty-six, died eight days after giving birth to twin boys, probably from childbirth complications. The twin boys both died before their first birthday.

Bertha Louise had five half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Princess Maria von Hanau und zu Hořowitz which ended in divorce. Maria was the daughter of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I of Hesse-Kassel and his morganatic wife Gertrude Falkenstein, later Countess of Schaumburg and Princess of Hanau und zu Hořowitz. Maria took her title from her mother and because of her parents’ morganatic marriage, her children were not given the title Prince/Princes of Hessen-Philippsthal but rather Prince/Princess of Ardeck, and they did not have succession rights.

  • Prince Friedrich of Ardeck (1858 – 1902), married Anne Hollingsworth Price, no children
  • Prince Carl of Ardeck (1861 – 1938), married Anne Elise Strehlow, no children
  • Princess Elisabeth of Ardeck (1864 – 1919), married Count Ferdinand of Ysenburg-Büdingen-Philippseich, had four children
  • Princess Marie of Ardeck (1867 – 1868), died in infancy
  • Princess Luise of Ardeck (1868 – 1959), married Prince Rudolf of Lippe-Biesterfeld, had three children

Bertha Louise’s father married for a third time in 1879 to Princess Adelheid of Bentheim and Steinfurt, the sister of his second wife, but the marriage was childless and Adelheid died in 1880. In 1884, Bertha Louise got another stepmother when her father married Princess Auguste of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the daughter of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe. Bertha Louise had one half-brother from this marriage.

Bertha Louise’s husband Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 16, 1901, in Rotenburg an der Fulda, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Hesse, Bertha Louise married the future Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, the son of  Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Countess Karoline Friederike Cecilia of Wartensleben. Leopold’s father Ernst was the head of the non-reigning Lippe-Biesterfeld line of the House of Lippe, the most senior line of the princely house after the reigning Lippe-Detmold line.

Bertha Louise and Leopold with their three eldest children; Credit – Wikipedia

Bertha Louise and Leopold had five children:

  • Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe (link in German) (1902 – 1987), married (1) Charlotte Ricken, divorced (2) Herta-Elise Weiland, had one son and one daughter
  • Prince Leopold Bernhard of Lippe (1904 – 1965), unmarried
  • Princess Karoline of Lippe (1905 – 2001), married Count Hans of Kanitz, had six daughters
  • Prince Chlodwig of Lippe (1909 – 2000), married Veronika Holl, had one daughter
  • Princess Sieglinde of Lippe (1915 – 2008), married Friedrich Carl Heldman, had two daughters and one son

Leopold’s father Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld served as the Regent of the Principality of Lippe for Alexander, Prince of Lippe. Alexander had been declared mentally incapacitated and therefore, incapable of governing, a regency would be necessary during Alexander’s reign. When Leopold’s father died on September 26, 1904, Leopold succeeded him as Regent of the Principality of Lippe. Four months later, Alexander, Prince of Lippe, the last of the Lippe-Detmold line, died on January 13, 1905. With the extinction of the Lippe-Detmold line, the throne of the Principality of Lippe went to Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld who reigned as Leopold IV and would be the last reigning Prince of Lippe.

Christ Church in Detmold, which Leopold IV built and where he is buried with his two wives; Christ Church in Detmold; Credit – Von Daniel Brockpähler – Eigene Fotografie, bearbeitet mit Photoshop von Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8648403

Following the German Empire’s defeat in World War I and the German Revolution of 1918-1919, Leopold IV was forced to renounce the throne on November 12, 1918, by the Lippe People’s and Soldiers’ Council. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Three months later, on February 19, 1919, Bertha Louise died, aged 44, in Detmold, then in the new Weimar Republic, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. She was buried at the Christ Church in Detmold (link in German). Leopold married for a second time to Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen and they had one son Armin, Prince of Lippe.

Bertha and Leopold’s son Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe as a witness during the Nuremberg Trials; Credit – Wikipedia

During the rise of Nazism in Germany, all three sons of Bertha Louise and Leopold became members of the Nazi Party. Their eldest son Hereditary Prince Ernst is reported to have been the first German prince to join the Nazi Party when he signed up in May 1928. Ernst’s brother Chlodwig joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the third brother Leopold Bernhard joined in 1932. Hereditary Prince Ernst later became an SS-Major (Schutzstaffel Sturmbannführer) and held a high-ranking post in the SS Race and Settlement Main Office. The SS (Schutzstaffel) was the agency of security, surveillance, and terror in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The SS Race and Settlement Main Office was responsible for safeguarding the racial purity of the SS within Nazi Germany. At the end of World War II, Hereditary Prince Ernst was taken prisoner by the Allies and took part in the Nuremberg Trials as a witness. The denazification tribunal in the Detmold administrative district classified Ernst as a Lesser Offender, Category III. He was not imprisoned but rather placed on probation for two-three years with a list of restrictions.

In addition to being pro-Nazi, both Hereditary Prince Ernst and Prince Khlodwig had made unequal marriages. Due to these circumstances, when their father Leopold rewrote his will in 1947, he indicated that Armin, his only child with his second wife, would succeed him as the Head of the House of Lippe and become the administrator of the princely family’s properties such as the Residenzschloss Detmold (link in German), thereby disinheriting all three of his sons from his first marriage.

Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, survived his first wife Bertha Louise by thirty years, dying, aged 78, on December 30, 1949, in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was buried with Bertha Louise at the Christ Church in Detmold (link in German). Leopold’s second wife Anna survived him by thirty-one years, dying on February 8, 1980, in Detmold at the age of 94, and was also buried at Christ Church.

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

Works Cited

  • Bertha Louise von Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Louise_von_Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-iv-prince-of-lippe/ (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Petropoulos, Jonathan, 2009. Royals And The Reich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Prince William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_William_of_Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Wilhelm Prinz von Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (2022) geni_family_tree. Available at: https://www.geni.com/people/Wilhelm-Prinz-von-Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld/6000000002188424816 (Accessed: 13 July 2023).

Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress, 3rd wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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

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

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

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Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg was the third of the three wives and also the second cousin of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor who was also King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, Duke of Teschen, King of the Romans, Archduke of Further Austria, and Prince of Transylvania. Born in the Palatinate-Neuburg, now in the German state of Bavaria, on January 6, 1655, Eleonore Magdalene was eldest of the seventeen children and the eldest of the eight daughters of Philipp Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich-Berg and his second wife Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her paternal grandparents were Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Magdalene of Bavaria. Eleonore Magdalene’s maternal grandparents were Georg II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Sophie Eleonore of Saxony.

Eleonore Magdalene had sixteen younger siblings:

Eleonore Magdalene was raised in a very religious environment and received an excellent education. Besides her native language German, Eleonore Magdalene was fluent in Latin, French, and Italian, translated biblical texts and spiritual literature into German, was well-versed in theology, and was fond of music and art. From the age of seventeen, Eleanore Magdalene lived with her mother in Benrath Castle where a lady-in-waiting instructed her in court etiquette.

From an early age, Eleonore Magdalene showed a strong devotion to her Roman Catholic faith. She developed a daily prayer practice and an ascetic life which included self-flagellation and the secret wearing of a chain cilice. Eleonore Magdalene visited the sick, gave alms to the poor, and asked others not to treat her as royalty because she considered all people equally dear to God. When she was fourteen-year-old, Eleonore Magdalene joined the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows at the Cross, a secular order, and remained a member all her life. She wanted to become a Carmelite nun but her parents would not let her. Five monarchs asked to marry her and were refused by her.

Eleonore Magdalene’s husband Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1676, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor was devastated by the loss of his second wife, and he retired to a monastery near Vienna to mourn. From his two marriages, he had six children, however, all except the oldest daughter from his first wife, had died. Leopold needed to marry again to provide a male heir. Eleanore Magdalene’s mother had 23 pregnancies and 17 live births and the family gained the reputation as a fertile family. Because of this reputation, 36-year-old Leopold chose his 21-year-old second cousin Eleonore Magdalene to be his third wife. The wedding took place on December 14, 1676, in Passau, then in the County of Palatine, now in Bavaria, Germany. Having an imperial wedding in Passau was a major event and it is remembered with an 1892 painting of the wedding, displayed in the Passau Town Hall.

The painting of the wedding of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and Eleonore Magdalene, displayed in the Passau Town Hall; Credit – https://tourismus.passau.de/

Leopold made a good choice because his third wife Eleonore Magdalene had ten children with five surviving childhood including two Holy Roman Emperors:

Eleonore had one surviving stepchild from her husband’s first marriage to Margarita Teresa of Spain:

Eleonore Magdalene was politically active and influenced her husband in governmental matters, particularly as he grew older. Because she was fluent in several languages, Eleonore Magdalene translated foreign political documents for her husband, as many were written in French. She used her position as Holy Roman Empress to secure high-status marriages for her sisters, to promote the careers of her brothers in the Roman Catholic Church, and to oversee the political needs of her brother Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine of Neuburg. Eleonore Magdalene’s generosity to those in need was almost limitless. She built hospitals and shelters, supported numerous brotherhoods, churches, and monasteries, distributed alms, and visited the sick in hospitals. In 1684, Eleonore received the Golden Rose from Pope Innocent XI as a token of his affection for her reverence.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged sixty-four, on May 5, 1705, in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria. He was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. After Leopold’s death, Eleonore Magdalene dressed in mourning for the rest of her life. During the six-year reign of her son Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Eleonore Magdalene continued to influence the affairs of the state. After Joseph I’s death, by the decision of the Privy Council, Eleanore Magdalene served as regent until the return of her son, the new Emperor Karl VI, from Spain where he was dealing with issues relating to the War of the Spanish Succession.

During her last years, Eleonore Magdalene lived a very ascetic life, similar to a nun. She instructed her servants, who had witnessed her ascetic life, never to tell anyone. On January 1, 1720, while preparing for the sacrament of confession, Eleonore Magdalene suffered a stroke which left the right side of her body paralyzed. She received the Anointing of the Sick and gave her blessing to her children and grandchildren who were at her deathbed. During her final days, Eleonore Magdalene was constantly nursed by her two daughters-in-law Wilhelmine Amalia and Elisabeth Christine.

Eleonore Magdalene’s second coffin; Credit – By Krischnig – de.wikipedia.org, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51297806

Eleonore Magdalene died on January 19, 1720, aged sixty-five, at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Following her wishes, Eleonora Magdalene was buried wearing the robe of a nun, in a very simple wooden coffin that bore the inscription “Eleonore Magdalene Theresa, poor sinner”. Her coffin was placed at the foot of her husband’s tomb in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. The current lead Baroque coffin containing Eleonore Magdalene’s remains was made in August 1755 following the orders of her granddaughter Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, in her own right Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, because the old wooden coffin had deteriorated considerably.

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

  • Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleonore_Magdalene_of_Neuburg (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
  • Eleonore Magdalene von Pfalz-Neuburg (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleonore_Magdalene_von_Pfalz-Neuburg (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
  • Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
  • Philip William, Elector Palatine (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_William,_Elector_Palatine (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
  • Rathaussäle Passau (2023) Startseite Passau Tourismus. Available at: https://tourismus.passau.de/passau-sehen-erleben/sehenswuerdigkeiten-in-passau/altes-rathaus-und-rathaussaele/ (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Sophie of Baden, Princess of Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Sophie of Baden, Princess of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie of Baden was the wife of Woldemar, Prince of Lippe. Born on August 7, 1834, in Karlsruhe, then in the Grand Duchy of Baden, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, Sophie was second of the four children, all daughters, of Prince Wilhelm of Baden and Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Württemberg. Her paternal grandparents were Karl Friedrich, the first Grand Duke of Baden, and his morganatic second wife Louise Caroline, Baroness Geyer von Geyersberg, Countess of Hochberg. Sophie’s maternal grandparents were Duke Ludwig of Württemberg and Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg.

Sophie had three sisters:

On November 9, 1858, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, Sophie married Woldemar, the future Prince of Lippe, the son of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe and Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Sophie and Woldemar had no children.

Sophie’s husband Woldemar, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Woldemar had two elder siblings and six younger siblings. Woldemar and his elder brother Leopold III, Prince of Lippe were the only ones who married and neither had any children. This would eventually create a succession crisis. Woldemar became Prince of Lippe upon the death of his elder brother Leopold III on December 8, 1875.

Woldemar, Prince of Lippe died March 20, 1895, aged 70, in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He was buried at the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg (link in German) in Detmold. Woldemar had no children to succeed him and his only surviving brother was Alexander who suffered from mental illness and had been declared incapacitated since 1871 and therefore, incapable of governing. A regency would be necessary during the reign of Alexander. However, Woldemar’s appointment of Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe as his brother’s regent sparked the Lippe succession dispute. This dispute between the two lines of the House of Lippe over the right to inherit lasted two decades and is discussed in Alexander, Prince of Lippe’s article.

Crypt in the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg; Credit – Von unbekannt / Tsungam – Foto: Eigenes Werk; Infotafel: Freunde der Residenz Detmold, Gemeinfrei, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20182639

Sophie survived her husband Woldemar by nine years, dying at the age of 70, on April 6, 1904, at the age of 70, in Detmold. She was buried with her husband.

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

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Woldemar, Prince of Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/woldemar-prince-of-lippe/ (Accessed: 11 July 2023).
  • Prince William of Baden (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_William_of_Baden (Accessed: 11 July 2023).
  • Princess Sophie of Baden (2022) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Sophie_of_Baden (Accessed: 11 July 2023).

Claudia Felicitas of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, 2nd wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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

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

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

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Claudia Felicitas of Austria, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Austria was the second of the three wives and the second cousin of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor who was also King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, Duke of Teschen, King of the Romans, Archduke of Further Austria, and Prince of Transylvania. Born in Innsbruck, then in the County of Tyrol, now in Austria, on May 30, 1653, Claudia Felicitas was the elder of the two children, both daughters, of  Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol and first cousin Anna de’ Medici. Her paternal grandparents were Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and Claudia de’ Medici. Claudia Felicitas’ maternal grandparents were Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Maria Maddalena of Austria.

Claudia Felicitas had one younger sister who died in childhood:

  • Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria (1656 – 1669), died at age twelve

Claudia Felicitas grew up at her father’s court in Innsbruck, a center of baroque art and music. She loved hunting but also showed a great interest in music. Claudia Felicitas had an excellent singing voice, played several instruments, and composed music. She took her Roman Catholic faith very seriously and was a secular member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. In 1662, when Claudia Felicitas was nine-years-old, her 34-year-old father Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Further Austria died. He was succeeded by his brother Sigismund Franz, who died three years later in 1665. Claudia Felicitas and her sister, who would die in 1669, became the last members of the Tyrolean branch of the House of Habsburg.

Claudia Felicitas’ mother Anna de’ Medici; Credit – Wikipedia

After the extinction of the male line of the Tyrolean branch of the House of Habsburg in 1665, the Archduchy of Further Austria and the County of Tyrol came under the direct control of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. A dispute ensued with the Imperial Court when Claudia Felicitas’ mother Anna de’ Medici tried to protect the rights of her daughters. However, in 1673, when the first wife of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Margarita Teresa of Spain, died without providing a surviving male heir, a solution to solve the dispute and Leopold’s lack of male heirs became apparent. Because Leopold had no male heirs, he needed to marry again as soon as possible. He opted for Claudia Felicitas and her mother eagerly agreed. After a proxy marriage, 20-year-old Claudia Felicitas and 33-year-old Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I were married at Graz Cathedral on October 15, 1673. After her marriage, Claudia Felicitas retained the title of Countess of Tyrol, and the dispute ended.

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and they wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Leopold I’s first wife Margarita Teresa of Spain was his first cousin and his niece. She had six pregnancies in six years (four living childbirths and two miscarriages), and four months into her seventh pregnancy, Margarita Teresa died. Her only surviving child, a daughter, gave birth to three sons – two died at birth and one died at the age of seven.

Claudia Felicitas’ husband Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I; Credit – Wikipedia

Claudia Felicitas and Leopold I combined for a gene pool that was also problematic. They were second cousins four times over. Leopold’s parents and Claudia Felicitas’ parents were all double first cousins with each other. All four had the same pair of grandparents Karl II, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria.

Claudia Felicitas and Leopold I had two daughters, who died in infancy:

  • Archduchess Anna Maria Josepha of Austria (born and died 1674)
  • Archduchess Maria Josepha Clementina of Austria (1675 – 1676), died in infancy

The Dominican Church in Vienna, Austria where Claudia Felicitas is buried; Credit – By Thomas Ledl – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28719844

Six months after giving birth to her daughter Maria Josepha, 22-year-old Claudia Felicitas died from tuberculosis in Vienna, on April 8, 1676, less than two-and-a-half years after her marriage. She was buried in the Dominican Church, also known as the Church of St. Maria Rotund, in Vienna. Three months later, her 9-month-old daughter Maria Josepha Clementina died. Leopold I was devastated by the loss of his second wife, and he retired to a monastery near Vienna to mourn. From his two marriages, he had six children, however, all except the oldest daughter from his first marriage had died. One has to wonder what role the serious inbreeding played. Leopold did marry for a third time but not to another Habsburg. His third wife Eleonore Magdalene of Neuberg finally provided him with male heirs, two sons who both became Holy Roman Emperors.

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

  • Claudia Felicitas of Austria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Felicitas_of_Austria (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Claudia Felizitas von Österreich-Tirol (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Felizitas_von_%C3%96sterreich-Tirol (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-hungary-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-king-of-croatia-duke-of-teschen-king-of-the-romans-archduke-of-further-austria-and-prince-of-transylv/ (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Charles,_Archduke_of_Austria (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Princess of Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Princess of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was the wife of Leopold III, Prince of Lippe. Born on October 1, 1833, in Rudolstadt, then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, Elisabeth was the second but the eldest surviving of the four children and the only daughter of Albrecht, the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Princess Auguste of Solms-Braunfels. Her paternal grandparents were Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Karoline of Hesse-Homburg. Elisabeth’s maternal grandparents were Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels and Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Elisabeth had three brothers but only one survived childhood:

Elisabeth was raised in a strict but simple manner by her Swiss governess and received drawing and painting lessons from Richard Schinzel, who later became the last Rudolstadt court painter. On April 17, 1852, in Rudolstadt, 18-year-old Elisabeth married 30-year-old Leopold III, Prince of Lippe but their marriage was childless. However, Leopold, who loved children very much, invited many children to Detmold Castle (link in German) every year for Christmas.

Elisabeth’s husband Leopold III, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth used all the means at her disposal for charitable causes. She published a booklet with Bible verses for every day of the year and designed wall decorations with Bible verses. The booklet and wall decorations were mass-produced and the proceeds went to Elisabeth’s charitable causes. Devoted to children, Elisabeth founded a school, the Elisabeth-Anstalt in the town of Blomberg. She also promoted the establishment and maintenance of the Augustineum Secondary School a school and teacher training center in Otjimbingwe, then in a settlement of the Herero people, now in the country of Namibia.

Throughout her life, Elisabeth remained connected to her homeland and regularly visited Rudolstadt. Although she was popular with the people of the Principality of Lippe, Elisabeth and her husband Leopold became increasingly estranged which greatly distressed her. On December 8, 1875, Elisabeth’s husband Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, aged 54, died in Detmold after suffering a stroke and was succeeded by his brother Woldemar. Leopold was buried at the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg (link in German) in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

After Leopold’s death, Elisabeth moved into her widow’s residence at the New Palais in Detmold and continued her charitable work. She convinced her sister-in-law Princess Luise of Lippe to leave her palace to the Principality of Lippe upon her death so that it could house the Princely Public Library, today the Lippe State Library in Detmold (link in German). Among the other projects that Elisabeth sponsored was the Hostel zur Heimat Detmold (link in German), a facility for people in social distress, which is still in existence. As a condition of her support, Elisabeth stipulated that her name not be associated with the hostel.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, where Elisabeth is interred; Credit – Von Telemarco, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46588535

After the death of her brother Georg Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1890, Elisabeth inherited the manor in Niederkrossen (link in German), then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Elisabeth regularly stayed there and had a handicraft school built there in the town. While staying in Niederkrossen during the autumn of 1896, Elisabeth became ill with pneumonia, and died on November 27, 1896, at the age of sixty-three. As per her wishes, Elisabeth was not buried at the traditional burial site of the princely family of Lippe but rather in the princely crypt at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas (link in German), an Evangelical Lutheran church in Rudolstadt, then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, where members of her birth family were buried.

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

  • Єлизавета Шварцбург-Рудольштадтська (2023) Wikipedia (Ukrainian). Available at: https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%84%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%A8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%86%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3-%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%88%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%82%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0 (Accessed: 12 July 2023).
  • Elisabeth von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_von_Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (Accessed: 12 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/albrecht-prince-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/ (Accessed: 12 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-iii-prince-of-lippe/ (Accessed: 12 July 2023).

Prince Roberto Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Roberto Hugo was the head of the house of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the former throne of the Duchy of Parma from 1959 until 1974.

Prince Roberto Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma source: Wikipedia

Prince Roberto Hugo was born on August 7, 1909, at Weilburg Palace in Baden bei Wien, Austria. He was the second son of Prince Elia of Bourbon-Parma and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. Roberto Hugo had eight siblings:

  • Princess Maria Elisabetta (1904) – unmarried
  • Prince Carlo Luigi (1905) – died in childhood
  • Princess Maria Francesca (1906) – unmarried
  • Princess Maria Antonia (1911) – married Prince Gottfried of Thurn und Taxis, had issue
  • Prince Francesco Alfonso (1913) – unmarried
  • Princess Giovanna Isabella (1916) – unmarried
  • Princess Alicia Maria (1917) – married Infante Alfonso of Spain, Duke of Calabria, had issue
  • Princess Maria Cristina (1925) – unmarried

He succeeded his father as head of the House of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the throne in 1950, and took over the management of the family’s estates. He never married.

Roberto Hugo died in Vienna on November 25, 1974. As he had no heirs, he was succeeded by his half-uncle, Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma.

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Duchy of Parma Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Margarita Teresa of Spain, Holy Roman Empress, first wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Margarita Teresa of Spain, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

Margarita Teresa of Spain was the first of the three wives of her uncle and first cousin Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, Duke of Teschen, King of the Romans, Archduke of Further Austria, and Prince of Transylvania. Born on July 12, 1651, at the Royal Alcazar in Madrid, Spain, Margarita Teresa was the eldest of the five children and the elder of the two daughters of Felipe IV, King of Spain and his second wife Mariana of Austria, who were uncle and niece, an example of inbreeding. Margarita Teresa’s paternal grandparents were Felipe III, King of Spain and Margarete of Austria, who were both children of parents who were an uncle and his niece, and were first cousins once removed and second cousins. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife Maria Anna of Spain who were first cousins.

Margarita Teresa had four siblings but only one survived childhood:

Margarita Teresa had eight half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Elisabeth of France who died in 1644, at the age of forty-one, after miscarrying a son. Only one half-sister survived to adulthood, Maria Theresa who married King Louis XIV of France.

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

Las Meninas (Spanish for ‘The Ladies-in-Waiting), 1656 by Diego Velázquez – Five-year-old Margarita Teresa is surrounded by her entourage of maids of honor, a chaperone, a bodyguard, two dwarfs, and a dog in a room in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid; Credit – Wikipedia

Margarita Teresa was raised in the chambers of her mother Margarete of Austria at the Royal Alcazar in Madrid, surrounded by numerous ladies-in-waiting and servants. Brought up with the strict etiquette of the Spanish court, she received an excellent education.

The House of Habsburg, which then ruled in Spain, Holy Roman Empire, and the various hereditary Habsburg lands, was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more frequently among themselves. Seven of Margarita Teresa’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy.  While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Margarita Teresa had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation.

King Carlos II of Spain, Margarita Teresa’s brother who had serious health issues and disabilities due to inbreeding; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Margarita did not develop the serious health issues and disabilities that her younger brother King Carlos II of Spain had shown since his birth (she did have the Habsburg jaw as did her husband Leopold), the inbreeding could have been a cause of the early deaths of three of her four children and the three children of her only surviving child. Margarita’s brother Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. However, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Carlos’ condition showed clear signs of the long-time inbreeding of the House of Habsburg.

Margarita Teresa’s husband Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 6, 1663, twelve-year-old Margarita Teresa was betrothed to her 23-year-old uncle and first cousin Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, the son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and the first of his three wives who was also his first cousin Maria Anna of Austria. It was felt that Leopold and Margarita Teresa’s marriage between the Spanish and Austrian branches of the House of Habsburg was needed to strengthen the position of both countries, especially against the Kingdom of France. The marriage between Leopold and Margarita Teresa was delayed because of the bride’s age. The couple was married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on April 25, 1666, with the groom represented by Antonio de la Cerda, 7th Duke of Medinaceli.

Three days later, Margarita Teresa began her journey, via ship and then over land, from Madrid to Vienna. At each stop, where Margarita Teresa spent time resting, there were celebrations in her honor. On November 25, 1666, in Schottwien, twelve miles from Vienna, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I came to receive his bride. Margarita Teresa formally entered Vienna on December 5, 1666, and 26-year-old Leopold and 15-year-old Margarita, first cousins, uncle and niece, were married seven days later. Despite the age difference, the couple had a happy marriage. Margarita Teresa always called her husband “Onkel”, German for uncle, and Leopold called her “Gretl”, a German diminutive of Margarita. Margarita Teresa and Leopold had many common interests, especially in art and music.

Margarita Teresa and her only surviving child Maria Antonia; Credit – Wikipedia

Margarita Teresa and Leopold had four children but only one survived to adulthood:

  • Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel of Austria (1667 – 1668), died in infancy
  • Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria (1669 – 1692), married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, had three sons, none survived childhood
  • Archduke Johann Leopold of Austria (born and died 1670), died on the day of his birth
  • Archduchess Maria Anna Antonia of Austria (born and died 1672), died fourteen days after her birth

Margarita Teresa was very religious and was the driving force behind Leopold’s expulsion of the Jews from Vienna in 1670. She blamed the Jews for her two miscarriages, the early deaths of her two sons, and the fire in the newly built Leopoldine wing of the Hofburg Palace. During her marriage, Margarita Teresa kept her Spanish customs, was surrounded almost exclusively by her Spanish retinue, and hardly learned the German language. Due to the aloofness and arrogance of the Spanish retinue, an anti-Spanish mood spread at court, which also turned against Margarita Teresa. The courtiers unashamedly expressed their hope that Margarita Teresa, who was often ill, would soon die so that Leopold could marry someone more acceptable to them.

Tomb of Margarita Teresa; Credit – Von krischnig – selbst fotografiert, Bild-frei, https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3431689

Weakened from six pregnancies in six years (four living childbirths and two miscarriages), and four months into her seventh pregnancy, Margarita Teresa died at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, on March 12, 1673, at the age of 21, and was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. Despite his grief and because he had no male heir, several months later, Leopold married Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Austria, from the Tyrol branch of the House of Habsburg. After giving birth to two daughters who did not survive infancy, Claudia Felicitas died from tuberculosis three years after her marriage. Leopold’s third wife Eleonore Magdalene of Neuberg finally provided him with male heirs, two sons who both became Holy Roman Emperors.

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

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iv-king-of-spain-filip-iii-king-of-portugal/ (Accessed: 10 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-hungary-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-king-of-croatia-duke-of-teschen-king-of-the-romans-archduke-of-further-austria-and-prince-of-transylv/ (Accessed: 10 July 2023).
  • Margaret Theresa of Spain (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Theresa_of_Spain (Accessed: 10 July 2023).
  • Margarita Theresa von Spanien (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarita_Theresa_von_Spanien (Accessed: 10 July 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Princess of Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Princess of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was the wife of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe. Born on April 23, 1800, in Sonderhausen, then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, now in the German state of Thuringia, Emilie Friederike Caroline was the elder of the two children and the only daughter of Günther Friedrich Karl I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Caroline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Her paternal grandparents were Christian Günther III, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Charlotte Wilhelmine of Anhalt-Bernburg. Emilie’s maternal grandparents were Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Friederike of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

Emilie had one brother:

Although Emilie’s father Günther Friedrich Karl I promoted the arts in his principality, he ruled as an absolute monarch despite his subjects wanting a say in the principality’s government. Emilie’s mother had a different mindset on many issues, and in 1816, she moved with her children to Arnstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, now in the German state of Thuringia, where they led a quiet and peaceful life. Eventually, Günther Friedrich Karl I’s refusal to grant any concessions made him very unpopular and he was forced to abdicate on August 19, 1835, by his son Günther Friedrich Karl II in a palace revolt called the Ebeleben Revolution.

Emilie’s husband Leopold II, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 23, 1820, her 20th birthday, Emilie married 23-year-old Leopold II, Prince of Lippe in Arnstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, now in the German state of Thuringia.

Emilie and Leopold with their two eldest children; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Emilie and Leopold had nine children including three reigning Princes of Lippe but none of their children had children.

  • Leopold III, Prince of Lippe (1821 – 1875), married Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, no children
  • Princess Luise of Lippe (1822 – 1887), unmarried
  • Woldemar, Prince of Lippe (1824 – 1895), married Princess Sophie of Baden, no children
  • Princess Friederike of Lippe (1825 – 1897), unmarried
  • Prince Friedrich of Lippe (1827 – 1854), unmarried
  • Prince Hermann of Lippe (1829 – 1884), unmarried
  • Alexander, Prince of Lippe (1831 – 1905), unmarried, a regency was established due to his
  • mental illness
    Prince Karl of Lippe (1832 – 1834), died in childhood
  • Princess Pauline of Lippe (1834 – 1906), unmarried

The Princely Residential Palace in Detmold, home of the Princes of Lippe; Credit – Von Nikater (Diskussion · Beiträge) – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4885970

Due to a difficult childhood, Leopold II was a reclusive person. His father Leopold I, Prince of Lippe had been deemed mentally incapacitated by the Imperial Chamber Court, one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, and placed under guardianship. Leopold II’s mother Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg, became her husband’s governmental adviser and colleague, staying mostly in the background and avoiding anything that could be interpreted as exceeding her duties. When Leopold I died in 1802, his five-year-old son became Leopold II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen with his mother Pauline very capably acting as Regent of the Principality of Lippe until 1820, the same year Emilie and Leopold II were married. Sadly, Leopold II’s mother Pauline died on December 29, 1820. Emilie was kind and gentle and understood the strict lifestyle of her husband. The couple lived in the Princely Residential Palace Detmold (link in German) where they led an exemplary family life.

Leopold II had a passion for the theater and with the help of his wife Emilie, the Lippe Princely Court Theater (Hochfürstliches Lippisches Hoftheater – link in German) was established in Detmold in 1825. It was among the best theaters in the German monarchies. The schedule for the theater included both opera and plays. In 1912, the original theater burned to the ground because of a damaged chimney. However, the theater was rebuilt, financed with donations from the Detmold citizens and funds from the Princely House. The rebuilt theater and the theater company established by Leopold II and Emilie are still in existence today. Now called the Landestheater Detmold (link in German), it is a theater for operas, operettas, musicals, ballets, and stage plays in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Crypt in the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg; Credit – Von unbekannt / Tsungam – Foto: Eigenes Werk; Infotafel: Freunde der Residenz Detmold, Gemeinfrei, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20182639

On January 1, 1851, Leopold II, Prince of Lippe died in Detmold at the age of 54. Initially buried at the Church of the Redeemer (link in German) in Detmold, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Leopold’s remains were later moved to the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg (link in German) in Detmold after the mausoleum’s completion in 1855. Emílie survived her husband by sixteen years, dying on April 2, 1867, in Detmold. She was buried at the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg next to her husband.

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

Works Cited

  • Emilie zur Lippe (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilie_zur_Lippe (Accessed: 08 July 2023).
  • Emílie Schwarzbursko-Sondershausenská (2023) Wikipedia (Czech). Available at: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Em%C3%ADlie_Schwarzbursko-Sondershausensk%C3%A1 (Accessed: 08 July 2023).
  • Емілія Шварцбург-Зондерсгаузенська (2023) Wikipedia (Ukrainian). Available at: https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%95%D0%BC%D1%96%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%8F_%D0%A8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%86%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3-%D0%97%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%81%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%83%D0%B7%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0 (Accessed: 08 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Leopold II, Prince of Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-ii-prince-of-lippe/ (Accessed: 08 July 2023).

Prince Elia of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Prince Elia of Bourbon-Parma was head of the House of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the former ducal throne of Parma from 1950 until his death in 1959. Additionally, he served as regent from 1907-1950 for two of his elder brothers, Enrico and Giuseppe, who were mentally disabled.

Prince Elia of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma: Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Elia Roberto Carlo Maria of Bourbon-Parma was born on July 23, 1880 in Biarritz, Switzerland, the fourth son of Roberto I, Duke of Parma and Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had eleven siblings:

  • Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma (1870 – 1899), married Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria (later Tsar), had four children including Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria,
  • Ferdinando, Prince of Piacenza (born and died 1871 ), died in infancy
  • Princess Luisa Maria of Bourbon-Parma (1872 – 1943), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Enrico, Titular Duke of Parma (1873 – 1939), unmarried, mentally disabled, his brother Elias took up the role as regent and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Immacolata of Bourbon-Parma (1874 – 1914), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Giuseppe, Titular Duke of Parma (1875 – 1950), unmarried, mentally disabled, his brother Elias continued his role as regent and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma (1876 – 1959), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma (1877 – 1915), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Beatrice of Bourbon-Parma (1879 – 1946), married Count Pietro Lucchesi-Palli, had four children
  • Princess Maria Anastasia of Bourbon-Parma (born and died 1881), died in infancy
  • Prince Augusto of Bourbon-Parma (stillborn 1882)

He also had 12 siblings from his father’s second marriage to Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal:

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. source: Wikipedia

Elia married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria on May 25, 1903 in Vienna. She was the daughter of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen and Princess Isabella of Croÿ. The couple had nine children:

  • Princess Maria Elisabetta (1904) – unmarried
  • Prince Carlo Luigi (1905) – died in childhood
  • Princess Maria Francesca (1906) – unmarried
  • Prince Roberto Hugo, Duke of Parma (1909) – unmarried
  • Princess Maria Antonia (1911) – married Prince Gottffried of Thurn und Taxis, had issue
  • Prince Francesco Alfonso (1913) – unmarried
  • Princess Giovanna Isabella (1916) – unmarried
  • Princess Alicia Maria (1917) – married Infante Alfonso of Spain, Duke of Calabria, had issue
  • Princess Maria Cristina (1925) – unmarried

When Elia’s father Roberto I died in 1907, the headship of the family passed to Elia’s eldest living brother, Enrico. However, Enrico, and several of his siblings, were mentally disabled. Within just a few months, the Austrian court declared that Enrico and several of his siblings were legally incompetent. Elia served as regent for two of his elder brothers – Elia and Giuseppe, before legitimately becoming head of the house in 1950.

A dispute emerged between Elia and his younger half-brothers over their father’s estate. An agreement was reached in 1910, in which Elia received half of the estate while the rest would be divided among the others. Elia’s half included the famed Château de Chambord in France, later confiscated during World War I as enemy property. Several years later, Elia’s half-brothers sued him to gain a larger share of their father’s estate, claiming their 1910 agreement violated French law. The French court initially ruled in their favor, but it was overturned in 1928. Four years later, the appeal was upheld because the brothers entered into a valid agreement willingly in 1910, thus superseding the French law of equal division. This decision also recognized Elia’s claim to Chambord. While the chateau was not returned to him, he was compensated with a payment of 11 million francs.

Prince Elia died on June 27, 1959 in Friedberg, Austria, and is buried nearby in Mönichkirchen. He was succeeded by his second son, Robert Hugo.

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Duchy of Parma Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, circa 1672; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

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Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1658 – 1705) was also King of Hungary (reigned 1655 – 1705), King of Bohemia (reigned 1656 – 1705), Archduke of Austria (reigned 1657 – 1705), King of Croatia (reigned 1657 – 1705), Duke of Teschen (reigned 1657 – 1705), King of the Romans (reigned 1658 – 1705), Archduke of Further Austria (reigned 1665 – 1705), and Prince of Transylvania (reigned 1692–1705).

Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician was born in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, on June 9, 1640. He was the fifth of the six children and the fourth of the four sons of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and the first of his three wives who was also his first cousin,  Maria Anna of Austria. Leopold’s paternal grandparents were Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. His maternal grandparents were King Felipe III of Spain and Margarete of Austria. Leopold was the first cousin and contemporary of King Louis XIV of France. Their mothers were half-sisters.

Leopold’s siblings Ferdinand and Mariana; Credit – Wikipedia

Leopold had five siblings. His three elder brothers predeceased him, with two dying before he was born, and his youngest sister died in infancy.

Leopold’s mother Maria Anna of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

When Leopold was six years old, his 39-year-old mother Empress Maria Anna, pregnant with her sixth child, suddenly fell ill with a fever, had heavy bleeding, and died on May 13, 1646. Immediately after her death, the unborn child, a girl, was delivered by Cesarean section. She was named Maria after her mother but lived only a few hours.

Leopold’s father Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III; Credit – Wikipedia

Leopold’s father married two more times. His second wife 16-year-old Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria was also his first cousin. Leopold had one half-brother from this marriage but Maria Leopoldine died giving birth to him.

Leopold had four half-siblings from his father’s third marriage to Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua but two died in infancy.

Leopold received an excellent education, studying history, literature, natural science, and astronomy. He became fluent in Latin, Italian, German, French, and Spanish. Like his father who was very musical and composed numerous sacred and secular pieces of music, Leopold was a patron of music and a composer. His sacred music is his most successful, particularly Missa angeli custodis, a Requiem Mass for his first wife, and Three Lections, composed for the burial of his second wife.

Leopold was not expected to be the heir of his father’s Habsburg hereditary lands or to be elected Holy Roman Emperor and was receiving ecclesiastical training for a career in the higher clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. However, this changed when his eldest sibling Ferdinand, who had been elected King of the Romans meaning he would be the next Holy Roman Emperor, died from smallpox at the age of twenty-one. Fourteen-year-old Leopold became the heir apparent of his father’s hereditary lands and the probable next Holy Roman Emperor.

Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I in his coronation armor; Credit – Wikipedia

Over the next several years, Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor gave his son Leopold three of the hereditary lands to rule in his own right, Hungary, Bohemia, and Croatia. Leopold’s father Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, died, aged forty-eight, on April 2, 1657. Immediately, seventeen-year-old Leopold succeeded to his father’s hereditary lands but he was not elected as Holy Roman Emperor until July 18, 1658. His election had not been a sure thing. Cardinal Jules Mazarin, First Minister of State to Leopold’s first cousin King Louis XIV of France, wanted Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, or some other non-Habsburg to be elected Holy Roman Emperor.

Margarita Teresa of Spain, Leopold’s first wife & first cousin; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 6, 1663, 23-year-old Leopold was betrothed to twelve-year-old Margarita Teresa of Spain, his niece and first cousin, the daughter of Leopold’s sister Mariana and her maternal uncle Felipe IV, King of Spain. It was felt that Leopold and Margarita Teresa’s marriage between the Spanish and Austrian branches of the House of Habsburg was needed to strengthen the position of both countries, especially against the Kingdom of France.

Leopold’s nephew and first cousin King Carlos II of Spain: Credit – Wikipedia

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and they wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Margarita Teresa’s brother Carlos II, King of Spain, who was also Leopold’s nephew and first cousin, had physical and mental conditions probably caused by the continued inbreeding of the House of Habsburg. In the portrait above, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw, can be seen. Carlos’ Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Both Leopold and Margarita Teresa also had the Habsburg jaw as can be seen in their portraits. Seven of Carlos II’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation. As Carlos II was the brother of  Leopold’s first wife Margarita Teresa, the same was true for her.

The marriage between Leopold and Margarita Teresa was delayed because of the age of the bride. The couple was married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on April 25, 1666. Three days later, Margarita Teresa began her journey to Vienna. She formally entered Vienna on December 5, 1666, and 26-year-old Leopold and 15-year-old Margarita, first cousins, uncle and niece, were married seven days later.

Leopold and Margarita Teresa had four children but only one survived infancy (see below). Weakened from six pregnancies in six years (four living childbirths and two miscarriages), and four months into her seventh pregnancy, Margarita Teresa died on March 12, 1673, at the age of 21, and was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. One has to wonder if the inbreeding played a role in the fate of Margarita Teresa, her children, and the three sons of her only surviving child.

  • Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel of Austria (1667 – 1668), died in infancy
  • Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria (1669 – 1692), married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, had three sons, none survived childhood
  • Archduke Johann Leopold of Austria (born and died 1670), died on the day of his birth
  • Archduchess Maria Anna Antonia of Austria (born and died 1672), died fourteen days after her birth

Leopold’s second wife and second cousin Claudia Felicitas of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Because Leopold had no male heirs, he needed to marry again as soon as possible. He opted for 20-year-old Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Austria, the daughter of Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol and first cousin Anna de’ Medici. With the consent of her relatives, Claudia Felicitas immediately accepted the proposal, rejecting other suitors including the widower James, Duke of York, the future King James II of England. However, with Claudia Felicitas, there was more inbreeding. They were second cousins four times over. Leopold’s parents and Claudia Felicitas’ parents were all double first cousins with each other. All four had the same pair of grandparents Karl II, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. After a proxy marriage, Leopold and Claudia Felicitas were married at Graz Cathedral on October 15, 1673.

Leopold and Claudia Felicitas had two daughters, who died in childhood:

  • Archduchess Anna Maria Josepha of Austria (born and died 1674)
  • Archduchess Maria Josepha Clementina of Austria (1675 – 1676), died in infancy

Six months after giving birth to her daughter Maria Josepha, 22-year-old Claudia Felicitas died from tuberculosis on April 8, 1676, in Vienna. She was buried in the Dominican Church, also known as the Church of St. Maria Rotund, in Vienna. Three months later, her 9-month-old daughter Maria Josepha Clementina died.

Leopold’s third wife and second cousin Eleonore Magdalene of Neuberg; Credit – Wikipedia

Leopold I was devastated by the loss of his second wife, and he retired to a monastery near Vienna to mourn. From his two marriages, he had six children, however, all except the oldest daughter Maria Antonia had died. Leopold needed to marry again to provide a male heir. He chose his 21-year-old second cousin, Eleonore Magdalene of Neuberg, daughter of Philipp Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich-Berg and his second wife Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, to be his third wife due to the fertility of her family. Eleanore Magdalene’s mother had 23 pregnancies and 17 live births and the family gained the reputation as a fertile family. The wedding took place on December 14, 1676, in Passau, then in the County of Palatine, now in Bavaria, Germany. Having an imperial wedding in Passau was a major event and it is remembered with an 1892 painting of the wedding, displayed in the Passau Town Hall.

The painting of the wedding of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and Eleonore Magdalene, displayed in the Passau Town Hall; Credit – https://tourismus.passau.de/

Leopold made a good choice because his third wife Eleonore Magdalene had ten children with five surviving childhood including two Holy Roman Emperors:

Leopold’s reign was dominated by the defense against French expansion under his first cousin King Louis XIV of France. The southeast Habsburg lands were threatened by the expansion of the Ottoman Empire resulting in the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683 when the Ottoman army was defeated. The death of the last Spanish Habsburg King, Leopold’s childless nephew Carlos II resulted in the War of the Spanish Succession in which Leopold and then his son Holy Roman Joseph I unsuccessfully sought to give Leopold’s younger son Karl the entire Spanish inheritance, disregarding the will of the late Carlos II who had named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos’ half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. However, Philippe of France did reign in Spain as King Felipe V, the first King of Spain from the House of Bourbon that still reigns in Spain.

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Tomb of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – By PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged sixty-four, on May 5, 1705, in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria. He was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. His third wife Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg survived him by fifteen years, dying on January 19, 1720, at the age of 65, nineteen days after suffering a stroke. Like her husband, she was buried at the Capuchin Church.

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Works Cited

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  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.