Grand Duchy of Tuscany Royal Burial Sites

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was located in present-day northwest Italy. It existed, with a few interruptions, from 1569 – 1859. Tuscany was ruled by the House of Medici from 1434–1494 and from 1512 until the extinction of its senior branch in 1737. In 1569, Pope Pius V elevated Tuscany to a Grand Duchy and Cosimo I de’ Medici became its first Grand Duke.

In 1737, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine obtained control of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.  François Étienne, Duke of Lorraine exchanged the Duchy of Lorraine for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Stanisław I Leszczyński, the father-in-law of King Louis XV of France, had abdicated the throne of Poland in 1736 and now became the Duke of Lorraine.

(Note: The first Habsburg-Lorriane Duke of Tuscany is known by names in three different languages because he held titles in three different locales. To simplify his names, his English name Francis Stephen will be used most of the time.)

Except for a period of thirteen years from 1801 – 1814 during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine retained the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until Tuscany was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860, as a part of the unification of Italy. In 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy.

House of Habsburg-Lorraine – Grand Dukes of Tuscany

  • Francesco II Stefano, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1737 – 1765) – also Franz Stefan, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1745 – 1765) and François Étienne, Duke of Lorraine (reigned 1729 – 1737) – also known as Francis Stephen
  • Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1765 – 1790) – also Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1790 – 1792)
  • Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1790 – 1801, 1814 – 1824)
  • Leopoldo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1824 – 1859)
  • Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1859 – 1860)

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

Because the last Grand Dukes of Tuscany and their wives were members of the Habsburg family, most of them were interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church (German: Kapuzinerkirche) in Vienna, Austria, the traditional burial site of the House of Habsburg. The Capuchin Church (German: Kapuzinerkirche) in Vienna, Austria 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 abbey and burial place for her and her husband and wanted to build it near Hofburg Castle in Vienna. In her will, Anna left funds to provide for the building. 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 in 1633, the sarcophagi containing the remains of Matthias and Anna were transferred to what is now called the Founder’s Vault.

Interior of the Capuchin Church in Vienna; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

The church itself is not as spectacular as other churches in Vienna, but underneath it lies the Imperial Crypt (German: Kaisergruft) which contains nearly 150 tombs of the Habsburg family. Through the years, other vaults have been added and the 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 Augustiner Church (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.

Most of the Habsburg-Lorraine Grand Dukes and Duchess of Tuscany are buried in the Tuscan Vault of the Imperial Crypt.

Imperialcryptvault layout Credit – Wikipedia

Plan of the Imperial Crypt
A. Founders’ Vault
B. Children’s Columbarium
C. Leopold’s Vault
D. Karl’s Vault
E. Maria Theresa’s Vault
F. Franz’s Vault
G. Ferdinand’s Vault
H. New Vault
I. Franz Joseph’s Vault
J. Crypt Chapel
K. The Tuscan Vault

Note: The portraits below of Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses of Tuscany are from Wikipedia.

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Francesco II Stefano, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1737 – 1765) also Franz Stefan, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1745 – 1765) and François Étienne, Duke of Lorraine (reigned 1729 – 1737)

Born François Étienne on December 8, 1708, at the Ducal Palace of Nancy, Duchy of Lorraine, he was the eldest surviving son of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, and Princess Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans. In 1736, Francis Stephen (his English name will be used hereafter) married Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who had no sons. Upon her father’s death, Maria Theresa 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 Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII from the German House of Wittelsbach was elected. He died in 1745 and via a treaty Maria Theresa arranged for Francis Stephen to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the snub, Maria Theresa wielded the real power and Francis Stephen was content to leave the act of reigning to his wife.

Francis Stephen died suddenly of a stroke or heart attack on August 18, 1765, at the age of 56, in his carriage while returning from the opera in Innsbruck, Austria. Francis Stephen and Maria Theresa are buried together in a magnificent tomb in the Maria Theresa Crypt at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria

Tomb of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephen; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right, by marriage Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Empress

Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria was born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria on May 13, 1717, the second and eldest surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Her only brother died several weeks before she was born and her two younger siblings were sisters. Maria Theresa was the sovereign ruler of the Habsburg territories from 1740 until her death in 1780 and was the only female to hold that position. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma.

Maria Theresa’s marriage to Francis Stephen produced sixteen children including Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, Maria Carolina who married King Ferdinando I of Naples and Sicily, and Maria Antonia, better known as Marie Antoinette, wife of King Louis XVI of France.

Maria Theresa died on November 29, 1780, aged 63, at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, after a reign of 40 years, surrounded by her surviving children. She was buried alongside her husband in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

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Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1765 – 1790) also Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduke of Austria (reigned 1790 – 1792)

Born on May 5, 1747, in Vienna, Austria, he was named Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, hence his Tuscany regnal name Pietro Leopold, he was better known as Leopold. He was the third but the second surviving son of Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right, and Francis Stephen, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Holy Roman Emperor.

In 1765, Leopold married Maria Luisa of Spain and they had sixteen children. Because his elder brother Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor had no children, Leopold became the founder of the main line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

Upon his father’s death in 1765, Leopold succeeded him as Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his elder brother Joseph was elected Holy Roman Emperor. Leopold was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1790 upon the death of his childless brother Joseph. At that time, he abdicated the throne of Tuscany in favor of his son Ferdinand.

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor died suddenly and unexpectedly on March 1, 1792, aged 44, in Vienna, Austria. He was buried in the Tuscan Crypt at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria. Leopold’s son Franz was elected (the last) Holy Roman Emperor and later was the first Emperor of Austria.

Tomb of Leopold; Credit – Von krischnig – selbst fotografiert, Bild-frei, https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3431815

Maria Luisa of Spain, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria

Maria Luisa was born on November 24, 1745, at the Palace of Portici, Naples in the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, now in Italy. At the time of her birth, her father was King of Naples and Sicily but succeeded his childless half-brother King Ferdinand VI of Spain as King Carlos III of Spain.

In 1765, Maria Luisa married Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, later Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. They had sixteen children including Maria Theresa who married King Anton of Saxony, Franz II, (last) Holy Roman Emperor (later Franz I, first Emperor of Austria), Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Maria Clementina who married King Francesco I of the Two Sicilies.

Less than three months after the sudden death of her husband, Maria Luisa died, aged 46, on May 15, 1792, at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. She was buried next to her husband in the Tuscan Crypt at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria. Their early deaths left their nine youngest children, all under the age of 18, orphans.

Tomb of Maria Luisa; Credit – Von Krischnig in der Wikipedia auf Deutsch – Eigenes Werk, Gemeinfrei, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5557226

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Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1790 – 1801, 1814 – 1824)

 

Ferdinand was born on May 6, 1769, in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy. He was the second son of Pietro Leopoldo I, then Grand Duke of Tuscany and Maria Luisa of Spain. His father was elected Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor in 1790 upon the death of his childless brother Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. At that time, he abdicated the throne of Tuscany in favor of his son Ferdinand.

In 1790, Ferdinand married his double first cousin Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily and the couple had five children. During a period of thirteen years from 1801 – 1814 during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, Ferdinand was forced to renounce his throne. On May 30, 1814, after Napoleon’s fall, Ferdinand was restored as Grand Duke of Tuscany.

In 1802, Ferdinand’s wife Luise died in childbirth along with her stillborn son. Nearly twenty years later, in 1821, Ferdinand married the much younger Princess Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony, but their marriage was childless.

Ferdinand developed malaria which led to his death on June 18, 1824, at the age of 55, in Florence. Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy. He was buried in the Medici Chapels at the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence.

Luisa of Naples and Sicily, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Luisa of Naples and Sicily was born on  July 27, 1773, at the Royal Palace in Naples, Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, now in Italy. She was the daughter of King Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies, son of King Carlos III of Spain, and Maria Carolina of Austria, daughter of Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia and Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor.

Luisa married her double first cousin Ferdinando III, Duke of Tuscany. After giving birth to five children, Luisa, aged 29, died giving birth to her sixth child, a stillborn son on September 19,  1802, at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. She was buried at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria.

Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony was the daughter of Maximilian, Crown Prince of Saxony and his first wife Princess Caroline of Parma. She was born at the Royal Palace in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, on April 27, 1796.

On May 6, 1821, 25-year-old Maria Ferdinanda became the second wife of 52-year-old Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany who had been a widower for nineteen years. Ferdinand decided to marry again because his son and heir Leopold II had been married to Maria Ferdinanda’s sickly younger sister Maria Anna for more than three years and had still not fathered a son. However, the marriage of Ferdinand and Maria Ferdinanda was childless and Ferdinand died three years later.

Maria Ferdinanda never remarried and survived her husband for forty-one years, dying on  January 3, 1865, at the Chateau Brandýs nad Labem in the Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. She was buried in the Ferdinand Vault at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria where her husband’s first wife was also buried.

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Leopoldo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1824 – 1859)

Born on October 3, 1797, in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Leopoldo was the son of Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his first wife Luisa Maria Amelia Teresa of Naples and Sicily.

In 1817, Leopoldo married Princess Maria Anna of Saxony. The couple had three daughters and Maria Anna died in 1832 from tuberculosis. A year after Maria Anna’s death, Leopoldo married his first cousin Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies and the couple had ten children.

Upon the death of his father in 1824, Leopoldo II became Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1859, the Grand Ducal family was forced to flee Florence because of the wars caused by the Italian unification movement and the family took refuge in Austria. On July 21, 1859, Leopoldo II abdicated in favor of his son Ferdinand IV who was Grand Duke of Tuscany in name but never really reigned.

In November 1869, Leopoldo and his wife Maria Antonia made a pilgrimage to Rome, and he died there on January 29, 1870, at the age of 72.  Initially, Leopoldo was buried in Rome at the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles (Santi Apostoli). In 1914,  his remains were transferred to Vienna, Austria where they were interred in the Tuscan Vault at the Imperial Crypt.

Tombs in the Tuscan Vault; Credit – Von Welleschik – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6656990

Maria Anna of Saxony, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Maria Anna of Saxony was born in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, on November 15, 1799.  She was the daughter of Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Saxony and his first wife Princess Caroline of Parma.

On November 16, 1817, Maria Anna married the future Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The couple had three daughters including Archduchess Auguste of Austria who married Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, a younger son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. Luitpold became Regent of Bavaria after Auguste’s death.

Maria Anna, aged 32, died on March 24, 1832, at the Royal Palace in Pisa, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy, from tuberculosis which also caused the early death of her daughter Auguste. She was buried at the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy.

Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Born in Palermo, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now Italy, on December 19, 1814, Maria Antonia was the daughter of King Francesco I of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Maria Isabel of Spain. Maria Antonia married her first cousin the widowed Leopoldo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany on June 7, 1833, and the couple had ten children.

Due to the Italian unification wars, Maria Antonia’s husband abdicated in favor of their son Ferdinand IV who was Grand Duke of Tuscany in name but never really reigned. The family fled Tuscany and settled in the Austrian Empire.

After the death of her husband, Maria Antonia lived mostly at Schloss Ort in Gmunden, Austria where she died at the age of 83 on November 7, 1898. She was interred in the Ferdinand Vault at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria.

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Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1859 – 1860)

The last Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando IV was born on June 10, 1835, in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy. He was the son of Leopoldo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his second wife Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies.

Ferdinando married Princess Anna of Saxony in 1856. The couple had one daughter. Anna died shortly after a miscarriage in 1859. Less than two months after Anna’s death, the Grand Ducal family was forced to flee Tuscany because of the Italian unification wars. Ferdinando’s father abdicated in his favor but Ferdinando was Grand Duke in name only and never really reigned. Tuscany was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860, as a part of the unification of Italy. In 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy.

Ferdinando spent the rest of his life in exile in the Austrian Empire. He married Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma in 1868, and the couple had ten children. Ferdinando was allowed to keep the grand ducal title as a courtesy but his descendants could only use the title of Archduke or Archduchess of Austria. Only family members born before 1866 could use the title Prince or Princess of Tuscany. In 1870,  Ferdinand relinquished all dynastic rights to the former Grand Duchy of Tuscany for himself and his future heirs in favor of his second cousin Emperor Franz Joseph I.

72-year-old Ferdinando died on January 7, 1908, in Salzburg, Austria, and was buried in the Tuscan Vault in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria. Upon his death, his descendants were barred from using their Tuscan titles by Imperial decree.

Anna of Saxony, Hereditary Grand of Tuscany

Anna was the daughter of King Johann of Saxony and Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. She was born on January 4, 1836, in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony. In 1856, she married the future Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Anna gave birth to a daughter in 1858. On February 6, 1859, she miscarried a daughter due to typhoid fever. Four days later Anna died at the age of twenty-three. She was buried at the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy.

Alicia of Parma, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Alicia of Parma was born on December 27, 1849, in Parma, Duchy of Parma, now in Italy. She was the daughter of Carlo III, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France.

In 1868, Alicia married Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Ferdinand had lost his throne in 1860 due to the unification of Italy. Alicia and Ferdinando had ten children. The couple lived in Austria where Ferdinand died in 1908. Alicia survived him by twenty-seven years, dying on January 16, 1935, aged 85, at Schloss Schwertburg (link in German) in Schwertberg, Austria. She was first buried in Schwertburg and in 2007, her remains were reburied in the cemetery of the parish church in St. Gilgen, Austria.

Parish church and cemetery in St. Gilgen, Austria; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93056877

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