Prince Ferdinando Pio of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Prince Ferdinando Pio, Duke of Calabria was Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and pretender to the former throne from 1934 until he died in 1960. His death brought about a dispute between two branches of his extended family, both claiming to be the rightful heir and thus head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Prince Ferdinando Pio of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria source: Wikipedia

Prince Ferdinando Pio Maria, was born in Rome on July 25, 1869, the eldest child of Prince Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta and Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had 11 younger siblings:

Princess Maria Ludwiga of Bavaria. source: Wikipedia

On May 31, 1897 in Munich, Ferdinando Pio married Princess Maria Ludwiga Theresia of Bavaria. She was a daughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria and Maria Theresia of Austria-Este. The couple settled in Munich, and had six children:

  • Princess Maria Antonietta (1898) – unmarried
  • Princess Maria Christina (1899) – married Dr. Don Manuel Sotomayor y Luna, no issue
  • Prince Ruggero, Duke of Noto (1901) – died in childhood
  • Princess Barbara (1902) – married Count Franz Xavier of Stolberg-Wernigerode, had issue
  • Princess Lucia (1908) – married Eugenio di Savoia-Genova, Duke of Genova, had issue
  • Princess Urraca (1913) – unmarried

After the Bavarian Monarchy was abolished in 1918, Ferdinando Pio and his family settled at Villa Amsee in Lindau, where he would live the remainder of his life.  Upon his father’s death in May 1934, Ferdinando Pio became pretender to the former throne and Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. At this time, he took the title Duke of Calabria, the traditional title of the Head of the House.

grave of Ferdinando Pio and his wife. photo: By Flo Sorg – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26567819

The Duke of Calabria died at Villa Amsee on January 7, 1960. He was buried at the Filialkirche St. Peter und Paul in Rieden, Swabia, Germany.

His death brought about the current dispute over the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. As he had no surviving sons, it should have passed to the descendants of his younger brother, Prince Carlo, who had died in 1949. Carlo’s son, Infante Alfonso of Spain, claimed to be the rightful heir. The second claimant was Ferdinando Pio’s younger brother, Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro. The primary issue of the dispute is whether Carlo had renounced his rights of succession when he married the Spanish heiress-presumptive, Maria de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, in 1901. At the time, Carlo became a Spanish and was made an Infante of Spain. Prince Ranieri interpreted this as a renunciation of any claims to the throne of Two Sicilies, thus making him the rightful heir. However, Infante Alfonso argued that the renunciation would have only taken effect if Mercedes had ascended to the Spanish throne.

The dispute continues today, with two branches of the family claiming to be the rightful heir and Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies:

  • The Senior Line (Calabrian) – descended from Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria
  • The Junior Line (Castrian) – descended from Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro

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Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Archduke of Further Austria, King of Hungary and Croatia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Holy Roman Emperor Matthias; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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Matthias and his wife Anna of Tyrol are the founders of the Capuchin Church (German: Kapuzinerkirche) in Vienna, Austria, where the Imperial Crypt (German: Kaisergruft), the traditional burial site of the Habsburgs, is located. Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1612 – 1619) was also King of Bohemia (reigned 1611 – 1617), Archduke of Austria (reigned 1608 – 1619), Archduke of Further Austria, (1608 – 1619), King of Hungary and Croatia (reigned 1608 – 1618). Born on February 24, 1557, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Matthias was the seventh of the sixteen children and the fourth but the third surviving son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria and his first cousin Maria, Infanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria. Rudolf’s paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. His maternal grandparents were Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also Carlos I, King of Spain; Karl I, Archduke of Austria; Charles II, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, among many other titles) and Isabella of Portugal.

Matthias’ parents with his three eldest surviving siblings Anna, Rudolf, and Ernst; Credit – Wikipedia

Matthias had fourteen siblings:

Matthias, age 22, as Archduke in armor holding a general’s staff; Credit – Wikipedia

Very little is known about Matthias’ childhood. One of his teachers was Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq, a Flemish writer, herbalist, and diplomat in the employ of three generations of Holy Roman Emperors. In 1572, Matthias’ father Maximilian II passed the crown of Hungary to his eldest son Rudolf, and in 1575, Rudolf was also granted the crown of Bohemia and the Habsburg hereditary territories. Rudolf was elected King of the Romans in 1575, ensuring that he would succeed his father as Holy Roman Emperor. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged forty-nine, in the Imperial City of Regensburg, now in the German state of Bavaria, on October 12, 1576. Matthias’ brother Rudolf was considered an ineffective ruler. Rudolf’s conflict with the Islamic Ottoman Empire was his undoing. He was unwilling to compromise with the Ottomans and was determined to unify all of Christendom with a new crusade, so he started a long and indecisive war against the Ottomans, the Long Turkish War (1593 – 1606).

Rudolf’s Hungarian subjects were tired of the Long Turkish War and revolted in 1604. In 1605, Habsburg family members forced Rudolf to give control of Hungary to his brother Archduke Matthias. By 1606, Matthias had negotiated peace with the Hungarian rebels (1606 Treaty of Vienna) and the Ottomans (1606 Peace of Zsitvatorok). However, Rudolf was angry with Matthias’s concessions and his hold on power and he prepared to start a new war against the Ottoman Empire. With support from the Hungarians, Matthias forced Rudolf to cede the crowns of Hungary, Austria, and Moravia to him. Meanwhile, the Bohemian Protestants demanded greater religious liberty, which Rudolf granted in the Letter of Majesty in 1609. However, when the Bohemian Protestants asked for further freedom, Rudolf used his army against them. The Bohemian Protestants then appealed to Matthias for help. Matthias’ army held Rudolf prisoner at his usual residence, Prague Castle in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic, until 1611 when Rudolf ceded the crown of Bohemia to Matthias. Rudolf lost what was left of his power and lived in isolation at Prague Castle in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic.

Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 4, 1611, at the Augustinian Church in Vienna, Austria, Matthias married his first cousin Anna of Tyrol, daughter of his paternal uncle Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria and his second wife and niece Anna Caterina Gonzaga. Although Matthias was 54 years old, he hoped to have children with his 26-year-old wife but their marriage was childless.

Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

When Matthias’ unmarried brother Rudolf died on January 20, 1612, nine months after he had been stripped of all effective power by his younger brother, Matthias was elected to succeed him as Holy Roman Emperor and also succeeded to all Rudolf’s hereditary titles. During Matthias’ reign, the court and the government offices moved from Prague to Vienna. Matthias had allegedly found a spring in the area of today’s magnificent Schönbrunn Palace, outside of Vienna, which became the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers. It is said that the name of the area and the palace came from Matthias’ remark: “Look, what a beautiful spring!” (beautiful: schön, spring: Brunn[en]).

During his seven-year reign, Matthias was seriously ill with gout and preferred the distractions of court life to the boring affairs of state. Cardinal Melchior Klesl, Matthias’ chief minister and favorite determined the policies. Klesl wanted to arrange a compromise between Catholic and Protestant states within the Holy Roman Empire to strengthen the empire. These policies were opposed by the more conservative Catholic Habsburgs, especially Matthias’s brother Archduke Maximilian, who hoped to secure the succession for their ardent Catholic cousin Archduke Ferdinand, who later became Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II.

Concerned with their religious freedom, the Protestant Bohemians opposed all Catholic officials appointed by Matthias. This led to the 1618 Defenestration of Prague, a Bohemian Protestant revolt, and one of the three incidents in the history of Bohemia in which people were defenestrated – thrown out of a window. The 1618 Defenestration of Prague led to the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648), one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, with an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians dying as a result of battle, famine, and disease.

Matthias was old, ill, and unable to prevent the faction of his brother Archduke Maximilian from gaining power. He died on March 20, 1619, aged 62, in Vienna, Austria. His wife Anna had died just three months before, on December 15, 1618, aged 33. Archduke Ferdinand had already been crowned King of Bohemia in 1617 and King of Hungary in 1618. He was elected Holy Roman Emperor on August 28, 1619.

Interior of the Capuchin Church; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Matthias and his wife Anna did not leave any children, they left the future Habsburgs a burial site. Matthias and Anna founded the Capuchin Church (German: Kapuzinerkirche) in Vienna, Austria, where the Imperial Crypt (German: Kaisergruft), the traditional burial site of the Habsburgs, is located. Anna 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. Construction began on November 10, 1618, but sadly, Anna died a month later and Matthias died three months after Anna. Because the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church had not yet been completed, Matthias and Anna were temporarily buried at the Poor Clares Convent of St. Maria, Queen of the Angels in Vienna.

Tombs of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias and 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

The Capuchin Church was not completed and dedicated until 1632 because of the Thirty Years’ War. On Easter 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. Located under the Imperial Chapel, a side chapel in the main church, 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. Through the years, other vaults have been added and Capuchin friars still look after the tombs.

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

This writer has visited the Capuchin Church. The burial place of the Habsburgs is so unlike the soaring cathedrals containing the other royal 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 is there.

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

  • Anna of Tyrol (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_of_Tyrol (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/capuchin-church-in-vienna-austria/ (Accessed: 02 June 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maximilian-ii-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia-archduke-of-austria/ (Accessed: 02 June 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/rudolf-ii-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia-archduke-of-austria-margrave-of-moravia/ (Accessed: 02 June 2023).
  • Matthias (HRR) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_(HRR) (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
  • Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 12 June 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.

Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, Dauphine of France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Anna Victoria, Dauphine of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria was the wife of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain. As the heir apparent to the French throne, Louis was styled Dauphin of France and was called Le Grand Dauphin after the birth of his son Louis who was called Le Petit Dauphin. Maria Anna Victoria was known as La Grande Dauphine. However, King Louis XIV outlived both his son and his grandson and when he died in 1715, Louis XIV was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV of France.

Maria Anna Victoria’s parents Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna Christine Victoria was born on November 28, 1660, in Munich, Electorate of Bavaria, later the Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. She was the eldest of the seven children and the eldest of the three daughters of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy. Maria Anna Victoria’s paternal grandparents were Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria and his second wife Maria Anna of Austria. Her maternal grandparents were Vittorio Amedeo I, Duke of Savoy and Christine Marie of France.

Maria Anna Victoria with her brother Maximilian Emanuel; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna Victoria had six siblings but only three survived childhood:

In 1668, eight-year-old Maria Anna Victoria was betrothed to her second cousin seven-year-old Louis, Dauphin of France, the only child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain to survive childhood. There was a family connection. Christine Marie of France, Maria Anna Victoria’s maternal grandmother was the sister of King Louis XIII of France, the paternal grandfather of Louis, Dauphin of France. That made Maria Anna Victoria’s mother Henriette Adelaide of Savoy and Louis’s father King Louis XIV of France first cousins.

Maria Anna Victoria in 1679 being handed the crown of the Dauphine of France by an angel signifying her coming marriage to the heir to the French throne the next year; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna Victoria was carefully educated for her future role and looked forward to being the Dauphine of France. Besides her native language of German, she was taught to speak French, Italian, and Latin. Maria Anna Victoria’s mother oversaw her daughter’s artistic and musical education, and Maria Anna Victoria wrote poetry, painted, sang, and played the harpsichord.

Maria Anna Victoria meeting her father-in-law King Louis XIV for the first time in March 1680, presumably, the groom is standing on the right; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna Victoria and Louis, Dauphin of France were married in a proxy ceremony in Munich in the Electorate of Bavaria on January 28, 1680. The couple first met on March 7, 1680, the day of their religious wedding at Saint Etienne Cathedral in Châlons-sur-Marne, France. Maria Anna Victoria was the first Dauphine of France since Mary, Queen of Scots married the future King François II of France in 1558.

Louis and Maria Anna Victoria with their three sons: Louis on the right, Philippe in front, and Charles on his mother’s lap; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna Victoria and Louis had three sons:

After her marriage, Maria Anna Victoria took on the rank of her husband as a Fille de France (Daughter of France) and was entitled to the style Royal Highness and the title Madame la Dauphine. As the wife of the heir to the throne, she was the second most important woman at the French court after her mother-in-law Maria Theresa of Spain. Three years later, Maria Theresa died and Maria Anna Victoria then held the highest female position at court and was given the late queen’s apartments at the Palace of Versailles. King Louis XIV expected her to perform the duties of his late wife but Maria Anna Victoria’s ill health made it very difficult for her to perform these duties. King Louis XIV was completely unsympathetic to his daughter-in-law’s situation and, as it would turn out, falsely accused her of hypochondria.

The French court prized beauty and Maria Anna Victoria suffered from depression because she considered herself ugly, as did others at the French court, which contributed to her depression. Her husband had mistresses and illegitimate children, and so she began to lead a secluded life, spending time in her apartments. There Maria Anna Victoria spoke German, which her husband could not understand, with her friend, confidant, and Première femme de Chambre (First Chamber Maid, an office at the French court) Barbara Bessola. Maria Anna Victoria was friendly with Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Duchess of Orléans, known as Liselotte, the second wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, King Louis XIV’s only sibling. German was also Liselotte’s first language, and she also never felt comfortable at the French court which was governed by rigorous etiquette and where all sorts of intrigues flourished.

The catafalque of Maria Anna Victoria for her funeral at the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris; Credit – Wikipedia

The births of her three sons and at least six miscarriages had caused Maria Anna Victoria’s health to deteriorate. Her third son’s birth was particularly difficult, and on her deathbed, Maria Anna Victoria was convinced that her last childbirth had killed her. Maria Anna Victoria, aged twenty-nine, died on April 20, 1690, at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. She was buried at the traditional burial site of the French royal family, the Basilica of St. Denis in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France. An autopsy revealed several internal disorders that completely vindicated her complaints of chronic and severe illness. It is also probable that Maria Anna Victoria had tuberculosis.

In 1694, Maria Anna Victoria’s widower Louis, Le Grand Dauphin secretly married his mistress Marie Émilie de Joly de Choin, a lady-in-waiting at the French court. The marriage was not officially recognized and Marie Émilie did not participate in court life. On April 14, 1711, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France died from smallpox at the age of forty-nine. His eldest son Louis, Le Petit Dauphin, became the heir to the French throne but in less than a year, he too was dead from measles at the age of twenty-nine. Three years later, the five-year-old son of Louis, Le Petit Dauphin became King Louis XV of France upon the death of his great-grandfather King Louis XIV three years later.

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

Works Cited

  • Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Maria,_Elector_of_Bavaria (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Louis of France, Le Grand Dauphin, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-le-grand-dauphin/ (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
  • Fraser, Antonia. (2006). Love and Louis XIV. New York: Nan A. Talese Doubleday.
  • Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_Victoria_of_Bavaria (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
  • Maria Anna Victoria von Bayern (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_Victoria_von_Bayern (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
  • Marie-Anne de Bavière (1660-1690) (2023) Wikipedia (French). Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Anne_de_Bavi%C3%A8re_(1660-1690) (Accessed: 04 June 2023).

Sigismund of Habsburg-Lorraine, Archduke of Austria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Sigismund of Habsburg-Lorraine is the current Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany. He holds the courtesy titles of Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany.

photo by SigismondoAL — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=105626406

Sigismund was born in Lausanne on April 21, 1966, the elder son of Archduke Leopold Franz of Austria and Laetitia de Belzunce d’Arenberg. He has one younger brother:

  • Gontran (1967) – married Debora de Sola, had issue

He was raised in Switzerland, Uruguay and the United Kingdom, and later studied computer science and worked in the banking industry. In 1993, his father renounced his rights as head of the house upon his second marriage. Since then, Sigismund has been the pretender to the former throne.

On September 11, 1999 in London, Sigismund married Elyssa Edmonstone, the daughter of Sir Archibald Edmonstone, 7th Baronet Duntreach and Elizabeth Deakin. The couple had three children before divorcing in 2013:

  • Leopold (2001)
  • Tatyana (2003)
  • Maximilian (2004)

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

Grand Duchy of Tuscany Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Margrave of Moravia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1576 – 1612), King of Bohemia (reigned 1576 – 1611), King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Margrave of Moravia (reigned 1576 – 1608) was born on July 18, 1552, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria. He was third of the fifteen children and the second but the eldest surviving of the ten sons of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria and his first cousin Maria, Infanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria. Rudolf’s paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. His maternal grandparents were Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also Carlos I, King of Spain; Karl I, Archduke of Austria; Charles II, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, among many other titles) and Isabella of Portugal.

Rudolf’s parents with their three eldest surviving children Anna (in the red), Rudolf (in the middle), and Ernst (in the cradle); Credit – Wikipedia

Rudolf had fourteen siblings:

Rudolf at age fifteen, while at the court of his uncle King Felipe II of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Rudolf spent his early years at the courts of his grandfather Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and father Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. There was a pro-Protestant contingent among the nobility at Maximilian II’s court in Vienna. Johann Sebastian Pfauser, Maximilian’s court chaplain, had originally been Roman Catholic but converted to Lutheranism. Through his influence, Maximilian abandoned purely Catholic customs, read Protestant writings, and refused to receive Communion according to the Catholic rite. To protect Rudolf and Ernst, Maximilian II’s two eldest sons, from Protestant influences, King Felipe II of Spain, the boys’ maternal uncle, urged that they leave their father’s court. From 1563 – 1571, Rudolf and Ernst lived in Spain at the Roman Catholic court of their maternal uncle King Felipe II of Spain.

Rudolf never married. In 1568, as part of the Habsburg marriage policy, sixteen-year-old Rudolf had been betrothed to his first cousin, two-year-old Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, the daughter of Rudolf’s maternal uncle King Felipe II of Spain. Isabella Clara Eugenia had to wait for more than twenty years before Rudolf declared that he had no intention of marrying anybody. In 1599, 31-year-old Isabella Clara Eugenia married Albrecht VII, Archduke of Austria, Governor of the Low Countries, one of Rudolf’s younger brothers.

Rudolf’s father Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1572, Rudolf’s father Maximilian II passed the crown of Hungary to his son, and in 1575, Rudolf was also granted the crown of Bohemia and the Habsburg hereditary territories. Rudolf was elected King of the Romans in 1575, ensuring that he would succeed his father as Holy Roman Emperor. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged forty-nine, in the Imperial City of Regensburg, now in the German state of Bavaria, on October 12, 1576.

Rudolf is considered an ineffective ruler whose mistakes directly led to the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648), one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, with an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians dying as a result of battle, famine, and disease. However, Rudolf was a major patron of the arts and sciences, and his support helped foster the Scientific Revolution. Although raised in his uncle’s Catholic court in Spain, Rudolf was tolerant of Protestantism and other religions including Judaism. His tolerance toward the Jews resulted in the flourishing of Jewish cultural life and an increase in the Jewish population during Rudolf’s reign. Rudolf’s conflict with the Islamic Ottoman Empire was his undoing. He was unwilling to compromise with the Ottomans and was determined to unify all of Christendom with a new crusade, so he started a long and indecisive war against the Ottomans, the Long Turkish War (1593 – 1606).

Rudolf’s brother, the future Holy Roman Emperor Matthias; Credit – Wikipedia

Rudolf’s Hungarian subjects were tired of the Long Turkish War and revolted in 1604. In 1605, Habsburg family members forced Rudolf to give control of Hungary to his brother Archduke Matthias. By 1606, Matthias had negotiated peace with the Hungarian rebels (1606 Treaty of Vienna) and the Ottomans (1606 Peace of Zsitvatorok). However, Rudolf was angry with Matthias’s concessions and his hold on power and he prepared to start a new war against the Ottoman Empire. With support from the Hungarians, Matthias forced Rudolf to cede the crowns of Hungary, Austria, and Moravia to him. Meanwhile, the Bohemian Protestants demanded greater religious liberty, which Rudolf granted in the Letter of Majesty in 1609. However, when the Bohemian Protestants asked for further freedom, Rudolf used his army against them. The Bohemian Protestants then appealed to Matthias for help. Matthias’ army held Rudolf prisoner at his usual residence, Prague Castle in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic, until 1611 when Rudolf ceded the crown of Bohemia to Matthias. Rudolf lost what was left of his power and lived in isolation at Prague Castle in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic.

Rudolf, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Rudolf, aged fifty-nine, died at Prague Castle on January 20, 1612, nine months after he was stripped of all effective power by his younger brother, except the empty title of Holy Roman Emperor, to which Matthias was elected five months later. Toward the end of his life, Rudolf showed signs of schizophrenia, refused to bathe, and lived in squalor. Rudolf was buried in the royal vault at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic.

St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic, where Rudolf is buried; Credit – By Alvesgaspar – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52660920

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. (2023) Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maximilian-ii-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia-archduke-of-austria/ (Accessed: 02 June 2023).
  • Rudolf II. (HRR) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_II._(HRR) (Accessed: 02 June 2023).
  • Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 02 June 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.

Sophia Friederike of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Sophia Friederike of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophia Friederike of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark and Norway, the mother of King Christian VIII of Denmark, was born on August 24, 1758, in Schwerin, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. She was the second of the two children and the only daughter of Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Charlotte Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Sophia Friederike’s paternal grandparents were Christian Ludwig II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Duchess Gustave Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Her maternal grandparents were Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

Sophie Friederike with her brother Friedrich Franz, 1764; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophia Friederike had one older brother:

Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 21, 1774, 16-year-old Sophia Friederike married 21-year-old Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark and Norway, the only child of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and his second wife Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. When Sophia Friederike first met Frederik, she was disappointed by his less favorable appearance. She had difficulty settling at the Danish court and repeatedly complained of its dullness. Although the couple eventually became fond of each other, they both had lovers, and the father of Sophia Friederike’s children was rumored to be her husband’s adjutant Frederik von Blücher (link in Danish).

Sophia Friederike and Frederik with their three eldest surviving children Christian, Juliane, and Louise; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophia Friederike and Frederik had two stillborn daughters before the birth of their five children. Through their daughter Louise Charlotte, they are the ancestors of the Belgian, British, Danish, Luxembourg, Norwegian, and Spanish royal families and the former royal families of Greece and Romania.

Frederik’s elder half-brother King Christian VII of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

At the time of the marriage, Frederik’s elder half-brother Christian VII, the son of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and his first wife, Princess Louisa of Great Britain, was King of Denmark and Norway. Soon after Christian VII’s succession, it became clear that he was not quite normal. It is unknown if Christian’s mental illness was caused by the brutal childhood treatment of his governor Christian Ditlev Reventlow, Count of Reventlow, possible porphyria inherited from his Hanover mother, or schizophrenia. Christian’s symptoms included paranoia, self-mutilation, and hallucinations. It was becoming clearer and clearer that Christian could not fulfill his role as king. Eventually, as a result of King Christian VII’s mental illness, Sophia Friederike’s husband Frederik and his mother Queen Dowager Juliana Maria became involved in major political manipulations. Their actions, of course, would affect Sophia Friederike and her status in the Danish royal family.

Sophia Friederike’s mother-in-law Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Queen Dowager of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

On a trip arranged for Christian because it was believed that new environments could change King Christian VII’s behavior, Christian became acquainted with the physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee was the first person who understood that Christian was seriously ill. When Christian came home from the trip, Struensee accompanied him and was employed as Christian’s personal physician. Because of Christian’s confidence in him, Struensee gained political power. He also became the lover of Christian VII’s ill-treated wife, born Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales, whose marriage was less than satisfactory. When Caroline Matilda gave birth to her daughter Louise, no one doubted that Struensee was Louise’s father. In 1772, Frederik’s mother, Queen Dowager Juliana Maria, maneuvered a coup that would bring about the fall of Struensee and discredit Caroline Matilda. Juliana Maria arranged for King Christian VII to sign Struensee’s arrest warrant after Struensee had been in the king’s name. Struensee was executed and Caroline Matilda was exiled for the rest of her life.

After the fall of Struensee, Frederik and his mother Juliana Maria took charge of the Council of State. Christian VII was only nominally king from 1772 onward. Crown Prince Frederik (the future King Frederik VI), King Christian VII’s son, had no intention of allowing his uncle Frederik and his stepgrandmother Juliana Maria to continue their rule. In 1784, Crown Prince Frederik reached the age of legal majority and then ruled permanently as Prince Regent. He somehow managed to get his insane father to sign an order dismissing the supporters of his Frederik and Juliana Maria’s supporters from the Council of State and declaring that no royal order was legal unless co-signed by the Crown Prince, thereby deposing Frederik and Juliana Maria. After losing power, Frederik’s political career ended, his family’s status in the Danish royal family was greatly diminished, and he and Sophia Friederike lived as private people for the rest of their lives.

Roskilde Cathedral; Photo © Susan Flantzer

On November 29, 1794, Sophia Friederike, aged thirty-six, died at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, north of Copenhagen. She was buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark, the traditional burial site of the Danish royal family. Hereditary Prince Frederik survived his wife by eleven years, dying at Amalienborg in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 7, 1805, at the age of 52. He also was buried at Roskilde Cathedral. Because King Frederick VI, Frederik’s nephew, the son of his half-brother King Christian VII, had two daughters but no sons, upon his death in 1839, he was succeeded by the son of Sophia Friederike and Frederik, King Christian VIII.

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

  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Arveprins Frederik. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arveprins_Frederik [Accessed 01 Jun. 2023].
  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Sophie Frederikke af Mecklenburg-Schwerin. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Frederikke_af_Mecklenburg-Schwerin [Accessed 01 Jun. 2023].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Sophia_Frederica_of_Mecklenburg-Schwerin [Accessed 01 Jun. 2023].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Denmark [Accessed 1 Jun. 2023].
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark and Norway, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/frederik-hereditary-prince-of-denmark/ (Accessed: 01 June 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2017). Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Queen of Denmark. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/juliana-maria-of-brunswick-wolfenbuttel-bevern-queen-of-denmark/ [Accessed 01 Jun. 2023].
  • Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Accessed: 01 June 2023).

Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Crown Prince of Oman

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Crown Prince of Oman; Credit – By Chris Fletcher – https://www.army.mod.uk/media/18699/rmas-ccs-222-5.jpg, OGL 3, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=149714272

Arabic Naming Conventions

  • Al – family/clan of…
  • bin or ibn – son of…
  • bint – daughter of…

Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said is the first Crown Prince of Oman. Before January 11, 2021, the day Theyazin became Crown Prince, the succession to the throne was handled in a somewhat unusual way. Upon the death of the Sultan, the royal family council was charged with naming his successor within three days. If they were unable to agree upon a new Sultan, there was a sealed envelope from the late Sultan naming his personal choice to succeed him. On January 11, 2020, the day after the death of Sultan Qaboos of Oman, Theyazin’s father Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan Qaboos’ first cousin, was named as Sultan of Oman after a sealed letter from Qaboos was opened identifying whom he wished to take his place.

Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said was born in Muscat, Oman on August 21, 1990. He is the eldest of the four children and the elder of the two sons of Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan of Oman and Ahad bint Abdullah bin Hamad Al Busaidia. Theyazin’s grandfather was Tariq bin Taimur Al Said, the son of Taimur bin Feisal, Sultan of Muscat and Oman who reigned from 1913 until 1932 when he abdicated in favor of his eldest son Said bin Taimur, the father of the previous Sultan Qaboos of Oman.

Theyazin has one brother and two sisters:

  • Bilarab bin Haitham (born 1995)
  • Thuraya bint Haitham
  • Omaima bint Haitham

From 2014 – 2019, Theyazin gained experience working at the Omani Embassy in London. He also has worked at the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Theyazin attended Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in history. In 2022, he graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom.

On January 11, 2021, Theyazin bin Haitham, the eldest son of Sultan Haitham, became the Sultanate’s first Crown Prince following constitutional amendments approved by Sultan Haitham. He is also the Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth.

On November 11, 2021, in Mazay Hall of Al Alam Palace in Muscat, Oman, Crown Prince Theyazin married his double first cousin Meyyan bint Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, the daughter of his paternal uncle Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for Defence Affairs and his maternal aunt Rawdah bint Abdullah bin Hamad Al Busaidia.

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) Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan of Oman, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/haitham-bin-tariq-al-said-sultan-of-oman/ (Accessed: 06 July 2023).
  • Nasrallah, Tawfiq. (2021) Oman’s first ever Crown Prince to marry this week, Oman – Gulf News. Available at: https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/oman/omans-first-ever-crown-prince-to-marry-this-week-1.83519615 (Accessed: 06 July 2023).
  • Theyazin bin Haitham (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theyazin_bin_Haitham#:~:text=Theyazin%20bin%20Haitham%20Al%20Said,the%20rule%20of%20Sultan%20Qaboos). (Accessed: 06 July 2023).

  • ذي يزن بن هيثم آل سعيد  (Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said) (2023) Wikipedia (Arabic). Available at: https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B0%D9%8A_%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%86_%D8%A8%D9%86_%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%AB%D9%85_%D8%A2%D9%84_%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%AF (Accessed: 06 July 2023).

Archduke Leopold Franz of Austria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Archduke Leopold Franz of Austria was the Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany from 1984 until renouncing his rights in favor of his son in 1993.

Archduke Leopold Franz Peter Ferdinand Maria Joseph Gottfried Georg Karl Otto Rudolf Michael was born at Leutstetten Castle, near Starnberg, Bavaria, on October 25, 1942. He was the only son of Archduke Gottfried of Austria and Princess Dorothea of Bavaria. He had three sisters:

  • Archduchess Elisabeth (1939) – married Friedrich Edler von Braun, had issue
  • Archduchess Alice (1941) – married Baron Vittorio Manno, had issue
  • Archduchess Marie Antoinette (1950) – married Baron von Proff zu Irnich, had issue

Leopold Franz married Laetitia de Bezunce d’Arenberg in a civil ceremony on June 19, 1965 and religious ceremony on July 28, 1965. The couple had two children:

  • Sigismund (1966) – married Elyssa Edmonstone, had issue
  • Gontran (1967) – married Debora de Sola, had issue

He studied engineering in Munich and later lived in Uruguay from 1965 until 1973 when he moved to Austria. He and his wife divorced in 1981. Twelve years later, he married for a second time, in June 1993, to Marta Julia Perez Valverde. At that time, Leopold Franz renounced his rights as head of the House of Tuscany in favor of his son, Sigismund. The couple later divorced in 1998.

Archduke Leopold Franz died on June 23, 2021 at the age of 78.

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

Grand Duchy of Tuscany Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Wedding of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and Rajwa Al Saif

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

On June 1, 2023, Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan married Rajwa Al Saif at Zahran Palace in Amman, Jordan.

Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan

Credit – Wikipedia

Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah of Jordan was born at the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman, Jordan on June 28, 1994, the eldest child of the then Prince Abdullah bin Hussein and Rania al Yassin. His father was the eldest son of King Hussein I of Jordan and his second wife Princess Muna al-Hussein, born Antoinette Gardiner in the United Kingdom. When King Hussein I died on February 7, 1999, Abdullah became King of Jordan and respected his father’s wishes, appointing his half-brother Hamzah Crown Prince. In 2004, King Abdullah II stripped Hamzah of the Crown Prince title. As he did not name a replacement, this made Hussein his father’s heir-apparent under the existing succession laws. On July 2, 2009, King Abdullah II issued a decree formally granting Hussein the title of Crown Prince.

Crown Prince Hussein has three younger siblings:

  • Princess Iman (born 1996), married Jameel Thermiotis, born Dimitrios Alejandro Thermiótis Hernández
  • Princess Salma (born 2000)
  • Prince Hashem (born 2005)

Crown Prince Hussein completed his secondary education at King’s Academy in Madaba-Manja, Jordan in 2012. In 2016, the Crown Prince graduated from Georgetown University in Washington DC with a degree in international history. In August 2017, Crown Prince Hussein graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, a family tradition.

Crown Prince Hussein often attends state and military functions with his father and takes an active interest in the welfare of the Jordanian people. He has also served as Regent when his father is out of the country.

Rajwa Al Saif

Credit – Wikipedia

Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on April 28, 1994, Rajwa Khaled bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al Saif is the youngest of the four children of Khalid Al Saif and his wife Azza Al Sudairi. Rajwa’s father is the CEO of the Al Saif Group, a privately-owned company with a diverse portfolio of healthcare, construction, and security services businesses. Rajwa is a member of the Al Saif family which dates back to the Subai tribe in the town of Al-Attar in Sudair, Najd, Saudi Arabia, where her ancestors were the sheikhs of the town.

After completing her primary and secondary education in Saudi Arabia, Rajwa attended the School of Architecture at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, in the United States, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture. In addition, Rajwa also holds a degree in Visual Communications from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California, in the United States. Rajwa was employed by an architecture firm in Los Angeles, California, and at the time of her engagement, she was employed by Designlab Experience, a design studio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Engagement

Crown Prince Hussein giving Rajwa Al Saif the engagement ring; Credit – Royal Hashemite Court

On August 17, 2022, the Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan announced the engagement of Crown Prince Hussein and Rajwa Al Saif. The engagement ceremony, where Hussein presented Rajwa with a pear-shaped Harry Winston diamond ring, took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at Rajwa’s family home and was attended by members of the Al Saif family and the following members of the Jordanian royal family:

  • King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, Crown Prince Hussein’s parents
  • Prince Hassan bin Talal, Crown Prince Hussein’s paternal great-uncle
  • Prince Hashem bin Abdullah, Crown Prince Hussein’s brother
  • Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, Crown Prince Hussein’s paternal half-uncle
  • Prince Hashim bin Al Hussein, Crown Prince Hussein’s paternal half-uncle
  • Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, Crown Prince Hussein’s paternal first cousin once removed
  • Prince Rashid bin El Hassan, Crown Prince Hussein’s paternal first cousin once removed

Pre-Wedding Celebrations

The Henna Party – Rajwa Al Saif and Queen Rania enjoying the entertainment; Credit – Queen Rania Official Website

On May 22, 2023, Queen Rania hosted a traditional henna party in honor of Rajwa Al Saif at the
Madareb Bani Hashem, located at Raghadan Palace. A henna party, a significant pre-wedding celebration that many cultures celebrate, is usually held several days before the wedding. The bride, her female relatives, and her friends celebrate the upcoming wedding by having a professional henna artist apply beautiful, elaborate designs on their hands and feet. Older women may offer guidance and wisdom to the bride-to-be as she begins her married life.

Rajwa’s henna party was a joyous affair, with traditional music and dancing. Traditional Jordanian and Saudi songs were performed by Nedaa Shrara, Diana Karazon, and Zain Awad, with performances by the Haleem Musical Group, the Al-Salt Girls Band, and the Misk Dance Company. The henna party was followed by a dinner hosted by Queen Rania, who gave a speech in honor of her soon-to-be daughter-in-law.

Hussein (standing in the black shirt) with the guests at the groom’s shower; Credit – Crown Prince Hussein Instagram

On May 31, 2023, Hussein’s first cousin Prince Omar bin Faisal, hosted a groom’s shower attended by male relatives and friends. That evening, King Abdullah II hosted a dinner party in honor of the wedding at the Royal Madareb Bani Hashem, located at Raghadan Palace. Over 4,000 male guests attended the dinner party that showcased the culture of Jordan’s Hashemite rulers. The guests included representatives of Jordan’s tribes, Circassian and Chechen communities, members of civil society organizations, businesspeople, youth figures, former and current government officials, and army and security agencies personnel.

Wedding Guests – A Partial List

Guests at the wedding ceremony; Credit – Royal Hashemite Court

There were 140 guests at the wedding ceremony and over 1,700 guests at the wedding reception so not all the guests attended the wedding ceremony. The guests in bold below attended the wedding ceremony.

Relatives of the Groom

  • King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, the groom’s parents
  • Princess Iman bint Abdullah and Jameel Alexander Thermiótis, the groom’s sister and brother-in-law
  • Princess Salma bint Abdullah, the groom’s sister
  • Prince Hashem bin Abdullah, the groom’s brother
  • Princess Muna Al Hussein, the groom’s paternal grandmother
  • Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein and Princess Zeina Al Feisal, the groom’s paternal uncle and his wife
  • Princess Aisha bint Al Hussein, the groom’s paternal aunt
  • Princess Zein bint Al Hussein, the groom’s paternal aunt
  • Princess Alia bint Al Hussein, the groom’s paternal half-aunt
  • Prince Ali bin Al Hussein and Princess Rym Ali, the groom’s paternal half-uncle and his wife
  • Prince Hashim bin Al Hussein and Princess Fahdah Al Hashim, the groom’s paternal half-uncle and his wife
  • Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein and Faris Ned Donovan, the groom’s paternal half-aunt and her husband
  • Princess Firyal, the groom’s former paternal great-aunt
  • Prince Talal bin Muhammad and Princess Ghida Talal, the groom’s paternal first cousin once removed and his wife
  • Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad and Princess Miriam Ghazi, the groom’s paternal first cousin once removed and his wife
  • Princess Taghrid Muhammad, the groom’s paternal great-aunt
  • Prince Hassan bin Talal and Princess Sarvath El Hassan, the groom’s paternal great-uncle and his wife
  • Princess Rahma bint El Hassan, the groom’s paternal first cousin once removed
  • Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, the groom’s paternal first cousin once removed
  • Prince Rashid bin El Hassan and Princess Zeina Rashid, the groom’s paternal first cousin once removed and his wife
  • Princess Basma bint Talal, the groom’s paternal great-aunt
  • Ilham Al-Yassin, the groom’s maternal grandmother
  • Dina Al-Yassin and Sherif Zoubi, the groom’s maternal aunt and her husband
  • Majdi Al-Yassin and Rym Haurani, the groom’s maternal uncle and his wife

Relatives of the Bride

  • Khaled Al Saif and Azza Al Sudairi, the bride’s parents
  • Faisal Al Saif, the bride’s brother
  • Nayef Al Saif, the bride’s brother
  • Dana Al Saif, the bride’s sister

Foreign Royalty – Current Monarchies

  • Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, representing his father Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, and his brother Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain
  • King Philippe of the Belgians and his daughter and heir apparent The Duchess of Brabant
  • Queen Jetsun of Bhutan, representing her husband King King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan, and her sister-in-law Princess Euphelma Choden of Bhutan
  • Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei and his son Prince ‘Abdul Mateen of Brunei
  • Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and his wife Crown Princess Mary, representing his mother Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
  • Princess Takamado of Japan, representing Emperor Naruhito of Japan, and her daughter Princess Tsuguko of Takamado
  • Sheikh Ahmad Al Abdullah Al Sabah of Kuwait and Sheikha Muna Al-Klaib of Kuwait, representing Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
  • Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and his wife Hereditary Princess Sophie, representing his father Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein
  • Prince Johann Wenzel of Liechtenstein and his wife Princess Felicitas of Liechtenstein
  • Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg, representing his father Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg
  • The Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and his wife Raja Permaisuri Agong
  • King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife Queen Máxima
  • The Princess of Orange, daughter and heir apparent of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
  • Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, representing his father King Harald V of Norway
  • Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said of Oman, representing his father Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said of Oman
  • Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned of Qatar, representing her son Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, and her son Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani
  • King Juan Carlos I of Spain and his wife Queen Sofía of Spain, representing their son King Felipe VI of Spain
  • Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband Prince Daniel, representing her father King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
  • Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, representing his father Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Emir of Abu Dhabi
  • The Prince and Princess of Wales, representing his father King Charles III of the United Kingdom
  • Princess Beatrice, Mrs. Mapelli Mozzi, niece of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

Foreign Royalty – Former Monarchies

  • Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria, his wife Tsaritsa Margarita, their son Kyril, Prince of Preslav, and his partner Katharine Butler
  • Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece
  • Empress Farah of Iran
  • Princess Margareta of Romania, Custodian of the Crown of Romania and her husband Prince Radu

Jordan Government Officials

  • Bisher Khasawneh, Prime Minister of Jordan and his wife Rana Sultan
  • Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Foreign Dignitaries

  • Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League and his wife Leila Aboul Gheit
  • Philippa Karsera, First Lady of Cyprus
  • Entissar el-Sisi, First Lady of Egypt and her daughter Aya el-Sisi
  • Abdul Latif and Shanaz Rashid, President and First Lady of Iraq
  • Barham and Sarbagh Salih, former President and First Lady of Iraq
  • Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, former Prime Minister of Iraq
  • Masoud Barzani, former President of Iraqi Kurdistan
  • Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan
  • Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister of Italy and his wife Agnese Landini
  • Najib Mikati, Prime Minister of Lebanon and his wife May Mikati
  • Bilawal Bhutto, Foreign Minister of Pakistan
  • Paul and Jeannette Kagame, President and First Lady of Rwanda
  • David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and his wife Samantha Cameron
  • Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States and her daughter Ashley Biden
  • Nancy Pelosi, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and her husband Paul Pelosi

Other Notable Guests

  • Carole Middleton, mother of The Princess of Wales
  • Philippa and James Matthews, sister and brother-in-law of The Princess of Wales
  • Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner

Wedding Attire

 

Rajwa wore a custom white silk crepe gown by Lebanese designer Elie Saab with long sleeves, an asymmetric neckline, and a draped bodice. The curve-hugging dress featured a long train with cut-out flowers and pearl details. Rajwa wore sensible, pointed-toe white flats. Her hair was styled in loose curls, topped with a diamond tiara, holding the flowing veil in place.

Crown Prince Hussein wore a military uniform with black, white, and red military regalia complete with gold embellishments.

The Wedding Ceremony

Crown Prince Hussein and Rajwa Al Saif were married in an Islamic marriage ceremony known as “katb ktab” at the gazebo in the gardens of Zahran Palace. The 140 guests who attended the wedding ceremony were individually welcomed by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, the groom’s parents, before proceeding to the gazebo in the palace garden.

At the front of the gazebo was a three-sided seating area for the bride and groom, the imam who would preside over the wedding ceremony, the father of the groom, and the father of the bride, who would serve as witnesses. King Abdullah II sat on the right side. Rajwa’s father Khaled Al Saif sat on the left side next to Royal Hashemite Court Imam Dr. Ahmed Al Khalaileh. After the guests were seated, Crown Prince Hussein arrived alone, dressed in a military uniform, and sat in the middle section, near his father, to await the arrival of his bride.


Prince Hashem escorts the bride as his sisters Princess Iman and Princess Salma follow;  Credit – Royal Hashemite Court

Crown Prince Hussein’s three younger siblings accompanied Rajwa to Zahran Palace and walked with her as she made her way to her groom waiting in the gazebo. Prince Hashem (age 18) escorted Rajwa, Princess Iman (age 26) and Princess Salma (age 22) followed behind the bride, fixing her dress train and veil as she made her way through the garden to the gazebo. Rajwa walked down the aisle accompanied by Prince Hashem. Princess Iman and Princess Salma followed behind, adjusting the bride’s train several times. Rajwa sat next to Hussein, close to her father.

Royal Hashemite Court Imam Dr. Ahmed Al Khalaileh and Crown Prince Hussein look on as Rajwa signs the marriage contract; Credit – Royal Hashemite Court

Royal Hashemite Court Imam Dr. Ahmed Al Khalaileh, who was appointed to his position in January 2021, presided over the wedding ceremony. Hussein and Rajwa signed the marriage contracts with their fathers acting as their two witnesses. In addition, Prince Hassan, King Hussein’s I’s only surviving brother and Crown Prince Hussein’s great-uncle, signed the marriage contract.

Wedding ring exchange; Credit – Royal Hashemite Court

Before exchanging rings, Hussein and Rajwa recited the first verse from the Quran: “In the name of God (Allah), the Compassionate and Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, the Compassionate and Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgement. Thee we worship and from Thee we seek help. Guide us upon the straight path, the path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not of those who incur wrath, nor of those who are astray.”

When the wedding ceremony was over, a few women performed the Zaghrata, an ululation traditionally used to express happiness at Jordanian and Arab celebrations. The newlyweds kissed each other on the cheeks and exited to the garden where they greeted the wedding guests. Then they traveled in a motorcade, through the streets of Amman, where huge crowds turned out to greet them, ultimately arriving at Al Husseiniya Palace, where their wedding reception took place.

 

The first fifty-five minutes of the YouTube video below show the arrival of the wedding guests, the arrival of the groom and bride, and the wedding ceremony.

The Wedding Reception

The bride and the groom arrive at the wedding reception; Credit – Royal Hashemite Court

The wedding reception was held at Al Husseiniya Palace, which was built in 2006, and houses the offices of King Abdullah II, Queen Rania, and Crown Prince Hussein. Over 1,700 guests attended the wedding reception.

The arrival of Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa was announced with the customary zaffa or wedding march played by the Jordan Armed Forces Musical Band, with drums, bagpipes, singing, and clapping. The couple passed below an Arch of Sabers as they made their way to the outdoor reception courtyard. The newlyweds ascended the stage and were joined by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania and Rajwa’s parents Khaled Al Saif and Azza Al Sudairi to greet the over 1,700 guests.

 

The reception included performances from the national orchestra, a choir, local and regional singers, and Jordanian bands and dance troops, one of which performed the Dabkeh, a Levantine Arab folk dance. Tributes were paid to the groom’s military career and the bride’s Saudi Arabian heritage, and of course, there was the cutting of the wedding cake.

King Abdullah II, Queen Rania, Crown Prince Hussein, and Princess Rajwa with distinguished guests at the wedding reception; Credit – Royal Hashemite Court

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

  • Armani, Syed. (2023) What to know about the Jordanian Crown Prince’s Wedding, Time. Available at: https://time.com/6283682/jordan-hashemite-royal-wedding/ (Accessed: 05 July 2023).
  • Inside the Jordanian royal wedding of HRH Crown Prince Hussein and HRH Princess Rajwa al-Saif (2023) Vogue Arabia. Available at: https://en.vogue.me/culture/jordanian-royal-wedding-crown-prince-hussein-rajwa-al-saif-pictures/ (Accessed: 05 July 2023).
  • Rajwa al Saif Henna Night: What happens at a Henna Party? (2023) Available at: https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/culture/royal-watch/royal-henna-party (Accessed: 05 July 2023).
  • Queen Rania Hosts Dinner Party in Celebration of Crown Prince Al Hussein and Miss Rajwa’s Upcoming Wedding: Queen Rania (2023) Queen Rania Official Website. Available at: https://www.queenrania.jo/en/media/press-releases/queen-rania-hosts-dinner-party-celebration-crown-prince-al-hussein-and-miss (Accessed: 05 July 2023).
  • Statement from the Royal Hashemite Court (2023) Statement from the Royal Hashemite Court | Royal Hashemite Court. Available at: https://rhc.jo/en/media/news/statement-royal-hashemite-court-12 (Accessed: 05 July 2023).
  • زفاف الأمير الحسين ورجوة آل سيف (Wedding of Hussein, Crown_Prince of Jordan, and Rajwa Al Saif) (2023) Wikipedia (Arabic). Available at: https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B2%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%81_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%86_%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%A9_%D8%A2%D9%84_%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%81 (Accessed: 05 July 2023).
  • Wedding of Hussein, Crown Prince of Jordan, and Rajwa Al Saif (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Hussein,_Crown_Prince_of_Jordan,_and_Rajwa_Al_Saif (Accessed: 05 July 2023).

Maria of Spain and Austria, Holy Roman Empress

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria of Spain and Austria, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

Maria, Infanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria was the wife of her first cousin Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. Born on June 21, 1528, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, Kingdom of Spain, Maria was the second of the five children and the elder of the two daughters of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also Carlos I, King of Spain; Karl I, Archduke of Austria; Charles II, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, among many other titles) and Isabella of Portugal. Maria’s father was Charles was one of the most powerful ever monarchs and had a large number of titles due to his vast inheritance of the Burgundian, Spanish, and Austrian realms from his parents, Maria’s paternal grandparents, Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, the ruler of the vast and wealthy Burgundian State, and Juana, Queen of Castile and León and Queen of Aragon The Kingdoms of Castile, León, and Aragon were combined into the Kingdom of Spain under Maria’s father. Maria’s maternal grandparents were Manuel I, King of Portugal and his second of three wives Maria of Aragon, her namesake.

Maria had four siblings but only two survived childhood:

Maria’s mother Isabella of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

The main residence of Maria’s parents Charles and Isabella was in Spain as the Spanish nobles had insisted that their children be raised in Spain. Charles was often away from his family to lead military campaigns and administer his other realms, and Isabella was appointed Regent of Spain in his absence. Isabella supervised her children’s education and taught them Portuguese. In 1539, when Maria was 11 years old, her mother Isabella developed a fever causing her to miscarry during the third month of her seventh pregnancy. The fever caused her condition to worsen and Isabella died two weeks later on May 1, 1539, aged thirty-five. Maria’s father Charles was so grief-stricken that he shut himself up in a monastery for two months where he prayed and mourned for Isabella in solitude. He never recovered from her death, dressed in black for the rest of his life, and despite being only thirty-nine, never remarried.

Maria’s husband Maximilian, circa 1544; Credit – Wikipedia

On September 13, 1548, Maria married her first cousin Archduke Maximilian of Austria (the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II), the son of her paternal uncle Ferdinand I, Archduke of Austria (the future Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I) and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. With this marriage, Maria’s father intended to strengthen the ties between the Austrian Habsburgs and the Spanish Habsburgs. While Maria’s father Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was occupied with the affairs of his other realms, Maria and Maximilian acted as regents of Spain from 1548 to 1551, during the absence of Maria’s brother, the future King Felipe II of Spain. In 1552, the couple moved to live at the court of Maximilian’s father in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria.

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

Maximilian and Maria had fifteen children:

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

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1569; Credit – Wikipedia

During his reign, Maria’s husband Maximilian II had to deal with the effects of the 1555 Peace of Augsburg. The Peace of Augsburg officially ended the religious struggle between Lutherans and Catholics, and made the legal division of Christianity permanent within the Holy Roman Empire, allowing the rulers of the constituent kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire to choose either Lutheranism or Roman Catholicism as the official religion of their state.

During her life in Austria as Holy Roman Empress, Maria, a devout Catholic, was ill at ease with the Lutheran religion and surrounded herself with a circle of devout Catholic courtiers, many of whom were from native Spain. Her court was organized by her Spanish chief lady-in-waiting Margarita Folc de Cardona i Requesens in a Spanish manner.

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

In 1572, Maximilian II passed the crown of Hungary to his son Rudolf, and in 1575, Rudolf was also granted the crowns of Bohemia and the Habsburg hereditary territories. Rudolf was elected King of the Romans in 1575, ensuring that he would succeed his father as Holy Roman Emperor. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged forty-nine, in the Imperial City of Regensburg, now in the German state of Bavaria, on October 12, 1576. On his deathbed, Maximilian refused to receive the Last Rites of the Roman Catholic Church.

Maria in retirement at the Monastery of Santa Clara de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, Spain, 1600; Credit – Wikipedia

After Maximilian’s death, Maria remained in Vienna for six years and had great influence over her sons Rudolf and Matthias, both Holy Roman Emperors. She returned to Spain in 1582, rejoicing to live in “a country without heretics.” Maria retired to the Monastery of Santa Clara de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, Spain, founded in 1559 by her younger sister Juana when she was left a young widow and where she lived until she died in 1573. This was the same convent where Maria’s daughter Margaret became a nun after refusing to marry her uncle King Felipe II of Spain after his fourth wife, Maria’s eldest daughter Anna, died. At the convent, Maria lived half as a nun in devout prayer, and half as a princess, still exerting influence on the Spanish court.

The Monastery of Santa Clara de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, Spain where Maria lived the last years of her life, died, and was buried; Credit – By Luis García, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7770261

In 1587, Maria’s brother King Felipe II of Spain sent Father Tomás Luis de Victoria, a Catholic priest and the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance, to the Monastery of Santa Clara de las Descalzas Reales as his sister’s chaplain. Father de Victoria remained at the convent for 24 years, serving as Maria’s chaplain until her death, and then as the convent organist. One of his most famous works is his Officium Defunctorum, a requiem mass composed for Maria’s funeral. On February 26, 1603, Maria died and was buried at the Monastery of Santa Clara de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, Spain, aged seventy-four, having survived her husband by twenty-seven years.

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

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/charles-v-holy-roman-emperor-carlos-i-king-of-spain-karl-i-archduke-of-austria-charles-ii-lord-of-the-netherlands-duke-of-burgundy/ (Accessed: 29 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, S. (2022) Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Spain, Holy Roman Empress, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/isabella-of-portugal-queen-of-spain-holy-roman-empress/ (Accessed: 29 May 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maximilian-ii-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia-archduke-of-austria/ (Accessed: 29 May 2023).
  • Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_of_Austria,_Holy_Roman_Empress (Accessed: 29 May 2023).
  • Maria von Spanien (1528–1603) (2021) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_von_Spanien_%281528%E2%80%931603%29 (Accessed: 29 May 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew, 1995. The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter, 2016. Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.