Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria
| Archduke Rainer of Austria | |
|---|---|
Lombardy–Venetia
| |
In office | 3 January 1818 – 8 June 1848 |
Monarch | Francis I Ferdinand I |
| Predecessor | Josef Radetzky (Governor-General) |
| Born | 30 September 1783 Pisa, Grand Duchy of Tuscany |
| Died | 16 January 1853 (aged 69) Bolzano, Austrian Empire |
| Burial | Bolzano Cathedral |
| Spouse | |
Maria Louisa of Spain | |
Archduke Rainer of Austria (30 September 1783 – 16 January 1853) was a Viceroy of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia from 1818 to 1848. He was also an Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia.
Biography
Rainer was a son of Emperor Leopold II and Empress Maria Luisa, and was thus a younger brother of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor.
Although Rainer suffered from a mild form of epilepsy, this did not visibly interfere with his military career.[1]
Rainer served as Viceroy of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia from 1818 to 1848. The position made Rainer and his wife the head of the Austrian court at Milan. Rainer's politics were increasingly unpopular, the Italians resented him for their lack of political freedom and for collecting revenues with so little benefit to them.
Throughout the 1840s, the political situation worsened to such an extent that in 1847,
Archduke Rainer's mistakes as well as the lack of understanding between Rainer and Feldmarschall Graf Radetzky, were blamed for the disasters of the Italian Revolution of 1848.[2]
Marriage and children
He married in
Children included:
- Maria (6 February 1821 – 23 Jan 1844) – unmarried, no issue
- Victor Emmanuel II, from 1849 king of Sardinia
- Leopold (6 June 1823 – 24 May 1898) – Oberkommandant der Marine ('High Commander of the Navy') from 1864 to 1868
- Ernst (8 August 1824 – 4 April 1899), Feldmarschalleutnant
- Sigismund (7 January 1826 – 15 December 1891), Feldmarschalleutnant
- Archduchess Maria Karoline of Austria (1825-1915). No issue.
- Heinrich (9 May 1828 – 30 November 1891), Feldmarschalleutnant
- Maximilian (16 January 1830 – 16 March 1839)
The Revolution of 1848 forced Rainer and Elisabeth from the court at Milan; when the insurrection was quelled, Radetzky was named Rainer's successor as Viceroy. Although his children, except Adelheid, are buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, he and his wife are buried at the Maria Himmelfahrtskirche in Bolzano.
Through his daughter Adelaide, Rainer is an ancestor of the entire royal family of Italy which reigned from 1861 to 1946.
Ancestry
 | This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. |
| Ancestors of Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria Maria Louisa of Spain | | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14. Augustus III of Poland | |||||||||||||
| 7. Maria Amalia of Saxony | |||||||||||||
| 15. Maria Josepha of Austria | |||||||||||||
Notes
- George R. Marek, The Eagles Die. Franz Joseph, Elisabeth, and Their Austria, pp. 41–42. New York: Harper & Row, 1974. This mild form of epilepsy was also suffered by Archduke Karl and his son, Archduke Albrecht, both of whom were able military commanders.
- ^ Joan Haslip, The Crown of Mexico, pp. 22, 89, 109. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.
- ^ Robert Adolf Kann, A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526–1918, pp. 328, 331. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.
- ^ Alan Palmer, Twilight of the Habsburgs. The Life and Times of Emperor Francis Joseph, pp. 122–123. New York: Grove Press, 1994.
- ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 109.