Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress
Maria of Austria | |
---|---|
Queen consort of Hungary | |
Tenure | 8 September 1563 – 12 October 1576 |
Coronation | 9 September 1563 |
Born | 21 June 1528 Madrid, Crown of Castile |
Died | 26 February 1603 Convent of Las Descalzas Reales, Madrid, Crown of Castile | (aged 74)
Burial | Convent of Las Descalzas Reales, Madrid, Spain |
Spouse | |
Issue | |
Isabella of Portugal |
Maria of Austria (21 June 1528 – 26 February 1603), also known as Isabel,
Early life
Maria was born in
As Regent of Spain
On 15 September 1548, aged twenty, she married her first cousin Archduke Maximilian.[4] The couple had sixteen children during the course of a twenty-eight-year marriage.
While her father was occupied with German affairs, Maria and Maximilian acted as regents of Spain from 1548 to 1551 during the absence of Prince Philip. Maria stayed at the Spanish court until August 1551,[5] and in 1552, the couple moved to live at the court of Maximilian's father in Vienna.
In 1558, Maria returned to Madrid and acted as regent of Spain during the absence of her brother, now King Philip II, from 1558 to 1561.
As Holy Roman Empress
After her return to
Maria was a devout Catholic and frequently disagreed with her religiously ambiguous husband about his religious tolerance.
During her life in Austria, Maria was reportedly ill at ease in a country which was not entirely Catholic, and she surrounded herself with a circle of strictly Catholic courtiers, many of whom she had brought with her from Spain.[6] Her court was organized by her Spanish chief lady-in-waiting Maria de Requenes in a Spanish manner, and among her favorite companions was her Spanish lady-in-waiting Margarita de Cardona.[6]
As Holy Roman Empress Dowager
In 1576, Maximilian died. Maria remained at the Imperial Court for six years after his death. She had great influence over her sons, the future emperors Rudolf II and Matthias.
Maria returned to Spain in 1582, taking her youngest surviving child Archduchess Margaret with her, promised to marry Philip II of Spain, who had lost his fourth wife, her oldest daughter, Archduchess Anna in 1580.
Margaret finally refused and took the veil as a
She was the patron of the noted Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, and the great Requiem Mass he wrote in 1603 for her funeral is considered among the best and most refined of his works. Maria exerted some influence together with Queen
Maria, the Austrian representative to the Spanish court – and
Children
Maria and Maximilian had sixteen children of whom only five were still alive at the time of her death:
- Anna of Austria (2 November 1549 – 26 October 1580), married her uncle Philip II of Spain
- Ferdinand of Austria (28 March 1551 – 16 June 1552)
- Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612)
- Governor of the Low Countries
- Elisabeth of Austria (1554-1592) (5 July 1554 – 22 January 1592), married Charles IX of France
- Maria of Austria (27 July 1555 – 28 June 1556)
- Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (24 February 1557 – 20 March 1619)
- A son (born and died 20 October 1557)
- Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria (12 October 1558 – 2 November 1618), served as grandmaster of the Teutonic Order and Administrator of Prussia
- Governor of the Low Countries
- Archduke Wenceslaus of Austria (9 March 1561 – 22 September 1578)
- Frederick of Austria (21 June 1562 – 25 January 1563)
- Maria of Austria (19 February 1564 – 26 March 1564)
- Charles of Austria (26 September 1565 – 23 May 1566)
- Archduchess Margaret of Austria (1567–1633) (25 January 1567 – 5 July 1633), a nun
- Eleanor of Austria (4 November 1568 – 12 March 1580)
Ancestry
Ancestors of Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes
- ^ Parker 2019, pp. 545–546.
- ^ Blockmans, Wim (2002). Emperor Charles V, 1500-1558. p. 120.
- ^ "Maximilian II | Holy Roman emperor".
- ^ Kamen 1998, p. 35.
- ^ Kamen 1998, p. 49.
- ^ a b Akkerman, Nadine (2013). The Politics of Female Households: Ladies-In-Waiting Across Early Modern Europe.
- OCLC 893847466.
- ^ better source needed][full citation needed]
- ^ better source needed][full citation needed]
- ^ Sánchez, p. 99.
- ^ better source needed][full citation needed]
- better source needed][full citation needed]
- ^ a b Armstrong, Edward (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. . In
- ^ ISBN 9780722224731. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
- ^ Wurzbach, Constantin von, ed. (1861). Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 112 – via Wikisource. .
- ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ a b "Maria (D.). Rainha de Portugal". Portugal - Dicionário Histórico, Corográfico, Heráldico, Biográfico, Bibliográfico, Numismático e Artístico (in Portuguese). Vol. IV. pp. 823–824.