'Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor' (
July 13,
1608 –
April 2,
1657), ruled
February 15,
1637 –
1657.
Life
Eldest son of
Emperor Ferdinand II from the house of
Habsburg and his first wife,
Maria Anna of Bavaria. Made King of
Hungary in
1625, King of
Bohemia in
1627, and
King of the Romans in
1636.
Following the death of
Wallenstein in
1634, he was made titular head of the Imperial Army in the
Thirty Years' War, and later that year joined with his cousin the
Cardinal-Infante to defeat the Swedes at
Nördlingen.
Leader of the peace party at court, he helped negotiate the Peace of
Prague with the Protestant States, especially
Saxony in 1635.
He succeeded his father as
Holy Roman Emperor in
1637. He hoped to be able to make peace soon with
France and
Sweden, but the war dragged on for another 11 years, finally coming to an end with the
Peace of Westphalia (Treaty of
Münster with France, Treaty of
Osnabrück with Sweden) in
1648, both negotiated by his envoy
Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff, a successful diplomat who had been made a count in 1623 by his father
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.
During the last dreadful period of the war, in
1644 Ferdinand III gave to all rulers of German states the right to conduct their own foreign policy (''ius belli ac pacis''). This way the emperor was trying to gain more allies in the negotiations with
France and
Sweden. This very edict contributed to the gradual erosion of the imperial authority in the
Holy Roman Empire.
In the
Peace of Westphalia, his full titles are given as: "Ferdinand the Third, elected
Roman Emperor, always
August,
King of Germany,
Hungary,
Bohemia,
Dalmatia,
Croatia,
Slavonia,
Archduke of Austria,
Duke of Burgundy,
Brabant,
Styria,
Carinthia,
Carniola,
Margrave of
Moravia, Duke of
Luxemburg, of the Higher and Lower
Silesia, of
Wurtemburg and
Teck, Prince of
Swabia, Count of
Hapsburg,
Tyrol,
Kyburg and
Goritia, Marquess of the Sacred Roman Empire,
Burgovia, the Higher and Lower
Lusace, Lord of the Marquisate of
Slavonia, of
Port Naon and
Salines."
Ancestors
Marriages and children
On
February 20,
1631 Ferdinand III married his first wife
Maria Anna of Spain. She was the youngest daughter of
Philip III of Spain and
Margaret of Austria. They were first cousins as Maria Anna's mother was a sister of Ferdinand's father. They were parents to six children:
★
Ferdinand IV of Hungary (
8 September,
1633 -
9 July,
1654).
★
Mariana of Austria (
23 December,
1634 -
16 May,
1696). Married her maternal uncle
Philip IV of Spain. They were parents to
Charles II of Spain, the degenerated last Habsburg monarch of Spain.
★ Philip August, Archduke of Austria (
1637 -
1639).
★ Maximilian Thomas, Archduke of Austria (
1638 -
1639).
★
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (
9 June,
1640 -
5 May,
1705).
★ Maria of Austria (
1646).
In
1648, Ferdinand III married his second wife
Maria Leopoldine, Archduchess of Austria. She was a daughter of
Leopold V, Archduke of Austria and
Claudia de' Medici. They were second cousins as male-line grandchildren of
Charles II, Archduke of Austria and
Maria Anna of Bavaria. They had a single son:
★
Karl Josef of Austria (
1649 -
1664). He was Grand Master of the
Teutonic Knights from
1662 to his death.
In
1651, Ferdinand III married
Eleonora of Mantua (Gonzaga). She was a daughter of
Charles IV Gonzaga, Duke of Rethel. They were parents to four children:
★ Theresia Maria Josefa, Archduchess of Austria (
1652 -
1653).
★
Eleonora Maria Josefa, Archduchess of Austria (
1653 -
1697). Married first
Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki,
King of Poland and secondly
Charles V, Duke of Lorraine.
★ Maria Anna, Archduchess of Austria (
1654 -
1689). Married
Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine.
★ Ferdinand Josef, Archduke of Austria (
1657 -
1658).
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