Charles II, Archduke of Austria

Charles II Francis of Austria (German: Karl II. Franz von Innerösterreich) (3 June 1540 – 10 July 1590) was an Archduke of Austria and a ruler of Inner Austria (Styria, Carniola, Carinthia and Gorizia) from 1564. He was a member of the House of Habsburg.

Charles II
Portrait Archduke Charles by Bartolomé González y Serrano
Archduke of Inner Austria
Reign25 July 1564 – 10 July 1590
PredecessorFerdinand I
SuccessorFerdinand III
Born3 June 1540
Vienna, Austria
Died10 July 1590(1590-07-10) (aged 50)
Graz, Austria
Burial
Seckau, Austria
SpouseMaria Anna of Bavaria
Issue
HouseHabsburg
FatherFerdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
MotherAnna of Bohemia and Hungary
ReligionRoman Catholicism
Gisants of Charles II Francis of Austria and his wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria, on the cenotaph of "Habsburg mausoleum", Seckau Abbey

Biography
Seckau Abbey, "Habsburg mausoleum", cenotaph

A native of Vienna, he was the third son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and of Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, daughter of King Vladislaus II of Hungary and his wife, Anne of Foix-Candale. In 1559 and again from 1564 to 1568, there were negotiations for a marriage between Charles and Elizabeth I of England. Emperor Ferdinand I expected Elizabeth to promise in the proposed marriage treaty that Charles, as her widower, would succeed her if she died childless. The negotiations dragged on until Elizabeth decided that she would not marry the Archduke since he was a Catholic.[1]

In 1563, Charles was also a suitor of Mary, Queen of Scots, with her uncle Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, advising her to marry Charles to obtain assistance in governing Scotland. Mary disagreed, as did Charles's older brother Maximilian.

Unlike his brother, Emperor Maximilian II, Charles was a religious Catholic and promoted the Counter-Reformation, such as by inviting the Jesuits to his territory. However, in 1572, he had to make significant concessions to the Inner Austrian Estates in the Religious Pacifications of Graz and in the 1578 Libellum of Bruck. In practice, that resulted in tolerance towards Protestantism.

As the Inner Austrian line had to bear the major burden of the wars against the Ottoman Empire, the fortress of Karlovac, in Croatia, was founded in 1579 and named after him. Charles is also remembered as a benefactor of the arts and sciences. In particular, the composer Orlando di Lasso was one of his protégés, as was the music theorist Lodovico Zacconi.

In 1573, Charles founded the Akademisches Gymnasium in Graz, the oldest secondary school in Styria. In 1580, Charles founded a stud for horses of Andalusian origin in Lipica, Slovenia and thus played a leading role in the creation of the Lipizzan breed. In 1585, Charles founded the University of Graz, which is named Karl-Franzens-Universität after him.

He died at Graz in 1590.

Charles's mausoleum, in Seckau Abbey in which other members of the Habsburg family are also buried, is one of the most important edifices of the early Baroque in the south-eastern Alps. It was built from 1587 onwards by Alessandro de Verda and was completed by Sebastiano Carlone by 1612.

Marriage and children

On 26 August 1571, Charles married his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria in Vienna. They had 15 children, 12 of whom lived to adulthood:

NamePictureBirthDeathNotes
Archduke FerdinandJudenburg, 15 July 1572Judenburg, 3 August 1572Died in infancy.
Archduchess AnnaGraz, 16 August 1573Warsaw, 10 February 1598Married on 31 May 1592 to Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Sweden.
Archduchess Maria ChristinaGraz, 10 November 1574Hall in Tirol, Tyrol, 6 April 1621Married on 6 August 1595 to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania; they divorced in 1599.
Archduchess Catherine RenataGraz, 4 January 1576Graz, 29 June 1599Died unmarried.
Archduchess ElisabethGraz, 13 March 1577Graz, 29 January 1586Died in childhood.
Archduke FerdinandGraz, 9 July 1578Vienna, 15 February 1637Holy Roman Emperor as Ferdinand II in 1619.
Archduke CharlesGraz, 17 July 1579Graz, 17 May 1580Died in infancy.
Archduchess Gregoria MaximilianaGraz, 22 March 1581Graz, 20 September 1597Died unmarried.
Archduchess EleanorGraz, 25 September 1582Hall in Tirol, Tyrol, 28 January 1620Died unmarried.
Archduke Maximilian ErnestGraz, 17 November 1583Graz, 18 February 1616Teutonic Knight.
Archduchess MargaretGraz, 25 December 1584El Escorial, 3 October 1611Married on 18 April 1599 to Philip III, King of Spain.
Archduke LeopoldGraz, 9 October 1586Schwaz, 13 September 1632Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tirol under the name Leopold V.
Archduchess ConstanceGraz, 24 December 1588Warsaw, 10 July 1631Married on 11 December 1605 to Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (widower of her older sister).
Archduchess Maria MagdalenaGraz, 7 October 1589Passau, 1 November 1631Married on 19 October 1608 Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Archduke CharlesGraz, 7 August 1590Madrid, 28 December 1624Bishop of Wroclaw and Brixen (1608–24), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1618–24).

Ancestors
Arms of Charles II of Austria-Styria.[2]

Notes
  1. Doran pp.73–98
  2. (in French) Héraldique Européenne Archived 2011-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Toison d'Or, Philippe II, 3.
  3. Holland, Arthur William (1911). "Maximilian I. (emperor)" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  4. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Philipp I. der Schöne von Oesterreich" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 112 – via Wikisource.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  5. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Joanna" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  6. Poupardin, René (1911). "Charles, called The Bold, duke of Burgundy" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  7. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ferdinand V. of Castile and Leon and II. of Aragon" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  8. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Isabella of Castile" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  9. Casimir IV, King of Poland at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  10. Priebatsch, Felix (1908), "Wladislaw II.", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), vol. 54, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 688–696
  11. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1860). "Habsburg, Elisabeth von Oesterreich (Königin von Polen)" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 6. p. 167 – via Wikisource.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  12. Boureau, Alain (1995). The Lord's First Night: The Myth of the Droit de Cuissage. Translated by Cochrane, Lydia G. The University of Chicago Press. p. 96.
  13. Noubel, P., ed. (1877). Revue de l'Agenais [Review of the Agenais]. Vol. 4. Société académique d'Agen. p. 497.

References
  • Doran, Susan (1996). Monarchy and Matrimony: The Courtships of Elizabeth I. Routledge.
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