Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria

Issue
more...HouseHabsburgFatherFerdinand I, Holy Roman EmperorMotherAnna of Hungary

Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria (Linz, 14 June 1529 – 24 January 1595, Innsbruck) was ruler of Further Austria and since 1564 Imperial count of Tyrol. The son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was married to Philippine Welser in his first marriage. In his second marriage to Anna Juliana Gonzaga, he was the father of Anna of Tyrol, future Holy Roman Empress.

Biography

Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was the second son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. He was a younger brother of Emperor Maximilian II. At the behest of his father, he was put in charge of the administration of Bohemia in 1547. He also led the campaign against the Turks in Hungary in 1556.^[1]

In 1557, he was secretly married to Philippine Welser, daughter of a patrician from Augsburg, with whom he had several children. The marriage was only accepted by Emperor Ferdinand I in 1559 under the condition of secrecy. The children were to receive the name "of Austria" but would only be entitled to inherit if the House of Habsburg became totally extinct in the male line, and thus the marriage had many qualities of a morganatic marriage. The sons born of this marriage received the title Margrave of Burgau, an ancient Habsburg possession in Further Austria. The younger of the sons, who survived their father, later received the princely title of Fürst zu Burgau.^[2]

After his father's death in 1564, Ferdinand became the ruler of Tyrol and other Further Austrian possessions under his father's will. However, he remained governor of Bohemia in Prague until 1567 according to the wishes of his brother Maximilian II.^{[citation needed]}

In his own lands, Ferdinand made sure that the Catholic counter-reformation would prevail. He also was instrumental in promoting the Renaissance in central Europe and was an avid collector of art. He accommodated his world-famous collections in a museum built specifically for that purpose, making Ambras Castle the oldest museum in the world, and as the only Renaissance Kunstkammer of its kind to have been preserved at its original location, the Chamber of Art and Curiosities at Ambras Castle represents an unrivalled cultural monument.^{[citation needed]} The collection was started during Ferdinand's time in Bohemia, and he subsequently moved it to Tyrol. In particular, the Chamber of Art and Curiosities, the gallery of portraits, and the collection of armor were very expensive, leading Ferdinand to incur a high level of debt. Part of the collections remained in Innsbruck, and part ultimately was moved to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.^{[citation needed]}

After the death of his wife Philippine in 1580, he married his niece, Anna Caterina Gonzaga, a daughter of William I, Duke of Mantua, in 1582.^{[citation needed]}

Archduke Ferdinand died on 24 January 1595. Since his sons from the first marriage were not entitled to the inheritance, and the second produced only surviving daughters, Tyrol was reunified with the other Habsburg lands. His daughter from the Mantuan marriage to Anna Caterina (later Anna Juliana) became Empress Anna, consort of Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor, who received his Further Austrian inheritance.^{[citation needed]}

Children

He and his first wife Philippine Welser were parents of four children:

• Margrave Andrew of Burgau^[3] (15 June 1558 – 12 November 1600). Became a cardinal in 1576, Margrave of Burgau in 1578, Bishop of Constance in 1589 and Bishop of Brixen in 1591. He had two illegitimate children.^{[citation needed]}
• Charles, Margrave of Burgau (22 November 1560 – 30 October 1618), Margrave of Burgau. He married his first cousin, Sibylle (1557–1627), the youngest daughter of daughter of William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (28 July 1516 – 5 January 1592), and Maria, Archduchess of Austria, daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. They had no legitimate children. He and his mistress Chiara Elisa di Ferrero had three illegitimate children.^{[citation needed]}
• Philip of Austria (7 August 1562 – 9 January 1563), twin of Maria.^{[citation needed]}
• Maria of Austria (7 August 1562 – 25 January 1563), twin of Philip.^{[citation needed]}

On 14 May 1582, Ferdinand married his niece Anna Caterina Gonzaga. She was a daughter of William I, Duke of Mantua, and Eleonora of Austria, younger sister of Ferdinand. They were parents to three daughters:^[4]

• Archduchess Anna Eleonore of Austria (26 June 1583 – 15 January 1584).
• Archduchess Maria of Austria (16 June 1584 – 2 March 1649), a nun.
• Archduchess Anna of Austria (4 October 1585 – 14 December/15 December 1618); married her first cousin Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor.

He had at least two illegitimate children:

With Anna von Obrizon:^[5]

• Veronika von Villanders (1551–1589). Married Giovan Francesco di Gonzaga-Novellara, Lord of Campitello.

With Johanna Lydl von Mayenburg:^[6]

• Hans Christoph von Hertenberg (c. 1592 – 2 September 1613). Married Ursula Gienger.

Ancestors

Male-line family tree

Habsburg
[n 1]  Original line  /  Albertinian line  /  Leopoldian line   Max and Philip line  /  Spanish / Iberian line  /  Austrian / HRE line  Albert Count of Habsburg (c. 1188–1239) Rudolf I of Germany (c. 1218–1291) Albert I of Germany (1255–1308) Hartmann (1263–1281) Rudolf II Duke of Austria (1270–1290) Rudolf I of Bohemia (1281–1307) Frederick the Fair (c. 1289–1330) Leopold I Duke of Austria (1290–1326) Albert II Duke of Austria (1298–1358) Henry the Friendly (1299–1327) Otto Duke of Austria (1301–1339) John Parricida (c. 1290–1312/13) Rudolf IV Duke of Austria (1339–1365) Frederick III Duke of Austria (1347–1362) Albert III Duke of Austria (1349–1395) Leopold III Duke of Austria (1351–1386) Frederick II Duke of Austria (1327–1344) Leopold II Duke of Austria (1328–1344) Albert IV Duke of Austria (1377–1404) William Duke of Austria (c. 1370–1406) Leopold IV Duke of Austria (1371–1411) Ernest Duke of Austria (1377–1424) Frederick IV Duke of Austria (1382–1439) Albert II of Germany (1397–1439) Frederick III HRE (1415–1493) Albert VI Archduke of Austria (1418–1463) Sigismund Archduke of Austria (1427–1496) Ladislaus the Posthumous (1440–1457) Maximilian I HRE (1459–1519) Philip I of Castile (1478–1506) Charles V HRE (1500–1558) Ferdinand I HRE (1503–1564) Philip II of Spain (1527–1598) Maximilian II HRE (1527–1576) Ferdinand II Archduke of Austria (1529–1595) Charles II Archduke of Austria (1540–1590) Carlos Prince of Asturias (1545–1568) Philip III of Spain (1578–1621) Rudolf II HRE (1552–1612) Ernest of Austria (1553–1595) Matthias HRE (1557–1619) Maximilian III Archduke of Austria (1558–1618) Albert VII Archduke of Austria (1559–1621) Wenceslaus Archduke of Austria (1561–1578) Andrew Margrave of Burgau (1558–1600) Charles Margrave of Burgau (1560–1618) Ferdinand II HRE (1578–1637) Maximilian Ernest of Austria (1583–1616) Leopold V Archduke of Austria (1586–1632) Charles of Austria (1590–1624) Philip IV of Spain (1605–1665) Charles of Austria (1607–1632) Ferdinand of Austria (1609–1641) John-Charles of Austria (1605–1619) Ferdinand III HRE (1608–1657) Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614–1662) Ferdinand Charles Archduke of Austria (1628–1662) Sigismund Francis Archduke of Austria (1630–1665) Balthasar Charles Prince of Asturias (1629–1646) Charles II of Spain (1661–1700) Ferdinand IV King of the Romans (1633–1654) Leopold I HRE (1640–1705) Charles Joseph of Austria (1649–1664) Joseph I HRE (1678–1711) Charles VI HRE (1685–1740)
Notes: ^ "Habsburg family tree". Habsburg family website. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.

Notes

External links

Media related to Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Ferdinand I

Archduke of Further Austria 1564–1595

Succeeded by Rudolph II who allowed succession by: Mathias, Archduke of Further Austria governor appointed by Mathias: Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria