Charles II, Archduke of Austria

Charles II
Portrait of Archduke Charles II, by Bartolomé González y Serrano
Archduke of Inner Austria
Reign	25 July 1564 – 10 July 1590
Predecessor	Ferdinand I
Successor	Ferdinand III
Born	3 June 1540 Vienna, Archduchy of Austria
Died	10 July 1590(1590-07-10) (aged 50) Graz, Duchy of Styria
Burial	Seckau, Austria
Spouse	Maria Anna of Bavaria ​ ​ (m. 1571)​
Issue	Anne, Queen of Poland and Sweden Maria Christina, Princess of Transylvania Archduchess Catherine Renata Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana Archduchess Eleanor Archduke Maximilian Ernest Margaret, Queen of Spain Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria Constance, Queen of Poland Maria Maddalena, Grand Duchess of Tuscany Charles, Bishop of Wroclaw
House	Habsburg
Father	Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
Religion	Catholic Church

Gisants of Charles II Francis of Austria and his wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria, on the cenotaph of "Habsburg mausoleum", Seckau Abbey

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.

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 to protect against invasions by the Ottoman Empire and it was 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:

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

Ancestors

Arms of Charles II of Austria-Styria.^{[citation needed]}

Ancestors of Charles II, Archduke of Austria

8. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor[4] 4. Philip I of Castile[2] 9. Mary, Duchess of Burgundy[4] 2. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor 10. Ferdinand II of Aragon[2] 5. Joanna I of Castile[2] 11. Isabella I of Castile[2] 1. Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria 12. Casimir IV Jagiellon[3] 6. Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary[3] 13. Elisabeth of Austria[3] 3. Anne of Bohemia and Hungary 14. Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale[5] 7. Anne of Foix-Candale[3] 15. Catherine of Foix[6]

Male-line family tree

v t e House of Habsburg[n 1]
Original 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. 1290–1312/1313   Albertinian line   Leopoldian line Rudolf IV Duke of Austria 1339–1365 Frederick III 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   Spanish / Iberian line   Austrian / HRE line 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

1. Doran pp.73–98
2. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Joanna" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
3. Priebatsch, Felix (1908), "Wladislaw II.", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 54, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 688–696
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.
5. 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.
6. 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.

Charles II, Archduke of Austria House of Habsburg Born: 3 June 1540 Died: 10 July 1590
Regnal titles
Preceded by Ferdinand I	Archduke of Inner Austria 1564–1590	Succeeded by Ferdinand II