Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria

Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria (22 May 1581 – 20 September 1597) was a member of the House of Habsburg.

Portrait of Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana, by Jakob de Monte, ca. 1592/93

She was the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria, the son of Emperor Ferdinand I, and Maria Anna of Bavaria. Her elder brother Archduke Ferdinand, succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor in 1619.

Life

Born in Graz, her godparents were Pope Gregory XIII and her maternal aunt, Maximiliana Maria of Bavaria.[1] Named after both, Gregoria Maximiliana was described as extremely pious and had the closest relationship to her mother among her siblings.

In addition to the Habsburg inferior lip,[2] Gregoria Maximiliana suffered from a deformed shoulder and a scarred face.[3]

In 1596 the Admiral of Aragon arrived to Graz and had deliver to the Spanish court portraits of Gregoria Maximiliana and her two younger sisters in marriageable age, Eleanor and Margaret. Shortly after, Gregoria Maximiliana was betrothed to the Prince of Asturias, future King Philip III.[4] Although the Prince, after seeing the portraits he preferred Margaret, his father King Philip II chose Gregoria Maximiliana as his bride, mainly because she was the older.[5]

On 17 September 1597 the Prince of Asturias made a visit to the Imperial court in Graz. At this time, Gregoria Maximiliana was seriously ill and she compared her suffering to the prisoners of the Turkish sultan.[6] Three days later, she died aged sixteen, and was in buried in Seckau Abbey.[7] Gregoria Maximiliana's fiancé married her sister Margaret in 1599.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria

16. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor[8] 8. Philip I of Castile[9][10] (= 28) 17. Mary of Burgundy[8] 4. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor[11] (=14) 18. Ferdinand II of Aragon[12] 9. Joanna of Castile[10] (= 29) 19. Isabella I of Castile[12] 2. Charles II of Austria 20. Casimir IV Jagiellon[13] 10. Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary[14] (= 30) 21. Elisabeth of Austria[13] 5. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary[11] (=15) 22. Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale[15] 11. Anna of Foix-Candale[14] (= 31) 23. Catherine of Foix[15] 1. Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria 24. Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria[16] 12. William IV, Duke of Bavaria[17] 25. Kunigunde of Austria[16] 6. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria[18] 26. Philip I, Margrave of Baden[19] 13. Marie of Baden-Sponheim[17] 27. Elisabeth of the Palatinate[19] 3. Maria Anna of Bavaria 28. Philip I of Castile (= 8) 14. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor[20] (= 4) 29. Joanna of Castile (= 9) 7. Anna of Austria[18] 30. Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary (= 10) 15. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary[20] (= 5) 31. Anna of Foix-Candale (= 11)

References

1. Georg Haubenreich, Genealogia, 1598, p. 80. On-line
2. German Society for Racial Hygiene, Archiv für Rassen- und Gesellschafts-Biologie, einschliesslich Rassen- und Gesellschafts-Hygiene, vol. VIII, p. 779. On-line
3. Brigitte Hamann, Die Habsburger: ein biographisches Lexikon, Piper, 1988, p. 278.
4. Societatea Academică Română, Acta historica, vol. III, Societatea Academică Română, 1959, p. 162.
5. Karl Acham, Kunst und Geisteswissenschaften aus Graz, vol. II, Böhlau Verlag Wien, 2009, p. 88.
6. Alexander Randa, Pro Republica Christiana, vol. III, Rumänische Akademische Gesellschaft, 1964, p. 166.
7. Quirin Ritter von Leitner, Die Schatzkammer des Allerhöchsten kaiserhauses, presentation by A. Holzhausen, 1882, p. 145.
8. Philip I, King of Castile at the Encyclopædia Britannica
9. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor at the Encyclopædia Britannica
10. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor at the Encyclopædia Britannica
11. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1860). "Habsburg, Karl II. von Steiermark" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). 6. p. 352 – via Wikisource.
12. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Joanna" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
13. Casimir IV, King of Poland at the Encyclopædia Britannica
14. Obermayer-Marnach, Eva (1953), "Anna Jagjello", Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) (in German), 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 299; (full text online)
15. Revue de l'Agenais (in French). 4. Société des sciences, lettres et arts d'Agen. 1877. p. 497.
16. Riezler, Sigmund Ritter von (1897), "Wilhelm IV.", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), 42, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 705–717
17. Goetz, Walter (1953), "Albrecht V.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) (in German), 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 158–160; (full text online)
18. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Maria von Bayern" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). 7. p. 20 – via Wikisource.
19. Brüning, Rainer (2001), "Philipp I.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) (in German), 20, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 372; (full text online)
20. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1860). "Habsburg, Anna von Oesterreich (1528–1587)" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). 6. p. 151 – via Wikisource.