| Barbara of Austria | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait byFrancesco Terzic. 1565 | |
| Duchess consort of Ferrara | |
| Tenure | 5 December 1565 – 19 September 1572 |
| Duchess consort of Modena and Reggio | |
| Tenure | 5 December 1565 – 19 September 1572 |
| Born | (1539-04-30)30 April 1539 Vienna,Archduchy of Austria,Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 19 September 1572(1572-09-19) (aged 33) Ferrara,Duchy of Ferrara |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| House | Habsburg |
| Father | Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Mother | Anna of Bohemia and Hungary |
Barbara of Austria (30 April 1539 – 19 September 1572), was anArchduchess of Austria as a member of theHouse of Habsburg and by marriageDuchess consort of Ferrara,Modena and Reggio during 1565–1572.
Born inVienna on 30 April 1539,[1] Barbara was the eleventh child and eighth daughter ofFerdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor andAnna of Bohemia and Hungary. On her father's side she was the granddaughter of KingPhilip I of Castile (alsoDuke of Burgundy) and QueenJoanna of Castile. On her mother's side, she was the granddaughter of KingVladislaus II of Hungary andAnne of Foix-Candale (who in turn was through her own motherInfanta Catherine of Navarre, a granddaughter of QueenEleanor of Navarre andGaston IV, Count of Foix).[2][3]
In the winter of 1547, the widowed Emperor Ferdinand I entrusted all his unmarried daughters to the care of nuns in the monastery inInnsbruck, where Barbara lived until her marriage. Only once, in 1552, during the invasion of theTyrol by theProtestant army under the command ofMaurice, Elector of Saxony, did Barbara and her sistersMagdalena,Margaret,Helena andJoanna, spend some time outside the monastery at Bruneck Castle.[1]
Barbara received a deeply religious Catholic upbringing. The characteristic features of her education, based on the writings of theJesuitsPeter Canisius andDiego Laynez, were religiosity and charity. Her confessors were also Jesuits.[1]
Contemporaries had different opinions about Barbara's physical appearance. Thepapal nuncio at the imperial court in Vienna, CardinalZaccaria Delfino, considered her ugly.Florentine diplomat Antonio degli Albizzi in correspondence described Barbara's appearance as mediocre. He also pointed the presence ofPrognathism in her — a characteristic anatomical peculiarity which appeared in many members of theHouse of Habsburg. TheVenetian diplomatAlvise Contarini, on the other hand, considered Barbara the most beautiful of the unmarried Archduchesses.[1]
In 1560, Barbara was considered as a wife forGuglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, who later marriedEleanor, Barbara's elder sister. In 1562, several suitors came to Emperor Ferdinand I to ask for the hand of his youngest daughter Joanna, among themJohn Sigismund Zápolya,Francesco de' Medici, Crown Prince of Florence andAlfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. Alfonso II began negotiations for marriage in November 1563.[1][4]
A dynastic marriage with the head of theHouse of Este was beneficial to the House of Habsburg, who sought to reduce the traditional influence of the French kings over the dukes of Ferrara. However, in order to avoid a conflict between the Houses ofMedici and Este, the Emperor proposed that Barbara marry Alfonso II. This decision was supported by KingPhilip II of Spain, an ally of theDuchy of Florence.[1][5]
Barbara first met Alfonso II in July 1565, when he visitedInnsbruck to get to know her. In November of the same year, she and Joanna arrived inTrento, wherePope Pius IV sent his legates to conduct a double marriage ceremony, Joanna to Francesco de' Medici and Barbara to Alfonso d'Este. The ceremony was postponed due to a quarrel between the grooms-to-be over who had precedence in the ceremony. In the end, the brides went separately to the respective capitals of their future spouses (Florence and Ferrara) to marry.[1][4]
On 1 December 1565, Barbara arrived in Ferrara, and on 5 December she was married to Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. The wedding celebrations, during which a "Temple of Love" was built and a grand tournament took place, lasted until 9 December.[1][6] Among the guests at the wedding were the former fiancé of Barbara, the Duke of Mantua, with his wife, her older sister.[4]Torquato Tasso (at that time the court poet of the Dukes of Ferrara) was a witness to the solemn entry of the bride's procession to Ferrara and subsequent wedding; he later described what he saw in his pastoral drama "Aminta", in which he dedicated severalcanzones in praise of Barbara. The celebrations were cut short because of the death of Pope Pius IV.[7][8]
On becoming duchess of Ferrara, Barbara won the love of her subjects through the merciful way in which she treated all those in need. Despite her not speaking Italian, she and her husband enjoyed a complete understanding. Their marriage, which proved childless, was happy. When, a year after the wedding, Alfonso II participated in the war against theOttoman Empire, Barbara was sincerely worried about her husband. The experience negatively impaired her health; from that time she was reported as being constantly ill.[1]
Despite being a devout Catholic, Barbara was able to forge an excellent relationship with her Protestant mother-in-lawRenée of France. The Duchess's confessors in Ferrara, as well as in Innsbruck, wereJesuits, to whom Barbara provided special patronage. After the devastating earthquakes in 1570 and 1571 in the Duchy of Ferrara, she supported young orphaned girls. To this end, she founded theConservatore delle orfane di Santa Barbara in Ferrara. In the period between earthquakes, the Duchess herself was forced to live in a tent, which exacerbated her health problems.[1][9]
Barbara died oftuberculosis in Ferrara on 19 September 1572. Her untimely death caused grief among her subjects, with the Jesuits grieving the most. The leadership of the order allowed the Duke to bury his wife in the altar of the FerrareseChurch of the Gesù. Seven years later, Alfonso II married for the third time toMargherita Gonzaga, who was Barbara's niece.[1][6]
Torquato Tasso dedicated severalsonnets,canzones, eulogies and dialogues to Barbara of Austria.[1] Another Italian poet,Giovanni Battista Guarini, also dedicated acanzon to her. The collection of theKunsthistorisches Museum inVienna contains two portraits of Barbara. In the early one, a work ofGiuseppe Arcimboldo, she is depicted during the period of her negotiations of her marriage to Alfonso II in 1563-1564, in a portrait presumably made for her future husband.[10] In another portrait of 1565, made after her marriage, she is depicted full size. This portrait is work ofFrancesco Terzi.[11]
Media related toArchduchess Barbara of Austria at Wikimedia Commons
Archduchess Barbara of Austria Born: 30 April 1539 Died: 19 September 1572 | ||
| Royal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by Lucrezia de' Medici | Duchess consort of Ferrara,Modena and Reggio 5 December 1565 – 19 September 1572 | Vacant Title next held by Margherita Gonzaga |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
