| Ferdinand II | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byFrancesco Terzi | |
| Archduke of Further Austria | |
| Reign | 25 July 1564 – 24 January 1595 |
| Predecessor | Ferdinand I |
| Successor | Matthias |
| Born | (1529-06-14)14 June 1529 Linz,Archduchy of Austria,Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 24 January 1595(1595-01-24) (aged 65) Innsbruck,County of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empire |
| Spouse | |
| Issue more... |
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| House | Habsburg |
| Father | Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Mother | Anna of Bohemia and Hungary |
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (14 June 1529 – 24 January 1595) was ruler ofFurther Austria andImperial Count ofTyrol since 1564. The son ofFerdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he first marriedPhilippine Welser, and laterAnna Caterina Gonzaga. Through his second marriage he was the father ofAnna of Tyrol, the futureHoly Roman Empress.
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was the second son ofFerdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor andAnna of Bohemia and Hungary. He was a younger brother of EmperorMaximilian II.
He grew up inInnsbruck, where his father governed the Austrian hereditary lands on behalf of Ferdinand's uncleCharles V.
Ferdinand was said to be the favorite son of his father. He was described by a visiting dignitary to court as "handsome and friendlier" than his brother Maximilian.[citation needed]
Ferdinand and his siblings were raised very strictly and given a thorough education. Among his teachers wereKaspar Ursinus Velius andGeorg Tannstätter. Ferdinand and his brother were educated in languages, and other young noble boys were invited to court to be educated alongside the two archdukes. They were not to speak to them in German, only in Latin, Czech or other foreign languages.[citation needed]
Ferdinand was also instructed in the Catholic religion andtheir God-given right to rule, and that this was a gift based on the condition that they were to fear and love God.
At the behest of his father, he was put in charge of the administration ofBohemia in 1547. He also led the campaign against theTurks inHungary in 1556.[1]
In 1557, he was secretly married toPhilippine Welser, daughter of a patrician fromAugsburg, 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 theHouse of Habsburg became totally extinct in the male line, and thus the marriage had many qualities of amorganatic marriage. The sons born of this marriage received the title Margrave ofBurgau, an ancient Habsburg possession in Further Austria. The younger of the sons, who survived their father, later received the princely title ofFürst zu Burgau.[2]
After his father's death in 1564, Ferdinand became the ruler ofTyrol and otherFurther Austrian possessions under his father's will. However, he remained governor of Bohemia inPrague until 1567, according to the wishes of his brother Maximilian II.[citation needed]
In his own lands, Ferdinand made sure that the CatholicCounter-Reformation would prevail. He also was instrumental in promoting theRenaissance in central Europe and was an avid collector of art. He accommodated his world-famous collections in a museum built specifically for that purpose, makingAmbras Castle the oldest museum in the world, and as the only RenaissanceKunstkammer 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 theKunsthistorisches Museum inVienna.[citation needed]
After the death of his wife Philippine in 1580, he married his niece,Anna Caterina Gonzaga, a daughter ofWilliam 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 EmpressAnna, consort ofMathias, Holy Roman Emperor, who received his Further Austrian inheritance.[citation needed]
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He and his first wifePhilippine Welser were parents of four children:
On 14 May 1582, Ferdinand married his nieceAnna Caterina Gonzaga. She was a daughter ofWilliam I, Duke of Mantua, andEleonora of Austria, younger sister of Ferdinand. They were parents to three daughters:[5]
He had at least two illegitimate children:
With Anna von Obrizon:[6]
With Johanna Lydl von Mayenburg:[7]
| Ancestors of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria |
|---|
Media related toFerdinand II, Archduke of Austria at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by | 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 |
