| Claudia Felicitas of Austria | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byCarlo Dolci, 1672 | |
| Holy Roman Empress (more...) | |
| Tenure | 15 October 1673 – 8 April 1676 |
| Born | 30 May 1653 Innsbruck,County of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 8 April 1676 (aged 22) Vienna,Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| House | Habsburg |
| Father | Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria |
| Mother | Anna de' Medici |
Claudia Felicitas of Austria (30 May 1653 – 8 April 1676) was by birth anArchduchess of Austria and by marriageHoly Roman Empress,German Queen, Archduchess consort of Austria,Queen consort of Hungary andBohemia as the second wife ofLeopold I.[1]
A member of theThird Order of Saint Dominic, she had a beautiful singing voice and composed music, and also was passionately fond of hunting. Claudia Felicitas had a great influence on her husband; thanks to her, all her political opponents were removed from court. She also struggled with the abuse of the executive and judicial systems. During her 3-year-long marriage, she gave birth to two children who died in infancy; she died after the birth of her second child. The Tyrolean branch of theHouse of Habsburg became extinct upon her death.
Claudia Felicitas was born inInnsbruck on 30 May 1653.[2][3] She was the first child and eldest daughter ofFerdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol, by his wife and first-cousinAnna de' Medici. On her father's side, her grandparents wereLeopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and his wifeClaudia de' Medici (after which she received her first name); on her mother's side, her grandparents wereCosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wifeArchduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria.
Her parents failed to produce a male heir: after Claudia Felicitas, they had only two other daughters, one who died immediately after birth (19 July 1654) and Maria Magdalena (17 August 1656 – 21 January 1669).[4] After Archduke Ferdinand Charles died in 1662, he was succeeded by his brotherSigismund Francis, who died three years later (1665), a few days after his marriageby proxy withHedwig of the Palatinate-Sulzbach. In consequence, Claudia Felicitas and her younger sister became the last members of the Tyrolean branch of the House of Habsburg.[5]
Some sources described her as "a very beautiful girl, with a lively character and developed intellect".[6] The princess grew up at court in Innsbruck, which thanks to her parents became one of the centers of Europeanbaroque art and music. She had an excellent singing voice, played various instruments and also composed music.[7] However, the great enthusiasm of the princess was hunting;[6] in the preserved portrait byGiovanni Maria Morandi, the 13-year-old Claudia Felicitas was depicted in the image ofDiana, the ancient goddess ofhunting.[8] However, she didn't forget the customary pious activities, being a secular member of theThird Order of Saint Dominic.[9]
After the extinction of the Tyrolean branch of the House of Habsburg in 1665,Further Austria and theCounty of Tyrol came under the direct control of EmperorLeopold I. Anna de' Medici tried to protect the rights of her daughters. The dispute with the imperial court ended only after the wedding of her eldest daughter with the emperor; after her marriage, Claudia Felicitas retained the title of Countess of Tyrol.[10][11]
From his first marriage withInfantaMargaret Theresa of Spain, Leopold I had four children (including two sons), but all except the eldest daughter, ArchduchessMaria Antonia, died shortly after birth. He was the last of the male Habsburgs, besides the sickly KingCharles II of Spain, and thus was in dire need of a male heir;[12] so shortly after his first wife's death (12 March 1673), the emperor (despite his deep mourning) was forced to start looking for a new wife and opted for Claudia Felicitas, hissecond cousin (both being great-grandchildren ofCharles II, Archduke of Inner Austria),[13] who also could bring to him her possible rights over the Tyrol.[11] The princess, with the consent of her relatives, immediately agreed with the proposal, rejecting other suitors of her hand, including the widowerJames, Duke of York and future King of England and Scotland.[14]
While praising his prospective bride's youth, attractiveness, and awareness of the great status it implied to be Holy Roman Empress, Leopold I added that she was "not like my only Margareta"[15] in a letter on 12 July 1673, three months before the wedding with Claudia Felicitas took place. He believed she would make a good stepmother to his young daughterMaria Antonia from his first marriage.[16] Indeed, Claudia Felicitas soon enjoyed a close relationship with her stepdaughter.[17]
The proxy marriage took place in Innsbruck, and the bride received a dowry of 30,000guilders.[18] Then she, with her mother and cortege, traveled toGraz, where the official wedding was scheduled to be celebrated. By command of the emperor, Prince Johann Seyfried von Eggenberg was in charge of the celebrations. Above the main portal in his newly built and magnificentpalace, where the day before the wedding, the future empress stopped with her entourage, he ordered to be written the inscription in Latin "Long live Empress Claudia!" (Latin:Ave Claudia Imperatrix). The wedding was held atGraz Cathedral on 15 October 1673, and the celebrations for this event lasted two weeks. On 3 November, the Imperial couple went from Graz toVienna.[19]
The three-and-a-half-year marriage was said to be very happy, and under Claudia Felicitas the court economy was reportedly at its best.[20] At the time of her first pregnancy in 1674, a poem appeared in Vienna describing the intimate relationship of the imperial couple, written in cross form according to the rules of the "Rösselsprung" puzzle. It is probably the oldest writing of this kind and was very well received. Leopold rewarded the poet with a ducat for each syllable of the poem.[21]
During her marriage, Claudia Felicitas gave birth to two daughters, who died in childhood:[2][22]
Despite the failure to produce the needed male heir, Claudia Felicitas enjoyed a happy marriage and had great influence over her husband. She achieved the resignation and exile of the MinisterVáclav Eusebius František, Prince of Lobkowicz, who was against her marriage with the emperor and favored the choice of Countess PalatineEleonor Magdalene of Neuburg as Leopold I's new wife when he became a widower;[6][23] this was also the opinion of Dowager EmpressEleonora Gonzaga (Leopold I's stepmother), and in consequence she and Claudia Felicitas didn't have a good relationship. The empress drew attention to the abuses of her husband and the imperial court, especially in the government and judicial affairs. To this end, in 1674 it supplied the opera with a corresponding implication.[24]
Claudia Felicitas suddenly died oftuberculosis inVienna on 8 April 1676, aged 22, after the birth of her second (and only surviving) daughter. She was buried in theDominican Church, and her heart was put in a special urn and placed in theImperial Crypt. Three months later, her daughter died, and in September her mother the Dowager Countess of Tyrol also died; she was buried next to her.[3]
Leopold I was very upset by the loss of his second wife. He retired to a monastery near Vienna to mourn his new widowhood, but in December of the same year due to the lack of male heirs he was forced to marry again. The Countess PalatineEleonore Magdalene of Neuburg[25] bore him ten children including two future Emperors,Joseph I andCharles VI.
| Ancestors of Claudia Felicitas of Austria |
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Media related toClaudia Felicitas of Austria at Wikimedia CommonsClaudia Felicitas of Austria Born: 30 May 1653 Died: 8 April 1676 | ||
| Royal titles | ||
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| Vacant Title last held by Margaret Theresa of Spain | Empress of the Holy Roman Empire Queen consort of Germany Queen consort of Bohemia andHungary Archduchess consort of Austria 1673–1676 | Vacant Title next held by Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg |
| Carolingian Empire |  | |
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| Holy Roman Empire |
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