Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand III (Ferdinand Ernest; 13 July 1608, in Graz – 2 April 1657, in Vienna) was Archduke of Austria from 1621, King of Hungary from 1625, King of Croatia and of Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 to his death.

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Ferdinand III
Portrait by Jan van den Hoecke, 1643
Holy Roman Emperor (more...)
Reign	15 February 1637 – 2 April 1657
Proclamation	18 November 1637 Frankfurt Cathedral
Predecessor	Ferdinand II
Successor	Leopold I
Born	13 July 1608 Graz, Duchy of Styria, Holy Roman Empire
Died	2 April 1657(1657-04-02) (aged 48) Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Burial	Imperial Crypt
Spouses	Maria Anna of Austria ​ ​ (m. 1631; died 1646)​ Maria Leopoldine of Austria ​ ​ (m. 1648; died 1649)​ Eleonora Gonzaga ​ (m. 1651)​
Issue	Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans Mariana, Queen of Spain Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Archduke Charles Joseph Eleonore, Queen of Poland[1] Maria Anna Josepha, Electoral Princess of the Palatinate
Names German: Ferdinand Ernst English: Ferdinand Ernest
House	Habsburg
Father	Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Maria Anna of Bavaria
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Ferdinand ascended the throne at the beginning of the last decade of the Thirty Years' War and introduced lenient policies to depart from the old ideas of divine rights under his father, as he had wished to end the war quickly. As the numerous battles had not resulted in sufficient military containment of the empire's Protestant enemies, and he was confronted with a decay of Imperial power, Ferdinand was compelled to abandon the political stances of his Habsburg predecessors in many respects to open the long road towards the much-delayed peace treaty. Although his authority among the princes was weakened after the war in Bohemia, Hungary and Austria, Ferdinand's position as sovereign was uncontested.[2][3]

Ferdinand was the first Habsburg monarch to be recognised as a musical composer.[4]