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Blog Who were The Habsburgs?
The Habsburg Family Tree
The Habsburg Family
If you have heard of this royal family, you have likely heard of something called the ‘Hasburg Jaw’. This famous physical characteristic is the result of a lot of strategic, inter-marriage, which was very popular amongst royal families at the time. This inter-marriage, which was designed to protect the royal bloodline, resulted in the Habsburgs having distinctly sharp, protruding jaws, bulbous lower lips, and large noses.
Habsburg Family Tree
Let’s dive into the details of the Habsburg family tree to learn more about this fascinating, but ultimately tragic, royal family.
Humble Beginnings: From Dukes to Emperors
The Habsburg family had fairly humble beginnings as dukes serving to protect the border of Germany in Austria. From this station, they rose to become emperors of Austria and of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Through marriage and succession, the Habsburg family made a number of strong connections to other ruling houses in Europe and beyond that.
The Habsburg family tree is expansive and would take too long to look at in its entirety. Here is a list of the Habsburg rulers who reigned from 1508 to 1918.
- Frederick III (1452-1493)
- Maximilian I 1493–1519
- Charles V 1519–1556
- Ferdinand I 1556–1564
- Maximilian II 1564–1576
- Rudolf II 1576–1612
- Matthias 1612–1619
- Ferdinand II 1619–1637
- Ferdinand III 1637–1657
- Leopold I 1657–1705
- Joseph I 1705–1711
- Charles VI 1711–1740
- Maria Theresa 1740–1780
Habsburg-Lorraine
The rest of the Habsburg family tree comes from the descendants of the marriage between Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Austria. The Habsburg-Lorraine descendants are:
- Joseph II (1741–1790)
- Leopold II (1747–1792)
- Francis II (1768–1835)
- Ferdinand I (1793–1875)
- Francis Joseph I (1830–1916)
- Charles I (1887–1922)
- Otto von Habsburg (1912-2011)
- Karl von Habsburg (1961 - present day)
Women of the Habsburg Family Tree
As mentioned before, to detail the entirety of the Habsburg family tree would be a lengthy ad arduous task, so let’s focus on one specific aspect of it. Let’s have a look at the women of the Habsburg family tree:
- Maria von Burgund (1457-1482)
First up, is Maria von Burgund. Maria was born on the 13th of February 1457 in Brussels to Duke Charles the Bold. As the Duke’s only child, Maria automatically became Duchess of Burgundy after her father’s death in January 1477.
As a young and powerful woman, suitors were queueing up to ask for Maria’s hand in marriage. Ultimately, it was decided that Maria would marry the Archduke Maximilian I of Austria, who went on to become Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. The two married on the 19th of August 1477, and formed a powerful union.
Unfortunately, Maria did not enjoy married life for long, as she died at just 25 years old in a riding accident.
- Kunigunde (1465-1520)
Kunigunde was born on the 16th of March 1465 in Wiener Neustadt, Styria, which is located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. Kunigunde is the fourth of five children that were born to Emperor Frederick III and his wife Eleanor, who was the daughter of King Edward of Portugal. Three of Kunigunde’s siblings, however, did not make it past infancy, and so, only Kunigunde and her brother, Maximilian, actually made it to adulthood.
As she was a daughter of the house of Habsburg, much like Maria, Kunigunde had many suitors looking to marry her. Her father, Emperor Frederick, saw the opportunity to use his daughter in his political affairs and so took a great deal of care in deciding her husband. After much deliberation, with the emperor even considering the sultan of the Osman empire as a potential suitor for his daughter, Kunigunde married Albert IV, the duke of Bavaria. Together, Albert and Kunigunde had seven children.
- Joanna von Kastilien (1479-1555)
Joanna von Kastilien was born on the 6th of November 1479 in Toledo, Castile. Joanna was the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile and, throughout her reign, was widely known as ‘Joanna the Mad’.
When the time came for Joanna to marry, she was wed to ‘Philip the Handsome’, as it was hoped that the alliance would create a strong link between the royal houses of Spain and Austria-Burgundy. As you can probably guess by his name, Philip was a very attractive young man. He got the name ‘Philip the Handsome’ from his fair hair and grey-blue eyes. Philip was the only surviving son of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy, who was the daughter of Charles the Bold of Burgundy.
Throughout their marriage, Joanna and Philip had six children. The exact details of the marriage are not know but, when Philip died, Joanna is believed to have had his body embalmed and took it with her wherever she went. Therefore, we can assume that, Joanna at least, was quite in love.
As you’ve probably guessed from the name, ‘Joanna the Mad’, this woman of the Habsburg family was widely believed to be insane. As a result of her suspected lunacy, Joanna was removed from her position as queen and confined to a castle by her own father.
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Margaret (1480 - 1530)
Margaret was born on the 10th of January 1480 as the daughter of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. Margaret’s life, like that of many royal women, was filled with a slew of strategic, political marriages. Throughout her fairly short life, Margaret was married three times.
The first marriage for Margaret was to Charles VIII of France when she was just eleven years old. The union did not last long, however, as Charles VIII of France soon divorced her once he found a more ‘suitable’ wife in Anne of Brittany.
Margaret’s next marriage was to John of Asturias. Unfortunately, their union was not much more successful than the last one. John died just six months after they had been married, and Margaret gave birth to a still-born daughter.
Margaret’s third and final marriage was to Philibert, the Duke of Savoy. Thankfully, this marriage is believed to have been much happier than Margaret’s previous ones. However, it still ended in tragedy, as Philibert died at a young age in 1504 of a disease called pleurisy. Margaret was so overcome by grief that she actually threw herself out of a window, but survived the fall. After this, Margaret returned to her homeland of Burgundy and spent the rest of her life caring for the education of her late brother, Philip’s six children.
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Isabella (1501-1526)
Isabella of Austria was born on the 18th of July 1501 in Brussels, the daughter of King Philip I and Queen Joanna of Castile and the heiress to the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Isabella was the third child of Philip, known as Philip the Handsome, who was the ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and Joanna the Mad, who is listed above.
Isabella had two older siblings, Eleonor and Charles, in addition to three younger siblings, Ferdinand, Mary, and Catherine. The children of Philip and Joanna were highly regarded around the world, with all of them going on to hold powerful positions across Europe. Isabella’s brothers became Holy Roman Emperors, making them the most powerful men in Europe, and her sisters became queens in Portugal, France, Bohemia, and Hungary.
Just shy of her 13th birthday, Isabella was married to Christian II, the king of Denmark. This marriage made Isabella Queen of Denmark and Norway and, when Christian later took the throne of Sweden, Isabella became Queen of Sweden.
Throughout the entirety of their marriage, Christian continued to have a relationship with his mistress, but Isabella remained faithful. She even followed her husband when he was sent into exile after being overthrown as king in 1523.
- Anna Jagiello (1503-1547)
Anna Jagiello was born on the 12th of March 1476 as the fifth daughter of King Casimir IV of Hungary and Bohemia and Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria. Anna was a Polish princess and member of the Jagiellonian dynasty by birth and the Duchess of Pomerania by marriage.
When she was still a young girl, Anna was married to Ferdinand I, who was the younger son of Philip the Handsome and a grandson of Maximilian I.
- Mary Tudor (1516-1558)
When we think of the Habsburg family, our minds seldom go to the Tudor dynasty, but, believe it or not, Mary Tudor is actually part of the Habsburg family tree. Mary, who was the first daughter of Henry VIII and the only child that he had with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Mary Tudor went on to marry Philip II of Spain, who was the son of her mother Catherine’s nephew, Charles V.
The Habsburg family had hoped that this union between Philip and Mary would be beneficial to their dynasty, but it was largely fruitless. The marriage was an unhappy one and Mary had no children.
- Anna (1601-1666)
Anna was born on the 22nd of September 1601 as the eldest daughter of King Philip III of Spain and his wife Margaret of Austria. Anna was born the Infanta of Spain and of Portugal, as her father was the King of both countries, and the Archduchess of Austria. Anna is often referred to as Anne of Austria, despite the fact that she was born in Spain. This is because the Spanish royal family belonged to the senior branch of the House of Austria, which later became known as the House of Habsburg.
Anna married King Louis XIII of France in the year 1615, which made her the Queen of France. She was also the Queen of Navarre until the kingdom was incorporated into the French crown in 1620. Anna is not believed to have had an overly happy marriage to Louis, and her relationship with her son was also famously troubled. When Louis died in 1643, Anna became the Queen Regent of France, in the place of her son, Louis XIV, who was only four years old at the time.
- Marie Antoinette (1755-1793)
Perhaps the most famous name on this list is Marie Antoinette, also known as Maria Antonia. Marie is the youngest of Maria Theresa’s sixteen children, and was sent off to marry the heir to the French throne when she was just fourteen years old.
Marie married the French dauphin, Louis XVI, and became the last Queen of France before the French Revolution. She was widely despised by the French people, who felt that she was out of touch and had little sympathy for their dire, impoverished living conditions.
Marie Antoinette died on 16th of October 1793, when she was beheaded as part of the French Revolution.
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