Barbara of Austria (30 April 1539 – 19 September 1572), was an
Archduchess of Austria as a member of the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
and by marriage
Duchess consort of Ferrara,
Modena and Reggio during 1565–1572.
Life
Early years
Born in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
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, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
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on 30 April 1539,
Barbara was the eleventh child and eighth daughter of
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of rulers of Croatia, Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1 ...
and
Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. On her father's side she was the granddaughter of King
Philip I of Castile (also
Duke of Burgundy) and Queen
Joanna of Castile. On her mother's side, she was the granddaughter of King
Vladislaus II of Hungary and
Anne of Foix-Candale (who in turn was through her own mother
Infanta Catherine of Navarre, a granddaughter of Queen
Eleanor of Navarre and
Gaston IV, Count of Foix
Gaston IV (27 November 1422 – 25 or 28 July 1472) was the sovereign Viscount of Béarn and the Count of Foix and Bigorre in France from 1436 to 1472. He also held the viscounties of Marsan, Castelbon, Nébouzan, Villemeur and Lautrec and was, ...
).
In the winter of 1547, the widowed Emperor Ferdinand I entrusted all his unmarried daughters to the care of nuns in the monastery in
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...
, where Barbara lived until her marriage. Only once, in 1552, during the invasion of the
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
by the
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
army under the command of
Maurice, Elector of Saxony, did Barbara and her sisters
Magdalena,
Margaret
Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian.
Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...
,
Helena
Helena may refer to:
People
*Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer
*Helena, mother of Constantine I
Places
Greece
* Helena (island)
Guyana
* H ...
and
Joanna, spend some time outside the monastery at Bruneck Castle.
Barbara received a deeply religious Catholic upbringing. The characteristic features of her education, based on the writings of the
Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
Peter Canisius and
Diego Laynez
''Several spellings of his names (James, Jacob; Laines, Laynez, Lainez) are in use and some of them can be found in other Wikipedia articles''
Diego Laynez, S.J. (sometimes spelled Laínez) ( Spanish: ''Diego Laynez''), born in 1512 (Almazán, S ...
, were religiosity and charity. Her confessors were also Jesuits.
Contemporaries had different opinions about Barbara's physical appearance. The
papal nuncio at the imperial court in Vienna, Cardinal
Zaccaria Delfino
Zaccaria Delfino (1527–1584) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. He served as bishop in modern-day Croatia, served as the papal nuncio to the Hapsburg Monarchy and participated in the Council of Trent before becoming a Cardi ...
, considered her ugly.
Florentine diplomat Antonio degli Albizzi in correspondence described Barbara's appearance as mediocre. He also pointed the presence of
Prognathism
Prognathism, also called Habsburg jaw or Habsburgs' jaw primarily in the context of its prevalence amongst members of the House of Habsburg, is a positional relationship of the mandible or maxilla to the skeletal base where either of the jaws pr ...
in her — a characteristic anatomical peculiarity which appeared in many members of the House of Habsburg. The
Venetian
Venetian often means from or related to:
* Venice, a city in Italy
* Veneto, a region of Italy
* Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area
Venetian and the like may also refer to:
* Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
diplomat
Alvise Contarini
Alvise Contarini (24 October 1601 – 15 January 1684) was the 106th Doge of Venice, reigning from his election on 26 August 1676 until his death seven and a half years later. He was the eighth and final member of the House of Contarini to serve ...
, on the other hand, considered Barbara the most beautiful of the unmarried Archduchesses.
Marriage
In 1560, Barbara was considered as a wife for
Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, who later married
Eleanor
Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
The name was intro ...
, Barbara's elder sister. In 1562, several suitors came to Emperor Ferdinand I to ask for the hand of his youngest daughter Joanna, among them
John Sigismund Zápolya,
Francesco de' Medici, Crown Prince of Florence and
Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. The last of these began negotiations for marriage in November 1563.
A dynastic marriage with the head of the House 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 of
Medici
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...
and
Este, the Emperor proposed Barbara instead as wife of Alfonso II, a decision supported by King
Philip II of Spain
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
, an ally of the
Duchy of Florence.
In July 1565, Barbara first saw Alfonso II, who visited Innsbruck to get to know her. In November of the same year, she and Joanna arrived in
Trento
Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...
, where
Pope Pius IV
Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...
sent his legates to conduct a double marriage ceremony; however, because of the renewed conflict between the grooms, the brides had to go to the respective capitals (Ferrara and Florence) of their future spouses to be wedded.
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.
[
] Among the guests at the wedding were the former fiancé of Barbara, the Duke of Mantua, with his wife, her older sister.
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' ( Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...
(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 several
''canzones'' in praise of Barbara. The celebrations were cut short because of the death of Pope Pius IV.
On becoming a 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 the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
, Barbara was sincerely worried about her husband. The experience negatively impaired her health; from that time she was reported as being constantly ill.
Despite being a devout Catholic, Barbara was able to forge an excellent relationship with her Protestant mother-in-law
Renée of France. The Duchess's confessors in Ferrara, as well as in Innsbruck, were Jesuits, 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 the ''Conservatore 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.
Premature death
Barbara died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...
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 Ferrarese
Church of the Gesù. Seven years later, Alfonso II married for the third time to
Margherita Gonzaga, who was Barbara's niece.
In culture
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' ( Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...
dedicated several
sonnet
A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...
s, ''canzones'', eulogies and dialogues to Barbara of Austria.
Another Italian poet,
Giovanni Battista Guarini, also dedicated a ''canzon'' to her. The collection of the
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal d ...
in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, timezone = CET
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contains two portraits of Barbara. In the early one, a work of
Giuseppe 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. In another portrait of 1565, made after her marriage, she is depicted full size. This portrait is work of
Francesco Terzi.
Ancestry
References
External links
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbara
16th-century Austrian people
Austrian princesses
16th-century House of Habsburg
Austrian people of Lithuanian descent
Austrian expatriates in Italy
Nobility from Vienna
People from Innsbruck
16th-century deaths from tuberculosis
1539 births
1572 deaths
Duchesses of Ferrara
Duchesses of Modena
Duchesses of Reggio
Duchesses of Chartres
House of Este
16th-century Austrian women
Tuberculosis deaths in Italy
Infectious disease deaths in Emilia-Romagna
Daughters of emperors
Children of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Daughters of kings