Frans Luycx - Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria

Ferdinand Charles (17 May 1628 – 30 December 1662) was the Archduke of Further Austria, including

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 ...

, from 1646 to 1662. As the son of Archduke Leopold V and Claudia de' Medici, he succeeded his father upon the latter's death in 1632, under his mother's regency. He took over his mother's governatorial duties when he came of age in 1646. To finance his extravagant living style, he sold goods and entitlements. For example, he wasted the exorbitant sum which

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

had to pay to the Tyrolean

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 ...

s for the cession of their fiefs west of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

(

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

Sundgau Sundgau ( or ; ) is a geographical territory in the southern Alsace region ( Haut Rhin and Belfort), on the eastern edge of France. The name is derived from Alemannic German ''Sunt- gowe'' ("South shire"), denoting an Alemannic county in the Old ...

and

Breisach Breisach (formerly Altbreisach; Low Alemannic: ''Alt-Brisach'') is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about halfway ...

). He also fixed the border to Graubünden in 1652. Ferdinand Charles was an absolutist ruler, did not call any diet after 1648 and had his

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Wilhelm Biener executed illegally in 1651 after a secret trial. On the other hand, he was a lover of music:

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ...

was performed in his court.

Marriage, children and death

Ferdinand Charles married

Anna de' Medici Anna de' Medici (31 December 1569 – 19 February 1584) was the third child of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Joanna of Austria. She was a member of the famous House of Medici. Life Anna was the third child of Grand Duke Fra ...

. She was a daughter of Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Maria Magdalena of Austria († 1631). They had three children: * Claudia Felicitas of Austria (30 May 1653 – 8 April 1676). Married

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria ...

. *Daughter (born and died 19 July 1654), died at birth. *Maria Magdalena of Austria (17 August 1656 – 21 January 1669). He died in Kaltern. Anselmus-van-Hulle-Hommes-illustres MG 0434.tif, Bust portrait of Ferdinand Charles, after a painting by

Anselm van Hulle Anselm van Hulle or Anselmus van Hulle (Gent, 1601 - 1674/1694) was a Flemish painter mainly of portraits whose works were highly prized at the Northern European Courts. He was court painter to the Prince of Orange and was one of the few portrai ...

. Collection Peace Palace Library. Justus Sustermans - Anna de' Medici, wife of archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria.jpg, Anna Medici, his wife by Justus Sustermans.

Ancestors

References

External links

A listing of descendants of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
1628 births 1662 deaths 17th-century archdukes of Austria Counts of Tyrol Knights of the Golden Fleece {{Austria-royal-stub