Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (July 13, 1608 – April 2, 1657), ruled February 15, 1637 – 1657.

Life

Eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand II from the house of Habsburg and his first wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria. Made King of Hungary in 1625, King of Bohemia in 1627, and King of the Romans in 1636.

Following the death of Wallenstein in 1634, he was made titular head of the Imperial Army in the Thirty Years' War, and later that year joined with his cousin the Cardinal-Infante to defeat the Swedes at Nördlingen.

Leader of the peace party at court, he helped negotiate the Peace of Prague with the Protestant States, especially Saxony in 1635.

He succeeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor in 1637. He hoped to be able to make peace soon with France and Sweden, but the war dragged on for another 11 years, finally coming to an end with the Peace of Westphalia (Treaty of Münster with France, Treaty of Osnabrück with Sweden) in 1648, both negotiated by his envoy Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff, a successful diplomat who had been made a count in 1623 by his father Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.

During the last dreadful period of the war, in 1644 Ferdinand III gave to all rulers of German states the right to conduct their own foreign policy (ius belli ac pacis). This way the emperor was trying to gain more allies in the negotiations with France and Sweden. This very edict contributed to the gradual erosion of imperial authority in the Holy Roman Empire.

Marriages and children

On February 20, 1631 Ferdinand III married his first wife Maria Anna of Spain. She was the youngest daughter of Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria. They were third cousins as male-line descedants of Philip I of Castile and Joanna of Castile. They were parents to six children:

• Ferdinand IV of Hungary (8 September, 1633 - 9 July, 1654).
• Mariana of Austria (23 December, 1634 - 16 May, 1696). Married her maternal uncle Philip IV of Spain. They were parents to Charles II of Spain, the degenerated last Habsburg monarch of Spain.
• Philip August, Archduke of Austria (1637 - 1639).
• Maximilian Thomas, Archduke of Austria (1638 - 1639).
• Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (9 June, 1640 - 5 May, 1705).
• Maria of Austria (1646).

In 1648, Ferdinand III married his second wife Maria Leopoldine, Archduchess of Austria. She was a daughter of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria and Claudia de' Medici. They were second cousins as male-line grandchildren of Charles II, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. They had a single son:

• Karl Josef of Austria (1649 - 1664). He was Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights from 1662 to his death.

In 1651, Ferdinand III married Eleonora of Mantua (Gonzaga). She was a daughter of Charles IV Gonzaga, Duke of Rethel. They were parents to four children:

• Theresia Maria Josefa, Archduchess of Austria (1652 - 1653).
• Eleonora Maria Josefa, Archduchess of Austria (1653 - 1697). Married first Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland and secondly Charles V, Duke of Lorraine.
• Maria Anna, Archduchess of Austria (1654 - 1689). Married Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine.
• Ferdinand Josef, Archduke of Austria (1657 - 1658).

External links

1608 births | 1657 deaths | House of Habsburg | Holy Roman emperors | German kings | Hungarian monarchs | Rulers of Austria | Rulers of Styria | Dukes of Carinthia | Bohemian monarchs | Knights of the Golden Fleece

Ferdinand II. | Ferdinand 3. (Tysk-romerske rige) | Ferdinand III. (HRR) | Ferdinand III (Saksa-Rooma keiser) | Ferdinand III du Saint-Empire | Ferdinando III del Sacro Romano Impero | פרדיננד השלישי, קיסר האימפריה הרומית הקדושה | Ferdinand III van het Heilige Roomse Rijk | フェルディナント3世 (神聖ローマ皇帝) | Ferdynand III Habsburg | Ferdinand III (tysk-romersk kejsare) | 斐迪南三世 (神圣罗马帝国)