Archduke Albert (1559-1621)

Albert (VII)
Portrait of Albert VII, c. 1615, by Rubens; São Paulo Museum of Art collection
Sovereign of the Netherlands Duke of Lothier 1598–1621 Duke of Brabant 1598–1621 Duke of Limburg 1598–1621 Duke of Luxemburg 1598–1621 Duke of Guelders 1598–1621 Margrave of Namur 1598–1621 Count Palatine of Burgundy 1598–1621 Count of Flanders 1598–1621 Count of Artois 1598–1621 Count of Hainaut 1598–1621
Reign	6 May 1598 – 13 July 1621
Predecessor	Philip II
Successor	Philip IV
Co-monarch	Isabella Clara Eugenia
Archduke of Lower and Upper Austria
Reign	20 March – 9 October 1619
Predecessor	Matthias
Successor	Ferdinand III
Born	13 November 1559 Wiener Neustadt
Died	13 July 1621(1621-07-13) (aged 61) Brussels
Burial	St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral
Spouse	Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain
House	Habsburg
Father	Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Maria of Spain
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Albert VII (13 November 1559 – 13 July 1621) was the ruling Archduke of Austria for a few months in 1619 and, jointly with his wife, Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621. Prior to this, he had been a cardinal, archbishop of Toledo, viceroy of Portugal and Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands. He succeeded his brother Matthias as reigning archduke of Lower and Upper Austria, but abdicated in favor of Ferdinand II the same year, making it the shortest (and often ignored) reign in Austrian history.

Archduke Albert was the fifth son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II and Maria of Spain, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal. He was sent to the Spanish Court at the age of eleven, where his uncle, King Philip II, looked after his education. Initially he was meant to pursue an ecclesiastical career. On 3 March 1577 he was appointed cardinal by Pope Gregory XIII, with a dispensation because of his age of eighteen, and was given Santa Croce in Gerusalemme as his titular church. Philip II planned to make Albert archbishop of Toledo as soon as possible, but the incumbent, Gaspar de Quiroga y Sandoval, lived much longer than expected; he died on 12 November 1594. In the meantime Albert only took lower orders. He was never ordained priest or bishop, and thus he resigned the See of Toledo in 1598. He resigned the cardinalate in 1598. His clerical upbringing did however have a lasting influence on his lifestyle.