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Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III

Ferdinand III
Jan van den Hoecke - Portrait of Emperor Ferdinand III.jpg
Portrait of Ferdinand by Jan van den Hoecke, c. 1643
Holy Roman Emperor
King of Germany
Reign 18 November 1637 – 2 April 1657
Coronation 18 November 1637
Predecessor Ferdinand II
Successor Leopold I
Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria
Reign 15 February 1637 – 2 April 1657
Predecessor Ferdinand III
Successor Leopold VI
King of Bohemia
Reign 21 November 1627 – 2 April 1657
Coronation 21 November 1627, Prague
Predecessor Ferdinand II
Successor Leopold I
Junior king Ferdinand IV
King of Hungary and Croatia
Reign 8 December 1625 – 2 April 1657
Coronation 8 December 1625, Sopron
Predecessor Ferdinand II
Successor Leopold I
Junior king Ferdinand IV
Born 13 July 1608
Graz, Austria
Died 2 April 1657(1657-04-02) (aged 48)
Vienna, Austria
Burial Imperial Crypt, Vienna, Austria
Spouse Maria Anna of Spain
Maria Leopoldine of Austria
Eleonora Gonzaga
Issue Ferdinand IV of Hungary
Mariana, Queen of Spain
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
Archduke Charles Joseph
Eleanor, Queen of Poland
Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha
House Habsburg
Father Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother Maria Anna of Bavaria
Religion Roman Catholicism

Ferdinand III (13 July 1608 – 2 April 1657) was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria. He was the last emperor to have real power over the Holy Roman Empire.

Ferdinand was born in Graz, the eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg and his first wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria. Educated by the Jesuits, he became Archduke of Austria in 1621, King of Hungary in 1625, and King of Bohemia in 1627.

In 1627 Ferdinand enhanced his authority and set an important legal and military precedent by issuing a Revised Land Ordinance that deprived the Bohemian estates of their right to raise soldiers, reserving this power solely for the monarch.

Following the death of Albrecht von Wallenstein (who had previously denied him the overall military command of the Catholic side) in 1634, he was made titular head of the Imperial Army in the Thirty Years' War. Later that year he joined with his cousin, the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, who was nominally responsible for the capture of Donauwörth and Regensburg, and for the defeat of the Swedes at the Battle of Nördlingen. Leader of the peace party at court, he helped negotiate the Peace of Prague with the Protestant states, especially Saxony in 1635.


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