Maria Leopoldine of Austria
| Maria Leopoldine of Austria | |
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Portrait by Lorenzo Lippi, 1649.
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Holy Roman Empress; German Queen; Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia; Archduchess consort of Austria |
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| Tenure | 2 July 1648 – 19 August 1649 |
| Born |
28 November 1632 Innsbruck, Tyrol |
| Died | 19 August 1649 (aged 16) Vienna, Austria |
| Spouse | Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Issue | Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria |
| House | Habsburg |
| Father | Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria |
| Mother | Claudia de' Medici |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Tyrol (28 November 1632 – 19 August 1649), was by birth Archduchess of Austria and member of the Tyrolese branch of the House of Habsburg and by marriage the second spouse of her first cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III. As such, she was Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, German Queen and Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia. She died in childbirth.
Maria Leopoldine was born in Innsbruck on 28 November 1632 as the third (but second surviving) daughter and the fifth and youngest child of Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria, and Claudia de' Medici. She was born posthumously, because her father died two months before her birth, on 13 September 1632. On her father's side, her grandparents were Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his wife Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria and on her mother's side her grandparents were Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife Princess Christina of Lorraine. In addition to her full-siblings, she had and older half-sister, Vittoria della Rovere, born from her mother's first marriage with Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, Duke of Urbino.
Maria Leopoldine's oldest brother, Ferdinand Charles, inherited Further Austria, but Dowager Archduchess Claudia assumed regency because of her son's minority. In a letter written to his mother, Elizabeth of England, on 8 September 1641, Charles Louis of the Palatinate (later Elector Palatine) described the intentions of his uncle, King Charles I of England, and Maria Leopoldine's first cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, to arrange a marriage between the 9-years-old Archduchess and himself; the marriage between them was to end "all grudges betweene our families". However, the union never took place.
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