Capuchin Church, Vienna
The Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria is a church and monastery run by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. The official name of the church is Church of Saint Mary of the Angels, about 1599 the Capuchin brothers under Lawrence of Brindisi resided at Vienna on their way to Prague, where they had been sent by Pope Clement VIII in the course of the Counter-Reformation. The church was donated by will of Anna of Tyrol, consort of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias of Habsburg, construction was delayed due to the outbreak of the Thirty Years War and not finished until 1632, under the rule of Matthias successor Ferdinand II. The aisleless church contains the tombs of friar Marco dAviano and architect Donato Felice dAllio as well as a pietà by Peter Strudel. Its subterranean mausoleum is the Imperial Crypt that has been the place of entombment for the Habsburg dynasty, Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The lying in repose for the last heir to the Austrian and Hungarian throne, Otto von Habsburg, the church is used daily by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter for the celebration of the 1962 extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
The face of the Capuchin Church building was restored in 2016, removing the line dividing the colors of the church face, the Capuchin Church contains the Imperial Crypt, called the Capuchin Crypt, a burial chamber beneath the church and monastery. Since 1633, the Imperial Crypt has been the place of entombment for members of the House of Habsburg. The bodies of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are deposited here, the most recent entombment was in 2011. The visible 107 metal sarcophagi and five heart urns range in style from puritan plain to exuberant rococo, some of the dozen resident Capuchin friars continue their customary role as the guardians and caretakers of the crypt, along with their other pastoral work in Vienna
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. She was a proponent of enlightened absolutism until the advent of the French Revolution, born an Austrian archduchess, the thirteenth child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I, she married Ferdinand as part of an Austrian alliance with Spain, where Ferdinands father was king. Following the birth of an heir in 1775, Maria Carolina was admitted to the Privy Council. Thereafter, she dominated it until 1812, when she was sent back to Vienna, like her mother, Maria Carolina took pains to make politically advantageous marriages for her children. Maria Carolina promoted Naples as a centre of the arts, patronising painters Jacob Philipp Hackert and Angelica Kauffman and academics Gaetano Filangieri, Domenico Cirillo and Giuseppe Maria Galanti. Maria Carolina, abhorring her sister Marie Antoinettes treatment by the French, allied Naples with Britain and Austria during the Napoleonic, as a result of a failed Neapolitan invasion of French-occupied Rome, she fled to Sicily with her husband in December 1798.
One month later, the Parthenopean Republic was declared, which repudiated Bourbon rule in Naples for six months. Deposed as Queen of Naples for a time by French forces, in 1806, Maria Carolina died in Vienna in 1814. Her godparents were King Louis XV of France and his wife, Maria Carolina was the daughter who resembled her mother most. Maria Carolina formed a close bond with her youngest sister. From very early on they shared the same governess Countess Lerchenfeld, a testament to their closeness is the fact that when one caught an illness the other did too. In August 1767 Maria Theresa separated the two girls, hitherto raised together under the auspices of Countess Marie von Brandis, because of their bad behaviour. Soon after in October of the year, Maria Carolinas sister Maria Josepha, destined to marry Ferdinand IV of Naples as part of an alliance with Spain. Anxious to save the Austro-Spanish alliance Charles III of Spain, father of Ferdinand IV, the Empress offered the court of Madrid, negotiating on behalf of that of Naples, Maria Amalia or Maria Carolina.
Because Maria Amalia was five years older than his son Charles III opted for the latter, Maria Carolina reacted badly to her engagement, crying and saying that Neapolitan marriages were unlucky. Her objections, did not delay her preparation for her new role as Queen of Naples by the Countess of Lerchenfeld, nine months later, on 7 April 1768, Maria Carolina married Ferdinand IV of Naples by proxy, her brother Ferdinand representing the bride-groom. The fifteen-year-old Queen of Naples journeyed at leisure from Vienna to Naples, making stops at Mantua, Bologna and she entered the Kingdom of Naples on 12 May 1768, disembarking at Terracina, where she took leave of her native attendants. To the Countess of Lerchenfeld, she wrote, I love him only out of duty, too, was not taken with her, after their first night together, She sleeps like the dead and sweats like a pig
House of Wittelsbach
The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria. The family provided two Holy Roman Emperors, one King of the Romans, two Anti-Kings of Bohemia, one King of Hungary, one King of Denmark and Norway, the familys head, since 1996, is Franz, Duke of Bavaria. Berthold, Margrave in Bavaria, was the ancestor of Otto I, Count of Scheyern, whose third son Otto II, the Counts of Scheyern left Scheyern Castle in 1119 for Wittelsbach Castle and the former was given to monks to establish Scheyern Abbey. Duke Ottos son Louis I, Duke of Bavaria acquired the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1214. On Duke Otto IIs death in 1253, his sons divided the Wittelsbach possessions between them, Henry became Duke of Lower Bavaria, and Louis II Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine. When Henrys branch died out in 1340 the Emperor Louis IV, the Bavarian branch kept the duchy of Bavaria until its extinction in 1777. His six sons succeeded him as Duke of Bavaria and Count of Holland, the Wittelsbachs lost the Tyrol with the death of duke Meinhard and the following Peace of Schärding - the Tyrol was finally renounced to the Habsburgs in 1369.
In 1373 Otto, the last Wittelsbach regent of Brandenburg, released the country to the House of Luxembourg, on Duke Alberts death in 1404, he was succeeded in the Netherlands by his eldest son, William. A younger son, John III, became Bishop of Liège, however, on Williams death in 1417, a war of succession broke out between John and Williams daughter Jacqueline of Hainaut. This last episode of the Hook and Cod wars finally left the counties in Burgundian hands in 1432, with the Landshut War of Succession Bavaria was reunited in 1505 against the claim of the Palatinate branch under the Bavarian branch Bavaria-Munich. From 1549 to 1567 the Wittelsbach owned the County of Kladsko in Bohemia, strictly Catholic by upbringing, the Bavarian dukes became leaders of the German Counter-Reformation. From 1583 to 1761, the Bavarian branch of the dynasty provided the Prince-electors and Archbishops of Cologne and many other Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire, namely Liège. Wittelsbach princes served for example as Bishops of Regensburg, Freising, Liège, Münster, Hildesheim and Osnabrück, in 1623 under Maximilian I the Bavarian dukes were invested with the electoral dignity and the duchy became the Electorate of Bavaria.
His grandson Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria served as Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands and his son Emperor Charles VII was king of Bohemia. With the death of Charles son Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria the Bavarian branch died out in 1777, the Palatinate branch kept the Palatinate until 1918 and succeeded in Bavaria in 1777. With the Golden Bull of 1356 the Counts Palatine were invested with the electoral dignity, princes of the Palatinate branch served as Bishops of the Empire and as Elector-Archbishops of Mainz and Elector-Archbishops of Trier. Jülich and Berg fell to the Wittelsbach Count Palatine Wolfgang William of Neuburg, in 1619, the Protestant Frederick V, Elector Palatine became King of Bohemia but was defeated by the Catholic Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, a member of the Bavarian branch. As a result, the Upper Palatinate had to be ceded to the Bavarian branch in 1623, when the Thirty Years War concluded with the Treaty of Münster in 1648, a new additional electorate was created for the Count Palatine of the Rhine
House of Lorraine
The House of Lorraine originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death of duke Nicholas I without a male heir, his sons Joseph II and Leopold II, and grandson Francis II were the last four Holy Roman Emperors from 1745 to the dissolution of the empire in 1806. Habsburg-Lorraine inherited the Habsburg Empire, ruling the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918, the house claims descent from Gerard I of Paris whose immediate descendants are known as the Girardides. The Matfridings of the 10th century are thought to have been a branch of the family, at the turn of the 10th century they were Counts of Metz and ruled a set of lordships in Alsace and Lorraine. Mary of Guise, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, louis XIVs imperialist ambitions forced the dukes into a permanent alliance with his archenemies, the Holy Roman Emperors from the House of Habsburg. Following the failure of both Emperor Joseph I and Emperor Charles VI to produce a son and heir, the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 left the throne to the yet unborn daughter.
In 1736 Emperor Charles arranged her marriage to Francis of Lorraine who agreed to exchange his hereditary lands for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, at Charless death in 1740 the Habsburg lands passed to Maria Theresa and Francis, who was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Francis I. The Habsburg-Lorraine nuptials and dynastic union precipitated, and survived, the War of the Austrian Succession, another member of the house, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, was Emperor of Mexico. In 1900, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria contracted a marriage with Countess Sophie Chotek. Their descendants, known as the House of Hohenberg, have been excluded from succession to the Austro-Hungarian crown, but not that of Lorraine, where morganatic marriage has never been outlawed. Nevertheless, Otto von Habsburg, the eldest grandson of Franz Ferdinands younger brother, was regarded as the head of the house until his death in 2011. It was at Nancy, the capital of the House of Vaudemont. House of Metz Adalbert, Duke of Upper Lorraine r, 1047/8 Gérard, Duke of Lorraine, r.
1390–1431 Charles II died without heir, the duchy passing to Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. The duchy passed to their son John II, whose son Nicholas I died without male heir, the title now went to Nicholas aunt Yolande. René inherited the title of Duke of Lorraine upon his marriage in 1473, René II, Duke of Lorraine, r. 1608–1624 Nicole Claude Francis II, Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine r, 1624–1675 Nicholas Francis Charles V, r. 1690–1729 Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, r, 1745–1765 House of Habsburg-Lorraine Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, r
Ferdinand I of Austria
He married Maria Anna of Savoy, the sixth child of Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia. He abdicated on 2 December 1848 and he was succeeded by his nephew, Franz Joseph. Following his abdication, he lived in Hradčany Palace, Ferdinand was the eldest son of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. Possibly as a result of his parents genetic closeness, Ferdinand suffered from epilepsy, neurological problems, and he was educated by Baron Josef Kalasanz von Erberg, and his wife Josephine, née Gräfin von Attems. Though he was not declared incapacitated, a Regents Council steered the government, when Ferdinand married Princess Maria Anna of Savoy, the court physician considered it unlikely that he would be able to consummate the marriage. When he tried to consummate the marriage, he had five seizures and he is best remembered for his command to his cook, when told he could not have apricot dumplings because apricots were out of season, he said I am the Emperor, and I want dumplings.
As the revolutionaries of 1848 were marching on the palace, he is supposed to have asked Metternich for an explanation, when Metternich answered that they were making a revolution, Ferdinand is supposed to have said But are they allowed to do that. He was convinced by Felix zu Schwarzenberg to abdicate in favour of his nephew, I embraced him and kissed our new master, and we went to our room. Afterwards I and my dear wife heard Holy Mass, after that I and my dear wife packed our bags. Ferdinand was the last King of Bohemia to be crowned as such, due to his sympathy with Bohemia he was given the Czech nickname Ferdinand V, the Good. In Austria, Ferdinand was similarly nicknamed Ferdinand der Gütige, and he is interred in tomb number 62 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. Lord of Trieste and over the Windic March, charles II of Spain List of heirs to the Austrian throne Rulers of Germany family tree. He was related to every other ruler of Germany, ferdinands parents were double first cousins as they shared all four grandparents.
Therefore, Ferdinand only had four great-grandparents, being descended from each of them twice, further back in his ancestry there is more pedigree collapse due to the close intermarriage between the Houses of Austria and Spain and other Catholic monarchies. 25–26 Ferdinand I In, Brockhaus Kleines Konversations-Lexikon,1, Leipzig,1911, p
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg, called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740, from the sixteenth century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish branches. Although they ruled distinct territories, they maintained close relations. The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland, in the canton of Aargau, by Count Radbot of Klettgau. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the name as his own. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th, by 1276, Count Radbots seventh generation descendant Rudolph of Habsburg had moved the familys power base from Habsburg Castle to the Duchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany in 1273, and the dynasty of the House of Habsburg was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became ruler of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918.
A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to expand its domains to include Burgundy and its colonial empire, Hungary. In the 16th century, the separated into the senior Habsburg Spain and the junior Habsburg Monarchy branches. The House of Habsburg became extinct in the 18th century, the senior Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Bourbon. It was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine, the new successor house styled itself formally as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, the origins of the castles name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg, or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, the first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108.
The Habsburg Castle was the seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, in the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were able to high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other families such as the House of Kyburg. By the second half of the 13th century, count Rudolph IV had become one of the most influential territorial lords in the area between the Vosges Mountains and Lake Constance
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I, was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and he was deposed twice from the throne of Naples, once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805. Ferdinand was the son of King Charles III of Spain and Sicily by his wife. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his brother, Ferdinand VI. Ferdinand was the founder of the cadet House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Ferdinand was styled both Ferdinand III of Sicily and Ferdinand IV of Naples. On 21 January 1799, the Kingdom of Naples was abolished and replaced by the Parthenopaean Republic which lasted until 13 June 1799, Ferdinand was restored to the throne for a while. On 26 December 1805, Napoleon I of France declared Ferdinand deposed again, Ferdinand was restored for the second time following the Austrian victory at the Battle of Tolentino over rival monarch King Joachim I.
On 8 March 1816 he merged the thrones of Sicily and Naples into the throne of the Two Sicilies and he continued to rule until his death on 4 January 1825. Ferdinand was born in Naples and grew up amidst many of the monuments erected there by his father which can be seen today, Ferdinand was his parents third son, his elder brother Charles was expected to inherit Naples and Sicily. When his father ascended the Spanish throne in 1759 he abdicated Naples in Ferdinands favor in accordance with the treaties forbidding the union of the two crowns, a regency council presided over by the Tuscan Bernardo Tanucci was set up. Ferdinands minority ended in 1767, and his first act was the expulsion of the Jesuits, the following year he married Archduchess Maria Carolina, daughter of Empress Maria Theresa. By the marriage contract the queen was to have a voice in the council of state after the birth of her first son, who attempted to thwart her, was dismissed in 1777. He became practically and afterward prime minister.
Although not a mere grasping adventurer, he was responsible for reducing the internal administration of the country to a system of espionage, corruption. The French entered the city in spite of the resistance of the lazzaroni. When, a few weeks the French troops were recalled to northern Italy, Ferdinand sent a hastily assembled force, under Cardinal Ruffo, to reconquer the mainland kingdom. Ruffo, with the support of British artillery, the Church, and the aristocracy, reaching Naples in May 1800. After some months King Ferdinand returned to the throne, the king returned to Naples soon afterwards, and ordered a few hundred who had collaborated with the French executed
Caroline Augusta of Bavaria
Princess Caroline Augusta of Bavaria was a daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria and his wife, Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, and a member of the House of Wittelsbach. She was married to Crown Prince William of Württemberg, whom she divorced, from 1816–1835, she was Empress of Austria in her second marriage. On 8 June 1808, at Munich, Caroline Augusta married Crown Prince William becoming Crown Princess of Württemberg and they had no children and were divorced on 31 August 1814. Her first marriage was arranged to avoid a marriage arranged by Napoleon. After the marriage ceremony, her spouse said to her, We are victims to politics and she spent her time writing letters to her brother Louis, and learning Italian and English. The couple never bonded with other and the marriage was finally annulled by Pope Pius VII to enable both of them to make remarriages that were valid in the Catholic Church. At the time of the annulment, it was claimed by them that they had lived separately in the palace, after the annulment of her marriage, Caroline Augusta was considered as a bride for both the Emperor Francis II and his younger brother, Ferdinand.
Later, Ferdinand withdrew his proposal and Caroline August became the Emperors bride, on 29 October 1816, Caroline Augusta married Francis II, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia. She became the wife of the emperor, who was 24 years older than her and had fathered thirteen children by two of his previous wives. The English diplomat Frederick Lamb called the new ugly and amiable, and the emperor her husband had this to say of her, She can stand a push. The wedding, and indeed their married life, was simple due to the strict economy favoured by the Emperor. Prior to this marriage, Caroline Augusta has always known as Charlotte. This marriage, which lasted until the death almost 20 years later, was harmonious. She became popular in Austria and was active in work, she founded several hospitals. After the death of her spouse in 1835, she moved to Salzburg, the dowager empress died in February 1873, on the day after her 81st birthday. She was close to her half-niece, the Empress Elisabeth, a pearl brooch formerly owned by Caroline Augusta was auctioned at Sothebys in 2012
Imperial Crypt
The Imperial Crypt, called the Capuchin Crypt, is a burial chamber beneath the Capuchin Church and monastery in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1618 and dedicated in 1632, and located on the Neuer Markt square of the Innere Stadt, since 1633, the Imperial Crypt has been the principal place of entombment for members of the House of Habsburg. The bones of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are here, the visible 107 metal sarcophagi and five heart urns range in style from puritan plain to exuberant rococo. Some of the dozen resident Capuchin friars continue their role as the guardians and caretakers of the crypt. She provided funds for it in the will she made on 10 November 1617 and her spouse followed a year later. At Easter the following year, the simple sarcophagi containing the remains of Emperor Mathias2, for the first time, a well-known architect was involved with an enlargement of the crypt. In 1754, his daughter Empress Maria Theresa56 went even further west, completely past the church above, the imposing dome and crypt is the work of architect Jean Jadot de Ville-Issey.
During the reign of her grandson Emperor Francis II57 architect Johann Aman turned to the north for his addition in 1824. The monastery surrounding the church had fallen into disrepair after 200 years of constant use, so during the reign of Emperor Ferdinand62 in 1840 the monastery was torn down and rebuilt. As part of project, architect Johann Höhne built the Ferdinand Vault. At the same time, new annexes for visitors were created on either side of the church, the New Vault, north of the Tuscan, Ferdinand’s and the Franz Joseph Vault, was built by architect Karl Schwanzer, with metal doors by sculptor Rudolf Hoflehner. It added about 20% to the space of the crypt, and was used as part of a rearrangement of the tombs in the vaults. The original small vault had held, besides the tombs of the two founders, those of a children and had been called the Angel’s Vault. Those were moved to open niches newly made in the front wall of the Leopold Vault, thirty seven other tombs, of some minors and minor members of the ruling family, were walled-up into four piers created in the Ferdinand Vault.
Thus about half of all the tombs were moved out of the vaults to more orderly places as part of that great reorganization. The entire crypt was air conditioned to prevent deterioration of the tombs. The free-standing tombs are usually variations of either a storage chest, or a tub with sloping sides. Ornamentation ranges from simple to elaborate, until far in the 18th century, the most common material for a sarcophagus here was a bronze-like alloy of tin, coated with shellac
Order of the Golden Fleece
It became one of the most prestigious orders in Europe. The chaplain of the Austrian branch is Cardinal Graf von Schönborn and it is restricted to a limited number of knights, initially 24 but increased to 30 in 1433, and 50 in 1516, plus the sovereign. The Orders first King of Arms was Jean Le Fèvre de Saint-Remy, so that those knights and gentlemen who shall see worn the order. Should honor those who wear it, and be encouraged to employ themselves in noble deeds, the bishop of Châlons, chancellor of the Order, rescued the fleeces reputation by identifying it instead with the fleece of Gideon that received the dew of Heaven. He was succeeded as king by Philip V, a Bourbon, in either case the sovereign, as Duke of Burgundy, writes the letter of appointment in French. These, and other awards by Joseph, were revoked by King Ferdinand on the restoration of Bourbon rule in 1813, napoleon created by Order of 15 August 1809 the Order of the Three Golden Fleeces, in view of his sovereignty over Austria and Burgundy.
This was opposed by Joseph I of Spain and the new order was never awarded, in 1812 the acting government of Spain awarded the order to the Duke of Wellington, an act confirmed by Ferdinand on his resumption of power, with the approval of Pope Pius VII. Wellington therefore became the first Protestant to be awarded the Golden Fleece and it has subsequently been awarded to non-Christians, such as Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand. There was another crisis in 1833 when Isabella II became Queen of Spain in defiance of Salic Law that did not allow women to become heads of state and her right to award the Fleece was challenged by Spanish Carlists. Sovereignty remained with the head of the Spanish house of Bourbon during the republican and Francoist periods and is today by the present King of Spain. Knights of the Order are entitled to be addressed with the style His/Her Excellency in front of their name, King Juan Carlos I of Spain – Former Sovereign of the Order as King of Spain from 1975 to 2014.
The problem of inheritance was avoided on the accession of Maria Theresa in 1740 as sovereignty of the Order passed not to herself but to her husband. Sovereignty remains with the head of the House of Habsburg, which was handed over on 20 November 2000 by Otto von Habsburg to his elder son, die Schatzkammer in Wien, Symbole abendländischen Kaisertums. Der Schatz des Ordens vom Goldenen Vlies, ISBN 3-7017-0541-0 Boulton, DArcy Jonathan Dacre,1987
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Media related to Archduke Franz Karl of Austria at Wikimedia Commons
