Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Amalie Theresa was born on 6 April 1807 at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Hofburg and died the next day. Her mother fell ill after giving birth to her and died less than a week afterwards, as a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, she was born with the title Archduchess of Austria and the style Imperial and Royal Highness
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558, king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526, and king of Croatia from 1527 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his brother, Charles V. Also, he served as Charles representative in Germany and developed useful relationships with German princes. Ferdinand was able to defend his realm and make it more cohesive. His flexible approach to Imperial problems, mainly religious, finally brought more result than the more confrontational attitude of his brother, Ferdinands motto was Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus, Let justice be done, though the world perish. Ferdinand shared his customs and even his birthday with his maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon and he was born and educated in Spain, and did not learn German when he was young. In the summer of 1518 Ferdinand was sent to Flanders following his brother Charless arrival in Spain as newly appointed King Charles I the previous autumn.
He returned in command of his brothers fleet but en route was blown off-course and he was Archduke of Austria from 1521 to 1564. Though he supported his brother, Ferdinand managed to strengthen his own realm, by adopting the German language and culture late in his life, he grew close to the German territorial princes. After the death of his brother-in-law Louis II, Ferdinand ruled as King of Bohemia and Hungary. Ferdinand served as his brothers deputy in the Holy Roman Empire during his brothers many absences, according to the terms set at the First Congress of Vienna in 1515, Ferdinand married Anne Jagiellonica, daughter of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary on 22 July 1515. Therefore, after the death of his brother-in-law Louis II, King of Bohemia and of Hungary, at the battle of Mohács on 29 August 1526, the success was only partial, as the Diet refused to recognise Ferdinand as hereditary lord of the Kingdom. The Croatian nobles unanimously elected Ferdinand I as their king in the 1527 election in Cetin, in Hungary, Nicolaus Olahus, secretary of Louis, attached himself to the party of Ferdinand but retained his position with his sister, Queen Dowager Mary.
Ferdinand was elected King of Hungary by a rump Diet in Pozsony in December 1526, the throne of Hungary became the subject of a dynastic dispute between Ferdinand and John Zápolya, Voivode of Transylvania. They were supported by different factions of the nobility in the Hungarian kingdom, Ferdinand had the support of his brother, the Emperor Charles V. Ferdinand defeated Zápolya at the Battle of Tarcal in September 1527 and again in the Battle of Szina in March 1528. Zápolya fled the country and applied to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent for support, a further Ottoman invasion was repelled in 1533. In 1538, in the Treaty of Nagyvárad, Ferdinand induced the childless Zápolya to name him as his successor, but in 1540, just before his death, Zápolya had a son, John II Sigismund, who was promptly elected King by the Diet. Ferdinand invaded Hungary, but the regent, Frater George Martinuzzi, Bishop of Várad, Suleiman marched into Hungary and not only drove Ferdinand out of central Hungary, he forced Ferdinand to agree to pay tribute for his lands in western Hungary
German Confederation
Most historians have judged the Confederation to have been weak and ineffective, as well as an obstacle to the creation of a German nation-state. It collapsed due to the rivalry between Prussia and Austria, the 1848 revolution, and the inability of the members to compromise. In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists were an attempt to establish a unified German state. Talks between the German states failed in 1848, and the Confederation briefly dissolved, but was re-established shortly after and it decidedly fell apart only after the Prussian victory in the Seven Weeks War of 1866. This led to the creation of the North German Confederation under Prussian leadership in 1867, a number of South German states remained independent until they joined the North German Confederation, which was renamed the German Empire. The War of the Third Coalition lasted from about 1803 to 1806, following defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz by the French under Napoleon in December 1805, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated, and the Empire was dissolved on 6 August 1806.
The resulting Treaty of Pressburg established the Confederation of the Rhine in July 1806, after the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt of October 1806 in the War of the Fourth Coalition, various other German states, including Saxony and Westphalia, joined the Confederation. Only Austria, Danish Holstein, Swedish Pomerania and the French-occupied Principality of Erfurt stayed outside the Confederation of the Rhine and these nations would join in the War of the Sixth Coalition from 1812 to 1814. The German Confederation was created by the 9th Act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris, ending the War of the Sixth Coalition. The Confederation was formally created by a treaty, the Final Act of the Ministerial Conference to Complete and Consolidate the Organization of the German Confederation. This treaty was not concluded and signed by the parties until 15 May 1820, States joined the German Confederation by becoming parties to the second treaty.
The German Confederation ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between Austrian Empire and its allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia and its allies on the other. In the Prague peace treaty, on 23 August 1866, Austria had to accept that the Confederation was considered to be dissolved, the following day, the remaining member states confirmed the dissolution. The treaty allowed Prussia to create a new Bundesverhältnis in the North of Germany, the South German states were proposed to create a South German Confederation but this did not come into existence. Prussia and its allies created the North German Confederation in 1867, because of French intervention it had to exclude, besides Austria, the South German states Bavaria, Württemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt. During November 1870 the four states joined the North German Confederation by treaty. The North German Confederation Reichstag and Bundesrat accepted to rename the North German Confederation as the German Empire, the new constitution of the state, the Constitution of the German Confederation, introduced the new name and title on 1 January 1871.
The Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia were the largest and Prussia each had one vote in the Federal Assembly
Austria-Hungary
The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and the Hungarian states were co-equal, Foreign affairs and the military came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. Austria-Hungary was a state and one of the worlds great powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2, the Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world, after the United States and the United Kingdom. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was annexed in 1908. The annexation of Bosnia led to Islam being recognized as a state religion due to Bosnias Muslim population.
Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I and it was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The realms full, official name was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, each enjoyed considerable sovereignty with only a few joint affairs. Certain regions, such as Polish Galicia within Cisleithania and Croatia within Transleithania, enjoyed autonomous status, the division between Austria and Hungary was so marked that there was no common citizenship, one was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen, never both. This meant that there were always separate Austrian and Hungarian passports, neither Austrian nor Hungarian passports were used in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia. Instead, the Kingdom issued its own passports which were written in Croatian and French and it is not known what kind of passports were used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of both Austria and Hungary.
The Kingdom of Hungary had always maintained a separate parliament, the Diet of Hungary, the administration and government of the Kingdom of Hungary remained largely untouched by the government structure of the overarching Austrian Empire. Hungarys central government structures remained well separated from the Austrian imperial government, the country was governed by the Council of Lieutenancy of Hungary – located in Pressburg and in Pest – and by the Hungarian Royal Court Chancellery in Vienna. The Hungarian government and Hungarian parliament were suspended after the Hungarian revolution of 1848, despite Austria and Hungary sharing a common currency, they were fiscally sovereign and independent entities. Since the beginnings of the union, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary could preserve its separated. After the revolution of 1848–1849, the Hungarian budget was amalgamated with the Austrian, from 1527 to 1851, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its own customs controls, which separated her from the other parts of the Habsburg-ruled territories
Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily
Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily was the last Holy Roman Empress and the first Empress of Austria by marriage to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor. She was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand IV & III of Naples and Sicily and his wife, Marie Caroline of Austria. Born Maria Teresa, and named after her maternal grandmother Maria Theresa of Austria, she was the eldest of 17 children born to her parents and her father was a son of Charles III of Spain and Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony. Through her mother she was a niece of Marie Antoinette, through her father she was a niece of Maria Luisa of Spain and she was her mothers favourite child from birth until she left the Neapolitan court to marry. Her brothers included the future King Francis and Leopold, Prince of Salerno, Carlo, Duke of Calabria died in 1778 aged 3 of smallpox. Her sisters included Grand Duchess of Tuscany and her younger sister Princess Maria Cristina, was the wife of the future Charles Felix of Sardinia as Queen of Sardinia. Maria Cristinas twin Princess Maria Cristina Amelia died in 1783 of smallpox, another sister was the Queen of the French as the wife of Louis Philippe I and the youngest was the future Princess of Asturias.
On 15 September 1790 she married her double first cousin Archduke Francis of Austria, who would become Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, the marriage is described as a happy one, despite differences in personality. Maria Theresa was described as easy-going with a sensuous appearance and she loved masquerades and carnivals, and participated in every ball even while she was pregnant. Vicious tongues accuse her of being so passionate that she exhausts her consort and she is accused of interesting herself in unimportant matters and socializing exclusively with her lady-companions. With them she spends her evenings singing, acting out comedies, in February 1799, her seeming indifference to the revolution against her parents in Naples attracted some disfavour in Vienna. Immediately, the Empress came to him, and he exlaimed, Cant you ever leave me alone. For Gods sake, dont follow me all the time. She did have some influence, as she was interested in politics. An important patron of Viennese music, she commissioned many compositions for official, Joseph Haydn wrote his Te Deum for chorus and orchestra at her request.
He composed numerous masses to celebrate her reign and her favourite composers included Paul Wranitzky and Joseph Leopold Eybler, a composer of sacred music. Rice, Empress Marie Therese and Music at the Viennese Court, 1792–1807, Cambridge 2003 Media related to Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies at Wikimedia Commons
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
Leopold Kupelwieser
Leopold Kupelwieser was an Austrian painter, often associated with the Nazarene movement He was the son of Johann Baptist Georg Kilian Kupelwieser, co-owner of a factory that produced tableware. His talents were recognized at an age by the sculptor Franz Anton von Zauner and by the time he was twelve, he was already attending the Academy of Fine Arts. During a stay in Rome in 1824, he came under the influence of Friedrich Overbeck and he was a member of the Schubertianern, a group that often got together for summers at the Schloss Atzenbrugg, west of Vienna. In 1826, he married Maria Johanna Evangelista Augustina Stephania Theodora Lutz, an occasion which was marked by Schuberts composition, in 1837, he became Professor of history painting at the Academy and, in 1850, was awarded the Knights Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph. Virtually all of his work involved religious altarpieces and frescoes. At the age of sixty he fell ill, apparently due to the rigors of painting on wet lime, in 1894, a street was named in his honor and a commemorative stamp was issued in 1996.
He is a character in Das Dreimäderlhaus, an operetta, derived from the music of Schubert by Heinrich Berté. His brother was the theatrical director Josef Kupelwieser, who wrote the libretto for Schuberts opera Fierrabras, in, Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, Vol.13, pgs. 392–396 Rupert Feuchtmüller, Kupelwieser Leopold. Vol.4, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1969, Leopold Kupelwieser in, Austria-Forum, the Austrian knowledge network online
Milan
Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, design, entertainment, finance, media, services and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually.
Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD.
Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
Klemens von Metternich
One of his first tasks was to engineer a détente with France that included the marriage of Napoleon to the Austrian archduchess Marie Louise. For his service to the Austrian Empire he was given the title of Prince in October 1813, under his guidance, the Metternich system of international congresses continued for another decade as Austria aligned herself with Russia and, to a lesser extent, Prussia. This marked the point of Austrias diplomatic importance, and thereafter Metternich slowly slipped into the periphery of international diplomacy. At home, Metternich held the post of Chancellor of State from 1821 until 1848, after brief exile in London and Brussels that lasted until 1851, he returned to the Viennese court, this time to offer only advice to Ferdinands successor, Franz Josef. Having outlived his generation of politicians, Metternich died at the age of 86 in 1859, born into the House of Metternich in 1773, the son of a diplomat, he was named after his godfather, Clement-Wenceslas, Archbishop of Trier.
Metternich received an education at the universities of Strasbourg and Mainz. He was of help during the coronation of Francis II in 1792, after a brief trip to England, Metternich was named as the Austrian ambassador to the Netherlands, a short-lived post, since the country was brought under French control the next year. He married his first wife, Eleonore von Kaunitz, in 1795, despite having numerous affairs, he was devastated by her death in 1825. He would remarry, wedding Baroness Antoinette Leykam in 1827 and, after her death in 1829 and she would predecease him by five years. Before taking office as Foreign Minister, Metternich held numerous posts, including ambassadorial roles in the Kingdom of Saxony. One of Metternichs sons, Richard von Metternich, was a successful diplomat, a traditional conservative, Metternich was keen to maintain the balance of power, in particular by resisting Russian territorial ambitions in Central Europe and lands belonging to the Ottoman Empire. He disliked liberalism and worked to prevent the breakup of the Austrian empire, for example, by crushing nationalist revolts in Austrian north Italy, at home, he pursued a similar policy, using censorship and a wide ranging spy network to suppress unrest.
Metternich has been praised and heavily criticised for the policies he pursued. His supporters point out that he presided over the Age of Metternich and his qualities as a diplomat are commended, some noting that his achievements were considerable in light of the weakness of his negotiating position. His decision to oppose Russian imperialism is seen as a good one and his detractors describe him as a boor who stuck to ill-thought-out, conservative principles out of vanity and a sense of infallibility. Other historians have argued that he had far less power than this view suggests and he was named in honour of Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, the archbishop-elector of Trier and the past employer of his father. He was the eldest son and had one older sister, at the time of his birth the family possessed a ruined keep at Beilstein, a castle at Winneberg, an estate west of Koblenz, and another in Königswart, won during the 17th century. At this time Metternichs father, described as a boring babbler, Metternichs education was handled by his mother, heavily influenced by their proximity to France, for many years Metternich considered himself able to communicate better in French than German
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). 
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