Archduchess Margaret of Austria (1567–1633)

Portrait of Archduchess Margaret of Austria as Poor Clare nun, ca. 1610.

Archduchess Margaret of Austria (25 January 1567 – 5 July 1633), was a German princess member of the House of Habsburg.

She was the daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor by his wife Maria of Spain.

Life

Born in Wiener Neustadt, Margaret was the fifteenth child and fifth daughter of her parents' sixteen children, from whom eight survived infancy.^[1][2] Since her early childhood, she was deeply influenced by her mother's strict Catholicism.

In 1582 Empress Maria returned to her homeland Spain permanently, taking her youngest surviving child Margaret with her, promised to marry Philip II of Spain, who had lost his fourth wife Anna of Austria in 1580. Margaret finally refused and took the veil under the name of Sister Margaret of the Cross as a Poor Clare nun in the Monastery of Santa Clara de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, where she died aged sixty-six. Margaret was buried in her convent.^[3]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Archduchess Margaret of Austria (1567–1633)

16. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor               8. Philip I of Castile                       17. Mary of Burgundy               4. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor                             18. Ferdinand II of Aragon               9. Joanna of Castile                       19. Isabella I of Castile               2. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor                                   20. Casimir IV Jagiellon               10. Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary                       21. Elisabeth of Austria               5. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary                             22. Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale               11. Anna of Foix-Candale                       23. Catherine of Foix               1. Archduchess Margaret of Austria                                         24. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (= 16.)               12. Philip I of Castile (= 8.)                       25. Mary of Burgundy (= 17.)               6. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor                             26. Ferdinand II of Aragon (= 18.)               13. Joanna of Castile (= 9.)                       27. Isabella I of Castile (= 19.)               3. Maria of Spain                                   28. Fernando, Duke of Viseu               14. Manuel I of Portugal                       29. Beatrice of Portugal               7. Isabella of Portugal                             30. Ferdinand II of Aragon (= 18.)               15. Maria of Aragon and Castile                       31. Isabella I of Castile (= 19.)

References

1. Marek, Miroslav. "Complete Genealogy of the House of Habsburg". Genealogy.EU. External link in |publisher= (help)
2. Genealogy Database by Daniel de Rauglaudre
3. Cárdenas, Fabricio (2014). 66 petites histoires du Pays Catalan [66 Little Stories of Catalan Country] (in French). Perpignan: Ultima Necat. ISBN 978-2-36771-006-8. OCLC 893847466.

• Richard Reifenscheid: Die Habsburger in Lebensbildern, Piper Verlag (2007).