Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III (Ferdinand Ernest; 13 July 1608 – 2 April 1657) was Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1625, King of Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 to his death.
Ferdinand III
15 February 1637 – 2 April 1657
18 November 1637
Frankfurt Cathedral
13 July 1608
Graz, Duchy of Styria, Holy Roman Empire
2 April 1657 (aged 48)
Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Ferdinand ascended the throne at the beginning of the last decade of the Thirty Years' War and introduced lenient policies to depart from the old ideas of divine rights under his father, as he had wished to end the war quickly. After military defeats and against a background of declining power, Ferdinand was compelled to abandon the political stances of his Habsburg predecessors in many respects to open the long road towards the much-delayed peace treaty. Although his authority as emperor was weakened after the war, his position in Bohemia, Hungary and Austria was stronger than that of his predecessors before 1618.[2][3]
Ferdinand was the first Habsburg monarch to be recognised as a musical composer.[4]
Commander in chief[edit]
After Wallenstein's assassination, Ferdinand III personally took command over the Imperial army on 2 May 1634 and was supported by the generals Matthias Gallas and Ottavio Piccolomini, the military adviser Johann Kaspar von Stadion and the political adviser Obersthofmeister (Lord Chamberlain) Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff. He achieved his first major military successes in July 1634 by regaining the city of Regensburg, which had been captured and occupied by the Swedish Empire in November 1633. In August 1634, the city of Donauwörth was recaptured, which had been occupied by Sweden since April 1632. In September 1634, those successes were surpassed by the decisive victory of the Battle of Nördlingen, a joint effort with the help of the Spanish forces under Cardinal Infante Ferdinand.[8]
As a consequence, the Swedes lost control over southern Germany and retreated to the northern Germany. Ferdinand gained a wider political influence even if his personal contribution in Nördlingen had been rather limited. His influence increased further after the fall of the powerful Imperial minister, Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, who had domineered the politics of Ferdinand II.
In 1635, Ferdinand III worked as Imperial commissioner in the negotiations for the Peace of Prague, as he tried to persuade the prince electors to adopt the idea of concerted warfare. He also advocated the inclusion of the still-reluctant Protestant estates into the peace process. Even after the resignation of the supreme command, Ferdinand continued to occupy himself with theoretical military issues. Raimondo Montecuccoli later dedicated one of his works to him.[3][2][9][8]
On 20 February 1631, Ferdinand III married his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain (1606–1646). She was the youngest daughter of Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria. They were first cousins, as Maria Anna's mother was a sister of Ferdinand's father. They were parents to six children:
On 2 July 1648 in Linz, Ferdinand III married his second wife, Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria (1632–1649). She was a daughter of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria, and Claudia de' Medici. They were first cousins as male-line grandchildren of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, and Maria Anna of Bavaria. They had a single son:
On 30 April 1651, Ferdinand III married Eleonora Gonzaga. She was a daughter of Charles IV Gonzaga, Duke of Rethel. They were parents to four children:
