Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

{| align=right
Infobox German Royalty|Monarch
name =Ferdinand III
title = Holy Roman Emperor; King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia; Archduke of Austria

|center|150px
caption =
coronation =
full name =
succession = Holy Roman Emperor; Archduke of Austria
reign = 1637-1657
predecessor =Ferdinand II
successor = Leopold I
succession2 = King of the Romans, Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia
predecessor2 =Ferdinand II
successor2 = Ferdinand IV
spouse =Maria Anna of Spain
Maria Leopoldine of Austria
Eleanor of Mantua
issue = Ferdinand IV of Hungary
Mariana, Queen of Spain
Leopold, Karl Josef, Theresia, Eleanora, Queen of Poland
royal house =House of Habsburg
royal anthem =
father = Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
mother = Maria Anna of Bavaria
date of birth = 13 July 1608
place of birth = Graz
date of death = 2 April 1657
place of death = Vienna
date of burial =
place of burial =|

Ferdinand III (July 13, 1608 – April 2, 1657) was Holy Roman Emperor February 15, 1637 – 1657.

Life

Eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand II from the house of Habsburg and his first wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria. Made King of Hungary in 1625, King of Bohemia in 1627, and succeeded his father King of the Romans in 1636, and thence Holy Roman Emperor 1637.

Following the death of Wallenstein in 1634, he was made titular head of the Imperial Army in the Thirty Years' War, and later that year joined with his cousin the Cardinal-Infante to defeat the Swedes at Nördlingen.Leader of the peace party at court, he helped negotiate the Peace of Prague with the Protestant States, especially Saxony in 1635.

He succeeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor in 1637. He hoped to be able to make peace soon with France and Sweden, but the war dragged on for another 11 years, finally coming to an end with the Peace of Westphalia (Treaty of Münster with France, Treaty of Osnabrück with Sweden) in 1648, both negotiated by his envoy Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff, a successful diplomat who had been made a count in 1623 by his father Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.

During the last dreadful period of the war, in 1644 Ferdinand III gave to all rulers of German states the right to conduct their own foreign policy ("ius belli ac pacis"). This way the emperor was trying to gain more allies in the negotiations with France and Sweden. This very edict contributed to the gradual erosion of the imperial authority in the Holy Roman Empire.

In the Peace of Westphalia, his full titles are given as: "Ferdinand the Third, elected Roman Emperor, always August, King of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Margrave of Moravia, Duke of Luxemburg, of the Higher and Lower Silesia, of Wurtemburg and Teck, Prince of Swabia, Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Kyburg and Goritia, Marquess of the Sacred Roman Empire, Burgovia, the Higher and Lower Lusace, Lord of the Marquisate of Slavonia, of Port Naon and Salines."

Marriages and children

On February 20, 1631 Ferdinand III married his first wife Maria Anna of Spain. 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:

*Ferdinand IV of Hungary (8 September, 1633 - 9 July, 1654).
*Mariana of Austria (23 December, 1634 - 16 May, 1696). Married her maternal uncle Philip IV of Spain. They were parents to Charles II of Spain, the degenerated last Habsburg monarch of Spain.
*Philip August, Archduke of Austria (1637 - 1639).
*Maximilian Thomas, Archduke of Austria (1638 - 1639).
*Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (9 June, 1640 - 5 May, 1705).
*Maria of Austria (1646).

In 1648, Ferdinand III married his second wife Maria Leopoldine, Archduchess of Austria. She was a daughter of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria and Claudia de' Medici. They were second cousins as male-line grandchildren of Charles II, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. They had a single son:

*Karl Josef of Austria (1649 - 1664). He was Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights from 1662 to his death.

In 1651, Ferdinand III married Eleonora of Mantua (Gonzaga). She was a daughter of Charles IV Gonzaga, Duke of Rethel. They were parents to four children:

*Theresia Maria Josefa, Archduchess of Austria (1652 - 1653).
*Eleonora Maria Josefa, Archduchess of Austria (1653 - 1697). Married first Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland and secondly Charles V, Duke of Lorraine.
*Maria Anna Josepha, Archduchess of Austria (1654 - 1689). Married Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine.
*Ferdinand Josef, Archduke of Austria (1657 - 1658).

Ancestors of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

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1= 1. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
2= 2. Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
3= 3. Maria Anna of Bavaria
4= 4. Charles II, Archduke of Austria
5= 5. Maria Anna of Bavaria
6= 6. William V, Duke of Bavaria
7= 7. Renata of Lorraine
8= 8. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
9= 9. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
10= 10. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria
11= 11. Anna of Austria
12= 12. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria
13= 13. Anna of Austria
14= 14. Francis I, Duke of Lorraine
15= 15. Christina of Denmark

ee also

*Kings of Germany family tree. He was related to every other king of Germany.

External links

-s-ttl|title=King of Hungary, Croatia and Slavonia
years=1625–1647
-s-ttl|title=King in Germany
(formally King of the Romans)| years=1636–1653|
-s-ttl|title=Holy Roman Emperor (elect)
years=1637–1657|
-s-ttl| title=Archduke of Austria
years=1637–1657|