Kunigunde of Austria

Kunigunde of Austria (16 March 1465 – 6 August 1520) was an Austrian Archduchess and the wife of Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria.

She was born in Wiener Neustadt as the daughter of Duke Frederick V of Austria and his wife Eleonore of Portugal.

In 1470 Matthias Corvinus requested her hand; however, Frederick refused it to him. She married Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria-Munich in 1487 against the will of her own father, and was joint regent for son Wilhelm IV. In spite of resignation from the court she tried to influence the politics of the state as she acted in favour of the rights of her younger sons. She was in close contact with her brother, Emperor Maximilian I, and with other rulers and relatives in Europe.

With Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria-Munich she had eight children:
# Sidonie (1 May 1488 – 27 March 1505)
# Sibylle (16 June 1489 – 18 April 1519), married in 1511 to Louis V, Elector Palatine
# Sabina (24 April 1492 – 30 April 1564), married in 1511 to Duke Ulrich I of Württemberg
# William IV, Duke of Bavaria (13 November 1493 – 7 March 1550)
# Louis X, Duke of Bavaria (18 September 1495 – 22 April 1545)
# Susanne (1499 – 1500)
# Ernest of Bavaria (13 June 1500 – 1560), an ecclesiastical official in Passau (1517-40), Köln, Archbishop in Salzburg (1540-54) and Eichstädt
# Susanna of Bavaria (2 April 1502 – 23 April 1543), married:
## in 1518 to Margrave Casimir of Brandenburg
## in 1529 to Otto Henry, Elector Palatine

After the death of Albert in 1508 she later joined the Convent of Püttrich which she favoured and lived in Cloister of Püttrich until her death in 1520.

External links

* [http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1500.htm Women in power]
* [http://www.datenmatrix.de/projekte/hdbg/kloster/html-data/geschichte_ks0245.php Cloister of Püttrich]
* [http://www.historiker.de/cgi-local/menschenbilder/show.pl?file=data%2fbilddatenbank.data&id=29&listtemp=templates%2fframe_ausschnitt_person.htm Biography]
* [http://www.literature.at/webinterface/library/ALO-BOOK_V01?objid=11804&zoom=3&ocr=&page=412&gobtn=Go%21 Article in the Biographische Lexikon des Kaiserthums Österreich]