- Barbara of Austria
Barbara of Austria (
30 April 1539 –19 September 1572 ) was born inVienna toFerdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor andAnna of Bohemia and Hungary . From 1547, inInnsbruck with her sisters Magdalena, Margareta, Helena and Johanna, she received a deeply religious upbringing.Even though Barbara was regarded as ugly, several marriage proposals had been made. In 1565 her marriage to
Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara , was celebrated with much splendour. It was a happy marriage but it remained childless. Torquato Tasso who, in 1565, had been called to the court ofFerrara , dedicated some sonnets to her.In 1570 and 1571, after an
earthquake using her own income, she supported young girls without parents. She founded the "Conservatore delle orfane di Santa Barbara" which was very much appreciated by the population ofFerrara . She was in constant touch with theJesuit s but also had a very close relationship with her protestant mother-in-law,Renée of France , daughter ofLouis XII of France .Having been sickly since 1566, she died, aged thirty-three, of
tuberculosis on19 September 1572 .External links
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