Kinlight · The House of Habsburg

Charles II, Archduke of Austria

1540 – 1590 · Generation X · Archduke of Austria (r. 1564–1590) · Austrian Habsburgs

Portrait of Charles II, Archduke of Austria

Charles (1540 – 1590). Archduke of Austria (r. 1564–1590). Married Maria Anna in 1571. Son of Ferdinand I; married his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria; father of Ferdinand II. Ruler of Inner Austria — Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and Gorizia — he was for years a suitor of Elizabeth I of England, negotiations that finally collapsed over his Catholicism, and briefly of Mary, Queen of Scots. A committed promoter of the Counter-Reformation who brought the Jesuits to his lands, he was nonetheless forced into concessions to his Estates that in practice tolerated Protestantism. Bearing the brunt of the Ottoman wars, he founded the border fortress of Karlovac in Croatia, which carries his name. He was a generous patron besides: the composer Orlando di Lasso was his protégé, he founded the University of Graz, and his stud of Andalusian horses at Lipica became the cradle of the Lipizzan breed.

One of 23 people of Austrian Habsburgs (1527–1740) in this archive. The Vienna line, which held the Holy Roman crown almost without a break.

Line of descent: Rudolf I of Germany → Albert I of Germany → Albert II, Duke of Austria → Leopold III, Duke of Austria → Ernest, Duke of Austria → Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor → Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor → Philip I of Castile → Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor → Charles II, Archduke of Austria.

Read more on Wikipedia

Parents

Siblings

Partners

Children

Life

  • 1540 — Born
  • 1571 — Married Maria Anna
  • 1590 — Died

Open Charles II, Archduke of Austria in the interactive tree