Princess Sophie of Bavaria
1805 – 1872 · Generation XIX · Consort
Sophie (1805 – 1872). Consort. Married Franz Karl in 1824. Politically influential mother of Franz Joseph, Maximilian and Karl Ludwig. Born at Nymphenburg to Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Caroline of Baden, she was the identical twin of Maria Anna, later queen of Saxony. Her marriage doubled the family’s ties to Vienna, for her half-sister Caroline Augusta was already the wife of her father-in-law, Emperor Francis. Strong-willed and ambitious — she was called “the only man at court” — she persuaded her husband during the Revolution of 1848 to give up his claim so that their eldest son, Franz Joseph, could take the throne, and she then became the power behind it. Her clashes with her niece and daughter-in-law, Empress Elisabeth, over the raising of the imperial children became notorious, though her own diary speaks of Elisabeth kindly. The execution of her favourite son, Maximilian, in Mexico in 1867 left a wound that never healed; she retired from public view, and pneumonia killed her five years later.
Place in the family
- Princess Sophie of Bavaria was the mother of Franz Joseph I of Austria.
- The archive records 10 of her descendants, across 6 generations.
Partners
- Married Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (1802 – 1878) in 1824 — 3 children together
Children
- Franz Joseph I of Austria (1830 – 1916)
- Maximilian I of Mexico (1832 – 1867)
- Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (1833 – 1896)
Life
- 1805 — Born
- 1824 — Married Franz Karl
- 1872 — Died