Caroline Augusta of Bavaria
Crown Princess of Württemberg
Portrait by Franz Schrotzberg, 1864
Empress consort of Austria
Queen consort of Hungary
Tenure29 October 1816 – 2 March 1835
Coronation25 September 1825, St. Martin's Cathedral
Born(1792-02-08)8 February 1792
Mannheim, Electoral Palatinate
Died9 February 1873(1873-02-09) (aged 81)
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Spouses
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(m. 1808; div. 1814)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1816; died 1835)​
    HouseWittelsbach
    FatherMaximilian I Joseph of Bavaria
    MotherAugusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt
    The imperial family (by Leopold Fertbauer, 1826)

    Princess Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (German: Karoline Auguste; 8 February 1792 – 9 February 1873) was Empress of Austria by marriage to Francis I of Austria.[1] She was the penultimate child and third daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. She firstly married to Crown Prince William of Württemberg in 1808, but they divorced 1814.

    Early life

    Caroline Augusta was born on 8 February 1792 in Mannheim, Electoral Palatinate. She was the fourth child and third daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his wife, Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. At the age of two, Caroline Augusta caught smallpox.[2] Although she survived, her face was left scarred.[2]

    First marriage

    On 8 June 1808, in Munich, Caroline Augusta married Crown Prince William of Württemberg (1781–1864), becoming crown princess of Württemberg. They had no children and were divorced on 31 August 1814.

    Her first marriage was arranged to avoid a political marriage arranged by Napoleon.[2] After the marriage ceremony, her spouse said to her: We are victims to politics.[2] She spent her time writing letters to her brother Ludwig, and learning Italian and English.[2] The couple never bonded with each other and the marriage was finally annulled by Pope Pius VII to enable both of them to make remarriages that were valid in the Catholic Church. At the time of the annulment, it was claimed by them that they had lived separately in the palace and that the marriage had never been consummated.

    Empress

    After the annulment of her marriage, Caroline Augusta was considered as a bride for both the Emperor Francis I and his younger brother, Ferdinand. Later, Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany withdrew his proposal and Caroline Augusta became the emperor's bride.

    On 29 October 1816, Caroline Augusta married Francis I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia.[3] She became the fourth wife of the emperor, who was 24 years older than her and had fathered thirteen children by two of his previous wives. The English diplomat Frederick Lamb called the new empress "ugly, clever and amiable," and the emperor her husband had this to say of her: "She can stand a push, the other was nothing but air."[4] The wedding, and indeed their married life, was very simple due to the strict economy favoured by the emperor. Prior to this marriage, Caroline Augusta had always been known as Charlotte, but now she began using the name Caroline.

    Portrait of Caroline Augusta (by Eduard Ritsch, undated)

    This marriage, which lasted until the emperor's death almost 20 years later, was harmonious but remained childless. She became popular in Austria and was active in social work; she founded several hospitals and residences for the poor.[5] After the death of her spouse in 1835, she moved to Salzburg and lived there in quiet dignity until her own death nearly four decades later. The dowager empress died in February 1873, one day after her 81st birthday.

    Like her husband Francis, who was devoted to his family and exhorted his heir in his last testament to "Preserve unity in the family and regard it as one of the highest goods," Caroline Augusta also was close to her relatives, especially her sister and niece who were also married into the imperial family. She was also close to her stepdaughter's son, Napoleon II.[5] She was good friends with her half-sister, the Archduchess Sophie, who was married in 1824 to Caroline's step-son Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and would become the mother of two emperors, Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, and Maximilian I of Mexico. She was also close to her half-niece, the Empress Elisabeth, who was Sophie's niece and daughter-in-law.

    A pearl brooch formerly owned by Caroline Augusta was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2012.[6]

    Ancestry

    References

    1. ↑ Elisabeth Katharina Rath: Kaiserin Caroline Augustes Wirken in Salzburg. Ein Beitrag zur Sozialgeschichte Salzburgs in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts. phil.Diss, Salzburg 1988.
    2. 1 2 3 4 5 Susan, Flantzer (17 April 2016). "Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, Empress of Austria". Unofficial Royalty. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
    3. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica
    4. ↑ Frederick Lamb to his mother, 31 October 1816, in British Library, Add. MS. 45546, f. 156v.
    5. 1 2 Selin, Shannon (5 December 2014). "Caroline Augusta, Empress of Austria". Shannon Selin. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
    6. ↑ "Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels" (PDF).

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