Maria Antonia of Austria
Electress consort of Bavaria
Tenure15 July 1685 – 24 December 1692
Born18 January 1669
Hofburg Palace, Vienna
Died24 December 1692(1692-12-24) (aged 23)
Hofburg Palace, Vienna
Burial25 December 1692
Imperial Crypt Vaults
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1685)​
Issue
Detail		Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria
Names
Maria Antonia Josepha Benedicta Rosalia Petronella
HouseHabsburg
FatherLeopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
MotherMargaret Theresa of Spain

Maria Antonia Josepha Benedicta Rosalia Petronella of Austria[1] (18 January 1669 – 24 December 1692) was an Electress of Bavaria as the wife of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. She was the eldest daughter and only surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and his first wife Margaret Theresa of Spain. She was the heiress to the Spanish throne after her maternal uncle Charles II of Spain from 1673 until her death.

Life

Early life

Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria was born on 18 January 1669 in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire. She was the second child of Emperor Leopold I (1640–1705) and his wife Margaret Theresa of Spain (1651–1673).[2][3] Her only older sibling had already died by the time she was born.[4] She had 2 younger siblings, both of whom died in infancy,[2] and twelve half-siblings, eight of whom lived into adulthood.[5]

Maria Antonia had the highest coefficient of inbreeding in the House of Habsburg, 0.3053:[6] her father was her mother's maternal uncle and paternal first cousin once removed, and her maternal grandparents were also uncle and niece. Her coefficient was higher than that of a child born to a parent and offspring, or brother and sister.[6]

Archduchess Maria Antonia by Benjamin von Block, c. 1685

Since her childhood, Maria Antonia was an intelligent and cultivated girl, sharing her parents' passion for music.

The last Habsburg king of Spain, Charles II, never fathered any children, due to his severe deformities and illnesses. According to the laws of succession in Spain, Maria Antonia would have had the right to inherit the crown had she lived long enough, because she was the only surviving child of Empress Margaret Theresa, Charles II's sister. During her childhood, it was decided that she would marry her maternal uncle, Charles II,[7] but this plan came to nothing due to political circumstances.[8][9]

As an alternative, she became a candidate for marriage to Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, the Duke of Savoy, but nothing came of these plans either.

Electress

Maria Antonia finally married Maximilian II, the Elector of Bavaria,[10][11] on 15 July 1685 in Vienna. The marriage between an heiress of the Spanish throne, in Maria Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain's view, gave the Bavarian Wittelsbachs the closer place in succession to the Crown than the Austrian Habsburg. Mariana's dynastic loyalty was to her daughter Margaret Theresa of Spain's descentdants, which were her granddaughter Maria Antonia and her family.[12][13] This put her at odds with her younger brother Leopold I, who wanted his son to be the heir instead of Maria Antonia, his daughter.[14] In an attempt to strengthen the claim of his son, Emperor Leopold I had his daughter to waive her inheritance rights shortly after her marriage.[15][16][17] In exchange, he promised to have his son-in-law appointed as governor of the Spanish Netherlands.[18]

The marriage was very unhappy,[15] as the extroverted Maximilian and the introverted and serious Maria Antonia had little in common. Maria Antonia was reportedly offended by Maximilian's constant infidelity. When he was appointed governor of the Spanish Netherlands and left for Brussels in the company of his mistress Countess Canozza, Maria Antonia left for her father in Vienna to give birth, and it was widely assumed that she did not intend to return to Maximilian. She died of postpartum infections after childbirth.

As the niece of Charles II of Spain, Maria Antonia was of great relevance in connection with the succession to the Spanish throne,[19] which was a major political issue in late 17th-century Europe. One of her sons, Joseph Ferdinand, was of central importance to European politics at the end of the seventeenth century as a claimant to the throne of Spain.[10][12] Maria Antonia was the last of the Habsburg line in that country and Joseph Ferdinand's death before that of Charles II, the last Habsburg king of Spain, helped to trigger the War of the Spanish Succession.[20] If he had survived Charles, the European powers might have permitted him to accede to the throne of Spain under the terms of the Treaty of The Hague (1698).[21][22]

Issue

  1. Leopold Ferdinand of Bavaria (22 May 1689) died at birth.
  2. Anton of Bavaria (19 November 1690) died at birth.
  3. Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria (28 October 1692 – 6 February 1699), died in childhood.[23]

Ancestors

Ancestors of Maria Antonia of Austria
Philip III
of Spain[lower-roman 1][lower-roman 2]
1578–1621		Margaret
of Austria[lower-roman 1][lower-roman 2]
1584–1611		Ferdinand II
Holy Roman Emperor[lower-roman 3]
1578–1637		Maria Anna
of Bavaria[lower-roman 3]
1574–1616
Maria Anna
of Spain[lower-roman 3]
1606–46		Ferdinand III
Holy Roman Emperor[lower-roman 3]
1608–57
Philip IV
of Spain[lower-roman 4]
1605–65		Mariana
of Austria[lower-roman 4]
1634–96
Margaret Theresa
of Spain
1651–1673		Leopold I
Holy Roman Emperor
1640-1705
Maria Antonia
of Austria
1669–1692
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Wurzbach, Constantin von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Maria Anna von Spanien" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 23 – via Wikisource.
  2. 1 2 Wurzbach, Constantin von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Philipp IV." . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 122 – via Wikisource.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Wurzbach, Constantin von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Maria Anna (Königin von Spanien)" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 24 – via Wikisource.
  4. 1 2 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Charles II. (King of Spain)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

References

  1. ↑ Berger, Theodor (1739), Die Durchläuchtige Welt, Oder: Kurtzgefaßte Genealogische, Historische und Politische Beschreibung ..., Korn, p. 6
  2. 1 2 Spielman 1977, p. 57.
  3. ↑ Frey & Frey 1983, p. 14.
  4. ↑ Wheatcroft 1996, p. 200.
  5. ↑ Spielman 1977, p. 221.
  6. 1 2 Ceballos, F C; Álvarez, G (August 2013). "Royal dynasties as human inbreeding laboratories: the Habsburgs". Heredity. 111 (2): 114–121. doi:10.1038/hdy.2013.25. ISSN 0018-067X. PMC 3716267. PMID 23572123.
  7. ↑ Mitchell 2013, p. 374.
  8. ↑ Langdon-Davies 1963, pp. 89–91.
  9. ↑ Mitchell 2013, pp. 274–275.
  10. 1 2 Langdon-Davies 1963, p. 88.
  11. ↑ Spielman 1977, p. 125.
  12. 1 2 Mitchell 2013, p. 411.
  13. ↑ Langdon-Davies 1963, p. 145.
  14. ↑ Mitchell 2019, p. 229.
  15. 1 2 Spielman 1977, p. 171.
  16. ↑ Gaxotte, Pierre (1970). The Age of Louis XIV. Translated by Michael Shaw. New York: Macmillian Company. pp. 288–289. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  17. ↑ Frey & Frey 1983, p. 13.
  18. ↑ Spielman 1977, p. 170.
  19. ↑ Mitchell 2013, p. 422.
  20. ↑ Wheatcroft 1996, p. 204.
  21. ↑ Bluche, François (1990). Louis XIV. Translated by Greengrass, Mark. New York City: Franklin Watts. p. 516. ISBN 978-0-531-15112-9. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  22. ↑ Kamen, Henry (1969). The War of Succession in Spain, 1700-15. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  23. ↑ Frey & Frey 1983, pp. 6–7.

Bibliography

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