With the death of his second wife, Maria Leopoldine, in 1649, Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, needed to find a third wife. The name of his future third wife would have sounded familiar to him, as she was the namesake of his stepmother, Eleonora Gonzaga (known as the Elder). In fact, the two Eleonoras were [read more]
Eleonora Gonzaga, known as the Elder to distinguish her from her great-niece and namesake, was born on 23 September 1598 as the daughter of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Monferrato, and his wife Eleonora de’ Medici. She was the youngest of six siblings. Eleonora would grow up in one of the most splendid courts [read more]
Read part one here. The civil war that began with the death of King Andrew III of Hungary and Croatia ended two decades later with the succession of the grandson of Mary of Hungary, the sister of King Ladislaus IV of Hungary. He became King Charles I of Hungary. The amount of times he married is [read more]
Schönbrunn Palace began its life as a hunting ground for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. Eleanora Gonzaga loved hunting there and spent much time at the palace. It was bequeathed to her as her widow’s residence. The present form of the palace took shape in during the 1740s and 1750s during the reign of Empress [read more]
The Imperial Crypt (or Kaisergruft) in Vienna is certainly one of Vienna’s hidden treasures. It was founded in 1618 and has been the principal place of burial for members of the House of Habsburgs. It contains the bones of 145 people, plus four urns containing hearts or cremated remains. Not all are visible. It’s quite [read more]
Quite a busy day today in Vienna! In the morning we went to the Hundertwasserhaus, which I liked but didn’t take too many pictures of. Afterwards, we went to the Danube Tower for a cup of coffee and to see the views of course. During the afternoon we were free to do what we wanted, [read more]
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