by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

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Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria was the second wife of her first cousin Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria. King of Bohemia, and King of Hungary and Croatia. Born in Innsbruck, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria on April 6, 1632, she was the fifth of the five children and the third of the three daughters of Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and Claudia de’ Medici. Maria Leopoldine’s father died on September 13, 1632, when she was five months old. Her paternal grandparents were Karl II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his niece Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria. Maria Leopoldine’s maternal grandparents were Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Princess Christina of Lorraine.

Maria Leopoldine had four elder siblings:

• Archduchess Maria-Eleonora of Austria (1627 – 1629), died in early childhood
• Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Further Austria (1628 – 1662), married Anna de’ Medici, had three children including Claudia Felicitas who married Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
• Archduchess Isabella Clara of Austria (1629 – 1685), married Carlo III, Duke of Mantua, had one son
• Sigismund Franz, Archduke of Further Austria (1630 – 1665), married Hedwig of the Palatinate-Sulzbach, no children, he died 22 days after his marriage

Maria Leopoldine had one older half-sister from her mother’s first marriage to Federico Ubaldo della Rover, Duke of Urbino:

Maria Leopoldine’s husband, Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 13, 1646, Maria Anna of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Portugal, the first wife and first cousin of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor died. Two years later, forty-year-old Ferdinand III married again, on July 2, 1648, to sixteen-year-old Maria Leopoldine, another first cousin. The young Maria Leopoldine became Holy Roman Empress and the stepmother of Ferdinand III’s three surviving children from his first wife:

• Ferdinand, King of the Romans (1633 – 1654), unmarried, died from smallpox
• Archduchess Mariana of Austria (1634 – 1696), married (second wife) her maternal uncle Felipe IV, King of Spain, had five children
• Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 – 1705), married (1) his first cousin Margaret Theresa of Spain, had four children, only one survived childhood (2) his first cousin and Maria Leopoldine’s niece Claudia Felicitas of Austria, had two children, both died in childhood (3) Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, had ten children, five survived childhood

Maria Leopoldine and Ferdinand III’s son Karl Josef; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Leopoldine and Ferdinand III had one son, Archduke Karl Josef of Austria (1649 – 1664), who died in his teens. Sadly, the childbirth was very difficult and 17-year-old Maria Leopoldine died on the day her son was born, August 19, 1649. She was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria.

Maria Leopoldine’s tomb: Credit – Wikipedia

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Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinand-iii-holy-roman-emperor-archduke-of-lower-and-inner-austria-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 27 June 2023).
• Leopold V, Archduke of Austria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_V,_Archduke_of_Austria (Accessed: 27 June 2023).
• Maria Leopoldine of Austria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Leopoldine_of_Austria (Accessed: 27 June 2023).
• Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
• Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.