Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
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Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (Wiener Neustadt January 5, 1614 -Vienna November 20, 1662), was a military commander, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1647 to 1656, and a patron of the arts. He is also known as Leopold Wilhelm von Habsburg, but as a son of the Archduke of Austria he carried the title Archduke of Austria.
He was the youngest son of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, and of Maria-Anna of Bavaria (1574-1616), daughter of William V, Duke of Bavaria. His elder brother became Emperor Ferdinand III (1608-1657). Leopold served as general in the Thirty Years' War. Even though Leopold Wilhelm lacked the theological qualification, and violating canon law against see accumulation, he was invested - with the help of his father - with a number of prince-bishoprics in order to provide him with a truly princely income. Unqualified as he was, he officially only held the title administrator - nevertheless realising the full episcopal revenues - of the prince-bishopric of Halberstadt (1628-1648), the prince-bishopric of Passau (1625-1662), the prince-archbishopric of Wrocław (1656-1662), prince-bishopric of Olomouc (1637-1662) and the prince-bishopric of Strasbourg (1626-1662). In 1635 Pope Urban VIII provided him to become the prince-archbishop of Bremen, but due to its occupation by the Swedes he never gained de facto power.
When he assumed the government of the Spanish Netherlands, Leopold Wilhelm, being a great lover of art, employed the great Flemish painter David Teniers the Younger not only as a painter but as keeper of the collection of pictures he was then forming. With the rank and title of "ayuda de camara," Teniers took up his abode in Brussels shortly after 1647. Immense sums were spent in the acquisition of paintings for the archduke. A number of valuable works of the Italian masters, now in the Vienna Museum, came from Leopold's gallery after having belonged to Charles I and the duke of Buckingham. He commissioned the British painter John Michael Wright to acquire to travel to Cromwell's England, and acquire art and artefacts.
When Leopold returned to Vienna, the pictures also travelled to Austria, and a Flemish priest, himself a first-rate flower painter, Van der Baren, became keeper of the archducal gallery. Leopold bequeathed his gallery to his nephew Leopold I, and it became imperial property. It is now part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
[edit] Ancestors
| Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria | Father: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor |
Father's father: Charles II of Austria |
Father's father's father: Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Father's father's mother: Anna of Bohemia and Hungary |
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| Father's mother: Maria Anna of Bavaria |
Father's mother's father: Albert V, Duke of Bavaria |
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| Father's mother's mother: Anna of Austria |
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| Mother: Maria Anna of Bavaria |
Mother's father: William V, Duke of Bavaria |
Mother's father's father: Albert V, Duke of Bavaria |
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| Mother's father's mother: Anna of Austria |
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| Mother's mother: Renata of Lorraine |
Mother's mother's father: Francis I, Duke of Lorraine |
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| Mother's mother's mother: Christina of Denmark |
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Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
Born: 5 January 1614 in Wiener Neustadt Died: 20 November 1662 in Vienna |
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| Religious titles | ||
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| Regnal titles | ||
| Preceded by Christian William of Brandenburg (Lutheran Administrator) |
Prince-Archbishop of Magdeburg 1631-1638 (Catholic Administrator due to lack of canonical qualification) |
Succeeded by August, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (Lutheran Administrator) |
| Prince-Bishop of Halberstadt 1628-1648 (Catholic Administrator due to lack of canonical qualification) |
Secularised: Principality of Halberstadt | |
| Preceded by Frederick II, Crown Prince of Denmark (Lutheran Administrator) |
Prince-Archbishop of Bremen 1635-1645 (only de jure, de facto barred by Swedish occupants) |
Succeeded by Francis of Wartenberg (Vicar Apostolic) |
| Preceded by Leopold V, Archduke of Austria |
Prince-Bishop of Strasbourg 1626-1662 (Catholic Administrator due to lack of canonical qualification) |
Succeeded by Franz Egon of Fürstenberg |
| Prince-Bishop of Passau 1625-1662 (Catholic Administrator due to lack of canonical qualification) |
Succeeded by Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria |
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| Preceded by Johann Ernst Plateis von Plattenstein |
Prince-Bishop of Olomouc 1637-1662 (Catholic Administrator due to lack of canonical qualification) |
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| Preceded by Karol Ferdynand Waza |
Prince-Bishop of Wrocław 1656-1662 (Catholic Administrator due to lack of canonical qualification) |
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| Religious titles | ||
| Preceded by Johann Kaspar I von Stadion |
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order 1641-1662 |
Succeeded by Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Emmanuel de Moura Cortereal, Marquis of Castel Rodrigo |
Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands 1647-1656 |
Succeeded by John of Austria the Younger |
[edit] Literature
- Renate Schreiber, "ein galeria nach meinem humor" - Erzherzog Leopold Wilhelm. Vienna/Wien 2004
[edit] External links
Media related to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria at Wikimedia Commons
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