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Charles II of Austria
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Charles II of Austria, (Vienna June 3, 1540 – Graz July 10, 1590) was an Archduke of Austria and ruler of Inner Austria (Styria, Carniola and Carinthia) from the House of Habsburg from 1564.
He was the third son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary(1503–1547), daughter of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his wife Anne de Foix.
Unlike his brother Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles was a religious Catholic and promoted the Counterreformation, e.g. by inviting the Jesuits to his realm. However, in 1572, he had to make significant concessions to the Inner Austrian Estates in the Religious Pacifications of Graz, and 1576 and the Libellum of Bruck. In practice, this resulted in tolerance towards Protestantism.
As the Inner Austrian line had to bear the major burden of the wars against the Turks, the fortress of Karlstadt/Karlovac in Croatia was founded and named after him. Charles is also remembered as a benefactor of the arts and sciences. In particular, the composer Orlando di Lasso was one of his proteges, as was the music theorist Lodovico Zacconi.
In 1580, Charles founded a stud for horses of Andalusian origin in Lipica, Slovenia, thereby playing a leading role in the creation of the Lipizzan breed. In 1585, Charles founded the University of Graz, which is named Karl-Franzens-Universität after him.
Charles's mausoleum in Seckau, in which also other members of the Habsburg family are also buried, is one of the most important edifices of the early baroque in the South-Eastern Alps. It was built from 1587 onwards by Alessandro de Verda and completed by Sebastiano Carlone by 1612.
| Charles II of Austria | Father: Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor |
Paternal Grandfather: Philip I of Castile |
Paternal Great-Grandfather: Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Mary of Burgundy |
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| Paternal Grandmother: Joanna of Castile |
Paternal Great-Grandfather: Ferdinand II of Aragon |
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| Paternal Great-Grandmother: Isabella I of Castile |
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| Mother: Anna of Bohemia and Hungary |
Maternal Grandfather: Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary |
Maternal Great-Grandfather: Casimir IV Jagiellon |
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| Maternal Great-Grandmother: Elisabeth of Austria |
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| Maternal Grandmother: Anne de Foix |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Gaston de Foix |
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| Maternal Great-Grandmother: Infanta Catherine of Navarre |
Charles married his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria. They had fifteen children:
- Ferdinand (b./d. 1572)
- Anna (1573-1598), married in 1592 Sigismund III Vasa of Poland (1566-1632)
- Maria Christina (10 Nov 1574 - 6 April 1621), married in 1595 Sigismund Bathory von Siebenburgen (1572-1613)
- Katharina (1576-1595)
- Elisabeth (1577-1586)
- Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (1578-1637), married in 1600 a younger Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574-1616) and in 1622 Eleonore Gonzaga (1598-1655)
- Karl (1579-1580)
- Gregoria (1581-1597)
- Eleonora (1582-1620)
- Maximilian Ernst (17 Nov 1583 - 18 Feb 1616)
- Margaret of Austria (1584-1611), married in 1599 Philip III of Spain (1578-1621)
- Leopold V of Austria (1586-1632), married in 1626 Claudia de Medici (1604-1648)
- Constance of Austria (1588-1631), married in 1605 Sigismund III Vasa of Poland (1566-1632)
- Maria Magdalena (1589-1631), married in 1608 Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1590-1621)
- Karl (1590-1624)