Andreas von Österreich

Andreas of Austria, also known as Andrea, was born in Bresnitz on June 15, 1558, and died in Rome on November 12, 1600. He was an Austrian nobleman, Catholic cleric, and, for a time, governor of the Spanish Netherlands on behalf of his cousin, Archduke Albert of Austria. He was the son of Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria, Count of Tyrol and Archduke of Further Austria, and his wife, Philippine Welser. Their marriage was considered unequal because Philippine came from a non-sovereign family. Andreas had a brother, Charles of Austria, who later became Margrave of Burgau, as well as two siblings, Philip and Maria, who died in childhood. After the death of his grandfather in 1564, Emperor Maximilian II permitted Andreas and his siblings to use the name Austria. They were not granted a claim to inherit the Austrian lands; such a claim would have arisen only if all male descendants born of legitimate marriages had died out. Andreas was born while his father was governor of the Kingdom of Bohemia. He spent his childhood with his parents and his brother Charles at Ambras Castle near Innsbruck. After the death of his mother in 1580, his father married again in 1582, this time Princess Anna Catherine Gonzaga, a daughter of Duke William of Mantua. This marriage produced several of Andreas’s half-siblings, including Maria of Austria, who became a nun, and Anna of Austria, who later married her cousin, Emperor Matthias. Andreas initially pursued an ecclesiastical career. On November 19, 1576, at the age of eighteen, Pope Gregory XIII appointed him a cardinal. The following year he received the title of Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria la Nova and began studying at the University of Siena. In 1580 he became coadjutor to the Bishop of Brixen and assumed the bishopric himself in 1591. That same year he was appointed cardinal protector of the Habsburg hereditary lands. Further ecclesiastical offices followed: in 1587 he became abbot of Murbach, and in 1589 he was appointed Prince-Bishop of Constance. He was consecrated as a bishop the following year. Alongside his religious responsibilities, Andreas also took on political and administrative roles. His father appointed him governor of his lands as early as 1579. He later became governor of Alsace and, in 1593, governor of Further Austria. In this way, Andreas combined a prominent position within the Church with important responsibilities in the administration of Habsburg territories. He assumed a particularly significant political role in the Spanish Netherlands. His cousin, Archduke Albert, had served as governor there since 1596. When Albert had to leave the Netherlands in 1598 to marry, he entrusted Andreas with the government on the orders of King Philip II. Andreas took office on September 14, 1598, and administered the territory until Albert and his wife, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, returned in 1599. The couple then assumed direct rule as the joint sovereigns of the Netherlands. During his brief tenure, Andreas sought military successes against the United Provinces together with Francisco López de Mendoza y Mendoza, Admiral of Aragon. Campaigns undertaken from February 1599 included the siege of the Schenkenschans bridge, the capture of the fort of Crevecœur, and the occupation of the island of Bommel, also known as Bommelerwaard, between the Waal and the Meuse. After Albert’s return, Andreas resigned as governor. In 1600 Andreas traveled incognito to Rome to obtain the Jubilee indulgence. During his stay he became seriously ill. He received the last sacraments from Pope Clement VIII himself and died in Rome on November 12 of that year. He was buried in the church of Santa Maria dell’Anima. His tomb features a praying figure of the deceased and was created by Egidio della Riviera, also known as Gillis van den Vliete. Andreas also had two illegitimate children with an unnamed woman. His son, Hans Georg degli Albizzi, married Susanna Yphofer in 1622; they had no children. His daughter, Susanna degli Albizzi, married Johann Schratz in 1604 and died in 1653.