Ferdinand IV.

Ferdinand Franz of Habsburg, known as Ferdinand IV, was born in Vienna on September 8, 1633, and died there on July 9, 1654, at the age of twenty. The eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Austria, a Spanish infanta, he belonged to the Habsburg dynasty, which at the time ruled large parts of Central Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, and an extensive colonial empire. Ferdinand was regarded from an early age as his father’s designated successor in the Holy Roman Empire, but he never reached the imperial throne. His paternal family was closely connected to Europe’s leading Catholic ruling houses. Ferdinand III was the son of Emperor Ferdinand II and Maria Anna of Bavaria. Ferdinand’s mother, in turn, was the younger daughter of King Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria-Styria. She was therefore also the younger sister of Anne of Austria, queen of France. Ferdinand had an older sister, Archduchess Maria Anna, who later became queen of Spain, and a younger brother, Archduke Leopold, who would later be elected emperor himself. His father’s later marriages produced further half-siblings, including Charles Joseph, who became bishop of Olmütz, as well as Eleonore and Maria Anna, who later married into the Polish, Lorraine, and Palatine aristocracy respectively. His father involved Ferdinand in politics from a young age and prepared him for his future rule. On August 5, 1646, the twelve-year-old archduke was crowned king of Bohemia. At the same time, he became one of the Empire’s seven electors. On June 16, 1647, he was crowned king of Hungary and Croatia. Because of his age, Ferdinand initially ruled these realms in name only; actual power was shared with his father. In May 1646, Ferdinand lost his mother. On July 2, 1648, his father married the Austrian Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Tyrol as his second wife. That same year, the Treaties of Westphalia and the peace settlements of Münster and Osnabrück brought the Thirty Years’ War to an end after it had severely devastated Europe. The agreements confirmed, among other things, French control over Metz, Verdun, and Toul, as well as the cession of Alsace to France. They also recognized the considerable autonomy of the imperial princes in relation to the emperor. In this context, Ferdinand’s father gave up supporting his Spanish cousin and brother-in-law in his war against France. The dynastic relationship between the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs nevertheless remained extremely important. In 1649, Ferdinand’s thirteen-year-old sister Maria Anna married her uncle, King Philip IV of Spain. She had originally been intended to marry the Spanish heir, Balthasar Charles, but he died young. Since the alliance with Spain was considered particularly important, the marriage was ultimately arranged with his father instead. Maria Anna, however, died at the age of seventeen during her first childbirth. In 1651, Ferdinand’s father entered into a third marriage with Eleonore Gonzaga, who bore him three daughters. For Ferdinand himself, the question of marriage became increasingly urgent after he had been designated the future successor in the Empire. On May 31, 1653, the electors chose him as King of the Romans. He was thus officially designated to succeed to the imperial throne. His coronation took place in Regensburg on June 18. After this election, Ferdinand’s planned marriage also acquired major political significance. He was engaged to his cousin Maria Theresa of Austria, a fifteen-year-old Spanish infanta and heiress to the Spanish crown. In addition to Spain and its colonial empire, the Spanish domains included Portugal and its colonial possessions, as well as the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. The marriage was therefore intended to strengthen the traditional alliance between the two Habsburg branches. Ferdinand also gave Wels Castle to the Prince of Auersperg. Like other members of the imperial family, he was portrayed by the court painter Frans Luyckx. The marriage, however, never took place. Ferdinand contracted smallpox, a common disease at the time, and died in Vienna on July 9, 1654. He had neither ascended the imperial throne nor fathered any children. As was customary, his body was buried in the Capuchin Crypt. At his own request, however, his heart was taken to the Augustinian Church and buried in the chapel dedicated to Saint Mary of Loreto, to whom Ferdinand was particularly devoted. This form of separate burial was later adopted by other members of the Austrian imperial family. After his death, the responsibility of securing the Habsburg succession in the Empire fell to his fourteen-year-old brother Leopold. He had originally been destined for an ecclesiastical career, but now had to assume the heavy responsibility of becoming the future heir. Ferdinand’s fiancée, Maria Theresa, later married his French cousin, King Louis XIV. Through this marriage, Louis XIV was able to assert claims to the Spanish crown for himself and his descendants.