Archduchess Margaret of Austria (25 January 1567 – 5 July 1633), was an Austrian archduchess of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. She was the daughter of

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II (31 July 1527 – 12 October 1576) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1564 until his death in 1576. A member of the Austrian House of Habsburg, he was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague on 14 May 1562 and elected King of Germany (Kin ...

by his wife

Maria of Spain Archduchess Maria of Austria (21 June 1528 – 26 February 1603) was the empress consort and queen consort of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and List of Hungarian monarchs, Hungary. She served as regent of Spain in the absen ...

, daughter of

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...

by his wife

Isabella of Portugal Isabella of Portugal (24 October 1503 – 1 May 1539) was the empress consort and queen consort of her cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, and Duke of Burgundy. She was Queen of Spain and Germany, and ...

Life

Born in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

, Margaret was the fifteenth child and fifth daughter of her parents' sixteen children, of whom eight survived infancy. From early childhood, she was deeply influenced by her mother's strict

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In 1582, Empress Maria returned to her homeland Spain permanently, taking her youngest surviving child Margaret with her, promised to marry

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

, who had lost his fourth wife, her sister, Anna of Austria, in 1580.

Life as a nun

Margaret refused marriage to Philip II and took the veil under the name of ''Sister Margaret of the Cross'' as a

Poor Clare The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

nun in the Monastery of Santa Clara de las Descalzas Reales in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Her mother was also resident in the convent until her death in 1603. Margaret was the dedicatee of the first published edition of the

requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

which was composed for her mother's funeral by the composer and priest

Tomás Luis de Victoria Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as ''da Vittoria''; ) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Re ...

. Margaret died, aged 66, and was buried in her convent.

Ancestry

References

*Richard Reifenscheid: ''Die Habsburger in Lebensbildern'', Piper Verlag (2007). {{DEFAULTSORT:Margaret Of Austria 1567 births 1633 deaths Austrian princesses 16th-century House of Habsburg 17th-century House of Habsburg 16th-century Austrian women 17th-century Austrian women 16th-century Roman Catholic nuns 17th-century Roman Catholic nuns Nobility from Vienna Burials in Madrid Daughters of emperors Children of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor Poor Clares Daughters of kings