Catherine of Austria (1295,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

– 18 January 1323,

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

) was a daughter of Albert I of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Tirol. She was a member of the powerful

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

Duchess of Calabria Duchess of Calabria was the traditional title of the wife of the heir apparent of the Kingdom of Naples after the accession of Robert of Naples. It was also adopted by the heads of certain Houses that had once claimed the Kingdom of Naples in lieu ...

by her marriage.

Life

Catherine was betrothed twice before she was married. Her first betrothal is referred to in the Turin State Archives to Philip I of Piedmont. Philip's first wife

Isabella of Villehardouin Isabella of Villehardouin (1260/1263 – 23 January 1312) was reigning Princess of Achaea from 1289 to 1307. She was the elder daughter of Prince William II of Achaea William of Villehardouin (french: Guillaume de Villehardouin; Kalamata, 1211 ...

had separated from him due to political reasons so Philip was free to remarry. However, the union between Catherine and Philip was dissolved. Philip instead married Catherine de la Tour du Pin. Catherine may have been betrothed to someone from the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

, possibly John II, Duke of Brabant. If this betrothal did take place, it was quickly dissolved by Catherine's brothers because their father had been murdered and had been succeeded by Henry of Luxembourg as

Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII (German: ''Heinrich''; c. 1273 – 24 August 1313),Kleinhenz, pg. 494 also known as Henry of Luxembourg, was Count of Luxembourg, King of Germany (or '' Rex Romanorum'') from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first empe ...

. The brothers' plan was to marry off their sister to the Emperor in order to create an alliance with him. However, only one year after becoming emperor, Henry died without marrying Catherine.Austria, Medieval Lands
/ref> Catherine was finally married aged twenty-one in 1316 to Charles, Duke of Calabria. However the marriage that Catherine and her family had waited for did not last for very long. The couple were married for seven childless years before Catherine died in

on 18 January 1323. She was buried in the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore, Naples. After Catherine's death, Charles remarried to Marie of Valois, who became mother of Joanna I of Naples.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catherine Of Austria 1295 births 1323 deaths 14th-century Italian women 13th-century German women 14th-century House of Habsburg Duchesses of Calabria Daughters of kings