Elisabeth of Württemberg (Elisabeth Wilhelmine Luise; 21 April 1767 – 18 February 1790) was an Archduchess of Austria by marriage to Archduke Francis of Austria.

Life

Elisabeth Wilhelmine Luise was born on 21 April 1767, in

Treptow an der Rega Treptow () was a former borough in the southeast of Berlin. It merged with Köpenick to form Treptow-Köpenick in 2001. Geography The district was composed by the localities of Alt-Treptow, Plänterwald, Baumschulenweg, Niederschöneweide, J ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

, in what today is

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. She was born as the third daughter and eighth child borne to

Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg Friedrich Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (21 January 1732 – 23 December 1797) was the fourth son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (11 August 1706 – 1 February 1756). He was born in Stut ...

and his wife, Princess Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Her name came from her baptism. At the age of 15, she was called by the Holy Roman Emperor,

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

, to

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

. There, she was educated in the ''Salesianerinnenkloster'' by the nuns, in which she also converted to Catholicism. The purpose of this was to make her the future wife of Joseph II's nephew

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...

, the future Holy Roman Emperor. In Vienna on 6 January 1788, Elisabeth and Francis were married. At this time, Emperor Joseph was in ill health; the young archduchess was close to the emperor and brightened his last years with her youthful charm. At the end of 1789, Elisabeth became pregnant; however, her condition was very delicate. After her visitation to the anointing of the sick, held by the emperor, on 15 February 1790, Elisabeth fainted—and on the night of 18 February, she prematurely gave birth to Archduchess Ludovika Elisabeth, who lived for only 16 months. Despite an emergency operation to save her life, Elisabeth did not survive the birth, which lasted more than 24 hours. She is buried in the

Imperial Crypt The Imperial Crypt (german: Kaisergruft), also called the Capuchin Crypt (''Kapuzinergruft''), is a burial chamber beneath the Capuchin Church and monastery in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1618 and dedicated in 1632, and located on the Neu ...

, in Vienna. The emperor died two days after the death of his niece.

Issue

*Archduchess Ludovika Elisabeth of Austria (18 Feb 1790 - 24 June 1791) died in infancy.

Ancestry

References

*Brigitte Hamann: ''Die Habsburger, ein biographisches Lexikon. Verlag Carl Ueberreuter'', Vienna, 1988 {{DEFAULTSORT:Elisabeth Of Wurttemberg, Duchess 1767 births 1790 deaths Deaths in childbirth House of Habsburg-Lorraine Austrian princesses German Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Duchesses of Württemberg Burials at the Imperial Crypt People from Trzebiatów People from the Province of Pomerania 18th-century Austrian women Wives of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor

Life

Issue

Archives

Ancestry

References