Archduke Wenceslaus of Austria (9 March 1561 – 22 September 1578), was a German prince and member 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 ...

. In 1577, he was appointed the Grand Prior of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

in Castile. He was the son 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 (King ...

, and 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 Hungary. She served as regent of Spain in the absence of her father Emperor ...

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 ...

, Wenceslaus was the eleventh child and eighth son of his parents' sixteen children. Only nine of the children survived early infancy. He grew up mostly in the court of

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 ...

with several of his siblings. In 1577, Wenceslaus was appointed Grand Prior of the

in Castile, but died suddenly one year later 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 ...

at age seventeen. He was buried in the Panteon de los Infantes in the Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Ancestry

References

*Richard Reifenscheid: ''Die Habsburger in Lebensbildern'', Piper Verlag (2007). {{DEFAULTSORT:Wenceslaus Of Austria, Archduke Wenceslaus, Archduke of Austria Wenceslaus, Archduke of Austria 16th-century House of Habsburg Wenceslaus, Archduke of Austria Knights of Malta Austrian princes Burials in the Pantheon of Infantes at El Escorial Sons of emperors Children of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor Sons of kings