Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Poland
Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria ( born May 21, 1653 Regensburg, † December 17, 1697 in Vienna) was Queen of Poland and Duchess of Lorraine.
Life
She was the daughter of Emperor Ferdinand III. and his third wife Eleonora of Mantua born in Regensburg. On February 27, 1670 she was married in Lviv with the Polish King Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki. The four -year marriage was a difficult time for Eleanor. The king, the physical and mental strength went off, was not recognized by the majority of the nobility. His enemies spread the rumor that he was gay or impotent. Eleanor reached into these disputes only rarely and maintained her dignity.
After the death of King Michael on November 10, 1673 remained until the election of his successor, King John III. Sobieski in Poland and then returned to their native Austria.
Her brother, Emperor Leopold I allowed her to marry her old love, Duke Charles V of Lorraine, the future conqueror of the Turks. On February 6, 1678 wedding took place in Wiener Neustadt. Karl was appointed governor of Tyrol and Further Austria and the couple's Hofburg was assigned in Innsbruck.
The couple had five children:
- Leopold (1679-1729), Duke of Lorraine
- Charles Joseph (1680-1715), Bishop of Olomouc and Archbishop of Trier
- Eleonore (1682-1682)
- Karl Ferdinand (1683-1685)
- Joseph Innocent (1685-1705), Imperial General
- Franz Joseph (1689-1715), Abbot of Stavelot and Malmedy
The eldest son, Leopold, was the future father of Emperor Franz I. Stephan, the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty.
After the death of her husband, the intelligent Dowager Duchess tried vigorously to fulfill the last wishes of Charles and achieve the return of their children in their hereditary land Lorraine. In the Reichstag in Regensburg they filed a motion for the restoration of Lorraine. In the peace negotiations of Ryswick in 1697, this goal was achieved. The sovereignty of Lorraine, however, was significantly weakened, as the French king the right of a free military swipe was granted.
Only a few months after this treaty died the Duchess. She had Lorraine, whose name she led and where her second husband is buried, never entered and was buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.