Albert VII, Archduke of Austria
Albert VII of Austria ( born November 13, 1559 Wiener Neustadt, † July 15, 1621 in Brussels; Albrecht der Fromme, French Albert) was regent of the Spanish Netherlands and Archduke.
Life
Albert VII of Austria was born the fifth son of Emperor Maximilian II and his wife Maria of Spain. He was educated at the court of Philip II of Spain and devoted himself to the ministry booth during the Consistory of May 3, 1577, Pope Gregory XIII created him. cardinal, but he transferred only in 1580 the dignity of cardinal deacon of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, from which he resigned in 1598. In November 1594, he was briefly Titular Archbishop of Philippi and coadjutor of Toledo, shortly thereafter until his resignation in 1598 Archbishop of Toledo in Spain. From 1583 to 1595 Albrecht was Viceroy of Portugal and later Governor-General of the Southern Netherlands.
After Albrecht had left the clergy, he married the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, the 32 -year-old daughter of Philip who spent him the Netherlands as dowry. With the determination that the same should fall back to Spain if the marriage would remain childless The couple went to the Spanish Netherlands, where Albrecht from 1599 in the title of Duke of Burgundy ( 1598 ) ruled as sovereign and contributed to the consolidation of Spanish rule. The hope that the apostate Dutch provinces would have to regain, but failed. On July 2, 1600 by Maurice of Orange defeated at Nieuwpoort, Albrecht joined the Twelve Years' Truce in 1609 and died in July 1621 in Brussels, just before the restart of the war. Isabella Clara Eugenia remained as regent in the Netherlands.
He is considered an important patron of the Dutch art of his time, in particular by Peter Paul Rubens, see also: Golden Age (The Netherlands ). Albrecht is the namesake of the first in the Spanish Netherlands embossed, then far ausbereitenden Albertus dollars.