Archduchess Maria Annunziata of Austria
Archduchess Maria Annunziata | |||||
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Born | (1876-07-31)31 July 1876 Reichenau, Austria-Hungary | ||||
Died | 8 April 1961(1961-04-08) (aged 84) Vaduz, Liechtenstein | ||||
Burial | St. Florian Cathedral, Vaduz, Liechtenstein | ||||
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House | Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
Father | Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria | ||||
Mother | Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugal |
Archduchess Maria Annunziata of Austria (31 July 1876 – 8 April 1961) was a daughter of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and his third wife, Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugal. She was Princess-Abbess of the Theresian Royal and Imperial Ladies Chapter of the Castle of Prague (1894–1918).[1]
Biography
While staying with Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Duke Siegfried August in Bavaria met his host’s unmarried half-sister, Archduchess Maria Annunziata, he fell in love with her, and their engagement was to be announced in due course. They would have made a comely couple, for the Princess had inherited much of the brilliance as well as good looks of her mother, the beloved Archduchess Maria Theresa, while Duke Siegfried was probably the best looking Prince of his house, a dashing cavalier, and one of the few scions of old world royalty and who had achieved distinction as a steeplechase rider.
Two months later, in August 1902, the engagement was broken off by the Archduchess, owing to her sudden discovery of the stormy antecedents of her fiancé, which she had been ignorant of at the time when she had promised to become his wife. The breaking off of the engagement was a matter which was arranged between the young people themselves, and that they had been deeply in love with each other was shown by the appeal immediately afterward by the Archduchess to the Emperor for permission to enter Holy Orders and to take the vows of a Benedictine nun, while the Duke became prey to melancholia, which in due course developed into insanity, rendering it necessary his confinement.[2]
Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria declined to allow his niece to become a nun, pointing out to her that she should be content with her office of Princess Abbess of the Order of Noble Ladies of the Hradschin at Prague, which was a sort of semi-ecclesiastical dignity invariably held by a Princess of the Imperial house. The Lady Abbess of this particular order was the only woman to whom is accorded the right of fulfilling certain Episcopal functions, it being the prerogative of her office to crown the Queen of Bohemia when the Cardinal Archbishop of Prague, crowns the King. Among the insignia of her rank are an Episcopal miter and an Episcopal crozier, and she wore an Episcopal ring of office, which the ladies of the order were required to kiss. But there are no pledges of perpetual celibacy taken in connection with the order. Its members are at liberty to wed at any time they wish, this of course entailing their leaving the order, which was organized for the purpose of providing suitably for the ladies of the nobility who had become impoverished through no fault of their own. All that was required of them was the observance of certain rules, the wearing of a particular costume, and the performance of certain daily religious duties and ceremonies. Each of the members of the order bears the honorary title of “Canoness,’ and the Queen Mother of Spain held the office of Abbess until her marriage to King Alfonso, drawing a stipend as such of $30,000 a year.
Archduchess Maria Annunziata took her religious duties in connection with her office more to heart than any of her predecessors. She considered it to be incumbent upon her to break off her engagement to the Prince.
The archduchess spent the last years of her life with her sister Elisabeth Amalie in Liechtenstein. She died in Vaduz on 8 April 1961 at the age of 84. She was buried in the princely tomb in the crypt of the Cathedral of St. Florin in Vaduz.[3]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Archduchess Maria Annunziata of Austria |
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See also
References
External links
Media related to Archduchess Maria Annunziata of Austria at Wikimedia Commons
- v
- t
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- Eleanor, Queen of Portugal and France*
- Isabella, Queen of Denmark and Norway*
- Maria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia*
- Catherine, Queen of Portugal*
- Isabella Clara Eugenia, Co-sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands**
- Catalina Micaela, Duchess of Savoy**
- Anna, Queen of Spain
- Elisabeth, Queen of France
- Margaret (1567–1633)
- Maria (1584–1649)
- Anna, Holy Roman Empress
- Anna, Queen of Poland
- Maria Christina, Princess of Transylvania
- Catherine Renata
- Gregoria Maximiliana
- Eleanor (1582–1620)
- Margaret, Queen of Spain
- Constance, Queen of Poland
- Maria Maddalena, Grand Duchess of Tuscany
- Anna, Queen of France**
- María**
- Maria Anna, Holy Roman Empress**
- Margarita**
- Maria Anna, Electress of Bavaria
- Cecilia Renata, Queen of Poland
- Isabella Clara, Duchess of Mantua
- Maria Leopoldine, Holy Roman Empress
- Maria Antonia, Electress of Bavaria
- Maria Elisabeth
- Maria Anna, Queen of Portugal
- Maria Theresa
- Maria Josepha
- Maria Magdalena
- Maria Josepha, Queen of Poland
- Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress
- Maria Theresa
- Princess Maria Anna of Lorraine
- Maria Elisabeth^
- Maria Anna^
- Maria Carolina^
- Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen^
- Maria Elisabeth^
- Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma^
- Johanna^
- Maria Josepha^
- Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples^
- Maria Antonia, Queen of France^
- Maria Theresa
- Maria Theresia, Queen of Saxony^
- Maria Anna^
- Maria Clementina, Duchess of Calabria^
- Maria Amalia^
- Maria Theresa, Queen of Sardinia#
- Maria Leopoldine, Electress of Bavaria#
- Maria Ludovika, Empress of Austria#
- Marie Louise, Empress of the French
- Maria Leopoldina, Empress of Brazil
- Clementina, Princess of Salerno
- Marie Caroline, Crown Princess of Saxony
- Maria Anna
- Maria Luisa^
- Maria Theresa, Queen of Sardinia^
- Maria Theresa, Queen of the Two Sicilies
- Maria Caroline
- Hermine
- Elisabeth Franziska
- Marie Henriette, Queen of the Belgians
- Adelaide, Queen of Sardinia
- Maria Theresa, Countess of Chambord#
- Maria Beatrix, Countess of Montizón#
- Maria Anna
- Princess Auguste Ferdinande of Bavaria^
- Maria Isabella, Countess of Trapani^
- Maria Luisa, Princess of Isenburg-Büdingen^
- Mathilda
- Maria Christina, Queen of Spain
- Maria Dorothea, Duchess of Orléans
- Margaretha Klementine, Princess of Thurn and Taxis
- Maria Theresa, Queen of Bavaria#
- Sophie
- Princess Gisela of Bavaria
- Marie Valerie
- Margarete Sophie, Duchess of Württemberg
- Maria Annunciata
- Princess Elisabeth of Liechtenstein
- Maria Antonietta^
- Luise, Crown Princess of Saxony^
- Maria Theresa^
- Princess Karoline Marie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha^
- Princess Maria Christina of Salm-Salm
- Princess Maria Anna of Bourbon Parma
- Maria Henrietta, Princess of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst
- Princess Isabella of Bavaria
- Eleonora
- Renata, Princess Radziwill
- Mechthildis, Princess Czartoryski
- Elisabeth Marie, Princess of Windisch-Graetz
- Helena, Duchess of Württemberg^
- Rosa, Duchess of Württemberg^
- Dolores^
- Maria Inmaculata^
- Margarita, Marchioness Taliani di Marchio^
- Princess Maria Antonia^
- Assunta^
- Elisabeth, Countess of Waldburg-Zeil^
- Hedwig, Countess of Stolberg-Stolberg^
- Margaret, Princess of Monteleone
- Ilona, Duchess of Mecklenburg
- Adelheid
- Charlotte, Duchess of Mecklenburg
- Princess Elisabeth of Liechtenstein
- * also an infanta of Spain
- ** also an infanta of Spain and Portugal
- ^ also a princess of Tuscany
- # also a princess of Modena