Kunigunde of Austria
Kunigunde of Austria (born March 16, 1465 in Wiener Neustadt ; † August 6, 1520 in Munich ) was a sister of Emperor Maximilian I (HRR) and as the wife of the Bavarian Duke Albrecht IV from January 3, 1487 to July 30, 1505 Duchess of Bavaria-Munich and from this date until March 18, 1508 Duchess of Bavaria.
Life
Kunigunde was the daughter of Emperor Friedrich III. and his wife Eleonore Helena of Portugal . She was the fourth of five children, of whom only her brother Maximilian survived early childhood.
She grew up in Wiener Neustadt and Graz , in an informal and free atmosphere, yet without the stiff court ceremony. Her father personally chose her teachers and the court. Contrary to the customs of the time, she not only learned to read, write, crochet and embroider, but also received lessons in horse riding and hunting as well as astronomy and mathematics.
Like most daughters from ruling families, Kunigunde was also the plaything of her father's power-political intrigues. In 1470 Matthias Corvinus wooed Kunigunde, but was turned down by Friedrich. At the age of 15, she made her first major appearance at the side of her father in Vienna, where the Kaiser had invited the Bavarian Duke Georg to give him the fiefdom and regalia of Lower Bavaria. After the celebrations in Vienna, Kunigunde was sent to the Graz Castle for her safety, which under the orders of the Graz burgrave Ulrich III. from ditch . However, she was in great danger here - at the last minute, von Graben uncovered a predatory plot and executed the conspirators. Friedrich now moved to Linz and sent Kunigunde to Innsbruck to his former ward, Duke Siegmund (rich in coins).
In Innsbruck, in 1485, she met the Bavarian Duke Albrecht IV at the court of her uncle . The charming 18-year-old Albrecht hoped to gain power by marrying the emperor's daughter. After the death of his friend Niklas von Abensberg, he illegally appropriated his heir, which was an imperial fief. Friedrich III. who suffered from a constant lack of money, agreed that the Abensberg inheritance should pass into the possession of the duke as Kunigunde's dowry .
However, Albrecht occupied the imperial city of Regensburg during the wedding negotiations . The emperor then withdrew his consent to the wedding. Albrecht, with the help of Siegmund, presented Kunigunde with a forged consent of the emperor, and so the wedding took place on January 2nd, 1487 in the Innsbruck castle chapel . The marriage was consummated immediately afterwards.
Only through the mediation of her brother Maximilian could Kunigunde avert an impending imperial ban. Her father had disgraced not only her husband, but she too. But the cheating weighed on the first few years of the marriage. In addition, the first three children were girls, which impaired Albrecht's ambitions to make Bavaria a great power. After the reconciliation with Friedrich III. in 1492, which was also mediated by Maximilian and to whom Kunigunde had traveled with her three daughters, the relationship between the spouses improved. After all, Kunigunde gave birth to three sons.
After the death of her husband in 1508, Kunigunde retired to the Püttrich monastery , where she lived until her death in 1520. Contrary to the current primogeniture, she fought for an equal inheritance for her two older sons .
progeny
- Sidonie of Bavaria (1488–1505)
- Sibille of Bavaria (1489–1519); ⚭ 1511 Ludwig V , Elector Palatinate
- Sabine of Bavaria (1492–1564); ⚭ 1511 Ulrich , Duke of Württemberg, but separated from him after 1515
- Wilhelm IV (1493–1550), Duke of Bavaria
- Ludwig X. (1495–1545), Duke of Bavaria
- Susanne (1499-1500)
- Ernst von Bayern (1500–1560), Archbishop of Salzburg
- Susanna of Bavaria (1502-1543); ⚭ 1518 Casimir , Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, ⚭ 1529 Count Palatine Ottheinrich
literature
- Karina Graf: Kunigunde, Archduchess of Austria and Duchess of Bavaria-Munich (1465–1520). A biography . Dissertation, University of Mannheim 2000
Lexica articles
- Constantin von Wurzbach : Habsburg, Kunigunde of Austria . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 6th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1860, pp. 404–406 ( digitized version ).
- Karl Möckl : Kunigunde, Duchess of Bavaria . In: Brigitte Hamann (Ed.): The Habsburgs. A biographical lexicon . Ueberreuter, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-8000-3247-3 , pp. 238-240.
Popular science
- Thea Leitner : Bloody dowry. Kunigunde 1465-1520 . In: Habsburgs Daughters Sold . Piper, Munich and Zurich 1994, ISBN 3-492-11827-5 , pp. 9-56
- Sigrid-Maria Großering : About crown and love . Amalthea Publishing House
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sigrid-Maria Großering: To crown and love. Amalthea Publishing House
- ↑ Constantin von Wurzbach : Habsburg, Kunigunde von Oesterreich . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 6th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1860, p. 404 ( digitized version ).
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Anna | Duchess of Bavaria-Munich 1487–1503 |
- |
| - | Duchess of Bavaria 1503–1508 |
Maria Jacobea |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kunigunde of Austria |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Wife of the Bavarian Duke Albrecht IV. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 16, 1465 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wiener Neustadt |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 6, 1520 |
| Place of death | Munich |