Eleonora Gonzaga (1630–1686)

For other women of the same name, see Eleanor Gonzaga (disambiguation)

Eleonora Gonzaga
Holy Roman Empress
Born	18 November 1630
Died
Spouse	Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Issue	Eleanor, Queen of Poland Maria Anna Josepha, Electoral Princess of the Palatinate
House	House of Gonzaga
Father	Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers
Mother	Maria Gonzaga, Duchess of Montferrat

Eleonora Gonzaga (18 November 1630 – 6 December 1686) was Holy Roman Empress as the wife of Emperor Ferdinand III.

Family

She was a daughter of Charles Gonzaga (1609–1631) and his wife and cousin Maria Gonzaga, heiress to the Duchy of Mantua.

Her father was a son and co-ruler of Charles I, Duke of Mantua but predeceased his father. Her paternal grandmother was Catherine of Mayenne. Her maternal grandparents were Francesco IV Gonzaga and Margaret of Savoy. Catherine of Mayenne was a daughter of Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne and Henriette of Savoy, Marquise de Villars. Margaret was a daughter of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Catherine Michelle of Spain. Catherine Michelle was in turn the second and last daughter of Philip II of Spain and Elisabeth of Valois.

Marriage and children

She was born on 18 November 1630 in Mantua. On 30 April 1651 in Vienna, she married the Emperor Ferdinand III, thus becoming Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. She died in Vienna, surviving her husband by 29 years.

She bore Ferdinand four children, two of whom survived into adulthood:

• Theresa Maria Josepha, Archduchess of Austria (27 March 1652 – 26 July 1653)
• Eleonora Maria of Austria (21 May 1653 – 17 December 1697), who married first Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland, and then Charles Léopold, Duke of Lorraine.
• Maria Anna Josepha of Austria (30 December 1654 – 4 April 1689), who married John William, Elector Palatine.
• Ferdinand Joseph Alois, Archduke of Austria (11 February 1657 – 16 June 1658)

Empress

Eleanor is described as cultivated and religious. She protected and developed the cultural establishment in Vienna : she wrote Italian poems, founded a literary academy and despite her strict personal Catholicism, she did not discriminate against Protestant writers. She continued to play a very important part of the court also as a Dowager Empress after 1657, was active as a patron of culture, arranging ballets and festivals. She had the imperial palace, the Hofburg, expanded. She was also active in religion and founded several convents, such as an Ursuline convent in Vienna (1663). She founded the orders Sklavinnen der Tugend for noble ladies (1662) and served as Kaiserin of the Sternkreuzorden, the "Order of the Starry Cross" (1668).

Ancestry

Family of Eleonora Gonzaga (1630–1686)

16. Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua               8. Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers                       17. Margaret Palaeologina               4. Charles I, Duke of Mantua                             18. Francis I of Cleves, Duke of Nevers               9. Henriette of Cleves                       19. Marguerite of Bourbon-La Marche               2. Charles Gonzaga                                   20. Francis, Duke of Guise               10. Charles, Duke of Mayenne                       21. Anna d'Este               5. Catherine de Lorraine                             22. Honorato II de Savoy               11. Henriette of Savoy, Marquise de Villars                       23. Jeanne Françoise of Foix               1. Eleonora Gonzaga                                         24. Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua               12. Vincenzo I Gonzaga                       25. Archduchess Eleanor of Austria               6. Francesco IV Gonzaga                             26. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany               13. Eleonora de' Medici                       27. Archduchess Joanna of Austria               3. Maria Gonzaga                                   28. Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy               14. Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy                       29. Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry               7. Margaret of Savoy                             30. Philip II of Spain               15. Catherine Michelle of Spain                       31. Elisabeth of Valois

Literature and references

• Eleonore. In: Brigitte Hamann (Hg.), Die Habsburger. 1988, S. 79.

External links

• Her profile in Peerage.com

Preceded by Maria Leopoldine of Austria	Empress of the Holy Roman Empire 1651–1657	Succeeded by Margaret Theresa of Spain
	German Queen 1651–1653