Catherine of Austria, Duchess of Calabria

Catherine of Austria (1295 – 18 January 1323, Naples) was a daughter of Albert I of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Tirol. She was a member of the powerful House of Habsburg. She was Duchess of Calabria by her marriage.

Family

Catherine was the seventh of twelve children. Her siblings included: Rudolph I of Bohemia, Frederick the Fair, Leopold I, Duke of Austria, Albert II, Duke of Austria, Otto, Duke of Austria and Agnes, Queen of Hungary, Anna, Margravine of Brandenburg and Elisabeth, Duchess of Lorraine.

Her maternal grandparents were Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia and Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Germany. Her paternal grandparents were Rudolph I of Germany and his first wife, Gertrude of Hohenburg. Elisabeth of Bavaria was daughter of Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria and his wife Agnes of the Palatinate.

Agnes was daughter of Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine and his first wife Agnes of Hohenstaufen. Henry was son of Henry the Lion and his second wife Matilda of England. Matilda was daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Life

Catherine was betrothed twice before she was married. Her first betrothal is referred to in the Turin State Archives to Philip I of Piedmont. Philip's first wife Isabella of Villehardouin had separated from him due to political reasons so Philip was free to remarry. However, the union between Catherine and Philip was dissolved. Philip instead married Catherine de la Tour du Pin.

Catherine may have been betrothed to someone from the Duchy of Brabant, possibly John II, Duke of Brabant. If this betrothal did take place, it was quickly dissolved by Catherine's brothers because their father had been murdered and had been succeeded by Henry of Luxembourg as Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor. The brothers' plan was to marry off their sister to the Emperor in order to create an alliance with him. However only one year after becoming emperor, Henry died without marrying Catherine.^[1]

Catherine was finally married aged twenty-one in 1316 to Charles, Duke of Calabria. However the marriage that Catherine and her family had waited for did not last for very long. The couple were married for seven childless years before Catherine died in Naples on 18 January 1323. She was buried at San Lorenzo Maggiore, in Naples.

After Catherine's death, Charles remarried to Maria of Valois, who became mother of Joan I of Naples.

Ancestry

References