Leopold V, Archduke of Austria

Leopold V, Archduke of Austria

Engraving of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria

Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria (October 9, 1586 – September 13, 1632) was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria, and the younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand II, father of Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria. He was Bishop of Passau and of Strasbourg, until he resigned to get married, and Archduke of Further Austria including Tirol.

Leopold was born in Graz, and was invested as bishop in 1598, as a child, even though he had not been ordained as a priest; he became Bishop of Strasbourg in 1607, a post which he held until 1626. From 1609 onwards he fought with his mercenaries in the War of the Jülich succession against Maximilian III, Archduke of Further Austria in Tirol, and 1611 for Rudolf II in Bohemia. In 1614, he financed the construction of the Church of the Jesuit College of Molsheim, inside of which his coat of arms is since prominently displayed.

Thaler of Leopold, 1632.

In 1619 upon the death of his kinsman and former rival, he became governor of Maximilian's inheritance: Further Austria and Tirol, where he attained the position of a sovereign, i.e. Archduke of Further Austria from 1626 to his death in 1632. In 1626 he resigned his ecclesiastical positions and married Claudia de' Medici. He had the Custom House and the Jesuit Church built in Innsbruck. He fought for the Veltlin and defended Tirol against the Swedes in 1632. He died in Schwaz, Tirol.

Ancestors

Issue

With his wife Claudia de' Medici, he became the founder of a sideline of the Habsburg family, which persisted until 1665 - the most recent line of Archdukes of Further Austria.

His children were:

• Maria-Eleonora 1627–1629
• Ferdinand Charles (1628–1662); married Anna de' Medici
• Isabella-Clara (1629–1685); married Charles III, Duke of Mantua
• Sigismund Francis (1630-1665); married Hedwig of the Palatinate-Sulzbach
• Maria Leopoldine (1632–1649); married Emperor Ferdinand III