Archduchess Eleanor of Austria
{{distinguish|Archduchess Eleanor of Austria (1582–1620)|Eleanor of Austria}}
{{Infobox royalty
| consort = yes
| name = Eleanor of Austria
| succession = Duchess consort of Mantua and Montferrat
| reign = 26 April 1561 – 14 August 1587
| image = Anonym Erzherzogin Eleonore.jpg
| caption =
| spouse = {{marriage|William I, Duke of Mantua|1561|1587|end=d}}
| issue = {{Plainlist|
}}
| full name =
| house = Habsburg
| father = Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
| mother = Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1534|11|2|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
| death_date = {{death date and age|1594|8|5|1534|11|2|df=y}}
| death_place = Mantua, Duchy of Mantua
}}
Archduchess Eleanor of Austria (2 November 1534 – 5 August 1594) was Duchess of Mantua by marriage to William I, Duke of Mantua. She was the daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.
Life
File:Jakob Seisenegger 006.jpg
Eleanor was the eighth child and sixth daughter out of fifteen children born to King Ferdinand of Bohemia and Hungary (before his succession as Holy Roman Emperor) and his wife Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. She was a sister of Johanna of Austria, who married Francesco I de' Medici, thus making Eleonora the aunt of Marie de' Medici, Queen of France.
=Life in Mantua=
She married William I, Duke of Mantua on 26 April 1561.
At about age five, Eleanor's daughter Anne Caterina became severely ill and nearly died. She contracted a high fever and her extremities began to swell. For two years she was ill. Finally Eleanor and William appealed to the Virgin Mary with deep prayer, promising to raise Anne as a child of Mary if she lived on. Soon Anne became healthy again. Eleanor and William told their daughter of the Virgin Mary's intervention on her behalf and the promise they had made. From there out Eleanor educated and guided Anne Catherine in the cultivation of devotion to Mary. Throughout childhood Anne Catherine displayed a consistent sense of piety.
Eleonor died on 5 August 1594 at the age of 59, she had been a widow since 1587 when her husband died. She was one of the last children of Ferdinand and Anna alive at the time, the only other sibling alive at the time of her death was her brother Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria who only died one year later.
Issue
Her children were:
- Vincent I, Duke of Mantua (21 September 1562 – 9 February 1612). Married Eleonora de' Medici (Eleanor's niece).
- Margherita Gonzaga (27 May 1564 – 6 January 1618). Married Alfonso II d'Este.
- Anna Caterina Gonzaga (17 January 1566 – 3 August 1621). Married her maternal uncle Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria.
Ancestors
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
| boxstyle_5 = background-color: #9fe;
| 1 = 1. Eleanor of Austria
| 2 = 2. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
| 3 = 3. Anne of Bohemia and Hungary
| 4 = 4. Philip I of Castile{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Joanna |volume=15}}
| 5 = 5. Joanna I of Castile
| 6 = 6. Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary{{cite ADB|54|688|696|Wladislaw II.|Priebatsch, Felix|ADB:Wladislaw II.}}
| 7 = 7. Anne of Foix-Candale
| 8 = 8. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Philipp I. der Schöne von Oesterreich |volume=7 |year=1861 |page=112}}
| 9 = 9. Mary, Duchess of Burgundy
| 10 = 10. Ferdinand II of Aragon
| 11 = 11. Isabella I of Castile
| 12 = 12. Casimir IV Jagiellon
| 13 = 13. Elisabeth of Austria
| 14 = 14. Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale{{cite book |title=The Lord's First Night: The Myth of the Droit de Cuissage |first=Alain |last=Boureau |translator-first=Lydia G. |translator-last=Cochrane |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=1995 |page=96}}
| 15 = 15. Catherine of Foix{{cite book |title=Revue de l'Agenais |trans-title=Review of the Agenais |volume=4 |publisher=Société académique d'Agen |editor-first=P. |editor-last=Noubel |year=1877 |page=497}}
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Austrian archduchesses}}
{{Ducal consorts of Mantua}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eleanor Of Austria, Archduchess}}
Category:16th-century House of Habsburg
Category:16th-century Austrian women
Category:Marchionesses of Montferrat
Category:Duchesses of Montferrat
Category:Daughters of emperors
Category:Children of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor