Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Austria

Archduke Sigismund Francis of Austria

Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Further Austria (27 November 1630 – 25 June 1665) was the ruler of Further Austria including Tyrol from 1662 to 1665.

Biography

He was born at Innsbruck, the second son of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria and Claudia de' Medici. He was appointed as bishop of Augsburg in 1646. In 1653, he became bishop of Gurk and in 1659 bishop of Trent. He was never ordained as a priest or consecrated as a bishop.

In 1662 he was put forth by his cousin Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor as a candidate for Archbishop of Strasbourg. This included large cash incentives to the cathedral chapter and a promise that Sigismund would be a very hands off ruler. After the 1662 death of his brother Archduke Ferdinand Charles, he became Archduke of Further Austria, and therefore withdrew from the candidacy for the bishopric. He was more able than his brother and could have made him a good ruler, but with his early death in 1665 the younger Tyrolean line of the Habsburg house ended. Leopold I, who as the heir male succeeded Sigismund Francis, took direct control over the government of Further Austria and Tyrol.

He married Hedwig of the Palatinate-Sulzbach on 3 June 1665 and died in Innsbruck twelve days later.

Ancestors

Family of Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Austria

16. Philip I of Castile               8. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (= #22)                       17. Joanna of Castile               4. Charles II, Archduke of Austria                             18. Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary               9. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (= #23)                       19. Anna of Foix-Candale               2. Leopold V, Archduke of Austria                                   20. William IV, Duke of Bavaria               10. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria                       21. Marie of Baden-Sponheim               5. Maria Anna of Bavaria                             22. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (= #8)               11. Anna of Austria                       23. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (= #9)               1. Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Austria                                         24. Giovanni dalle Bande Nere               12. Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany                       25. Maria Salviati               6. Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany                             26. Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Marquis of Villafranca               13. Eleanor de Toledo                       27. Maria Osorio, 2nd Marquise of Villafranca               3. Claudia de' Medici                                   28. Francis I, Duke of Lorraine               14. Charles III, Duke of Lorraine                       29. Christina of Denmark               7. Christina of Lorraine                             30. Henry II of France               15. Claude of Valois                       31. Catherine de' Medici

References

Regnal titles
Preceded by Ferdinand Charles	Archduke of Further Austria 1662–1665	Succeeded by Leopold VI
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Heinrich von Knöringen	Prince-Bishop of Augsburg 1646–1665	Succeeded by Johann Christoph von Freyberg-Allmendingen
Preceded by Franz von Lodron	Bishop of Gurk 1653–1665	Succeeded by Wenzeslaus von Thun
Preceded by Carlo Emanuele di Madruzzo	Prince-Bishop of Trent 1659–1665	Succeeded by Ernst Adalbert von Harrach