March 18, 1438: Duke Albrecht V of Austria is Elected As Albrecht II, King of the Romans

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Albert II of Germany, Albert V of Austria, Elisabeth of Luxemburg, Emperor Sigismund, Expulsion of the Jews, jure uxoris, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, King of Hungary, King Sigismund of Hungary, Pope Martin IV

Albrecht V-II the Magnanimous, Duke of Austria and elected King of the Romans as Albrecht II (August 10, 1397 – October 27, 1439) was king of the Holy Roman Empire and a member of the House of Habsburg. By inheritance he became Albrecht V, Duke of Austria. Through his wife (jure uxoris) he also became King of Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, and inherited a claim to the Duchy of Luxembourg.

Albert was born in Vienna as the son of Albert IV, Duke of Austria, and Joanna Sophia of Bavaria, daughter of Albrecht I, Duke of Bavaria and his first wife Margaret of Brieg.

Albrecht V, Duke of Austria

He succeeded to the Duchy of Austria at the age of seven on his father’s death in 1404. His uncle Duke Wilhelm of Inner Austria, then head of the rivaling Leopoldinian line, served as regent for his nephew, followed by his brothers Leopold IV and Ernst the Iron in 1406.

The quarrels between the brothers and their continued attempts to gain control over the Albertinian territories led to civil war-like conditions. Nevertheless, Albrecht having received a good education, undertook the government of Austria proper on the occasion of Leopold’s death in 1411 and succeeded, with the aid of his advisers, in ridding the duchy of the evils which had arisen during his minority.

Expulsion of the Jews

Though the Jews in the Austrian duchy had been subject to local persecutions during the 13th and 14th century, their position remained relatively safe. Jewish communities prospered in several towns like Krems or the area around the Judenplatz at Vienna. During the confusion after the death of Duke Albrecht IV in 1404 their situation worsened sharply, culminating in the blaze of the Vienna synagogue on November 5, 1406, followed by riots and lootings.

When Albrecht V came of age in 1411 and interfered in the Hussite Wars, he repeatedly established new taxes imposed on the Jewish community to finance his campaigns. On the other hand, after the Hussites had devastated the duchy, the Austrian Jews were accused of collaboration and arms trade in favour of the enemies. The accusations of a host desecration at Enns in 1420 gave Albert pretext for the destruction of the Jewish community.

According to the 1463 Chronica Austriae by chronicler Thomas Ebendorfer, the duke on May 23, 1420, at the behest of the Church, ordered the imprisonment and forcible conversion of the Jews. Those that had not converted or escaped were sent off in boats down the Danube, while wealthy Jews remained under arrest, several of them tortured and stripped of their property.

Coronation of Albrecht of Austria as King of the Romans

The forced baptism of Jewish children was stopped on intervention by Pope Martin V. On March 12, 1421 Albert sentenced the remaining Jews to death. Ninety-two men and 120 women were burned at the stake south of the Vienna city walls on March 12, 1421. The Jews were placed under an “eternal ban” and their synagogue was demolished. The persecutions in several Austrian towns are explicitly described in a 16th-century script called Vienna Gesera.

In 1422 Albert married Elisabeth of Luxemburg, the daughter and heiress of the King Sigismund of Hungary (later also Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia), and his second wife, the Slovenian noblewoman Barbara of Celje. Besides Hungary, Albrecht’s marriage brought him claims to several Slavic kingdoms and principalities as well.

Albrecht assisted his father-in-law Sigismund in his campaigns against the Hussites, involving the Austrian duchy in the Hussite Wars. In return Sigismund designated him as his successor and granted him the title of a Margrave of Moravia in 1423. The Austrian lands were devastated several times and Albert also participated in the 1431 Battle of Domažlice where the Imperial troops suffered an embarrassing defeat.

Albrecht II, King of the Romans

When Sigismund died in 1437, Albrecht was crowned King of Hungary on January 1, 1438, and just as his predecessor did, he moved his court to the Hungarian Kingdom from where he later oversaw his other domains. Although crowned king of Bohemia six months after ascending to the Hungarian throne, he was unable to obtain possession of the country. He was engaged in warfare with the Bohemians and their Polish allies, when on March 18, 1438, he was elected “King of the Romans” at Frankfurt, an honour which he does not appear to have sought. He was never crowned as Holy Roman Emperor.

After being engaged in defending Hungary against the attacks of the Turks, he died on October 27, 1439 at Neszmély and was buried at Székesfehérvár. Albrecht was an energetic and warlike prince, whose short reign as a triple king gave great promise of usefulness for the Holy Roman Empire.

February 18, 1516: Birth of Mary I, Queen of England and Ireland

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Francis I of France, Infanta Catherine of Aragon, jure uxoris, King Felipe II of Spain, King Henry VIII of England, Queen Mary I of England and Ireland, Queen Mary’s Marriage Act

From the Emperor’s Desk: I will not do a complete biography of Queen Mary on the anniversary of her birth, instead I will focus on how she came to marry King Felipe II of Spain.

Mary was born on February 18, 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, England. She was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Infanta Catherine of Aragon, to survive infancy. Her mother had suffered many miscarriages and stillbirths. Before Mary’s birth, four previous pregnancies had resulted in a stillborn daughter and three short-lived or stillborn sons, including Henry, Duke of Cornwall.

Throughout Mary’s childhood, Henry negotiated potential future marriages for her. When she was only two years old, Mary was promised to François, Dauphin of France, the infant son of King François I, but the contract was repudiated after three years.

In 1522, at the age of six, she was instead contracted to marry her 22-year-old cousin Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Carlos I of Spain). However, Charles broke off the engagement within a few years with Henry’s agreement.

Cardinal Wolsey, Henry’s chief adviser, then resumed marriage negotiations with the French, and Henry suggested that Mary marry the French king François I, himself who was eager for an alliance with England. A marriage treaty was signed which provided that Mary marry either François I or his second son Henri, Duke of Orléans, but Wolsey secured an alliance with France without the marriage.

In 1528, Wolsey’s agent Thomas Magnus discussed the idea of her marriage to her cousin James V of Scotland with the Scottish diplomat Adam Otterburn. According to the Venetian Mario Savorgnano, by this time Mary was developing into a pretty, well-proportioned young lady with a fine complexion.

When aged 37, Mary and was Queen she turned her attention to finding a husband and producing an heir, which would prevent the Protestant Elizabeth (still next-in-line under the terms of Henry VIII’s will and the Act of Succession of 1544) from succeeding to the throne.

Edward Courtenay and Reginald Pole were both mentioned as prospective suitors, but her cousin Emperor Charles V suggested she marry his only legitimate son, Infante Felipe of Spain.

Infante Felipe’s first wife was his double first cousin, Infanta Maria Manuela of Portugal. She was a daughter of Felipe’s maternal uncle, King João III of Portugal, and paternal aunt, Archduchess Catherine of Austria. They were married at Salamanca on November 12, 1543. The marriage produced one son in 1545, after which Maria Manuela died four days later due to haemorrhage.

Lord Chancellor Gardiner and the English House of Commons unsuccessfully petitioned Mary to consider marrying an Englishman, fearing that England would be relegated to a dependency of the Habsburgs.

The marriage was unpopular with the English; Gardiner and his allies opposed it on the basis of patriotism, while Protestants were motivated by a fear of Catholicism.

When Mary insisted on marrying Felipe, insurrections broke out. Thomas Wyatt the Younger led a force from Kent to depose Mary in favour of Elizabeth, as part of a wider conspiracy now known as Wyatt’s rebellion, which also involved the Duke of Suffolk, Lady Jane’s father.

Mary declared publicly that she would summon Parliament to discuss the marriage and if Parliament decided that the marriage was not to the kingdom’s advantage, she would refrain from pursuing it.

On reaching London, Wyatt was defeated and captured. Wyatt, the Duke of Suffolk, Lady Jane Grey, and her husband Guildford Dudley were executed. Lady Jane Grey was a pawn in trying to usurp the throne at the beginning of Mary’s reign.

Courtenay, who was implicated in the plot, was imprisoned and then exiled. Princess Elizabeth, though protesting her innocence in the Wyatt affair, was imprisoned in the Tower of London for two months, then put under house arrest at Woodstock Palace.

Queen Mary I of England was—excluding the brief, disputed reigns of the Empress Matilda and Lady Jane Grey—England’s first queen regnant. Further, under the English common law doctrine of jure uxoris, the property and titles belonging to a woman became her husband’s upon marriage, and it was feared that any man she married would thereby become King of England in fact and name.

While Mary’s grandparents King Fernando II and Queen Isabella I had retained sovereignty of their respective realms during their marriage, there was no precedent to follow in England.

Under the terms of Queen Mary’s Marriage Act, Felipe was to be styled “King of England”, all official documents (including Acts of Parliament) were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple, for Mary’s lifetime only.

England would not be obliged to provide military support to Felipe’s father in any war, and Felipe could not act without his wife’s consent or appoint foreigners to office in England.

Felipe was unhappy with these conditions but ready to agree for the sake of securing the marriage. He had no amorous feelings for Mary and sought the marriage for its political and strategic gains; his aide Ruy Gómez de Silva wrote to a correspondent in Brussels, “the marriage was concluded for no fleshly consideration, but in order to remedy the disorders of this kingdom and to preserve the Low Countries.”

To elevate his son to Mary’s rank, Emperor Charles V ceded to Felipe the Crown of Naples as well as his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Queen Mary thus became Queen of Naples and titular Queen of Jerusalem upon marriage. Their wedding at Winchester Cathedral on July 25, 1554 took place just two days after their first meeting. Felipe could not speak English, and so they spoke a mixture of Spanish, French, and Latin.

June 16, 1586: Mary I, Queen of Scots names King Felipe II of Spain as hier and successor

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Elizabeth I of England, Felipe II of Spain, Henry VIII of England, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, jure uxoris, Mary I of England, Mary I of Scotland, Spanish Armada, Spanish Empire

Felipe II (May 21, 1527 – September 13, 1598) was the son of Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal. Felipe II inherited his father’s Spanish Empire and was the King of Spain from 1556, and succeeded as King of Portugal in 1580 following a dynastic crisis. Felipe II was King of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598.

Felipe II was also jure uxoris King of England and Ireland during his marriage to Queen Mary I of England and Ireland from 1554 until her death in 1558. He was also Duke of Milan from 1540. From 1555, he was Lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands.Upon Mary I of England’s death, the throne went to her half-sister as Queen Elizabeth I. Felipe had no wish to sever his tie with England, and had sent a proposal of marriage to Elizabeth.

However, she delayed in answering, and in that time learned Felipe was also considering a Valois alliance. Elizabeth I was the Protestant daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

This union was deemed illegitimate by English Catholics, who disputed the validity of both the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon and of his subsequent marriage to Boleyn, and hence claimed that Mary I, Queen of Scots, the Catholic great-granddaughter of Henry VII, was the rightful monarch.For many years Felipe maintained peace with England, and even defended Elizabeth from the Pope’s threat of excommunication.

This was a measure taken to preserve a European balance of power.Ultimately, Elizabeth allied England with the Protestant rebels in the Netherlands. Further, English ships began a policy of piracy against Spanish trade and threatened to plunder the great Spanish treasure ships coming from the New World.

English ships went so far as to attack a Spanish port. The last straw for Felipe was the Treaty of Nonsuch signed by Elizabeth in 1585 – promising troops and supplies to the rebels. Although it can be argued this English action was the result of Felipe’s Treaty of Joinville with the Catholic League of France, Felipe considered it an act of war by England.

On June 16, 1586 Mary I, Queen of Scots, recognizes Felipe II of Spain as her heir and successor to her English claim to the throne. Selecting Felipe II of Spain as heir Mary’s English throne was a move to return both England Catholic Churc. as Mary’s son, King James VI of Scotland, had been raised as a Protestant and was ruling that Kingdom.

However, the execution of Mary I, Queen of Scots for treason against Elizabeth I, in 1587 ended Felipe’s hopes of placing a Catholic on the English throne. He turned instead to more direct plans to invade England and return the country to Catholicism.In 1588, he sent a fleet, the Spanish Armada, to rendezvous with the Duke of Parma’s army and convey it across the English Channel.

However, the operation had little chance of success from the beginning, because of lengthy delays, lack of communication between Felipe II and his two commanders and the lack of a deep bay for the fleet.

At the point of attack, a storm struck the English Channel, already known for its harsh currents and choppy waters, which devastated large numbers of the Spanish fleet. There was a tightly fought battle against the English Royal Navy; it was by no means a slaughter (only one Spanish ship was sunk), but the Spanish were forced into a retreat, and the overwhelming majority of the Armada was destroyed by the harsh weather.

Whilst the English Royal Navy may not have destroyed the Armada at the Battle of Gravelines, they had prevented it from linking up with the army it was supposed to convey across the channel. Thus whilst the English Royal Navy may have only won a slight tactical victory over the Spanish, it had delivered a major strategic one—preventing the invasion of England.Through a week of fighting the Spanish had expended 100,000 cannonballs, but no English ship was seriously damaged.

However, over 7,000 English sailors died from disease during the time the Armada was in English waters.The defeat of the Spanish Armada gave great heart to the Protestant cause across Europe.

The storm that smashed the Armada was seen by many of Felipe’s enemies as a sign of the will of God. Many Spaniards blamed the admiral of the Armada for its failure, but Felipe, despite his complaint that he had sent his ships to fight the English, not the elements, was not among them.

History of Male British Consorts Part III

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By Right of Wife, Elizabeth I of England and Ireland, jure uxoris, Male Consorts, Philip II of Spain, royal wedding, Spain

Marriage question

From the start of Elizabeth’s reign, it was expected that she would marry and the question arose to whom. Although she received many offers for her hand, she never married and was childless; the reasons for this are not clear.

Historians have speculated that Thomas Seymour had put her off sexual relationships. She considered several suitors until she was about fifty. Her last courtship was with François, Duke of Anjou, 22 years her junior.

While risking possible loss of power like her sister, who played into the hands of King Felipe II of Spain, marriage offered the chance of an heir. However, the choice of a husband might also provoke political instability or even insurrection.

One of the reasons that Elizabeth I of England never may have been due to the legal concept of Jure uxoris (a Latin phrase meaning “by right of (his) wife”). This term describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title suo jure (“in her own right”).

Similarly, the husband of an heiress could become the legal possessor of her lands. For example, married women in England and Wales were legally incapable of owning real estate until the Married Women’s Property Act 1882.

During the feudal era, the husband’s control over his wife’s real property, including titles, was substantial. On marriage, the husband gained the right to possess his wife’s land during the marriage, including any acquired after the marriage. Whilst he did not gain the formal legal title to the lands, he was able to spend the rents and profits of the land and sell his right, even if the wife protested. The concept of jure uxoris was standard in the Middle Ages even for queens regnant.

By the time of the Renaissance, laws and customs had changed in some countries: a woman sometimes remained monarch, with only part of her power transferred to her husband. This was usually the case when multiple kingdoms were consolidated, such as when Isabella of Castile and Fernando II-V of Aragon shared crowns.

As we noted in the marriage of Mary I and Felipe II created a precedent for a jure uxoris unions. Parliament passed the Act for the Marriage of Queen Mary to Felipe of Spain specifically to prevent Felipe from seizing power on the basis of jure uxoris. The Act established the limits Felipe had as a jure uxoris King of England and Ireland.

As it turned out, the marriage produced no children, and Mary died in 1558, ending Philip’s jure uxoris claims in England and Ireland, as envisaged by the Act, and was followed by the accession of Elizabeth I. She, in turn, resolved concerns over jure uxoris by never marrying.

Throughout her Reign Queen Elizabeth I demonstrated that she intended to maintain control and authority over the government and sharing power was not something high on her agenda. Also, prospects of her marrying for political Alliance was something she used for her advantage during those years when she was still considered of childbearing age.

History of Male British Consorts Part I.

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Carlos I of Spain, Charles V Holy Roman Empire, House of Habsburg, House of Tudor, jure uxoris, Kings and Queens of England, Mary I of England, Mary Tudor, Philip II of Spain, Royal Marriages

Mary Tudor was England’s first queen regnant. As mentioned in the initial post announcing the series, Mary I of England is acknowledged as the first Queen to reign in her own right despite the brief, disputed reigns of the Empress Matilda and Lady Jane Grey.

In 1554, Mary married the future King Felipe II of Spain, becoming queen consort of Habsburg Spain on his accession in 1556. He was the eldest son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who is also Carlos I of Spain, and Eleanore of Portugal.

Felipe’s father arranged this marriage to 37-year-old Queen Mary I of England, Charles’ maternal first cousin. Charles V ceded the crown of Naples, as well as his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, to Felipe in order to give his son equal status to his wife upon their marriage.

Their marriage at Winchester Cathedral on July 24, 1554 took place just two days after their first meeting. Lord Chancellor Gardiner and the House of Commons petitioned Mary to consider marrying an Englishman, preferring Edward Courtenay.

On the part of Felipe, the marriage was purely political. Felipe had no amorous feelings toward Mary and sought the marriage for its political and strategic gains; Felipe’s aide Ruy Gómez de Silva wrote to a correspondent in Brussels, “the marriage was concluded for no fleshly consideration, but in order to remedy the disorders of this kingdom and to preserve the Low Countries.”

Although England was enlightened enough to allow a woman to be Sovereign Queen in her own right, equality of the sexes was still a long way off because under the English common law doctrine of jure uxoris, all property and titles belonging to a woman became her husband’s upon marriage. Because of this law it was feared that any man married to Queen Mary would thereby become King of England in fact and in name.

While Mary’s grandparents, Fernando II of Aragon Isabella I of Castile (and Felipe’s great-grandparents) had retained sovereignty of their own realms during their marriage, there was no precedent to follow in England.

Both Mary and Felipe were descended from John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, son of King Edward III of England, a relationship that was used to portray Felipe as an English king.

Incidentally, because Felipe descended from an earlier marriage of John of Gaunt, it is genealogically accurate that he had a greater hereditary right to the throne because the House of Tudor’s thin claim to the English crown stemmed from John of Gaunt’s third marriage which at first did not give succession rights to their descendants.

It can also be claimed that despite a thin blood claim to the English throne the House of Tudor became Kings of England by right of conquest and not right of hereditary succession.

Under Mary’s marriage treaty with Felipe, the official joint style and titles reflected not only Mary’s royal domains but also Felipe’s dominions and claims. Upon their Marriage they were titled: “Felipe and Mary, by the grace of God, King and Queen of England, France, Naples, Jerusalem, and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Princes of Spain and Sicily, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant, Counts of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol”.

This style, which had been in use since 1554, was replaced when Felipe inherited the Spanish Crown in 1556 with “Felipe II and Mary, by the Grace of God King and Queen of England, Spain, France, both the Sicilies, Jerusalem and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Burgundy, Milan and Brabant, Counts of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol.”

With Mary eager to enter into marriage with Felipe of Spain, therefore the legal parameters of this Union had to be ironed out in a Act of Parliament.

Under the terms of Queen Mary’s Marriage Act, Felipe was to be styled “King of England”, in all official documents (including Acts of Parliament) which were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple.

On the surface this may seem like Mary and Felipe II were joint sovereigns but this was not the case. Felipe’s title, King of England and Ireland, was during Mary’s lifetime only.

Despite holding the title of King, Felipe’s powers were restricted. England would not be obliged to provide military support to Felipe’s father, the Emperor, in any war. When Felipe came to the Spanish throne this stipulation was also adhered to.

As King, Felipe could not act without his wife’s consent or appoint foreigners to offices in England. Felipe was unhappy at these conditions imposed upon him but he was ready to agree for the sake of securing the marriage.

After Felipe II’s visit in 1557, Mary once again thought she was pregnant, with a baby due in March 1558. She decreed in her will that her husband would be the regent during the minority of their child. But no child was born, and Mary was forced to accept that her half-sister Elizabeth would be her lawful successor.

Mary was weak and ill from May 1558. In pain, possibly from ovarian cysts or uterine cancer, she died on November 17, 1558, aged 42, at St James’s Palace, during an influenza epidemic. She was succeeded by Elizabeth. Felipe, who was in Brussels, wrote to his sister Joan: “I felt a reasonable regret for her death.

Upon Mary’s death Felipe cease to be king of England and Ireland. However, he was not so willing to let go of this power and prestigious titles. As we we’ll see in the next post Felipe desired to marry Elizabeth in order to remain being King of England.

This was the first of two times in English history that the husbands of a reigning Queen Regnant were granted the title “King of England.” However, there were difference in each of these occasions. Felipe held the royal title as a Consort but as we shall see in the case of Willem of Orange, he was a full sovereign.

Ironically, Felipe II of Spain and Willem of Orange were the spouses of Queen Mary I of England and Ireland and Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland, respectively.