Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
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Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria as marshall

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery in Bussels (Painting by David Teniers the Younger, ca. 1650, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (Wiener Neustadt January 5, 1614 -Vienna November 20, 1662), was a military commander, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1647 to 1656, and a patron of the arts. He is also known as Leopold Wilhelm von Habsburg but as a son of the Emperor carried the title Archduke of Austria.

He was the youngest son of Ferdinand II of Habsburg and of Maria-Anna of Bavaria (1574-1616), daughter of William V, Duke of Bavaria. His elder brother became Emperor Ferdinand III (1608-1657). Leopold served as general in the Thirty Years' War. He became prince-bishop of Halberstadt (1628-1648), prince-bishop of Passau (1625-1662), prince-bishop of Wrocław (1656-1662), bishop of Olomouc (1637-1662) and bishop of Strasbourg (1626-1662). In 1635 Pope Urban VIII provided him to become the prince-archbishop of Bremen, but due to its occupation by the Swedes he never gained de facto power.

When he assumed the government of the Spanish Netherlands, Leopold Wilhelm, being a great lover of art, employed the great Flemish painter David Teniers the Younger not only as a painter but as keeper of the collection of pictures he was then forming. With the rank and title of "ayuda de camara," Teniers took up his abode in Brussels shortly after 1647. Immense sums were spent in the acquisition of paintings for the archduke. A number of valuable works of the Italian masters, now in the Vienna Museum, came from Leopold's gallery after having belonged to Charles I and the duke of Buckingham. He commissioned the British painter John Michael Wright to acquire to travel to Cromwell's England, and acquire art and artefacts.

When Leopold returned to Vienna, the pictures also travelled to Austria, and a Flemish priest, himself a first-rate flower painter, Van der Baren, became keeper of the archducal gallery. Leopold bequeathed his gallery to his nephew Leopold I, and it became imperial property. It is now part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Ancestors

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**Leopold Wilhelm's ancestors in three generations**
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria	Father: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor	Father's father: Charles II of Austria	Father's father's father: Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
			Father's father's mother: Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
		Father's mother: Maria Anna of Bavaria	Father's mother's father: Albert V, Duke of Bavaria
			Father's mother's mother: Anna of Austria
	Mother: Maria Anna of Bavaria	Mother's father: William V, Duke of Bavaria	Mother's father's father: Albert V, Duke of Bavaria
			Mother's father's mother: Anna of Austria
		Mother's mother: Renata of Lorraine	Mother's mother's father: Francis I, Duke of Lorraine
			Mother's mother's mother: Christina of Denmark

Preceded by Emmanuel de Moura Cortereal, Marquis of Castel Rodrigo	Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands 1647-1656	Succeeded by John of Austria the Younger
Preceded by Johann Kaspar I von Stadion	Grand Master of the Teutonic Order 1641-1662	Succeeded by Karl Josef of Austria
Preceded by Christian William of Brandenburg (Administrator)	Bishop of Halberstadt 1616-1623 (Administrator)	Secularized

Literature

Renate Schreiber, "ein galeria nach meinem humor" - Erzherzog Leopold Wilhelm. Vienna/Wien 2004

External links

Media related to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria at Wikimedia Commons

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