WI: HRE Ferdinand II and Eleonora Gonzaga Had Children?

Eleonora Gonzaga the Elder (not to be confused with her great-niece who was also empress) was a much sought bride by the Habsburgs, since Felipe III considered remarrying to her after his first wife died, and then she finally did marry Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II in 1622. However, despite their fifteen year marriage, there were never any childrrn produced. Maybe Ferdinanf II was too busy with the first phase of the 30YW to make babies (although IDK how involved he actually was with the war. I know his son, brother and brother-in-law actually fought, but I don't think I've ever read Ferdinand was the soldiering type)?

Either way, the childlessness strikes me as odd. Eleonora was old-ish for the time (23yo when married) although herstepdaughter-in-law was 25 and still managed 6 kids; plus all the other Habsburg-Gonzaga matches (where there was enough time, so Francesco III and Katherina of Austria's doesn't count) had produced issue. Not to mention that Eleonora came from a fairly fertile family where only she and a brother who married a twenty-years-older widow left no descent.

I also don't recall that Ferdinand II was so attached to his first wife that he sought a mother for his children rather than a wife for his bed.

PS: with the spate of Habsburg WIs of late, I thought I'd throw mine out and see what I get.
 
Wikipedia is my main info source and it doesn't really help in this regard. So I'll speculate, could it be that she might've miscarried and and couldn't have had children post then (I considered her not being able to have kids at all, but truly there is nothing i can find on her to be able to tell). Same for Ferdinand, a lot of the information is (duly) focused on the politics of the 30yrs war, it could very well be he wanted a mother for his kids and that was it, alongside a play to increase Imperial Austrian influence in Italy.
 

Vitruvius

Donor
From what I could find it was simply a childless marriage. I've never seen a reference to a child, a miscarriage or a pregnancy. But apparently it was a happy marriage so I don't think it was from lack of trying. So it seems likely she was simply barren, it happens. As for the motives for the marriage I think it came about mostly because there were very few options available. The only other person who I'm aware of being considered was (briefly) the Dowager Electress of Saxony, Hedwig of Denmark. But she was well past her childbearing years and it was just a political consideration.

Anyways it's too bad, a daughter born to Ferdinand in the 1620s would have made a great second wife to Wladyslaw IV or Philip IV. Or she could have been wed to Charles Ferdinand of the Tyrol so he doesn't have to marry a double first cousin. Or better still married to a German prince like Philip William of Neuburg to start building new alliances. A capable son could have had a role in the closing days of the 30YW. It seems likely that a son would have married the younger Eleonora Gonzaga. At the least it's always good to have a spare, and one with fresh blood no less.
 
Wikipedia is my main info source and it doesn't really help in this regard. So I'll speculate, could it be that she might've miscarried and and couldn't have had children post then (I considered her not being able to have kids at all, but truly there is nothing i can find on her to be able to tell). Same for Ferdinand, a lot of the information is (duly) focused on the politics of the 30yrs war, it could very well be he wanted a mother for his kids and that was it, alongside a play to increase Imperial Austrian influence in Italy.

Somehow the idea of Ferdinand II being a hands on enough dad that he wanted a mom for his kids fascinates AND terrifies me. Then again Felipe II was likewise a soft touch with all but one of his kids so it's probably not too far fetched.

Plus, he was probably too religious to DARE think of any woman that wasn't his wife. So I guess a mistress was out.

Anyways it's too bad, a daughter born to Ferdinand in the 1620s would have made a great second wife to Wladyslaw IV or Philip IV. Or she could have been wed to Charles Ferdinand of the Tyrol so he doesn't have to marry a double first cousin. Or better still married to a German prince like Philip William of Neuburg to start building new alliances. A capable son could have had a role in the closing days of the 30YW. It seems likely that a son would have married the younger Eleonora Gonzaga. At the least it's always good to have a spare, and one with fresh blood no less.

This is what I'm wondering. Would she be offered as a second or first wife for Wladyslaw? And then what happens to her older half-sister if she becomes queen of Poland first? Or maybe she'd be offered for the Elector Palatine if she's not wed by the end of the war. James I was angling for Cäcilie for his eldest grandson if he couldn't get her sister-in-law for his son, but it never really went anywhere.

I'm not sure about Philipp Wilhelm, though. His first engagement was to a Brandenburger princess (OTL duchess of Courland) with the agreement that the Hohenzollerns would cough up Cleves/Mark as dowry. Then he was considered for Anna de Medici but the price was too steep (the grand duke of Tuscany wanted his dad to abdicate in PW's favour so that his daughter could marry a reigning monarch). And finally he (was) settled on for Anna Konstancja Wasa. But I like the idea...
 

Vitruvius

Donor
Her elder sister would be offered to Wladyslaw the first go around as they wouldn't skip over her. I'm not sure that she'd prevail over Marie Gonzaga the second go round. If she doesn't she'd be a strong candidate for his brother John Casimir if Wladyslaw's son still dies young and John Casimir feels compelled to marry.

I could see the Elector Palatine but I think a Tyrolean Archduchess, as discussed OTL would have been the more likely match. It wasn't as if the Palatines had a lot of leverage at that point. Philip William ended up with Anna Constance in part because of the large dowry and in part because it was hoped her brother would have leverage over Prussia that Neuburg could use to its advantage to settle the Cleves Julich succession. So I was thinking a Habsburg bride might have the same logic to it.
 
Eleonora's potential daughter would be good candidate for Władysław IV's second wife. One of the reasons Władek married Marie Louise was her Palaiologos blood, which children of Eleonora and Ferdinand would also have-Władysław dreamed about great war against Ottomans, so wife with blood of Byzantine dynasty in her veins was desirable for him. And Marie Louise Gonzaga butterflied away as Queen of Poland is great for PLC-not only younger Queen increase chances of either Władysław or Jan Kazimierz to left surviving issue, lack of Marie Louise and her intrigues, especially attemps to enforce vivente rege election of Henri de Conde means, that Lubomirski's rebellion against King and civil war is avoided, also-Jan Kazimierz is not as unpopular as IOTL, do not need to abdicate, and de facto dynastic rule of Vasas in Poland continues.
 
Eleonora's potential daughter would be good candidate for Władysław IV's second wife. One of the reasons Władek married Marie Louise was her Palaiologos blood, which children of Eleonora and Ferdinand would also have-Władysław dreamed about great war against Ottomans, so wife with blood of Byzantine dynasty in her veins was desirable for him. And Marie Louise Gonzaga butterflied away as Queen of Poland is great for PLC-not only younger Queen increase chances of either Władysław or Jan Kazimierz to left surviving issue, lack of Marie Louise and her intrigues, especially attemps to enforce vivente rege election of Henri de Conde means, that Lubomirski's rebellion against King and civil war is avoided, also-Jan Kazimierz is not as unpopular as IOTL, do not need to abdicate, and de facto dynastic rule of Vasas in Poland continues.

Not sure she'd be ANY more popular as duchesse d'Orléans though. Her scheming, Gaston's scheming and Marie de Medici's scheming would make a MASSIVE headache for Richelieu if she marries Gaston as was proposed until he skipped out to wed Marge de Lorraine.
 

Vitruvius

Donor
I'm not sure how we get Marie Gonzague to marry Gaston. For one the POD here results in Wladyslaw marrying someone else as his second wife which is after Gaston married Marguerite so that wouldn't be affected. For another everyone was united against the match, Richelieu, Louis XIII even their mother Marie de' Medici (who held delightfully petty grudge against the Gonzagas because Charles Gonzague once remarked that the Medici were parvenues compared to the Gonzaga).

But as to Eleonora and her children. I'd be interested in how things worked out for a son. Personally I think she'd rather see him marry than go into the church if for no other reason than to continue her line. Marriage to the younger Eleonora Gonzaga makes sense. But I can't work out what he'd do since there's no territory for him to rule unless Eleonora could convince Ferdinand II to leave him something. That seems unlikely and if it did happen would it cause friction to have the mainline, the Tyrolean line and a new third line. Seems like you'd be looking at the brothers quarrel all over again. So does this younger half brother just linger as a provincial governor somewhere?

Another thought I had, if she has a daughter early, say 1623, she could be considered as a wife for the Cardinal Infante Fernando, though timing would be tricky give his OTL early death and you have to overcome Philip's (really Olivares') fear of Fernando as a potential rival.

In the end though as fun as it is to speculate I still come back to the fact that she was apparently barren so the real POD here would have to have occurred at her conception, wouldn't it? Not to be pedantic but I think that necessitates a different person being born unless we're using some quasi ASB miraculous fertility handwaving action.
 
What about the son factoring in in the War of the Mantuan Succession? He'd be too young to marry Maria Gonzaga, duchess of Montferrat, but I could definitely see the Habsburgs backing one of their own princes over a reasonably distant Guastalla line claimant.
 

Vitruvius

Donor
Maybe, but then you really throw any notion of the Emperor being an impartial arbiter out the window and it's a bad time to be causing self inflected wounds to the prestige and credibility of that office. Also IIRC Eleonora preferred her niece (who had marries the Duke of Nevers' son) over the Guastallas. So I'm not sure she'd advance her son if it meant in effect disinheriting her niece.
 
Maybe, but then you really throw any notion of the Emperor being an impartial arbiter out the window and it's a bad time to be causing self inflected wounds to the prestige and credibility of that office. Also IIRC Eleonora preferred her niece (who had marries the Duke of Nevers' son) over the Guastallas. So I'm not sure she'd advance her son if it meant in effect disinheriting her niece.

I take it Ferdinand was too stubborn to back his wife's play and support the Nevers line? Would've made things much simpler (besides the fact that the duke of Mantua is also a Frenchman).

When would you see these kids being born? Maybe @Kynan can help with a diagram? The boy might be too old for the younger Nora Gonzaga and too young for the duchess of Montferrat. Maybe sonny weds Anna de Medici instead? At least, if the daughter goes with Ferdinand Karl of Tyrol.
 

Vitruvius

Donor
Well if Eleonora were fertile (but as I've said I don't think she was) she could start having children as early as 1623. So if we assume some kind of alternate version of Eleonora that is able to bear children she could start popping them out anytime after that. As with any marriage it would just depend on when she happens to get pregnant and carry the child to term and deliver successfully. So really you probably have a range of 1623 to 1630.

Its probably worth considering that she is Ferdinand's first cousin once removed two times over as a granddaughter of both his aunt Eleonore (her paternal grandmother) and his aunt Joanna (her maternal grandmother). Technically since Ferdinand's mother was his father's niece that would also make her his maternal second cousin twice over counting back to Anna of Austria. So the usual concerns about Habsburg inbreeding should still apply. Although she's probably no more closely related than Ferdinand and his first wife (his maternal first cousin and paternal first cousin once removed) so I guess there's that.
 
Ok so, here's what I thought up:

  • Anna Elisabeth, the eldest of the three surviving children I dremt up, marries John II of Poland around 1647/1648, during his bid for the Polish Throne. Too young to be part of the political landscape of the Polish court, she is forced to play second fiddle to her predecessor and her husband's lover, Maria Gonzaga. Hopwever, the royal couple manage three pregnancies, ending their sexual relationship after the near death of the Polish Queen with the birth of twin daughters, the Princesses Constance and Anna Vasa, who die soon after their birth. That leaves a son and a daughter, healthier than the Polish King's OTL children. She finally finds herself in a position of power and respect in 1668 with the death of her rival, and begins to take a more active role in politics, but once her husband dies in 1672, she relinquishes that power to her son, who had been raised by his father's mistress more than his mother, and is thus distant from her. She eventually leaves the Polish court entirely once her daughter is married off in 1672 to the Duke of Orleans, with the switch by her son to a more Frenchwards alliance system. Her son married, in 1675, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatine, a rejected bride of the Duke of Orleans. Their marriage was unhappy and produced one son before their seperation in 1678.

  • Margarethe Louise was, in 1645, betrothed to her cousin the Prince of Asturias, but with his death soon after, was instead to be married to her betrothed's father. The marriage would produce 8 children, of which 4 grew past childhood. Two of her sons would reign as King of Spain, Philip V, who died a year into his reign of smallpox, and Charles II, who would reign 40 years before his own death, also of smallpox. Her eldest daughter, Eleanora Therese, would never be able to marry, as the smallpox that took her eldest brother scarred her to the point where her mother quietly sent her off to a secluded convent. This was considered the kindest option, mostly due to Eleanora's former beauty in comparison to the deformity the scars caused. Before her eldest son's death in 1666, the Queen Mother of Spain had spent months negotiating with the French for the hand of Marie Louise d'Orleans. Margarethe Louise would then find a husband for her younger daughter, the plain Maria Constanza, who would marry Maximilian II, Elector of Bavaria in 1682, dying in childbirth to the couple's 13th child in 1705. In 1697, a year before her death, Margarethe Louise would turn on her son for remarrying, against her wishes, Hedwig Elisabeth Amalia of Neuburg, instead of Elisabeth of Austria, her favourite niece.

  • The Archduke Charles Victor would initially, in the 1660's, be part of his brother's plans for Austrian influence in Lorraine, marrying the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine in 1664, and being left a widower to the child bride in 1665. After that brief attempt to give the young, talented man some power within the Austrian plans, he would n 1667 marry the Dowager Duchess of Mantua and take over the Regency of his mother's home Duchy, maintaining Austrian influences on the area. The marriage was one of political convieniance, and Charles Victor would keep many mistresses on the side. Regardless, the couple managed three children. The eldest, Maria Christina, died at 18 due to smallpox, but the other two managed to escape unscathed, and thus were married out into the Austrian empire in the 1690's. The elder of the two, the Archduke Victor Leopold, married Maria Anna of Neuburg in 1690, after travelling through Germany in various missions for his Imperial cousin. The marriage was a love marriage, and when his wife died in 1697 with their third son, he chose to remain celibate in honour of her memory, and his two elder sons would join the Church. His youngest son the Archduke Julius Augustus would, in 1699, join his cousin's court in Poland, where his aunt, Elisabeth of Austria, had married John II of Poland. He married Anna Lubomirska in 1727, and would have 6 children before his death in 1737 during military training procedures. The Polish marriage was a disaster, ending in two miscarried daughters before an annulment was granted in 1710, but it had come from good intentions, with as the Holy Roman Emperor favoured his cousin Elisabeth and wished for her to make a good marriage. She would, with full permission of both her Imperial Cousins and the Fench court, remarry Leopold, Duke of Lorraine in 1714, after the death of his own wife in 1711. They would not have any children but enjoyed 15 years of domestic harmony. Her husband remarried in 1715.

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (b.1578: d.1637) m. Maria Anna, Princess of Bavaria (b.1574: d.1616) (a), Eleanora Gonzaga (b.1598: d.1655) (b)

1a) Christine, Archduchess of Austria (b.1601: d.1601)

2a) Charles, Archduke of Austria (b.1603: d.1603)

3a) John-Charles, Archduke of Austria (b.1605: d.1619)

4a) Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (b.1608: d.1657)

5a) Maria Anna, Archduchess of Austria (b.1610: d.1665)

6a) Cecilia Renata, Archduchess of Austria (b.1611: d.1644)

7a) Leopold Wilhelm, Archduke of Austria (b.1614: d.1662)

8b) Anna Elisabeth, Archduchess of Austria (b.1625: d.1678) m. John II Casimir Vasa, King of Poland (b.1609: d.1672) (a)

1a) John III Casimir Vasa, King of Poland (b.1649: d.1703) m. Elizabeth Charlotte, Madame Palatine (b.1652: d.1722) (a)

1a) John IV Vasa, King of Poland (b.1676)
2a) Maria Sophia, Princess of Poland (b.1653: d.1700) m. Philippe I, Duke of Orleans (b.1640: d.1701) (a)

1a) Jean Alexandre, Duke of Orleans (b.1674)

2a) Philippe Gaston d'Orleans (b.1676: d.1676)

3a) Elisabeth Anne d'Orleans (b.1678: d.1711) m. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (b.1679: d.1729) (a)

1a) Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (b.1697)

2a) Marie Sophie, Princess of Lorraine (b.1700)

3a) Stillborn Son (c.1701)

4a) Francis, Prince of Lorraine (b.1703)

5a) Stillborn Son (c.1704)

6a) Stillborn Son (c.1705)

7a) Louise Christine, Princess of Lorraine (b.1707)

8a) Stillborn Son (c.1709)

9a) Stillborn Son (c.1710)

10a) Anne Therese, Princess of Lorraine (b.1711)​
3a) Constance Vasa, Princess of Poland (b.1657: d.1658)

5a) Anna Vasa, Princess of Poland (b.1657: d.1657)​
9b) Stillborn Son (c.1628)

10b) Margarethe Louise, Archduchess of Austria (b.1629: d.1698) m. Philip IV, King of Spain (b.1605: d.1665) (a)

1a) Stillborn Son (c.1650)

2a) Eleanora Theresa, Infanta of Spain (b.1652: d.1689)

3a) Philip V, King of Spain (b.1654: d.1666)

4a) Stillborn Son (c.1656)

5a) Charles II, King of Spain (b.1658: d.1706) m. Marie Louise d'Orleans (b.1662: d.1695) (a), Hedwig Elisabeth, Countess Palatine (b.1673: d.1722) (b)

1a) Isabella Maria, Infanta of Spain (b.1680)

2a) Philip VI, King of Spain (b.1681)

3a) Stillborn Son (c.1683)

4a) Maria Eleanora, Infanta of Spain (b.1684)

5a) Stillborn Son (c.1687)

6a) Charles Ferdinand, Infante of Spain (b.1689)

7a) Stillborn Son (c.1690)

8a) Stillborn Son (c.1692)

9b) John, Infante of Spain (b.1699)

10b) Anna Theresa, Infanta of Spain (b.1703)​

6a) Maria Constanza, Infanta of Spain (b.1660: d.1705) m. Maximilian II Emmanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b.1662: d.1726) (a)

1a) Christina, Princess of Bavaria (b.1683)

2a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1685)

3a) Maximilian III Augustus, Elector of Bavaria (b.1686)

4a) Stillborn Son (c.1688)

5a) Anna Louisa, Princess of Bavaria (b.1690)

6a) Maria Carolina, Princess of Bavaria (b.1691)

7a) Maximilian, Prince of Bavaria (b.1692)

8a) Stillborn Son (c.1694)

9a) John William, Prince of Bavaria (b.1695)

10a) Sophia, Princess of Bavaria (b.1697)

11a) Stillborn Son (c.1698)

12a) Henry George, Prince of Bavaria (b.1701)

13a) Anna, Princess of Bavaria (b.1705)​

7a) Margerita Ambrosia, Infanta of Spain (b.1661: d.1662)

8a) Stillborn Son (c.1662)
11b) Charles Victor, Archduke of Austria (b.1632: d.1707) m. Anne Marie Therese, Princess of Lorraine (b.1648: d.1665) (a), Isabella Clara, Archduchess of Austria (b.1629: d.1685) (b)

1b) Maria Christina, Archduchess of Austria (b.1668: d.1742) m. John IV Vasa, King of Poland (b.1676: d.1740) (a) -annulled 1710-, Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (b.1679: d.1729) (b)

1a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1702)

2a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1703)​

2b) Victor Leopold, Archduke of Austria (b.1670) m. Maria Anna, Countess Palatine (b.1667: d.1697)

1a) John of Austria, Archbishop of Toledo (b.1692)

2a) Cardinal Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (b.1693)

3a) Julius Augustus, Archduke of Austria (b.1697: d.1737) m. Anna Lubomirska (c.1705: d.1763) (a)

1a) Augusta Eleanora, Archduchess of Austria (b.1728)

2a) Maria Carolina, Archduchess of Austria (b.1730)

3a) John Louis, Archduke of Austria (b.1732)

4a) Gregoria Anna, Archduchess of Austria (b.1733)

5a) Charles Waclaw, Archduke of Austria (b.1735)

6a) Juliana Renata, Archduchess of Austria (b.1737)​

3b) Elisabeth, Archduchess of Austria (b.1673)
12b) Stillborn Son (c.1635)​
 
@Kynan it looks good, although the Castilians might grumble about a "foreign" prince getting the archbishopric of Toledo. Albrrcht VII had a Spanish mother so was considered "kind of alright". Archduke Johann would be distinctly foreign, since he's the nephew of their queen mother.

I'm guessing Leopold I marries elsewhere here, since I don't see his name on the list. Pity about Baltasar Carlos dying, would like to see one Habsburg scenario where he doesn't kick off, but he's (and Leopold and siblings) born after the POD.

I like the idea of Liselotte as queen of Poland, although I can't think why the marriage was unhappy. Otl she was asexual married to a gay guy who needed holy oils to get his oil out. And their marriage was reasonably okay. So her Polish husband must've either reminded her too much of daddy dearest or something.
 
@Kynan, what's happening with the main Austrian branch if I may ask? Leopold isn't marrying Margarita Teresa (who doesn't exist because her mother is different). And Maria Anna doesn't wed Felipe IV, which makes me wonder what's happening with her? The fact that the elector of Bavaria exists to marry an infanta of Spain seems to indicate that Ferdinand II's daughter married as OTL, although I could be wrong and Maximilian II could be a completely ATL figure.

Besides that, does anyone else have any thoughts? For instance, might the boy get the governorship of the Spanish Netherlands - if his sister marries the king of Spain as proposed? Maybe governorship of the Further Austrian territories if/when that line goes extinct?
 
Something I've been wondering:

If as Kynan seems to suggest, the main-line of the Austrian Habsburgs (i.e. Ferdinand III, Leopold I etc) is unaffected by all of this - I'd imagine Leopold marries his second wife as his first wife then. But if it comes down to brass tacks and Josef I and then Karl VI have only daughters, would they seriously consider marrying Maria Josefa/Amalie or Maria Theresia/Anna off to an archduke from this collateral branch? Or would this archduke simply be elected as Emperor etc without needing the marriage? The same goes for an alt-Maria Antonia, Princess of the Asturias (yes, according to the tree posted above, the Spanish branch is thriving), but would they marry her (or her mother) off to an archduke from this side line rather than going for an uncle-niece match or a marriage with the Bavarian elector?

Sorry, I know this is rather far in the future
 
Ok so, here's what I thought up:

  • Anna Elisabeth, the eldest of the three surviving children I dremt up, marries John II of Poland around 1647/1648, during his bid for the Polish Throne. Too young to be part of the political landscape of the Polish court, she is forced to play second fiddle to her predecessor and her husband's lover, Maria Gonzaga. Hopwever, the royal couple manage three pregnancies, ending their sexual relationship after the near death of the Polish Queen with the birth of twin daughters, the Princesses Constance and Anna Vasa, who die soon after their birth. That leaves a son and a daughter, healthier than the Polish King's OTL children. She finally finds herself in a position of power and respect in 1668 with the death of her rival, and begins to take a more active role in politics, but once her husband dies in 1672, she relinquishes that power to her son, who had been raised by his father's mistress more than his mother, and is thus distant from her. She eventually leaves the Polish court entirely once her daughter is married off in 1672 to the Duke of Orleans, with the switch by her son to a more Frenchwards alliance system. Her son married, in 1675, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatine, a rejected bride of the Duke of Orleans. Their marriage was unhappy and produced one son before their seperation in 1678.

  • Margarethe Louise was, in 1645, betrothed to her cousin the Prince of Asturias, but with his death soon after, was instead to be married to her betrothed's father. The marriage would produce 8 children, of which 4 grew past childhood. Two of her sons would reign as King of Spain, Philip V, who died a year into his reign of smallpox, and Charles II, who would reign 40 years before his own death, also of smallpox. Her eldest daughter, Eleanora Therese, would never be able to marry, as the smallpox that took her eldest brother scarred her to the point where her mother quietly sent her off to a secluded convent. This was considered the kindest option, mostly due to Eleanora's former beauty in comparison to the deformity the scars caused. Before her eldest son's death in 1666, the Queen Mother of Spain had spent months negotiating with the French for the hand of Marie Louise d'Orleans. Margarethe Louise would then find a husband for her younger daughter, the plain Maria Constanza, who would marry Maximilian II, Elector of Bavaria in 1682, dying in childbirth to the couple's 13th child in 1705. In 1697, a year before her death, Margarethe Louise would turn on her son for remarrying, against her wishes, Hedwig Elisabeth Amalia of Neuburg, instead of Elisabeth of Austria, her favourite niece.

  • The Archduke Charles Victor would initially, in the 1660's, be part of his brother's plans for Austrian influence in Lorraine, marrying the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine in 1664, and being left a widower to the child bride in 1665. After that brief attempt to give the young, talented man some power within the Austrian plans, he would n 1667 marry the Dowager Duchess of Mantua and take over the Regency of his mother's home Duchy, maintaining Austrian influences on the area. The marriage was one of political convieniance, and Charles Victor would keep many mistresses on the side. Regardless, the couple managed three children. The eldest, Maria Christina, died at 18 due to smallpox, but the other two managed to escape unscathed, and thus were married out into the Austrian empire in the 1690's. The elder of the two, the Archduke Victor Leopold, married Maria Anna of Neuburg in 1690, after travelling through Germany in various missions for his Imperial cousin. The marriage was a love marriage, and when his wife died in 1697 with their third son, he chose to remain celibate in honour of her memory, and his two elder sons would join the Church. His youngest son the Archduke Julius Augustus would, in 1699, join his cousin's court in Poland, where his aunt, Elisabeth of Austria, had married John II of Poland. He married Anna Lubomirska in 1727, and would have 6 children before his death in 1737 during military training procedures. The Polish marriage was a disaster, ending in two miscarried daughters before an annulment was granted in 1710, but it had come from good intentions, with as the Holy Roman Emperor favoured his cousin Elisabeth and wished for her to make a good marriage. She would, with full permission of both her Imperial Cousins and the Fench court, remarry Leopold, Duke of Lorraine in 1714, after the death of his own wife in 1711. They would not have any children but enjoyed 15 years of domestic harmony. Her husband remarried in 1715.

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (b.1578: d.1637) m. Maria Anna, Princess of Bavaria (b.1574: d.1616) (a), Eleanora Gonzaga (b.1598: d.1655) (b)

1a) Christine, Archduchess of Austria (b.1601: d.1601)

2a) Charles, Archduke of Austria (b.1603: d.1603)

3a) John-Charles, Archduke of Austria (b.1605: d.1619)

4a) Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (b.1608: d.1657)

5a) Maria Anna, Archduchess of Austria (b.1610: d.1665)

6a) Cecilia Renata, Archduchess of Austria (b.1611: d.1644)

7a) Leopold Wilhelm, Archduke of Austria (b.1614: d.1662)

8b) Anna Elisabeth, Archduchess of Austria (b.1625: d.1678) m. John II Casimir Vasa, King of Poland (b.1609: d.1672) (a)

1a) John III Casimir Vasa, King of Poland (b.1649: d.1703) m. Elizabeth Charlotte, Madame Palatine (b.1652: d.1722) (a)

1a) John IV Vasa, King of Poland (b.1676)
2a) Maria Sophia, Princess of Poland (b.1653: d.1700) m. Philippe I, Duke of Orleans (b.1640: d.1701) (a)

1a) Jean Alexandre, Duke of Orleans (b.1674)

2a) Philippe Gaston d'Orleans (b.1676: d.1676)

3a) Elisabeth Anne d'Orleans (b.1678: d.1711) m. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (b.1679: d.1729) (a)

1a) Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (b.1697)

2a) Marie Sophie, Princess of Lorraine (b.1700)

3a) Stillborn Son (c.1701)

4a) Francis, Prince of Lorraine (b.1703)

5a) Stillborn Son (c.1704)

6a) Stillborn Son (c.1705)

7a) Louise Christine, Princess of Lorraine (b.1707)

8a) Stillborn Son (c.1709)

9a) Stillborn Son (c.1710)

10a) Anne Therese, Princess of Lorraine (b.1711)​
3a) Constance Vasa, Princess of Poland (b.1657: d.1658)

5a) Anna Vasa, Princess of Poland (b.1657: d.1657)​
9b) Stillborn Son (c.1628)

10b) Margarethe Louise, Archduchess of Austria (b.1629: d.1698) m. Philip IV, King of Spain (b.1605: d.1665) (a)

1a) Stillborn Son (c.1650)

2a) Eleanora Theresa, Infanta of Spain (b.1652: d.1689)

3a) Philip V, King of Spain (b.1654: d.1666)

4a) Stillborn Son (c.1656)

5a) Charles II, King of Spain (b.1658: d.1706) m. Marie Louise d'Orleans (b.1662: d.1695) (a), Hedwig Elisabeth, Countess Palatine (b.1673: d.1722) (b)

1a) Isabella Maria, Infanta of Spain (b.1680)

2a) Philip VI, King of Spain (b.1681)

3a) Stillborn Son (c.1683)

4a) Maria Eleanora, Infanta of Spain (b.1684)

5a) Stillborn Son (c.1687)

6a) Charles Ferdinand, Infante of Spain (b.1689)

7a) Stillborn Son (c.1690)

8a) Stillborn Son (c.1692)

9b) John, Infante of Spain (b.1699)

10b) Anna Theresa, Infanta of Spain (b.1703)​
6a) Maria Constanza, Infanta of Spain (b.1660: d.1705) m. Maximilian II Emmanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b.1662: d.1726) (a)

1a) Christina, Princess of Bavaria (b.1683)

2a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1685)

3a) Maximilian III Augustus, Elector of Bavaria (b.1686)

4a) Stillborn Son (c.1688)

5a) Anna Louisa, Princess of Bavaria (b.1690)

6a) Maria Carolina, Princess of Bavaria (b.1691)

7a) Maximilian, Prince of Bavaria (b.1692)

8a) Stillborn Son (c.1694)

9a) John William, Prince of Bavaria (b.1695)

10a) Sophia, Princess of Bavaria (b.1697)

11a) Stillborn Son (c.1698)

12a) Henry George, Prince of Bavaria (b.1701)

13a) Anna, Princess of Bavaria (b.1705)​
7a) Margerita Ambrosia, Infanta of Spain (b.1661: d.1662)

8a) Stillborn Son (c.1662)​
11b) Charles Victor, Archduke of Austria (b.1632: d.1707) m. Anne Marie Therese, Princess of Lorraine (b.1648: d.1665) (a), Isabella Clara, Archduchess of Austria (b.1629: d.1685) (b)

1b) Maria Christina, Archduchess of Austria (b.1668: d.1742) m. John IV Vasa, King of Poland (b.1676: d.1740) (a) -annulled 1710-, Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (b.1679: d.1729) (b)

1a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1702)

2a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1703)​
2b) Victor Leopold, Archduke of Austria (b.1670) m. Maria Anna, Countess Palatine (b.1667: d.1697)

1a) John of Austria, Archbishop of Toledo (b.1692)

2a) Cardinal Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (b.1693)

3a) Julius Augustus, Archduke of Austria (b.1697: d.1737) m. Anna Lubomirska (c.1705: d.1763) (a)

1a) Augusta Eleanora, Archduchess of Austria (b.1728)

2a) Maria Carolina, Archduchess of Austria (b.1730)

3a) John Louis, Archduke of Austria (b.1732)

4a) Gregoria Anna, Archduchess of Austria (b.1733)

5a) Charles Waclaw, Archduke of Austria (b.1735)

6a) Juliana Renata, Archduchess of Austria (b.1737)​
3b) Elisabeth, Archduchess of Austria (b.1673)​
12b) Stillborn Son (c.1635)​
I have just two things to say:
1) Careful with the matches for the princesses of Neuburg. They had their OTL matches only because the eldest married Leopold I, who had not available female relatives (sisters, daughters, cousins, nieces) so replaced them with his sisters-in-law. With more Archduchesses or princesses related to him by blood none of their OTL matches will happen (included likely the one of Leopold).
2) Margarethe Louise, being the daughter of Ferdinand and Eleonora is not closely related to either her original intended or her eventual husband so I will not say who she was promised to her cousin the Prince of Asturias (Mariana was first cousin of Balthasar Carlos from her mother side)
 
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