Emperor 'Charles VII Albert' (
Brussels August 6,
1697 –
January 20,
1745 in
Munich), a member of the
Wittelsbach family, was
Prince-elector of
Bavaria from
1726 and
Holy Roman Emperor from
January 24,
1742 until his death in 1745.
Early life and career
He was the son of
Maximilian II Emanuel, elector of Bavaria and
Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska, and the grandson of
Polish King
John III Sobieski. His family was split during the
War of the Spanish Succession and was for many years under house arrest in Austria. Only in 1715 did the family become re-united.
From
3 December 1715 until
24 August 1716 Charles visited Italy and in 1717 he joined the war of the
Habsburgs against the
Turks with Bavarian auxiliaries.
On
5 October 1722, Charles married
Marie Amalie, Archduchess of Austria. Marie Amalie was a daughter of
Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Her maternal grandfather was
John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In
1725 Charles Albert visited
Versailles for the wedding of
Louis XV and established a firm contact to France.
In
1726 Charles Albert became
Prince-elector of
Bavaria and then maintained his good relations to his Habsburg relatives but also to France. During his reign the
Amalienburg was built.
Emperor
As son in law of
Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor Charles Albert rejected the
Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 and claimed the German territories of the Habsburg dynasty after the death of
Charles VI in
1740. With the treaty of
Nymphenburg concluded in July
1741, Charles Albert allied with France and Spain against Austria.
Starting the
War of the Austrian Succession Charles Albert invaded
Upper Austria in
1741 and planned to conquer
Vienna but his allied French troops were redirected to
Bohemia instead. So Charles Albert was crowned King of Bohemia in
Prague (
9 December 1741) when Habsburg was still not defeated. He was elected 'King of the Romans' on
24 January 1742, and took the title 'Holy Roman Emperor' upon his coronation on
12 February 1742. His brother
Klemens August of Bavaria, archbishop and elector (''
Kurfürst'') of
Cologne, who mostly sided with the Austria Habsburg-Lorraine side during the Habsburg successions, cast his vote for him and personally crowned him emperor at
Frankfurt.
Short after the coronation most of Charles Albert's territories were overrun by the Austrians and
Bavaria was occupied by the troops of
Maria Theresa. In October
1744 a new alliance with
Frederick II of Prussia forced the Austrian army to leave Bavaria and Charles VII reobtained Munich. Very
gouty he returned only to die three months later. His brother Klemens August then again leaned toward Austria and also his son and successor
Maximilian III Joseph made peace with Austria.
Charles Albert is buried in the crypt of the
Theatinerkirche in Munich.
Ancestors
Children
He and his wife
Marie Amalie, Archduchess of Austria were parents of seven children:
★ Maximiliane, Princess of Bavaria (
1723). Considered to have died young.
★
Maria Antonia, Princess of Bavaria (
July 18,
1724 -
April 23,
1780). Married
Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony.
★ Therese Benedikta, Princess of Bavaria (
December 6,
1725 -
March 29,
1734).
★
Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria (
March 28,
1727 -
December 30,
1777).
★ Joseph Ludvig Leo, Prince of Bavaria (
August 25,
1728 -
December 2,
1733).
★ Maria Anna, Princess of Bavaria (
August 7,
1734 -
May 7,
1776). Married
Ludwig Georg Simpert, Margrave of Baden-Baden.
★
Maria Josepha, Princess of Bavaria (March 30,
1739 - May 28,
1767). Married
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.
See also
★
War of the Austrian Succession
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