Burial Katholische Hofkirche Religion Roman Catholicism | Name Archduchess Caroline | |
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Born 8 April 1801
Vienna, Austria ( 1801-04-08 ) Father Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor Mother Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily Died May 22, 1832, Dresden, Germany Spouse Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (m. 1819) Parents Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor House House of Habsburg, House of Wettin Cousins Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany Similar People Francis II - Holy Roman E, Maria Theresa of Naples a, Maria Carolina of Austria, Maria Ludovika of Austria‑Este, Maria Luisa of Spain | ||
Archduchess Marie Caroline Ferdinanda of Austria, Crown Princess of Saxony (8 April 1801 in Vienna, Austria – 22 May 1832 in Pillnitz, Germany).
Contents
Family
Marie Caroline was a daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, later Francis I of Austria after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, and Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies, and named after an elder sister who had died in infancy. She belonged to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. She was educated strictly, standing out in drawing, as proven by several sketches and crayons preserved in Austria.
Marriage
On 7 October 1819 she married Prince Frederick Augustus of Saxony, son of Maximilian, Prince of Saxony, and Princess Caroline of Parma, in Dresden, Germany. The marriage was childless and unhappy. Marie Caroline was sweet and pleasant, but she suffered from epilepsy and her attacks were so frequent that she was barely able to fulfill her duties as Crown Princess; they also seriously affected her marital relationship. Federico Augusto was unfaithful on several occasions. From one of these affairs he had an illegitimate son, the musician Theodor Uhlig (1822-1853). The long-suffering Maria Carolina died from an epileptic attack on 22 May 1832 in the Palace of Pillnitz, near Dresden.
Ancestry
Marie Caroline's parents were double first cousins as they shared all four grandparents (Francis' paternal grandparents were his wife's maternal grandparents and vice versa). Therefore, Marie Caroline only had four great-grandparents, being descended from each of them twice. Further back in his ancestry there is more pedigree collapse caused by close intermarriage between the Houses of Austria and Spain and other Catholic monarchies.