Ferdinand II (July 9, 1578 - February 15, 1637), of the House of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor (1619-1637), King of Bohemia (1617-1619, 1620-1637), King of Hungary (1618-1625).http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/204463/Ferdinand-IIhttp://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761556556/Ferdinand_II_(Holy_Roman_Empire).html
Ferdinand succeeded his uncle Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor in 1619. The expansion of the ongoing acts of rebellion against Ferdinand's Imperial Governors in Bohemia on May 23rd, 1618 directly triggered the Thirty Years' War, and can be blamed on his religious intolerance toward Protestants.
A devout and very pious Catholic, his recognition as King of Bohemia and suppression of Protestantism precipitated the early events of the Thirty Years' War, and he remained one of the staunchest backers of the Anti-Protestant Counter Reformation efforts as one of the heads of the German Catholic League, prolonging the Thirty Years' Wars by insisting the Edict of Restitution be enforced. The duration of his reign was occupied by confessional and military concerns, and some historians blame him for the large civilian loss of life in the Sack of Magdeburg in 1631, as he'd instructed Count Tilly to enforce the edict upon Saxony - his orders causing Tilly to move the Catholic armies east, ultimately to Leipzig, where they suffered their first substantial defeat at First Breitenfeld.
| Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor | Father: Charles II of Austria | Father's father: Ferdinand I | Father's father's father: Philip I of Castile |
| Father's father's mother: Joanna of Castile | |||
| Father's mother: Anna of Bohemia and Hungary | Father's mother's father: Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary | ||
| Father's mother's mother: Anne de Foix | |||
| Mother: Maria Anna of Bavaria | Mother's father: Albert V, Duke of Bavaria | Mother's father's father: William IV, Duke of Bavaria | |
| Mother's father's mother: Marie of Baden-Sponheim | |||
| Mother's mother: Anna of Austria | Mother's mother's father: Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor | ||
| Mother's mother's mother: Anna of Bohemia and Hungary |
In 1600, Ferdinand married Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574-1616), daughter of Duke William V of Bavaria. They had seven children:
In 1622, he married Eleonore of Mantua (Gonzaga) (1598-1655), the daughter of Duke Vincenzo I of Mantua and Eleonora de' Medici, at Innsbruck.
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Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Inner Austria, King of Germany, Archduke of Austria, Archduke of Styria from 1590 - 1637, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, King of Slavonia, King of Croatia, Archduke of Further Austria,