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Elisabeth of Austria: Difference between revisions
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In August, 1853, she met her cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, ruler of Austria. He fell in love with her at first sight. He was twenty-three, she was fifteen. They were married and she became Empress. | In August, 1853, she met her cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, ruler of Austria. He fell in love with her at first sight. He was twenty-three, she was fifteen. They were married and she became Empress. | ||
Life was difficult from the start. The emperor had numerous love affairs. His involvements in state business left him little time for | Life was difficult from the start. The emperor had numerous love affairs. His involvements in state business left him little time for Elisabeth. One of her confidantes wrote: “He believed her to be too young, too inexperienced and too indifferent to become his real companion and comrade.”<ref>Marguerite Cunliffe-Owen, ''Forget Me Not: The True Story of Elisabeth of Austria and the Mysterious Hapsburg Curse'' (Gardiner, Mont.: Summit University Press, 1982), p. 45.</ref> She bore four children—three daughters and a son. The first daughter died in infancy. The Archduchess, Franz-Joseph’s mother, forbade her to raise her own children, claiming she was only a child herself. | ||
Her exceptional beauty, charm and generosity made her popular with her subjects. But her impatience with Viennese court etiquette, her love for horsemanship and frequent visits to the imperial riding school scandalized Austrian high society. She exhibited great compassion for the common people and tended the wounded during the Seven Weeks War. | Her exceptional beauty, charm and generosity made her popular with her subjects. But her impatience with Viennese court etiquette, her love for horsemanship and frequent visits to the imperial riding school scandalized Austrian high society. She exhibited great compassion for the common people and tended the wounded during the Seven Weeks War. | ||
She began to spend more time away from court. In November 1860, she separated from her husband over his infidelities. They were estranged for seven years. She spent the time traveling and learning Latin and Greek. She involved herself in state affairs on behalf of the people of Hungary. She learned the Magyar language and helped to arrange the Compromise of 1867, which raised Hungary to equal status with Austria in the empire. She was also involved in charitable work. In 1889, her only son, the crown prince Archduke Rudolf, committed suicide. | She began to spend more time away from court. In November 1860, she separated from her husband over his infidelities. They were estranged for seven years. She spent the time traveling and learning Latin and Greek. She involved herself in state affairs on behalf of the people of Hungary. She learned the Magyar language and helped to arrange the Compromise of 1867, which raised Hungary to equal status with Austria in the empire. She was also involved in charitable work. In 1889, her only son, the crown prince Archduke Rudolf, committed suicide. Elisabeth never fully recovered from this shock. | ||
On September 10, 1898, she was assassinated by the Italian anarchist Luigi Luccheni while visiting Geneva, Switzerland. She was walking from her hotel in Geneva when she was stabbed. At Luccheni’s trial, he stated that human suffering was the motive for his act: “I considered [her death] to be the funeral knell of the bourgeoisie, whom I detest.”<ref>Ibid., p. 303.</ref> | On September 10, 1898, she was assassinated by the Italian anarchist Luigi Luccheni while visiting Geneva, Switzerland. She was walking from her hotel in Geneva when she was stabbed. At Luccheni’s trial, he stated that human suffering was the motive for his act: “I considered [her death] to be the funeral knell of the bourgeoisie, whom I detest.”<ref>Ibid., p. 303.</ref> | ||