Maria Antonia of Austria

Rare card · No. 65533

Maria Antonia of Austria (Marie Antonia von Österreich) (Maria Antonia Josepha Benedicta Rosalia Petronella; 18 January 1669 – 24 December 1692) was the eldest daughter and only surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and his first wife Margaret Theresa of Spain. As a granddaughter of King Philip IV of Spain, she became heiress presumptive to Habsburg Spain when her mother died in 1673. She became the consort of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, upon her marriage in 1685. Maria Antonia died on 24 December 1692, just weeks after the birth of her third and only surviving son, Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria. The early deaths of Maria Antonia and her sons, which were likely indirectly due to generations of inbreeding, left the Kingdom of Spain without a ruler upon the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700. This led to the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), in which 700,000 people died in 13 years. Maria Antonia was found to have the highest coefficient of inbreeding in...

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