View source for Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria

{{Short description|Austrian archduke (1783–1853)}}
{{distinguish|text=his son, [[Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria]]}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Archduke Rainer of Austria
| title        = 
| image        = Erzherzog Rainer Vizekoenig.jpg
| caption      = 
| succession   = Viceroy of [[Lombardy–Venetia]]
{{labeldata|In office|3 January 1818 – {{nowrap|8 June 1848}}}}
{{labeldata|Monarch|[[Francis I of Austria|Francis I]]<br />[[Ferdinand I of Austria|Ferdinand I]]}}
| predecessor  = [[Archduke Anton Victor of Austria|Archduke Anton Victor]]
| successor    = [[Josef Radetzky]]<br />(Governor-General)
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Princess Elisabeth of Savoy]]|1820}}
| issue        = [[Adelaide of Austria|Adelaide, Queen of Sardinia]]<br />[[Archduke Leopold Ludwig of Austria|Archduke Leopold]]<br />[[Archduke Ernest of Austria (1824–1899)|Archduke Ernst]]<br>[[Archduke Sigismund of Austria (1826–1891)|Archduke Sigismund]]<br>[[Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Rainer]]<br>[[Archduke Heinrich Anton of Austria|Archduke Heinrich]]
| issue-link   = #Marriage and children
| issue-pipe   = 
| full name    = Rainer Joseph Johann Michael Franz Hieronymus
| house        = [[House of Habsburg-Lorraine|Habsburg-Lorraine]]
| father       = [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor]]
| mother       = [[Maria Luisa of Spain]]
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1783|9|30|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Pisa]], [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1853|1|16|1783|9|30|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Bolzano]], [[Austrian Empire]]
| place of burial = Bolzano Cathedral
}}

'''Archduke Rainer of Austria''' (30 September 1783 – 16 January 1853) was a [[Viceroy]] of the [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]] from 1818 to 1848. He was also an Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of [[The Kingdom of Hungary (1526-1867)|Hungary]] and [[Bohemia]].

==Biography==
Rainer was a son of Emperor [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold II]] and Empress [[Maria Luisa of Spain|Maria Luisa]], and was thus a younger brother of [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor]].

Although Rainer suffered from a mild form of [[epilepsy]], this did not visibly interfere with his military career.<ref>[[George R. Marek]], ''The Eagles Die. Franz Joseph, Elisabeth, and Their Austria'', pp. 41–42. New York: [[Harper (publisher)|Harper & Row]], 1974. This mild form of epilepsy was also suffered by Archduke Karl and his son, Archduke Albrecht, both of whom were able military commanders.</ref>

Rainer served as [[Viceroy]] of the [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]] from 1818 to 1848. The position made Rainer and his wife the head of the Austrian court at [[Milan]]. Rainer's politics were increasingly unpopular, the Italians resented him for their lack of political freedom and for collecting revenues with so little benefit to them. 

Throughout the 1840s, the political situation worsened to such an extent that in 1847, [[Klemens von Metternich]] resurrected his 1817 plans for an Italian chancellery by sending his right-hand man Count [[Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont]] to Milan as acting Chancellor of Lombardy–Venetia to restore the Austrian rule while taking over Northern Italy's administration. But only a few months later, Ficquelmont was recalled to Vienna to assume the leadership of the [[Council of war (Austria)|Council of war]] as the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire|Revolutions of 1848]] started.

Archduke Rainer's mistakes as well as the lack of understanding between Rainer and ''Feldmarschall'' Graf [[Joseph Radetzky von Radetz|Radetzky]], were blamed for the disasters of the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states|Italian Revolution of 1848]].<ref>[[Joan Haslip]], ''The Crown of Mexico'', pp. 22, 89, 109. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.</ref>

==Marriage and children==

He married in [[Prague]] on 28 May 1820 [[Princess Elisabeth of Savoy]] (13 April 1800 – 25 December 1856). She was the sister of the [[Prince of Carignano]], who would in 1831 become [[King of Sardinia]] as King [[Charles Albert of Sardinia|Charles Albert]]. She was also a granddaughter of the late former duke of the Baltic [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia]].

Children included: 

* Maria Carolina (6 February 1821 – 23 Jan 1844) – unmarried, no issue
* [[Adelaide of Austria|Adelaide]] (3 June 1822 – 20 January 1855) – wife of [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy|Victor Emmanuel II]], from 1849 king of Sardinia
* [[Archduke Leopold Ludwig of Austria|Leopold ]](6 June 1823 – 24 May 1898) – ''Oberkommandant der Marine'' ('High Commander of the Navy') from 1864 to 1868
* [[Archduke Ernest of Austria (1824–1899)|Ernst]] (8 August 1824 – 4 April 1899), [[Feldmarschalleutnant]]
* [[Archduke Sigismund of Austria (1826–1891)|Sigismund]] (7 January 1826 – 15 December 1891), Feldmarschalleutnant
* [[Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria|Rainer]] (11 January 1827 – 27 January 1913) – Austrian Minister President 1859–61;<ref>Robert Adolf Kann, ''A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526–1918'', pp. 328, 331. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.</ref><ref>[[Alan Palmer]], ''Twilight of the Habsburgs. The Life and Times of Emperor Francis Joseph'', pp. 122–123. New York: Grove Press, 1994.</ref> his visit to the Hotel Greif in [[Wels]] is commemorated by a wall plaque there.  Married [[Archduchess Maria Karoline of Austria (1825-1915)]].  No issue.
* [[Archduke Heinrich Anton of Austria|Heinrich]] (9 May 1828 – 30 November 1891), Feldmarschalleutnant
* Maximilian (16 January 1830 – 16 March 1839) – died in childhood

The Revolution of 1848 forced Rainer and Elisabeth from the court at Milan; when the insurrection was quelled, [[Joseph Radetzky von Radetz|Radetzky]] was named Rainer's successor as Viceroy. Although his children, except Adelheid, are buried in the [[Imperial Crypt]] in [[Vienna]], he and his wife are buried at the [[Maria Himmelfahrt (Bolzano)|Maria Himmelfahrtskirche]] in [[Bolzano]].

Through his daughter Adelaide, Rainer is an ancestor of the entire [[House of Savoy|royal family of Italy]] which reigned from 1861 to 1946.

==Ancestry==
{{Overly detailed|section|date=January 2022}}
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center |ref=<ref>{{cite book|title=Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans| trans-title=Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AINPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA109|year=1768|publisher=Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel|location=Bourdeaux|language=fr|page=109}}</ref>
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Archduke Rainer of Austria'''
|2= 2. [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|3= 3. [[Maria Louisa of Spain]]
|4= 4. [[Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|5= 5. [[Maria Theresa|Maria Theresa of Austria]]
|6= 6. [[Charles III of Spain]]
|7= 7. [[Maria Amalia of Saxony]]
|8= 8. [[Leopold, Duke of Lorraine]]
|9= 9. [[Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans]]
|10= 10. [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|11= 11. [[Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick]]
|12= 12. [[Philip V of Spain]]
|13= 13. [[Elisabeth Farnese]]
|14= 14. [[Augustus III of Poland]]
|15= 15. [[Maria Josepha of Austria]]
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Austrian archdukes}}
{{Tuscan princes}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainer, Archduke Of Austria}}
[[Category:1783 births]]
[[Category:1853 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century regents]]
[[Category:House of Habsburg-Lorraine]]
[[Category:Austrian princes]]
[[Category:People from Pisa]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary]]
[[Category:Sons of emperors]]
[[Category:Children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor]]
[[Category:Royalty and nobility with epilepsy]]
[[Category:Italian royalty and nobility with disabilities]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian nobility]]
[[Category:Austrian royalty and nobility with disabilities]]
[[Category:Sons of kings]]
[[Category:People from the Austrian Empire]]
[[Category:Viceroys of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]]
[[Category:Sons of dukes]]
[[Category:Sons of counts]]