View source for Princess Sophie of Bavaria

{{Short description|Bavarian princess turned Archduchess of Austria (1805–1872)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title        = [[Archduchess of Austria]]
| image        = Princess sophie of bavaria 1866.jpg
| caption      = Photograph by [[Victor Angerer]], {{circa|1866}}
| full name    = Sophie Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmine
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Archduke Franz Karl of Austria]]|1824}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
*[[Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria|Franz Joseph I of Austria]]
*[[Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico|Maximilian I of Mexico]]
*[[Archduke Karl Ludwig]]
*[[Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (born 1835)|Archduchess Maria Anna]]
*[[Archduke Ludwig Viktor]]
}}
| issue-link   = #Children
| father       = [[Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria]]
| mother       = [[Caroline of Baden]]
| house        = [[Wittelsbach]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1805|1|27|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Nymphenburg Palace]], [[Munich]], [[Electorate of Bavaria]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1872|5|28|1805|1|27|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Vienna]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| burial_place = [[Imperial Crypt]]
}}

'''Princess Sophie of Bavaria''' (Sophie Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmine; {{IPA|de|zoˈfiː ˌfʁiːdəˈʁiːkə doʁoˈteːa vɪlhɛlˈmiːnə|lang}}; 27 January 1805 – 28 May 1872) was the daughter of King [[Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria]] and his second wife, [[Caroline of Baden]]. The identical twin sister of [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1805-1877)|Queen Maria Anna of Saxony]], Sophie became Archduchess of Austria by marriage to [[Archduke Franz Karl of Austria]]. Her eldest son, [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]], reigned as [[Emperor of Austria]] and [[King of Hungary]]; her second son, [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Maximilian]], briefly reigned as [[Emperor of Mexico]].

==Childhood (1805–1824)==
{{stack|[[File:Joseph Karl Stieler - Die Prinzessinnen Louisa, Marie und Sophie von Bayern auf einer Wiese tanzend.jpg|thumb|350x350px|Portrait of Princessses Sophie, [[Princess Ludovika of Bavaria|Ludovika]], and [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (born 1805)|Maria Anna]] (painting by [[Joseph Karl Stieler|Karl Joseph Karl Stieler]], 1822)]]}}

The fourth child of King [[Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria]] and Princess [[Caroline of Baden]], Princess Sophie Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmine was born on 27 January 1805 in [[Nymphenburg Palace]], [[Munich]]. She was said to be her father’s favorite daughter although she was more attached to her mother, whom she loved dearly. Sophie adored her twin sister [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1805-1877)|Maria Anna]] and was very close to all her sisters.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

==Archduchess of Austria (1824–1872)==
On 4 November 1824, she married [[Archduke Franz Karl of Austria]]. Her paternal half-sister, [[Caroline Augusta of Bavaria]], had married the groom's widowed father, [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II]], in 1816. Sophie and Franz Karl had six children. Emperor Francis II was truly fond of Sophie. Although Sophie had little in common with her husband, she was a caring and devoted wife to Franz Karl who loved and respected her.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Erzherzogin Sophie: Die starke Frau am Wiener Hof | last2=Bauer | first2=Christa|last1=Ehrlich | first1=Anna | publisher=Amalthea Signum Verlag|isbn=978-3-99050-024-8|location=Wien|oclc=932029774|year = 2016}}</ref>

Unlike her husband, Sophie was attached to all of her children, especially [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]], as well as [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Ferdinand Maximilian]], who was her favorite son. She had a reputation for being strong-willed and authoritarian by nature but she was also known as a familiar and sociable person devoted to her family and the Habsburg empire she married into.<ref name=":1" /> She enjoyed court life, dance, art, and literature as well as horse riding.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bled, Jean-Paul |title=Sophie de Habsbourg: L'impératrice de l'ombre |date=2018 |publisher=Perrin |isbn=978-2-262-06539-3 |location=Paris |oclc=1023604752}}</ref>

Her ambition to place her eldest son on the Austrian throne was a constant theme in Austrian politics.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Emperor Francis Joseph: Life, death and the fall of the Hapsburg Empire|last=Van der Kiste, John.|date=2005|publisher=Sutton|isbn=0-7509-3787-4|location=Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire|oclc=58554150}}</ref> At the time she was called "the only man at court".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archduchess Sophie: the 'only man' at court? |url=https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/archduchess-sophie-only-man-court |access-date=2023-01-05 |website=Die Welt der Habsburger |language=en}}</ref> During the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas#Revolution in the Austrian lands|Revolution of 1848]], she persuaded her somewhat feeble-minded husband to give up his rights to the throne in favour of their son [[Franz Joseph]].<ref>{{cite book|first=M.M.|last=McAllen|page=22|title=Maximillian and Carlota |date=April 2015|publisher=Trinity University Press | isbn=978-1-59534-263-8}}</ref>

[[File:Sophiebayern franzjoseph.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Archduchess Sophie and her son, the future emperor Franz Joseph (by [[Joseph Karl Stieler]])]]
After Franz Joseph's accession, Sophie became the power behind the throne.<ref>https://www.habsburger.net/de/kapitel/erzherzogin-sophie-die-heimliche-kaiserin; in the 1850s Sophie was the "bestimmende Gestalt at court" (dominant figure at the Viennese court)</ref> Historically, Sophie is remembered for her extremely adversarial relationship with Franz Joseph's wife [[Empress Elisabeth of Austria|Elisabeth "Sisi"]], who was also her niece. Elisabeth hated Sophie for being demanding and controlling the upbringing of her children, but there is no evidence that the Archduchess had the same feelings, as Elisabeth is usually described quite pleasantly in Sophie's diary and letters.<ref name=":0" /> Nonetheless, she had better relationships with her other daughters-in-law and was a caring mother-in-law to [[Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies|Archduchess Maria Annunziata]].

Sophie kept a detailed diary most of her life, which reveals much about Austrian court life.<ref name=":0" /> She was deeply affected in 1867 by the execution in [[Mexico]] of her second son Maximilian. She never recovered from that shock, and withdrew from public life. She died from [[pneumonia]] in 1872.

===Alleged extramarital affair===
She was also noted for her close relationship with her nephew-by-marriage  the Duke of Reichstadt, the former [[Napoleon II]]. There were rumors of a sexual affair between them.<ref name=":0" /> There was even suspicion that her son Maximilian, born two weeks before Reichstadt's death in 1832, was actually his child. These claims were never verified, but it is certain that they were very good friends and that his death affected her very much. She is said to have turned into the hard, ambitious woman described in fiction after he died.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}

==Children==
{| class="wikitable"
! width="90pt"|Name 
! width="90pt"|Birth 
! width="100pt"| Death 
! Notes
|-
| [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]]  || 18 August 1830 || 21 November 1916 || Succeeded as [[Emperor of Austria]]<br>Married his first cousin [[Empress Elisabeth of Austria|Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria]], and had issue
|-
| [[Maximilian I of Mexico]] || 6 July 1832 || 19 June 1867 || Proclaimed [[Second Mexican Empire|Emperor of Mexico]]<br>[[Second French intervention in Mexico|Executed by firing squad]]<br>Married [[Carlota of Mexico|Charlotte, Princess of Belgium]], and had no issue
|-
| [[Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria|Karl Ludwig]] || 30 July 1833 || 19 May 1896 || Married:<br>1) his first cousin [[Princess Margaretha of Saxony|Margaretha, Princess of and Duchess in Saxony]] (1840–1858) from 1856 to 1858, no issue<br>2) [[Princess Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies|Maria Annunziata, Princess of the Two Sicilies]] (1843–1871) from 1862 to 1871, had issue (three sons and one daughter)<br>3) [[Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugal|Maria Theresa, Infanta of Portugal]] (1855–1944), from 1873 to 1896, had issue (two daughters).

He was the father of [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]], whose assassination in 1914 sparked [[World War I]].

Through his son [[Archduke Otto of Austria (1865–1906)|Archduke Otto Franz]], Archduke Karl Ludwig was also the grandfather of Austria's last Emperor, [[Charles I of Austria|Charles I]].

Through his daughter [[Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria|Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie]], Archduke Karl Ludwig is an ancestor of the [[House of Liechtenstein]].
|-
| [[Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1835-1840)|Maria Anna]] || 27 October 1835 || 5 February 1840 || Died in childhood
|-
| Stillborn son || 24 October 1840 || 24 October 1840 ||
|-
| [[Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria|Ludwig Viktor]] || 15 May 1842 || 18 January 1919 || Died unmarried
|}

==Portrayal on stage and screen==
[[File:Die Allerhöchste Kaiserfamilie.jpg|thumb|right|Archduchess Sophie (front row, seated, second from left) with family members, 1860).]]
* In the ''[[Sissi (film)|Sissi]]'' films (1955–1957), [[Vilma Degischer]] played the part of Sophie as a chillingly strict mother-in-law of the young Empress.
* In the 1974 miniseries, ''[[Fall of Eagles]]'', Sophie was portrayed by English actress [[Pamela Brown (actress)|Pamela Brown]].
* ''[[Mayerling (ballet)|Mayerling]]'', a 1978 ballet by [[Kenneth MacMillan]], features Sophie in a slightly more sympathetic light.
* ''[[Elisabeth (musical)|Elisabeth]]'', a 1992 musical by [[Michael Kunze]] about the life of [[Empress Elisabeth of Austria|Empress Elisabeth]], where Sophie is portrayed as a malevolent intriguer, out to ruin her daughter-in-law's life by any possible means, though more recent productions have somewhat softened her character with additional scenes and a song that give more insight into Sophie's complex motivations and personality.
*In ''Sissi, l'impératrice rebelle'', a 2004 French television film, Sophie was played by [[Stéphane Audran]].
*In the 2009 European [[miniseries|mini-series]] ''Sisi'', [[Martina Gedeck]] portrayed Sophie in one of the more balanced interpretations of the character.
*The 2022 [[Netflix]] series ''[[The Empress (TV series)|The Empress]]'' features a Sophie played by [[Melika Foroutan]].

== Honours ==
* {{Flag|Austria-Hungary}} : Dame of the [[Order of the Starry Cross]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OY0AAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA110 Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Kaiserthumes Österreich] (1868), p 110, Sternkreuz-Orden</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{commons-inline}}
* [http://histclo.com/royal/gers/bav/m1/max1c2.htm Historical Boys' Royal Costume: King Maximilian I Joseph: Second Family]
* {{cite web |last=Marek |first=Miroslav |url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/ |title=Royal and Noble Family Trees |publisher= Genealogy.EU}}

{{Bavarian princesses by birth}}
{{Austrian archduchesses by marriage}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sophie Of Bavaria, Princess}}
[[Category:1805 births]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century German women]]
[[Category:House of Wittelsbach]]
[[Category:House of Habsburg-Lorraine]]
[[Category:Austrian princesses]]
[[Category:Austrian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Bavarian princesses]]
[[Category:German twins]]
[[Category:Burials at the Imperial Crypt]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]
[[Category:Napoleon II]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Austria]]
[[Category:Mothers of Austrian emperors]]
[[Category:Mothers of Bohemian monarchs]]
[[Category:Mothers of Hungarian monarchs]]
[[Category:Daughters of dukes]]
[[Category:Daughters of prince-electors]]
[[Category:Gallery of Beauties]]