Philippine Habsburg of Austria, Freiin von Zinnenburg

Philippine Welser (1527 – 24 April 1580) was the morganatic wife of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria. She was granted the titles Baroness of Zinnenburg, Margravine of Burgau, Landgravine of Mellenburg and Countess of Oberhohenberg and Niederhohenberg.

She was born in Augsburg. Her family, the Welsers of Augsburg, were merchants and financiers of European significance and great wealth. Her father was Franz (Friedrich) Welser (1497-1572) and her mother was Anna Adler (1507-1572). Philippine Welser's uncle Bartholomeus V. Welser received Venezuela as security for a loan from the King of Spain in 1528, and the family thus became rulers of the colony. Already at a young age, she was renowned for both her beauty and her learning. She died at Schloss Ambras, Innsbruck in Tyrol.

She was the mother of Margrave Andrew of Burgau, who became a Cardinal, and Charles, Margrave of Burgau, who became a noted General. After her death, her husband remarried to Anne Juliana Gonzaga and became the father of Anna of Tyrol, who would become Holy Roman Empress.

FYI:

Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage,[1] is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage.

Generally, this is a marriage between a man of high birth (such as from a reigning, deposed or mediatised dynasty) and a woman of lesser status (such as a daughter of a low-ranked noble family or a commoner).[2][3] Usually, neither the bride nor any children of the marriage have a claim on the bridegroom's succession rights, titles, precedence, or entailed property. The children are considered legitimate for all other purposes and the prohibition against bigamy applies.[3][4] In some countries, a woman could also marry a man of lower rank morganatically

Added by Janet Milburn 9/28/2019

Philippine Welser, Freiin von Zinnenburg is my/our 7th cousin 13 times removed. ________________________________

Links:

• The Peerage
• Geneall
• Wikipedia