Charles VII of the Holy Roman Empire

Carlos Albert of Wittelsbach and Sobieski (Brussels, August 6, 1697 - Munich, January 20, 1745) was Elector of Bavaria from 1726 to 1745, and Holy Roman Emperor between 1742 and 1745.

Biography

He was the son of the Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian II Emanuel, and his second wife, Princess Teresa Cunegonda Sobieska, who was the daughter of King John III Sobieski of Poland.

Carlos Alberto used his kinship with Emperor Joseph I as an argument to claim Austrian hereditary rights after the death of Emperor Carlos VI, which led him to intervene in the war of the Austrian succession against Maria Teresa I. Carlos Alberto was crowned king of Bohemia in 1741 and emperor in 1742, after receiving the support of France and Spain. Shortly after, Maria Theresa I expelled him from Bavaria, but Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia, won a victory over Maria Theresa, so Karl Albert regained the Bavarian throne in 1744.

When Emperor Karl Albert died in 1745, Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa I, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Bohemia and Hungary, was elected Holy Roman Emperor.

Marriage and offspring

He married Maria Amalia of Austria, youngest daughter of Emperor Joseph I, on October 5, 1722. The couple had seven children:

• Maximiliana (1723), Bavarian princess. He died young.
• Marie Antonia (18 July 1724-23 April 1780), Bavarian Princess. Married with the elector Federico Cristián de Saxony.
• Teresa Benedicta (6 December 1725-29 March 1734), Bavarian Princess. He died young.
• Maximilian III Joseph (28 March 1727-30 December 1777), elector of Bavaria.
• José Luis (25 August 1728-2 December 1733), Prince of Bavaria. He died in childhood.
• María Ana (7 August 1734-7 May 1776), Bavarian princess. Margrave of Baden-Baden.
• María Josefa (13 March 1741-20 February 1767), Bavarian princess. Married to Joseph II of the Holy Roman German Empire.

Ancestors