Ferdinand Charles of Austria - Definition and Overview

Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria (born May 17, 1628; died December 30, 1662 in Kaltern) was thr Regent of Tyrol from 1646 to 1662.

As the son of Archduke Leopold V and Claudia de Medici, he took over his mother's governatorial duties when he came of age in 1646. To finance his extravagant living style, he sold goods and entitlements. For example, he wasted the exorbitant sum which France had to pay to the Tyrolean Habsburgs for the cession of their fiefs west of the Rhine (Alsace, Sundgau and Breisach). He also fixed the border to Graubünden in 1652.

Ferdinand Charles was an absolutist ruler, did not call any diet after 1648 and had his chancellor Wilhelm Biener executed illegally in 1651 after a secret trial. On the other hand, he was a lover a music: Italian opera was performed in his court. In 1655, the Swedish Queen Christine converted to the Catholic Faith in Innsbruck's Court Church.