House of Este - Austria-Este and The House of Habsburg

Austria-Este and The House of Habsburg

In 1814, when French rule in Italy ended (but after the death of Duke Ercole), Modena was returned to his daughter Mary Beatrice and her son, Archduke Francis of Austria-Este. The family thus ruled the duchy of Modena and Reggio again from 1814 to 1859, using the names Asburgo-Este (Habsburg-Este) and Austria-Este. In 1859 the duchy lost its independence to the new united Italy, and Francis V, Duke of Modena, was deposed.

The family of Austria-Este became extinct in the male line with the death of Francis V in 1875. His blood-heiress was his niece, Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este (d. 1919); she and her husband, Prince Louis of Bavaria, later became Queen and King of Bavaria. The present head of this branch of the family is Franz, Duke of Bavaria.

However, Francis V had decided to retain the Este name in the Habsburg family and willed his inheritance to the line of Archduke Charles Louis, younger brother of Emperor Francis Joseph, on condition that the heir use the name Austria-Este. The first "adoptee" was Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (b. 1863, not descended from Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este), who took the name Austria-Este and in 1896 became the heir presumptive of the Habsburg Empire, but was murdered on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo.

Since his own children were born in morganatic marriage (Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg), the Habsburgs designated his soon-to-be born great-nephew Robert (b. 8 February 1915), second son of the future emperor Charles, as the next "adopted Austria-Este". Through his mother Zita of Bourbon-Parma (a great-granddaughter of Maria Teresa of Savoy, Duchess of Lucca and Parma, who was a daughter of Maria Teresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia, who in turn was a daughter of Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este and Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este, Duchess and Duke of Breisgau and Modena), Robert was a descendant of Ercole III d'Este, and the blood of last Este dukes thus joined again with the name Austria-Este.

Today, the bearer of this tradition is the eldest son of Archduke Robert of Austria-Este (1915-1996), Lorenz Otto Charles of Austria-Este (b. 1955), who is married to Princess Astrid of Belgium, the only daughter of King Albert II. In 1995, Lorenz received the additional title of Prince of Belgium.

Since 1991 the couple's children are titled :

• International format : Princes(ss) of Belgium, Archduke (Archduchess) of Austria-Este, Prince(ss) Imperial of Austria, Prince(ss) Royal of Hungary and Bohemia .
• Belgian format : Princes(ss) of Belgium, Archduke (Archduchess) of Austria-Este (Habsbourg-Lorraine)

The eldest of their children is Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (b. 1986).