Secrets of the Gotha I Trivia Quiz

Answer: Swiss

The House of Habsburg may have had humble beginnings, but it was not long before they rose to some prominence with the first Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf I, being elected on 29th September 1273. His family were the ruling counts of Austria, before being elevated to dukes in the late 13th century.

"Originating from a family of small Swiss squires in the Canton of Argovie, the counts of Habsburg, through a skillful marriage policy which justifies the famous motto 'Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube', ended by constituting one of the most important sovereignties in the world"

Answer: Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa Habsburg

Empress Maria Theresa earned this nickname by having sixteen children, including two Holy Roman Emperors, a Queen of France and Sicily, a Duchess of Parma and a Grand Duke of Modena. Maria Louisa of Spain also had sixteen children with HRE Leopold II. Maria Theresa of Sicily came close with twelve children by HRE Francis II; whilst Marie Ludovika of Modena, Francis' third wife, had no children at all.

"No doubt, remembering the danger constituted by the absence of male heirs, Maria Theresa ensured the future of the dynasty by bringing into the world sixteen children, including five sons"

Answer: Isabella of Parma, wife of Joseph II

The poor girl was forced into her marriage on 6th Oct 1760 in Vienna, Austria, at the tender age of 20. She lived long enough to give birth to two daughters, Maria Theresa and Marie Christine, but both girls died in their infancy. The Empress died on 27th Nov 1763 in Vienna, Austria.

"She was very much in love with a Spanish gentleman and she planned to run away with him. However the affair was discovered and he was assassinated on the very night of the elopement. The Infanta, weeping bitterly, was only able to hear his dying words: 'In three...you...' She imagined that within three hours she would die of sorrow. Once the three hours has passed, she was convinced then that it was a question of three days and agreed the next day to be betrothed to Archduke Joseph and since the third day arrived without her being called to God, she thought that the length of time fixed by the dying man was three weeks and she left for Vienna. Once there, the three weeks had lapsed, she politely warned the Archduke that either in three months or three years, she would die. She kept her word".

Answer: Maria Theresa of Sicily

Holy Roman Emperor Francis II was married no less than four times. His first bride faired from Wurttemberg, the Duchess Elisabeth Wilhelmine and they were married on 6th January 1788. Unfortunately, she was to die in childbirth just two years later on 18th February 1790, her infant daughter following her barely a year after.

Later that same year, Francis was married for a second time to Princess Maria Theresa of Sicily, his first cousin. She too was to die in childbirth, but with her thirteenth pregnancy on 13th April 1806 in Vienna, Austria.

With two wives in the grave, Francis sought a third and found her in Modena, the Archduchess Marie Ludovika. Married on 6th January 1808, the bride barely lasted eight years before dying on 7th April 1816 in Verona, Italy.

The final Holy Roman Empress of Francis' hailed from Bavaria, the Duchess Charlotte Augusta. The only wife to outlive him, they were married on 10th November 1816, but Francis was to die first on 2nd March 1835 and she would follow many years later on 9th February 1873.

"Half of the Emperor's numerous progeny died at an early age, but the other half occupied many thrones: Marie Louise in Paris (Napoleon I); Leopoldine in Rio (Pedro I of Brazil); Caroline in Dresden (Friedrich of Saxony); and Clementine in Naples (Leopold Giovanni of Sicily)".

Answer: Yes

A Parisian clairvoyant predicted the death of a royal lady and the next day, Elizabeth was murdered by an Italian anarchist who just wanted to murder someone important. Unfortunately, Sisi fitted the bill. The beautiful Empress died on 10th September 1898 in Geneva, Switzerland.

"On the day before her death, she read in a newspaper an interview with a Parisian clairvoyant who foretold that during the year 'an empress or a queen, a woman with a broken heart, would be assassinated'. 'I shall be that woman, I'm sure of it!' she said to her Lady-in-Waiting, and at that moment she saw a white shape glide between the trees in the garden: it was the White Lady of Habsburg whose appearence warned of approaching death".

Answer: Yes

According to the succession rules of the House of Habsburg, any royal member who comes in line for another throne must renounce their rights to the Austrian throne before accepting their new title and role. After initially refusing the Mexican crown, Maximillan was eventually encouraged to accept it, however the people of Mexico were more than reluctant. A rebellion soon broke out and the Emperor was captured and made an example of to anyone who thought of ruling Mexico. The Emperor was executed by firing squad on 19th June 1867 in Querataro, Mexico.

Traditionally, when the daughter marries or a son is presented with another country, they must renounce their succession rights to their father's throne. However in the case of Maximillian, "after his wife left for Europe to rally support for her ailing country, Maximillian fell into the hands Benoti Juarez, who immediately condemned him to death. Franz Josef had even restored to his brother his eventual rights to the throne of Austria, but the fact that Juraez's prisoner became second in succession to one of the most powerful empires in the world, did not influence him at all".

Answer: Franz Josef

Franz Josef muttered these words when he learned of the assassination of his nephew, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who died on 28th June 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia. After the suicide of his own son, Crown Prince Rudolf, Franz Josef knew the succession rested upon his nephew, a man who had made a morganatic marriage and had renounced his descendants' rights. The Emperor could have changed it, but in the end it was changed for him.

"Aggravated by the obstinacy between Franz Josef, the Emperor, and Franz Ferdinand, the heir, this divergence had finally degenerated into latent conflict".

Answer: Karl I

The man who was never meant to be Emperor became so only through the death of his cousin, the assassinated Archduke. Inheriting the imperial throne in the midst of a world war he never started, Karl ended paying for the sins of his great-uncle, Franz Josef. Succeeding on 21st November 1916, he was barely able to hold on to his crown for two years, being forced to abdicate on 11th November 1918.

"Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, was a well behaved, honest and timid young man, full of good intentions and possessing a conscience and high standards of morality. Like Louis XVI and Nicholas II, he was the victim of circumstances and had to pay for mistakes that he had not made".

Answer: Portugal

Fleeing to Hungary where his abdication had no effect and he was still the king, the last emperor of Austria died in exile on 1st April 1922 in Villa Quinta de Monte, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.

"The Emperor was treated as a prisoner by the European powers who had opposed his restoration. After a brief period of internment in the capital of Hungary, he was taken to the small town of Madaira [Portugal} where he died, in a state of scandalous poverty, in 1922".

Answer: IV - Four

For centuries, the Holy Roman Emperors, and later the Emperors of Austria, were also the monarchs of Hungary, expanding the family's empire. Although ousted as the Austrian emperor, Karl was still a king and he retreated to his country.

"The abdication of power applied only in Austria and by virtue of a special statute of Hungary, he was still - under the title of Karl IV - King of Hungary".

All the information, and quotations, for these questions was taken from Ghislain de Diesbach's "Secrets of the Gotha". (New York: Meredith Press, 1964)