Catherine of Austria, Duchess of Calabria

Catherine of Austria
200px Image of Catherine from the 15th century
Duchess of Calabria
Tenure	1316–1323
Born	1295 Vienna Austria
Died	18 January 1323 Naples
Burial	San Lorenzo Maggiore, Naples
Spouse	Charles, Duke of Calabria
House	House of Habsburg
Father	Albert I of Germany
Mother	Elisabeth of Tirol

Catherine of Austria (1295 – 18 January 1323, Naples) was a daughter of Albert I of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Tirol. She was a member of the powerful House of Habsburg. She was Duchess of Calabria by her marriage.

Life

Catherine was betrothed twice before she was married. Her first betrothal is referred to in the Turin State Archives to Philip I of Piedmont. Philip's first wife Isabella of Villehardouin had separated from him due to political reasons so Philip was free to remarry. However, the union between Catherine and Philip was dissolved. Philip instead married Catherine de la Tour du Pin.

Catherine may have been betrothed to someone from the Duchy of Brabant, possibly John II, Duke of Brabant. If this betrothal did take place, it was quickly dissolved by Catherine's brothers because their father had been murdered and had been succeeded by Henry of Luxembourg as Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor. The brothers' plan was to marry off their sister to the Emperor in order to create an alliance with him. However only one year after becoming emperor, Henry died without marrying Catherine.

Catherine was finally married aged twenty-one in 1316 to Charles, Duke of Calabria. However the marriage that Catherine and her family had waited for did not last for very long. The couple were married for seven childless years before Catherine died in Naples on 18 January 1323. She was buried at San Lorenzo Maggiore, in Naples.

After Catherine's death, Charles remarried to Maria of Valois, who became mother of Joanna I of Naples.

Ancestry

Family of Catherine of Austria, Duchess of Calabria

16. Rudolph II, Count of Habsburg               8. Albert IV, Count of Habsburg                       17. Agnes of Staufen               4. Rudolph I of Germany                             18. Ulrich, Count of Kiburg and Dillingen               9. Heilwig of Kiburg                       19. Anna von Zähringen               2. Albert I of Germany                                   20. Burckhard IV, Count of Hohenburg               10. Burckhard V, Count of Hohenburg                       5. Gertrude of Hohenburg                             22. Rudolph II, Count Palatine of Tübingen               11. Mechtild of Tübingen                       1. Catherine of Austria                                         24. Engelbert III, Count of Gorizia               12. Meinhard I of Gorizia-Tyrol                       25. Matilda of Andechs               6. Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia                             26. Albert IV, Count of Tyrol               13. Adelaide of Tyrol                       27. Uta of Frontenhausen               3. Elisabeth of Tirol                                   28. Louis I, Duke of Bavaria               14. Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria                       29. Ludmilla of Bohemia               7. Elisabeth of Bavaria                             30. Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine               15. Agnes of the Palatinate                       31. Agnes of Hohenstaufen