en

Charles I Habsburg

Charles I Habsburg - son of Charles of Styria, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. Brother of the Polish queen Anna, wife of Sigismund III. As the youngest of his siblings, the family gave him up to the Jesuits for upbringing, and assigned him to the clergy. In 1608 he was elected the bishop of Wrocław. Elected to the Teutonic Grand Master in 1619. His favorite pastime was hunting, and his home was Nysa. In 1622, during the Silesian Wars, he brought the Jesuits to Nysa and began persecuting Protestants. He was the initiator of the establishment of the first Silesian university in Nysa. From the King of Spain, Philip IV, he received the office of the viceroy of Portugal. Unfortunately, he died of fever on his way to Madrid. He was buried in Escurial, while his heart in an urn went to Nysa.