Grand Duke Guillaume IV (1852-1912) and Maria Ana of Portugal (1861–1942)


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Marengo

Administrator
Site Team
Joined
Aug 13, 2004
Messages
26,984
City
São Paulo
Country
Brazil
Guillaume IV Alexandre, Grand Duke of Luxemburg, Duke of Nassau (Biebrich 22 April 1852 - Colmar-Berg 25 February 1912); married at Schloß Fischhorn on 21 June 1893 Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal (Schloß Bronnbach 13 July 1861 - New York 31 July 1942)

Dynasty: Nassau-Weilburg

Reign: 1905 - 1912

Predecessor: Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg

Successor: Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg

Children: Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg; Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg; Fürstin Hilda of Schwarzenberg, Crown Princess Antonia of Bavaria; Princess Elisabeth of Thurn und Taxis and Princess Sophie of Saxony

Parents Guillaume: Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxemburg and Princess Adelheid of Anhalt

Parents Maria Ana: Infante Miguel of Portugal and Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg

Siblings Guillaume: Prince Friedrich of Nassau; Princess Marie of Nassau; Prince Franz of Nassau and Grand Duchess Hilda of Baden

Siblings Maria Ana: Princess Maria das Neves of Spain, Duchess of St. Jaime;Prince Miguel of Portugal, Duke of Bragança; Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria; Duchess Maria José in Bavaria; Princess Adelgunde of Bourbon-Parma, Countess of Bardi and Duchess Maria Antonia of Parma
 
Last edited:
From this wikipedia page:

William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Guillaume Alexandre) (April 22, 1852February 25, 1912) was the eldest child of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He became Grand Duke on the death of his father on November 17, 1905.
William IV was a Protestant, the religion of the House of Nassau. He married Marie Anne of Portugal, believing that a Roman Catholic country ought to have a Roman Catholic monarch. Thus since William IV all other Grand Dukes have been Catholic.
At the death of his uncle, Prince Nikolaus-Wilhelm in 1905, the only other legitimate male in the House of Nassau-Weilburg was Guillaume's cousin, Georg Nikolaus, Count of Merenberg, the product of a morganatic marriage. So in 1907, Guilliame declared the Counts of Merenberg non-dynastic, naming his own eldest daughter Marie-Adélaïde (1894–1924) as heir to the grand ducal throne. She became Luxembourg's first reigning female monarch upon her father's death in 1912, and upon her own abdication in 1919, was succeeded by her younger sister Charlotte (1896–1985). Charlotte's descendants have reigned until the present day.

Family

On June 21, 1893, he married Marie Anne of Portugal, daughter of the deposed king Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. The couple had six daughters, but no sons.
  • Marie-Adélaïde (1894-1924) who remained unmarried and childless
  • Charlotte (1896-1985) who married her first cousin Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma, a son of Marie Anne's younger sister.
  • Hilda (15 February1897-8 September1979), who married Adolf, Prince of Schwarzenberg
  • Antoinette (1899-1954), who married Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria as his second wife
  • Elisabeth (7 March1901-2 August1950), who married Prince Ludwig Philipp of Thurn and Taxis (2 February1901-22 April1933), son of Albert I, Prince of Thurn and Taxis. Had issue.
    • Prince Anselm Albert of Thurn and Taxis (14 April1924-25 February1944); killed in action in Solotaia-Balka during WWII
    • Princess Iniga of Thurn and Taxis (born 25 August1925); married Prince Eberhard of Urach (1907-1969), son of Mindaugas II of Lithuania
  • Sophie Caroline (14 February 1902-24 May 1941), who married Ernst Heinrich, Prince of Saxony (9 December 1896-14 June 1971), youngest son of king Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. Had three sons.
 
Last edited:
From this wikipedia page:

Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal (or of Beja or Braganza), Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, (French: Marie Anne; English: Maria Anna) (Schloss Bronnbach 13 July 1861 – New York, USA, 31 July 1942) was a Portuguese infanta and Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg and its Regent. She was a House of Braganza member.
Born as the fifth and second-youngest daughter of the deposed king Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, Maria Ana was a titular Infanta of Portugal. Her father had been exiled, and the family lived as guests in Austria.
Despite their exiled and relatively-poor circumstances, the daughters of Miguel I made good marriages, some to reigning petty monarchs and deposed heads of Roman Catholic European dynasties.
Infanta Maria Ana was married on 21 June 1893 at Schloss Fischhorn, Zell am See to the Protestant Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1852-1912), Hereditary Prince of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the eldest child and heir of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, head of the House of Nassau. It was agreed that the children would be raised in their mother's Catholic faith, because that was the religion of the overwhelming majority of Luxembourg's population.
The couple had six daughters and no sons.
  • Marie-Adélaïde (1894-1924) who remained unmarried and childless
  • Charlotte (1896-1985) who married her first cousin Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma, a son of Marie Anne's younger sister.
  • Hilda (1897-1979), who married Adolf, Prince of Schwarzenberg
  • Antoinette (1899-1954), who married Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria as his second wife
  • Elisabeth (1901-1950), who married Prince Ludwig Philipp of Thurn and Taxis
  • Sophie (1902-1941), who married Prince Ernst of Saxony, youngest son of king Frederick Augustus III of Saxony
Guillaume became the reigning Grand Duke on the death of his father on 17 November 1905, and Maria Ana became the Grand Duchess, under the French version of her name, Marie Anne.
Because Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg was the last agnate of the House of Nassau, he declared his daughters as his successors, and Marie-Adelaide was confirmed and proclaimed Heir Apparent on 10 July 1907. Upon her father's death, she became the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Following her abdication on 14 January 1919, her sister, the second daughter, Charlotte of Luxembourg, succeeded her on the throne.
Grand Duchess Marie Anne was Regent for her husband during his terminal illness from 19 November 1908 to 15 February 1912, and then Regent for her daughter, Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde, during her minority from 25 February 1912 to 18 June 1912.
Dowager Grand Duchess Marie Anne died in exile in New York on 31 July 1942, the family having fled Germans because of World War II.
 
Regarding the unsupported claim in Wikipedia that William IV and Maria Anna agreed to raise their children Roman Catholic because it was the predominant religion of Luxembourg:

Today I toured the Grand Ducal palace with an official guide, who said something different... and which also coincides with what I had read elsewhere. The agreement was not that all their children would be raised Catholic, but rather that male children of the couple would be raised in the father's denomination (Lutheran), whereas female children would be raised in the mother's (Roman Catholic). This type of arrangement was apparently not uncommon at the time. William and Maria Anna had six girls... so all of them were raised Catholic. Two of the daughters reigned as Grand Duchesses - Marie-Adelheid and Charlotte - and since them every sovereign of Luxembourg has been Roman Catholic.
 
He wanted to have a son. Since then, the Luxembourg monarchs have been wrong to have such large families in such a small country. There are no royal jobs for the juniors royalty.
 
The Grand Duchess was Regent of the Grand Duchy from November 1908 until June 1912.
 
Back
Top Bottom