Carl Louis John and Adoption

Biography

1771-1847

Austro-Hungarian general

Carl was the birth son of Emperor Leopold II but was adopted by his uncle, Duke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen. He was sent to be governor of the Austrian Netherlands in 1794, by which time he was already a general. He was victorious in a number of important battles during the Thirty Years' War against the French, and was the first general to defeat Napoléon (his uncle by marriage) in a major battle, but he retired after the Armistice of Znaim in 1809.

When Duke Albert died in 1822 he left his collection of 14,000 drawings and 200,000 prints in trust to Carl, which formed the nucleus of the Albertina Collection, one of the world's great art museums.

References

Petre, F. Loraine. Napoleon & the Archduke Charles: A History of the Franco-Austrian Campaign in the Valley of the Danube in 1809. (London: Greenhill Books; Novato: Presidio Press, 1991) (Napoleonic Library; 17) Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, 1993-97 "'The Fruits of a Long and Happy Life:' Duke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen, the Founder of the 'Albertina,' Died 175 Years Ago." Available at: www.austria.gv.at/e/service/presfeature/sachsen.htm Cercle Histoire et Figurines de Nîme. "Archduke Charles of Austria, Field Marshal, Florence, 1771-Vienna, 1847." Available at: www.histofig.com/empire/personnes/autriche_archiduc_charles.html