Princess Ludovika of Bavaria

Template:Infobox royalty Princess Ludovika of Bavaria (Maria Ludovika Wilhelmine; 30 August 1808 – 25 January 1892) was the fifth child of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife Queen Caroline. She was the mother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and was born and died in Munich.

Early years

Maria Ludovika Wilhelmine was born to King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Caroline of Baden as their sixth child. The birth of Ludovika was known to be difficult.Template:CN Ludovika was christened one day after her birth as Ludovika Wilhelmine.

Ludovika and her sisters received many lessons in literature as well as geography and history. They spoke both German and French.Template:Sfn

Princess Ludovika of Bavaria and Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria in a portrait from 1828.

Marriage

Ludovika married Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria, whose father Duke Pius August in Bavaria was her cousin, on 9 September 1828 in Tegernsee. Ludovika was always frustrated that, unlike her elder sisters who married kings and Archdukes, she would not be marrying someone with a grand title, but rather a peculiar and childish duke who had a fondness for circuses. Ludovika was determined to create dynastic marriages for her daughters. She and her husband had ten children, including Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Queen Maria Sofia of the Two Sicilies.<ref>See the biography of her son Karl-Theodor: Sexau, Richard. Fürst und Arzt, Dr. med. Herzog Carl Theodor in Bayern: Shicksal zwischen Wittelsbach und Habsburg. Graz: Verlag Styria, 1963.</ref>

Maximilian was mostly away from home; due to this, Ludovika wrote that she spent their first wedding anniversary alone and wept. In 1830, Ludovika found herself pregnant with their first child. On 21 June 1831, she gave birth to a son whom they named Ludwig Wilhelm.

Issue

She had a total of 10 children.

Princess Ludovika with her family in 1890

Children	Birth	Death	Notes
Ludwig Wilhelm, Duke in Bavaria	21 June 1831	Template:Death date and age	Married Henriette, Freiin von Wallersee (morganatically) on 28 May 1859. They had two children.
Wilhelm Karl, Duke in Bavaria	24 December 1832	Template:Death date and age	Died in infancy at seven weeks old.
Helene Caroline Therese, Duchess in Bavaria	4 April 1834	Template:Death date and age	Married Maximilian Anton Lamoral, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis on 24 August 1858. They had four children.
Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, Duchess in Bavaria	24 December 1837	Template:Death date and age	Married Franz Joseph I of Austria on 24 April 1854. They had four children.
Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria	9 August 1839	Template:Death date and age	Married Sophie of Saxony on 11 February 1865. They had one daughter. Karl Theodor remarried Maria Josepha of Portugal on 29 April 1874. They had five children.
Marie Sophie Amalie, Duchess in Bavaria	4 October 1841	Template:Death date and age	Married Francis II of the Two Sicilies on 3 February 1859. They had one daughter.
Mathilde Ludovika, Duchess in Bavaria	30 September 1843	Template:Death date and age	Married Lodovico, Count of Trani on 5 June 1861. They had one daughter.
Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria	8 December 1845	Template:Death date and age	Stillborn.
Sophie Charlotte Augustine, Duchess in Bavaria	23 February 1847	Template:Death date and age	Married Ferdinand Philippe Marie, duc d'Alençon on 28 September 1868. They had two children.
Duke Maximilian Emanuel in Bavaria	7 December 1849	Template:Death date and age	Married Princess Amalie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on 20 September 1875. They had three sons.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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