Archduke Karl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria was the younger brother of Franz Joseph I of Austria, the father of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination ignited World War I, and grandfather of the last emperor, Charles I.
Background
He was born at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the son of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (1802–1878) and his wife Sophie of Bavaria (1805–1872). His mother ensured he was raised a devout Roman Catholic by the Vienna Prince-archbishop Joseph Othmar Rauscher, a conviction that evolved into religious mania in his later years.
Career
Though not interested in politics, the 20-year-old joined the Galician government of Count Agenor Romuald Gołuchowski and in 1855 accepted his appointment as Tyrolean stadtholder in Innsbruck, where he took his residence at Ambras Castle. He finally laid down the office upon the issue of the 1861 February Patent for a life as patron of the arts and sciences. This rumor proved to be false.
Karl Ludwig married three times.