Andrew, Margrave of Burgau
cardinal, bishop of Constance and Brixen (1558-1600)
Andrew of Austria, Margrave of Burgau (German: Andreas von Österreich; 15 June 1558 – 12 November 1600) was a cardinal who belonged to the Austrian nobility, descending from its ruling dynasty, the House of Habsburg.
Youth
Andrew and his younger brother Charles grew up at Bresnitz Castle in Březnice, Bohemia, and later at Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, Tyrol. The marriage of their parents, Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria and Philippine Welser, was morganatic. This meant that the brothers were not considered members of the Habsburg dynasty and could not use their father's title, Archduke of Austria, bearing instead that of Margrave of Burgau.
His father decided that Andrew should have a career in the clergy. In March 1574, Andrew travelled to Rome, where Pope Gregory XIII made him a cardinal, with Santa Maria Nuova as his titular church. Andrew was only 17 years old, his father having obtained the position for him.
Later life
Andrew was Abbot of Murbach from 1587, until his death. From 1589, he was also Bishop of Constance and from 1589 Bishop of Brixen. In 1598 and 1599, he briefly served as acting Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands while Archduke Albert VII travelled to Spain to marry Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia.
“Andrew, Margrave of Burgau” enters the record as cardinal, bishop of Constance and Brixen (1558-1600). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Andrew, Margrave and Burgau can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q501498. VIAF identifies the subject as 35262397. The Library of Congress control number is no2022037693. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1558, 1600, 1574 and 1587.
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This entry incorporates text from “Andrew, Margrave of Burgau” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.