Leopold Joseph
*29.10.1700 Vienna - †04.08.1701 Vienna
Archduke of Austria
Leopold Joseph was the only son of Emperor Joseph I. and Amalia Wilhelmina of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was baptised by Cardinal Kollonitsch in the Knights' Hall of the Hofburg Palace and given the names Leopoldus Josephus Joannes Thaddäus Narcissus Antonius Ignatius Xaverius Philippus, in keeping with the saint worship of the time.
He died a few months later and after his death, his body was opened in the presence of personal physicians, his organs were removed in the usual manner and placed in two copper cauldrons. The dead child was then laid on a cushion, adorned with a little dress and two wreaths.
A chambermaid, accompanied by two valets, carried the body to the court chapel, which was lined with red damask. There she placed it on a three-step platform for display while the clergy performed their rituals.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the two small copper cauldrons (including the heart) were taken to St. Stephen's. Shortly afterwards, the small body was taken by the chief steward, Prince of Salm, and placed in the coffin by the Aja (chambermaid). Two chamberlains locked the two locks on the coffin.
Six chamberlains carried the coffin to the castle square, where a court carriage drawn by six horses was waiting.
The lady chief steward accompanied the carriage to the Capuchins, where the provost, assisted by other clergy, performed the church ceremony.
The sarcophagus
The smooth children's sarcophagus stands on four ornamented feet and is decorated only with the Austrian coat of arms on a richly ornamented cartouche crowned with the archducal coronet. To the right and left of it is a small genius as a centrepiece.
A crucifix and the inscription plate are attached to the lid. Four leaf ornaments decorate the upper and lower parts.
The inscription reads:
O LUCTUM! SERENISSIMUS LEOPOLDUS IOSEPHUS SAECULARI ANNO 1700 DIE 29 OCTOBRIS GENITUS IAM ANNO 1701 DIE 4 AUGUSTI CAELO AC URNAE HUIC ILLATUS QUI LEOPOLDI M. NEPOTEM IOSEPHI. I. ROM: AC HUNGARIAE REGIS ET AMALIAE FILIUM PRIMOGENITUM SPEM IPSAM HUMANI GENEREIS INCIDIT.
Oh, what sorrow! The most illustrious Leopold Joseph, born on 29 October 1700, was taken to heaven and laid to rest in this coffin on 4 August 1701. How hard was the blow that destroyed Leopold the Great's grandson, the firstborn son of Joseph I, Roman Emperor and King of Hungary, and Amalia, the hope of the human race.