Archduke Anton Victor of Austria

Who was Archduke Anton Victor of Austria?

Anton Victor, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia was an Archduke of Austria and a Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. He was also briefly the last Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and Prince-Bishop of Münster, before those territories were secularized in 1803.

Anton Victor was the son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Luisa of Spain. He was born in Florence and died in Vienna. He never married and died without issue.

After the death of Maximilian Franz of Austria, the Archbishop of Cologne and Prince-Bishop of Münster, Anton Victor was elected on 9 September 1801 as Prince-Bishop of Münster and on 7 October as Archbishop and Prince-elector of Cologne. The French already occupied the electorate's Rhenish territories, leaving Anton in control only of the Duchy of Westphalia, as well as Münster. His reign was to prove a short one - in the reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire which accompanied the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, his remaining territories were secularized; Münster was seized by the Prussians, while the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt claimed Westphalia.

Anton Viktor became Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in 1804. The Order's German lands, centered around Mergentheim, were secularized in 1809, but Anton remained Grand Master of the order until his death. Between 1816 and 1818 he was Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia.