Ferdinand III , Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III ( 13 July 1608 – 2 April 1657 ) was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death , as well as King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria . Life . Ferdinand was born in Graz , the eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg and his first wife , Maria Anna of Bavaria . Educated by the Jesuits , he became King of Hungary in 1625 , King of Bohemia in 1627 and Archduke of Austria in 1621 . In 1627 Ferdinand enhanced his authority and set an important legal and military precedent by issuing a Revised Land Ordinance that deprived the Bohemian estates of their right to raise soldiers , reserving this power solely for the monarch . Following the death of Wallenstein ( who had previously denied him the overall military command of the Catholic side ) in 1634 , he was made titular head of the Imperial Army in the Thirty Years ' War , and later that year joined with his cousin , the Cardinal - Infante Ferdinand , being nominally responsible of the capture of Donauwörth and Regensburg , and of defeat of the Swedes at the Battle of Nördlingen . Leader of the peace party at court , he helped negotiate the Peace of Prague with the Protestant states , especially Saxony in 1635 . Having been elected King of the Romans in 1636 , he succeeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor in 1637 . He hoped to be able to make peace soon with France and Sweden , but the war dragged on for another 11 years , finally coming to an end with the Peace of Westphalia ( Treaty of Münster with France , Treaty of Osnabrück with Sweden ) in 1648 , both negotiated by his envoy Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff , a diplomat who had been made a count in 1623 by his father Ferdinand II . During the last period of the war , in 1644 Ferdinand III gave to all rulers of German states the right to conduct their own foreign policy ( " ius belli ac pacis " ) . This way the emperor was trying to gain more allies in the negotiations with France and Sweden . This very edict contributed to the gradual erosion of the imperial authority in the Holy Roman Empire . After 1648 the emperor was engaged in carrying out the terms of the treaty and ridding Germany of the foreign soldiery . In 1656 he sent an army into Italy to assist Spain in her struggle with France , and he had just concluded an alliance with Poland to check the aggressions of Charles X of Sweden when he died on 2 April 1657 . Marriages and children . On 20 February 1631 Ferdinand III married his first wife Archduchess Maria Anna of Spain . She was the youngest daughter of Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria . They were first cousins as Maria Anna ' s mother was a sister of Ferdinand ' s father . They were parents to six children : In 1648 , Ferdinand III married his second wife , Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria . She was a daughter of Leopold V , Archduke of Austria , and Claudia de ' Medici . They were first cousins as male - line grandchildren of Charles II , Archduke of Austria , and Maria Anna of Bavaria . They had a single son : In 1651 , Ferdinand III married Eleonora Gonzaga . She was a daughter of Charles IV Gonzaga , Duke of Rethel . They were parents to four children : Music . Ferdinand III was a well - known patron of music and a composer . He studied music under Giovanni Valentini , who bequeathed his musical works to him , and had close ties with Johann Jakob Froberger , one of the most important keyboard composers of the 17th century . Froberger lamented the emperor ' s death and dedicated to him one of his most celebrated works , " Lamentation faite sur la mort très douloureuse de Sa Majesté Impériale , Ferdinand le troisième " ; a tombeau for Ferdinand III ' s death was composed by the renowned violinist Johann Heinrich Schmelzer . Some of Ferdinand ' s own compositions survive in manuscripts : masses , motets , hymns and other sacred music , as well as a few secular pieces . His " Drama musicum " was praised by Athanasius Kircher , and the extant works , although clearly influenced by Valentini , show a composer with an individual style and a solid technique . Recordings of Ferdinand ' s compositions include : Titles . Ferdinand III , by the grace of God elected Holy Roman Emperor , forever August , King of Germany , King of Hungary , Bohemia , Dalmatia , Croatia , Slavonia , Rama , Serbia , Galicia , Lodomeria , Cumania and Bulgaria , Archduke of Austria , Duke of Burgundy , Brabant , Styria , Carinthia , Carniola , Margrave of Moravia , Duke of Luxemburg , of the Higher and Lower Silesia , of Württemberg and Teck , Prince of Swabia , Count of Habsburg , Tyrol , Kyburg and Goritia , Marquess of the Holy Roman Empire , Burgovia , the Higher and Lower Lusace , Lord of the Marquisate of Slavonia , of Port Naon and Salines , etc . etc .