Ferdinand III (feb 20, 1637 – apr 2, 1657)

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eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand II and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His son Ferdinand IV co-ruled from 1647-1654
In 1634, he was made titular head of the Imperial Army in the Thirty Years' War. Leader of the peace party at court, he helped negotiate the Peace of Prague with the Protestant states, especially Saxony in 1635.
He succeeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor in 1637. He hoped to make peace soon with France and Sweden, but the war dragged on, finally ending in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia.
During the last period of the war, in 1644 Ferdinand III gave all rulers of German states the right to conduct their own foreign policy – the emperor hoped to gain more allies in the negotiations with France and Sweden. This edict, however, 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. He was succeeded by his second son Leopold I.

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