Charles II, Archduke of Austria

Charles II Francis was born on 3 June 1540 into the House of Habsburg, the dynasty that had made an art of carving Europe into administrative pieces. In 1564 he became Archduke of Austria and ruler of Inner Austria, a clutch of territories — Styria, Carniola, Carinthia, Gorizia — that formed the monarchy's southeastern buffer. He ruled them until his death on 10 July 1590, twenty-six years spent managing land that mattered more on maps than in memory.