ABSTRACT
Like generations of Habsburg rulers before him, Ferdinand III relied on the Pietas Austriaca to enhance his reputation as the ideal Catholic monarch. Two of the most fundamental components of the Pietas were those centered on the adoration of Jesus: devotion for the Eucharist and the cross. Although neither of these was unique to the imperial family, they nevertheless became such central elements of the Habsburg public image that they came to be defining characteristics of not only the ruler’s piety but also Austrian and Bohemian culture. A citizen’s acknowledgement of devotion to these important Christian symbols was considered tantamount to joining with the Emperor and affirming one’s status as a loyal subject of both the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire.
