Carlo Francesco Giuseppe di Asburgo Lorena, nacque nel castello di Persenburg (Austria) il 17 agosto 1887, dall’arciduca Ottone d’Austria e dall’arciduchessa Maria Giuseppina di Sassonia; ed era pronipote dell’imperatore Francesco Giuseppe I (1830-1916). La buona e devota madre, influenzò fortemente l’animo del giovane principe; ebbe una formazione umanistica sotto la guida di eccellenti precettori; poi proseguì i suoi studi presso il famoso “Schottengymnasium” dei Benedettini di Vienna, dove dai compagni veniva chiamato ‘arcicarlo’.
Frequentò l’Università a Praga, studioso e appassionato alle lingue, in primo luogo a quelle parlate nell’Impero d’Austria. Durante le manovre militari del 1907, ormai ufficiale d’ordinanza dello zio Francesco Ferdinando, principe ereditario, si dimostrò un capo perfetto nel talento militare e nel senso tattico. Aveva 20 anni, parlava quasi una decina di lingue, era ammirato da tutti e da non poche principesse d’Europa e capitava spesso di vederlo pregare in pubblico, inginocchiato per terra come un fratino in un convento.
Alla corte di Vienna, aveva conosciuto la principessa Zita di Borbone-Parma, nata a Lucca nel maggio del 1892. Tra i due sbocciò l’amore. Nell’aprile del 1911, si iniziò a parlare delle nozze. In occasione del fidanzamento ufficiale, Zita e la madre andarono in udienza dal Papa Pio X. Il quale, accennando a Carlo, lo chiamò “principe ereditario”. Zita rettificò: «Non è lui l’erede al trono». Pio X non se ne diede per inteso e continuò a parlare di Carlo come del principe ereditario.
Sposò nel 1911 la principessa Zita di Borbone - Parma, dalla loro unione nacquero cinque figli maschi e tre figlie. Per la serie di disgrazie familiari che colpì la dinastia di Francesco Giuseppe, il pronipote Carlo venne a trovarsi in linea di successione, ad essere inaspettatamente erede al trono imperiale.
Nel 1915 l’anziano imperatore cercò di introdurre Carlo negli affari di governo; senza coinvolgerlo però in settori essenziali e vitali. Partecipò alla Prima Guerra Mondiale, comandando il XX Corpo dei Cacciatori imperiali “Edelweiss”, dimostrando le sue capacità militari e di coraggio fisico-morale; poi gli fu dato il comando della XII Armata in Galizia, poi ancora quello delle Armate contro i russi diretti da Brusilov, la cui offensiva venne fermata.
Dopo l’entrata in guerra della Romania, Carlo vinse la battaglia di Hermannstadt e si accingeva a conquistare anche Bucarest; le sue qualità militari gli vennero riconosciute dal suo Capo di Stato Maggiore, il prussiano Hans von Seeckt, che lo considerava un bigotto.
Il 21 novembre 1916 morì l’imperatore Francesco Giuseppe I e Carlo in piena Guerra Mondiale, divenne imperatore d’Austria (Carlo I) e re d’Ungheria (Carlo IV).
Sin da fanciullo aveva dimostrato una particolare inclinazione verso la religione e la preghiera, si sentiva chiamato alla carità per il prossimo e fin da ragazzo raccoglieva soldi per i poveri. Da giovane ufficiale in Galizia, cercò sempre con successo di elevare la vita morale dei suoi soldati, i quali vedevano in lui il modello dell’uomo cattolico. I suoi principi religiosi lo portarono, da imperatore, a sostituire il feldmaresciallo Conrad, perché agnostico e che all’età di 64 anni aveva sposato una donna divorziata, inoltre aveva usato indiscriminatamente le corti marziali, alienando i cechi dalla Casa d’Austria.
Although provided with excellent military preparation, he was the only one among the belligerents to welcome the peace initiatives of Pope Benedict XV; after all, from the beginning of his government he was determined to restore peace to his peoples.
He undertook various initiatives of pacification with the other powers, but without succeeding in prevailing in the circle of German generals and statesmen; not even two separate peace attempts were carried out, because of the fierce resistance of the Italian government and that they then found themselves around.
So on the part of the allies, on the German side and on the part of Pangermanic Austrians, an enormous propaganda was bashed against the young sovereign, who was accused of being a weak, a womanizer, incompetent, drunkard and very dependent on his wife's will. 'Italian'.
It failed to carry out a constitutional reform of the state in a confederal form, due to the opposition of the Austrian-Pangermanist nationalists and the Hungarian governing circles, headed by Count Tisza, who absolutely refused to give concessions to over eight million not magyar, present in Hungary.
Around him he found no political man, willing to support his plans for reform, indeed the foreign minister Count Czernin, loyal to the Germanic arrogance, soon entered full divergence with his sovereign. The only political advisor he disputed, Count Polzer-Hoditz, became the target and victim of a well-orchestrated campaign of denigration.
On 4 November 1918, following the military collapse on the Italian front, the armistice was signed with Italy and as a consequence the Danube monarchy declined and in Austria, on 12 November, the Austrian Republic was proclaimed. Charles withdrew first to Hungary, renouncing all participation in the affairs of state, but without abdicating as sovereign; then, until March 24, 1919, he lived with his family in the castle of Eckartsan near Vienna, from where he had to move, under British protection in Switzerland; deeming himself faithful to the oath he had made at the coronation of the king of Hungary, he made two attempts to regain power in this state, both in 1921.
But they failed because of the hostility of some powers of the Little Entente, opposed to a restoration, despite the sympathies towards his person, shown by France and Romania; in addition, the regent of Hungary, Nicholas von Horthy, stood against the legitimate king, despite the oath that bound him to the exiled king.
Attempts to resume the throne, were carried out by his will, without using military force, thus saving a high cost of human lives; this attitude cost him the crown.
He was taken prisoner by the government of Regent Horthy and handed over to the English, who brought him along with his wife Zita and his sons in Funchal on the Portuguese island of Madeira. Without economic resources, the family had to live in a precarious state, soon left the hotel that housed them, settled in an isolated villa called 'Villa Quinta do Monte', which could not be heated.
Because of the damp and cold climate of the mountain, Carlo fell ill with a complicated pneumonia; his already weakened heart did not overcome the disease and therefore died on 1 April 1922; he was buried in the sanctuary of 'Nossa Senhora do Monte'.
In both private and public life, Charles had sought ever more perfectly to obey the laws of God and of the Church, living the Christian virtues in an extraordinary way. With extraordinary courage he suppressed the duel, a provision that made him highly unpopular in military circles; united by a devotional branch to the person of the Supreme Pontiff, he showed a spiritual obedience to his magisterium.
Equipped with a very strong awareness of social responsibility, he also led a life full of prayer that outlined asceticism. Become sovereign, suppressed the lavish manifestations of court life, abolished the supplements for the supreme offices of the royal imperial court, introducing a decidedly sober lifestyle.
A whole series of social initiatives in favor of his subjects, especially the poorest, were interrupted by the fall of the monarchy, but also in the condition of exile, became popular for his sense of justice and friendliness with the employees, certainly not usual in the strict Habsburg court.
The last sovereign of the double Austro-Hungarian monarchy, he had to suffer the collapse, despite being so different from his predecessors, for his religiosity, moral directness, social vision and reform of an absolutist state in a confederal.
On November 3, 1949, Vatican Radio announced the opening of the beatification process; the records were handed over to the Congregation of Rites on May 22, 1954; in May 2003 the "heroic virtues" were recognized and therefore the title of venerable. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 3 October 2004.