In July 1621 the widowed Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II sent his Privy Councillor Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg to Mantua, instructing him to negotiate his marriage with Eleonora. After obtaining the dispensation of the Holy See for the Emperor's wedding with not only a relative ("ratione consanguinitatis") but also his goddaughter ("ratione affinitatis spiritualis ex baptismo contractae"), on 21 November the contract was signed, which repeated the provisions made by Ferdinand II's first wife, and on the same day in the Basilica palatina di Santa Barbara at the ducal palace in Mantua the marriage "per procura" was concluded.