Quick Facts
| Intro | Duchess of Bavaria | ||||||||||
| Was | Noble | ||||||||||
| From | Germany | ||||||||||
| Field | Royals | ||||||||||
| Gender | female | ||||||||||
| Birth | 7 July 1528, Prague | ||||||||||
| Death | 16 October 1590, Munich (aged 62 years) | ||||||||||
| Family |
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Biography
Anna of Austria (Prague, July 7, 1528 – Munich, October 16, 1590) was the daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547).
Family
Anna was the third of fifteen children. Her siblings included: Elizabeth, Queen of Poland, Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria, Catherine, Queen of Poland, Eleanor, Duchess of Mantua, Barbara, Duchess of Ferrara, Charles II, Archduke of Austria and Johanna, Duchess of Tuscany.
Anna's paternal grandparents were Philip I of Castile and his wife Joanna of Castile. Her maternal grandparents were Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his third wife Anne de Foix.
Life
She was engaged several times as a child, first to Prince Theodor of Bavaria (1526–1534), then to Charles d'Orléans (1522–1545), but both died young.
Anna finally married on July 4, 1546 in Regensburg at the age of 17, Duke Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, the brother of her first fiancé. This marriage was part of a web of alliances in which her uncle Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor hoped to secure Albert's support before embarking on the Schmalkaldic Wars. The wedding gift was 50,000 Guilder. The couple lived at the Trausnitz Castle in Landshut, until Albert became Duke.
Anna and Albert had great influence on the spiritual life in the Duchy, and enhanced the reputation of Munchen as a city of art, by founding several museums and the Bavarian State Library.
Anna and Albert were also patrons to the painter Hans Müelich and composer Orlando di Lasso. In 1552, Albert commissioned an inventory of the jewelry in the couple's possession. The resulting manuscript, still held by the Bavarian State Library, was the Jewel Book of the Duchess Anna of Bavaria ("Kleinodienbuch der Herzogin Anna von Bayern"), and contains 110 drawings by Hans Muelich.
Children
- Karl (7 September 1547 – 7 December 1547)
- William V (29 September 1548– 7 February 1626)
- Ferdinand (20 January 1550 – 30 January 1608)
- Maria Anna (21 March 1551–29 April 1608) married Archduke Charles II of Austria
- Maximiliana Maria (4 July 1552 – 11 July 1614)
- Friedrich (26 July 1553 – 18 April 1554)
- Ernst (17 December 1554 – 17 February 1612), Archbishop of Cologne
Ancestors
| Ancestors of Archduchess Anna of Austria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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