Maria Anna of Bavaria (born 1551)

For other people named Maria Anna of Bavaria, see Maria Anna of Bavaria (disambiguation).
Maria Anna of Bavaria
Portrait by Cornelis Vermeyen
Archduchess consort of Inner Austria
Tenure26 August 1571 – 10 July 1590
Born21 March 1551
Munich, Duchy of Bavaria
Died29 April 1608 (aged 57)
Graz, Archduchy of Austria
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1571; died 1590)​
Issue
HouseWittelsbach
FatherAlbert V, Duke of Bavaria
MotherAnna of Austria

Maria Anna of Bavaria (German: Maria Anna von Bayern) (21 March 1551, Munich – 29 April 1608, Graz) was a politically active Archduchess of Austria by her marriage to her uncle Archduke Charles II of Austria. She played an important role in the Counter-Reformation in Austria.

Biography

Maria Anna was a daughter of Albert V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria.[1] She was given an elementary education in Latin and religion but a high education in music, likely by Orlando di Lasso.

On 26 August 1571 in Vienna, the 20-year-old Maria Anna married her maternal uncle Charles II of Austria.[1] The marriage was arranged to give Austria political support from Bavaria and Bavaria an agent in Vienna.

The relation between Maria Anna and Charles was described as good, and the couple had 15 children in just 18 years. Maria Anna was described as confident, ambitious and a great lover of pomp and power, but foremost a devout Catholic. She participated in affairs of state and successfully benefited a powerful counter reformation in the domains of her spouse. She continued her education in music, benefited the Jesuit school in Graz, and spent her time in worship and religious charity.

Maria Anna was widowed in 1590, but she continued to participate in politics as an advisor to her son and encouraged him to continue the Counter-Reformation and work against the Protestant clergy and nobility.

In 1608, she retired to the Nunnery of St Clare in Graz.

Her correspondence is partially preserved.

Issue

Name Picture Birth Death Notes
Archduke Ferdinand Judenburg, 15 July 1572 Judenburg, 3 August 1572 Died in infancy.
Archduchess Anna Graz, 16 August 1573 Warsaw, 10 February 1598 Married on 31 May 1592 to Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Sweden.[1]
Archduchess Maria Christina Graz, 10 November 1574 Hall in Tirol, Tyrol, 6 April 1621 Married on 6 August 1595 to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania; they divorced in 1599.
Archduchess Catherine Renata Graz, 4 January 1576 Graz, 29 June 1599 Died unmarried.
Archduchess Elisabeth Graz, 13 March 1577 Graz, 29 January 1586 Died in childhood.
Archduke Ferdinand Graz, 9 July 1578 Vienna, 15 February 1637 Holy Roman Emperor as Ferdinand II in 1619.[1]
Archduke Charles Graz, 17 July 1579 Graz, 17 May 1580 Died in infancy.
Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana Graz, 22 March 1581 Graz, 20 September 1597 Died unmarried.
Archduchess Eleanor Graz, 25 September 1582 Hall in Tirol, Tyrol, 28 January 1620 Died unmarried.
Archduke Maximilian Ernest Graz, 17 November 1583 Graz, 18 February 1616 Teutonic Knight.
Archduchess Margaret Graz, 25 December 1584 El Escorial, 3 October 1611 Married on 18 April 1599 to Philip III, King of Spain.[1]
Archduke Leopold Graz, 9 October 1586 Schwaz, 13 September 1632 Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tirol under the name Leopold V.[1]
Archduchess Constance Graz, 24 December 1588 Warsaw, 10 July 1631 Married on 11 December 1605 to Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (widower of her older sister).
Archduchess Maria Magdalena Graz, 7 October 1589 Passau, 1 November 1631 Married on 19 October 1608 Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Archduke Charles Graz, 7 August 1590 Madrid, 28 December 1624 Bishop of Wroclaw and Brixen (1608–24), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1618–24).

Ancestry

Bibliography

  • HAMANN, Brigitte, Die Habsburger: Ein Biografisches Lexicon (Munich: Piper, 1988).
  • Parker, Geoffrey (1987). The Thirty Years' War. Military Heritage Press.
  • SÁNCHEZ, Magdalena, (2000) A Woman's Influence: Archduchess Maria of Bavaria and the Spanish Habsburgs. In C. Kent, T.K. Wolber, C.M.K. Hewitt (Eds.) The lion and the eagle: interdisciplinary essays on German-Spanish relations over the centuries (pp. 91–107). New York: Berghahn Books.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Parker 1987, p. 3.
  2. ^ a b Goetz, Walter (1953), "Albrecht V.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 158–160; (full text online)
  3. ^ a b Wurzbach, Constantin von, ed. (1860). "Habsburg, Anna von Oesterreich (1528–1587)" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 6. p. 151 – via Wikisource.
  4. ^ a b Riezler, Sigmund Ritter von (1897), "Wilhelm IV.", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 42, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 705–717
  5. ^ a b c d Brüning, Rainer (2001), "Philipp I.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 20, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 372; (full text online)
  6. ^ Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  7. ^ a b Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  8. ^ a b Obermayer-Marnach, Eva (1953), "Anna Jagjello", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 299; (full text online)
  9. ^ Rall, Hans (1953), "Albrecht IV.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 157; (full text online)
  10. ^ Rall, Hans (1953), "Albrect III.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 156; (full text online)
  11. ^ a b Wurzbach, Constantin von, ed. (1860). "Habsburg, Friedrich V. der Friedfertige" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 6. p. 265 – via Wikisource.
  12. ^ a b Dotterweich, Helmut (1962). Der junge Maximilian: Jugend und Erziehung des bayerischen Herzogs und späteren Kurfürsten Maximilian I. von 1573 bis 1593 [The Young Maximilian: Youth and Education of the Bavarian Duke and Later Elector Maximilian I from 1573 to 1593]. R. Pflaum. p. 188. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  13. ^ a b Philip I, King of Castile at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  14. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Joanna" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  15. ^ a b Casimir IV, King of Poland at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  16. ^ a b Noubel, P., ed. (1877). Revue de l'Agenais [Review of the Agenais] (in French). Vol. 4. Société des sciences, lettres et arts d'Agen. p. 497.