Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
Encyclopedia
Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, also sometimes known as Anna Jagellonica (Buda
(now Budapest
), Hungary
, 23 July 1503 – Prague
, Bohemia
, 27 January 1547) was, by marriage to Ferdinand I
, King of the Romans
and later Holy Roman Emperor
, Queen of the Romans.
(1456–1516) and his third wife Anne of Foix-Candale. She was an older sister of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia
, and his eventual heiress.
Her paternal grandparents were King Casimir IV of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, of the Jagiellon dynasty
, and Elisabeth of Austria
, one of the heiresses of Bohemia, duchy of Luxembourg and duchy of Kujavia. Her maternal grandparents were Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale
and Catherine de Foix
, Infanta of the Kingdom of Navarre
.
(now Budapest
).
The death of Vladislaus II on 13 March 1516 left both siblings in the care of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
. It was arranged that Anna marry his grandson, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria
, second son of Queen regnant
Joanna of Castile
and her late husband and co-ruler, Philip I of Castile
.
Anna married Ferdinand on 25 May 1521 in Linz
, Austria
. At the time Ferdinand was governing the Habsburg
hereditary lands on behalf of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
. It was stipulated that Ferdinand should succeed Anne's brother in case he died without male heirs.
Her brother Louis was killed in the Battle of Mohács
against Suleiman the Magnificent
of the Ottoman Empire
on 29 August 1526. This left the thrones of both Bohemia and Hungary vacant. Ferdinand claimed both kingdoms and was elected King of Bohemia on 24 October of the same year, making Anna Queen of Bohemia.
Hungary was a more difficult case. Suleiman had annexed much of its lands. Ferdinand was proclaimed King of Hungary by a group of nobles, but another faction of Hungarian nobles refused to allow a foreign ruler to hold that title and elected John Zápolya
as an alternative king. The resulting conflict between the two rivals and their successors lasted until 1571.
In 1531, Ferdinand's older brother Charles V recognised Ferdinand as his successor as Holy Roman Emperor
, and Ferdinand was elevated to the title King of the Romans
.
Anna and Ferdinand had fifteen children, all of whom were born in Bohemia or Hungary. Both of these kingdoms had suffered for centuries from premature deaths among heirs and a shortage of succession prospects.
Meanwhile Anna served as queen consort of Bohemia
and as one of three living queens of Hungary
until her death. She died in Prague
.
In 1556, Charles V abdicated and Ferdinand succeeded as emperor, nine years after Anna's death.
Buda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
(now Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
), Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, 23 July 1503 – Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, 27 January 1547) was, by marriage to Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
, King of the Romans
King of the Romans
King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...
and later Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, Queen of the Romans.
Family
She was the elder child and only daughter of king Vladislaus II of Bohemia and HungaryVladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary
Vladislaus II, also known as Ladislaus Jagiellon ; was King of Bohemia from 1471 and King of Hungary from 1490 until his death in 1516...
(1456–1516) and his third wife Anne of Foix-Candale. She was an older sister of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia
Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia
Louis II was King of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia from 1516 to 1526.- Early life :Louis was the son of Ladislaus II Jagiellon and his third wife, Anne de Foix....
, and his eventual heiress.
Her paternal grandparents were King Casimir IV of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, of the Jagiellon dynasty
Jagiellon dynasty
The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...
, and Elisabeth of Austria
Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1505)
Elisabeth of Austria , , was a Polish-Lithuanian queen...
, one of the heiresses of Bohemia, duchy of Luxembourg and duchy of Kujavia. Her maternal grandparents were Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale
Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale
Gaston de Foix Earl of Kendal and Count of Benauges, was a French nobleman in the last decades of the Middle Ages.He was a cadet member of the important Foix family in Southern France. He was a son of John de Foix, 1st Earl of Kendal and Margaret de la Pole...
and Catherine de Foix
Infanta Catherine of Navarre
Catherine de Foix was a French noblewoman.She was a daughter of Gaston IV, Count of Foix and Eleanor of Navarre...
, Infanta of the Kingdom of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
.
Life
She was born in BudaBuda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
(now Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
).
The death of Vladislaus II on 13 March 1516 left both siblings in the care of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
. It was arranged that Anna marry his grandson, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
, second son of Queen regnant
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
Joanna of Castile
Joanna of Castile
Joanna , nicknamed Joanna the Mad , was the first queen regnant to reign over both the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon , a union which evolved into modern Spain...
and her late husband and co-ruler, Philip I of Castile
Philip I of Castile
Philip I , known as Philip the Handsome or the Fair, was the first Habsburg King of Castile...
.
Anna married Ferdinand on 25 May 1521 in Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. At the time Ferdinand was governing the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
hereditary lands on behalf of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
. It was stipulated that Ferdinand should succeed Anne's brother in case he died without male heirs.
Her brother Louis was killed in the Battle of Mohács
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
against Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
on 29 August 1526. This left the thrones of both Bohemia and Hungary vacant. Ferdinand claimed both kingdoms and was elected King of Bohemia on 24 October of the same year, making Anna Queen of Bohemia.
Hungary was a more difficult case. Suleiman had annexed much of its lands. Ferdinand was proclaimed King of Hungary by a group of nobles, but another faction of Hungarian nobles refused to allow a foreign ruler to hold that title and elected John Zápolya
John Zápolya
John Zápolya was King of Hungary from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary between 1526 and 1540. He was the voivode of Transylvania before his coronation.- Biography :...
as an alternative king. The resulting conflict between the two rivals and their successors lasted until 1571.
In 1531, Ferdinand's older brother Charles V recognised Ferdinand as his successor as Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, and Ferdinand was elevated to the title King of the Romans
King of the Romans
King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...
.
Anna and Ferdinand had fifteen children, all of whom were born in Bohemia or Hungary. Both of these kingdoms had suffered for centuries from premature deaths among heirs and a shortage of succession prospects.
Meanwhile Anna served as queen consort of Bohemia
Royal Consorts of Bohemia
This is a list of the royal consorts of the rulers of Bohemia.The first Duchess of Bohemia was St. Ludmila, while the first Queen of Bohemia was Świętosława of Poland. Some of them were not crowned.There was only one queen regnant in Czech history - Maria Theresa...
and as one of three living queens of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
until her death. She died in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
.
In 1556, Charles V abdicated and Ferdinand succeeded as emperor, nine years after Anna's death.
Children
| Name | Pictures | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elisabeth of Austria |  |
9 July 1526 | 15 June 1545 | In 1543 she was married to future King Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548... of Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... and Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark... . |
| Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death... |
 |
31 July 1527 | 12 October 1576 | Married to his first cousin Maria of Spain Maria of Spain Archduchess Maria of Austria was the spouse of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia and Hungary. She was the daughter of Emperor Charles V and twice served as regent of Spain.-Life:... and had issue. |
| Archduchess Anna of Austria |  |
7 July 1528 | 16 October/17 October 1590 | Married Albert V, Duke of Bavaria Albert V, Duke of Bavaria Albert V was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to William IV and Marie Jacobaea of Baden.-Early life:Albert was educated at Ingolstadt under good Catholic teachers... . |
| Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria was ruler of Further Austria including Tirol.-Life account:... |
 |
14 June 1529 | 24 January 1595 | Married to Philippine Welser and then married his niece Anne Juliana Gonzaga Anne Juliana Gonzaga Anne Catherine Gonzaga, O.S.M. was an Archduchess of Austria who went on to become a Servant of Mary upon the death of her husband, the Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria.-Biography:... . |
| Maria of Austria |  |
15 May 1531 | 11 December 1581 | Consort of Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg .William was born in and died in Düsseldorf. He was the only son of John III, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, and Maria, Duchess of Jülich-Berg. William took over rule of his father's estates upon his death in 1539... . |
| Magdalena of Austria | 14 August 1532 | 10 September 1590 | A nun. | |
| Catharine of Austria |  |
15 September 1533 | 28 February 1572 | In 1553 she was married to king Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548... of Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... and Grand Duke Grand Duke The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not... of Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark... . |
| Eleonora of Austria | 2 November 1534 | 5 August 1594 | Married William I, Duke of Mantua William I, Duke of Mantua Guglielmo Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua and Montferrat from 1550 to 1587.He was the second son of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Margaret Palaeologina of Montferrat.... . |
|
| Margaret of Austria | 16 February 1536 | 12 March 1567 | A nun. | |
| Johann of Austria | 10 April 1538 | 20 March 1539 | Died in childhood. | |
| Barbara of Austria |  |
30 April 1539 | 19 September 1572 | Married Alfonso II d'Este. |
| Charles II, Archduke of Austria Charles II, Archduke of Austria Charles II Francis of Austria was an Archduke of Austria and ruler of Inner Austria from 1564... |
 |
3 June 1540 | 10 July 1590 | father of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :... . |
| Ursula of Austria | 24 July 1541 | 30 April 1543 | Died in childhood. | |
| Helen of Austria | 7 January 1543 | 5 March 1574 | A nun. | |
| Johanna of Austria |  |
24 January 1547 | 10 April 1578 | Married Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 to 1587.- Biography :... . Ancestors of Charles II of England Charles II of England Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War... and Louis XIII of France Louis XIII of France Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority... . |