Anna of Masovia was Princess of Mazovia and a member of the House of Piast. She was the last representative of the line of Masovian-Piast.

She was the second daughter of Konrad III of Masovia and Anna Radziwiłł. She was sister of Dukes Janusz III of Masovia

Janusz III of Masovia

Janusz III Mazowiecki was a Polish duke of Masovia, last male of the Masovian Piast dynasty. Son of Konrad III Rudy. Until 1518 Masovia was under regency of his mother Anna Radziwiłł, then he was a co-regent with his brother Stanisław until Stanisław's death in 1524...

 and Stanislaus of Masovia. Her sister was Sophia, who married Stephen VII Báthory

Stephen VII Báthory

Stephen VII Báthory was a Hungarian nobleman and commander. His most prestigious position was Palatine of Hungary.Stephen belonged to the Ecsed branch of the Báthory family...

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Life

After the death of her brother Janusz III, a group of the powerful nobles at the Masovian court attempted to maintain a legal separation of Masovia. In 1526 this ruled against the incorporation of the district and announced Anna as Duchess, the last representative of the family; however, her elder sister Sophia was still alive at the time. Resistance against the incorporation of these nobles, largely caused by their fear of losing their significance after joining the duchy to the Crown, fueled by political forces interested in maintaining the status of fiefdoms. In this state Masovia would be united in resistance against the Crown and would also have encouraged the House of Habsburg (in comparison with the Polish rivalry for influence in Moldova

Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

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In 1536 Anna concluded a marriage with Stanisław Odrowąż. But the king refused to return their goods in return for 10 000 ducats. This caused conflict with the bride and groom with Sigismund I the Old

Sigismund I the Old

Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...

. He led to the deprivation of his offices in Odrowaza. The dispute ended with the parliament in 1537, which forced Anna and her husband to take an oath before the king, the renunciation of the hereditary rights of Masovia and the estate for the benefit of crown.

After leaving Masovia, Anna settled in Odrowąż

Odrowaz

Odrowąż may refer to the following places:*Odrowąż, Lesser Poland Voivodeship *Odrowąż, Opoczno County in Łódź Voivodeship *Odrowąż, Radomsko County in Łódź Voivodeship...

. By the rest of her life was spent mostly at the castle in Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...

, where in approximately 1540 she had her only child, Sophia.

Anna died and was buried in Jaroslaw

Jaroslaw

Jarosław is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 40,167 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship , previously in Przemyśl Voivodeship . It is the capital of Jarosław County.-History:...

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She was the great-great-great-great-great grandmother of Marie Leszczyńska who became Queen consort of France by her marriage to Louis XV of France

Louis XV of France

Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...

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