Anne of Austria | |
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Anna of Austria in Spanish dress, portrait by Martin Kober
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Queen consort of Poland Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania |
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Tenure | 31 May 1592 – 10 February 1598 |
Coronation | 31 May 1592 Wawel Cathedral, Kraków |
Queen consort of Sweden | |
Tenure | 17 November 1592 – 10 February 1598 |
Coronation | 19 February 1594 |
Born | 16 August 1573 Graz, Austria |
Died | 10 February 1598 Warsaw, Poland |
(aged 24)
Burial | Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland |
Spouse | Sigismund III Vasa |
Issue among others... |
Władysław IV Vasa |
House | House of Habsburg |
Father | Charles II, Archduke of Austria |
Mother | Maria Anna of Bavaria |
Anne of Austria (16 August 1573 – 10 February 1598) was queen consort of Poland and Sweden by marriage to King Sigismund III Vasa.
Anne was a daughter of Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anne of Bohemia (1503–1547), daughter of King Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his wife Anne of Foix-Candale.
Anne became the first wife of Sigismund of Poland on 31 May 1592. This marriage was opposed by many nobles (szlachta) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who were opposed to the alliance with the Austrian Habsburgs that Sigismund pursued.
When Sigismund sent a diplomatic mission, led by Cardinal Radziwill, to Prague for his bride, the anti-Habsburg party with chancellor Jan Zamoyski guarded the borders to prevent the Archduchess from entering the country. Anne evaded the guards, arrived in Kraków and was crowned in May 1592 by Primas Karnkowski as the Queen of Poland. (Later during her lifetime the capital of the Commonwealth was moved from Kraków to Warsaw.)