Maria Anna (18 August 1606 – 13 May 1646), also known as Maria Anna of Austria, Infanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria, and after marriage, The Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, was the youngest daughter of King
Philip III of Spain and
Margaret of Austria.
Biography
Maria Anna was a younger sister of
Anne of Austria,
queen consort of
Louis XIII of France, and
Philip IV of Spain. She was also an older sister of
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand.
In the early 1620s,
James I of England envisioned Maria Anna as a possible bride for his son and heir, the future
Charles I of England and Scotland. Charles even visited Madrid to meet the young Maria Anna. In English history, this possible marriage is known as the
Spanish Match. However, negotiations failed, as maria Anna did not wish to marrty a "heretic" and Charles did not wish to convert ot Catholicism, and Charles eventually married
Henrietta Maria of France.
She was married to her first cousin, the future
Ferdinand III, then the titular king of Hungary, on 20 February 1631. She travelled from Spain to Austria through Italy, a dangerous journey during the Thirty Year's War, which took 14 months to complete. She was married to Ferdinand by proxy with her
brother-in-law, Bishop Leopold Wilhelm of
Strassburg,
Passau and
Halberstadt, when she reached
Trieste in 26 January 1631, and to Ferdiand himself in a second ceremony in
Vienna. The wedding was celebrated for a month. The marriage was described as friendly. Maria Anna was described as happy tempered, friendly and intelligent, and she was able to ease the feelings of the melancholic emperor. She was politically active, acted as the advisor of her spouse, his
Regent during his absence, and followed him on his travels.
Issue
Maria Anna had six children:
- Philip August, Archduke of Austria (1637–1639).
- Maximilian Thomas, Archduke of Austria (1638–1639).
Death
During the Thirty Years War, the imperial family moved hastily to Linz, where she died of poisoning during her last pregnancy after fever and heavy bleeding. The child she was carrying, Maria, was still alive, and was born by cesarean section, but died soon after. Mother and daughter were buried together in a single coffin.
Succession
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