| Maria Anna of Spain | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Holy Roman Empress (more…) | |||||
| Tenure | 15 February 1637 – 13 May 1646 | ||||
| Born | (1606-08-18)18 August 1606 El Escorial,Crown of Castile | ||||
| Died | 13 May 1646(1646-05-13) (aged 39) Linz,Archduchy of Austria,Holy Roman Empire | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | |||||
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| House | Habsburg | ||||
| Father | Philip III of Spain | ||||
| Mother | Margaret of Austria | ||||
| House of Habsburg Spanish line |
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.svg) |
| Emperor Charles V (King Charles I) |
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| Philip II |
| Philip III |
| Philip IV |
| Charles II |
Maria Anna of Spain (18 August 1606 – 13 May 1646)[1] was aHoly Roman Empress and Queen ofHungary andBohemia by her marriage toFerdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor.[2] She acted as regent on several occasions during the absences of her husband, notably during his absence in Bohemia in 1645.[3]
The daughter of KingPhilip III of Spain and ofMargaret of Austria, she was prior to her Imperial marriage considered a possible wife forCharles, Prince of Wales. The event, later known in history as the "Spanish match", provoked a domestic and political crisis in the kingdoms ofEngland andScotland. In the imperial court inVienna, she continued to be strongly influenced by her nativeSpanish culture from clothes to music and also promoted the strengthening of relations between the Imperial and the Spanish branches of theHouse of Habsburg.
Infanta Maria Anna of Spain was born in the Palace ofEl Escorial, nearMadrid, on 18 August 1606 as the fourth child and third (but second surviving) daughter of KingPhilip III of Spain and his wife,Margaret of Austria, archduchess of theInner Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg. Of her seven siblings, only four survived infancy:Anna (later wife of KingLouis XIII of France),Philip IV of Spain,Charles (who died young in 1632) andFerdinand (later Cardinal-Infante andGovernor of the Spanish Netherlands).[citation needed] Maria Anna's parents had a close kinship; her father was her mother's first cousin once removed, and they were related through multiple lines of descent. On her father's side, she was the granddaughter of KingPhilip II of Spain, and his fourth wife and niece,Archduchess Anna of Austria, and on her mother's side, she was the granddaughter ofCharles II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his wife and niece,Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria.[citation needed]
From early childhood, Maria Anna played an important role in the matrimonial projects of her father. In adolescence, she was betrothed to Archduke John-Charles, eldest son and heir ofFerdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, and his first wife,Maria Anna of Bavaria. Her fiancé was her first cousin and the son of her mother's brother. The marriage never took place because of Archduke John-Charles's early death in 1618.[4]
There was a possible marriage between the prince of Wales and the Spanish Infanta, it was known in history under the name "Spanish match" and caused an internal political crisis in both England and Scotland. In 1623, the Prince of Wales, accompanied byGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, visited Madrid to meet his intended bride.[5] However, Maria Anna did not wish to marry aProtestant, and Charles would not convert toCatholicism. At the end, the wedding never took place for political reasons but also because of the reluctance of the new Spanish king to conclude a dynastic marriage with theHouse of Stuart.[6][7][8][9] Charles eventually married the devout CatholicHenrietta Maria of France of theHouse of Bourbon.
In late 1626, Maria Anna was betrothed to ArchdukeFerdinand, the younger brother of her first fiancé and the new heir of Emperor Ferdinand II. He was her first cousin and was the son of her mother's brother. The formal engagement was preceded by a series of negotiations, which were conducted in 1625. The same year, Ferdinand was crownedKing of Hungary, and in 1627, he was crownedKing of Bohemia. In the negotiations were included all the life aspects of the infanta at the court of her future spouse. Despite the desire of the groom for Maria Anna's confessor to be theJesuitAmbrosio de Peñalosa, the appointment eventually went toCapuchin Diego Quiroga. In the marriage contract signed by both parties in 1628, it was noted that Maria Anna could retain her rights of inheritance over the Spanish throne, but her older sister Infanta Anna, who married to KingLouis XIII of France in 1615, was forced to renounce her rights.[6][8][10]
Maria Anna had left Madrid for Vienna in December 1629, fully three years after her engagement and nearly five years after the proposal for marriage was first mooted. The journey, once it was embarked upon, took more than a year to complete. On route by sea, inGenoa, complications arose from an epidemic of theplague that erupted in theItalian Peninsula. For that reason, the party was unable to stop inBologna, whereCardinalAntonio Barberini, nephew ofPope Urban VIII, was waiting for the infanta to give her theGolden Rose. The party moved toNaples, where Maria Anna finally received the award. Leaving Naples, the Infanta crossed thePapal States after she had made a pilgrimage to theBasilica della Santa Casa. On that section of her journey, Maria Anna was accompanied by Roman aristocracy, led by another nephew of Pope Urban VIII,Taddeo Barberini,Prince of Palestrina. On 26 January 1631, she arrived inTrieste, where she metArchduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, her future brother-in-law, who would first stand in for his brother at a wedding by proxy and then escort the infanta to Vienna.[11][12] The very day, Maria Anna was married to King Ferdinand of Hungary and Bohemiaper procura, with Archduke Leopold Wilhelm serving as the proxy.
Before the official wedding, King Ferdinand, not trusting the previous portraits that he had seen of the infanta, decided to view his bride secretly. The RoyalOberhofmeister asked for an audience with Maria Anna. On that visit, he was accompanied by some nobles, one of whom was her groom. Struck by the beauty of the infanta, King Ferdinand immediately revealed his identity and began a conversation with Maria Anna in Spanish.[13] The love and respect that the future emperor felt for his wife lasted throughout their marriage. He was never unfaithful to her and never had any illegitimate children.[14]
InVienna on 20 February 1631,[1] Maria Anna was married to King Ferdinand of Hungary-Bohemia. The festivities lasted a whole month. The marriage was described as friendly. Maria Anna was described as happy-tempered, friendly and intelligent, and she relieved the feelings of the rather melancholic Ferdinand.
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Maria Anna arrived at the Imperial court in Vienna with the Spanish fashion, theatre, dance and music (including the first soundedguitar). As the wife of the heir, she maintained good relations with all members of her husband's family, but she had a complicated relationship with Ferdinand's stepmother, Empress DowagerEleonora Gonzaga, mainly because a competition between them began for influence at the Imperial court. Maria Anna also paid much attention to the arts, especially painting. She collected works of Italian, Spanish and Flemish painters of the lateRenaissance and earlyBaroque periods.[6][15]
InRegensburg on 22 December 1636, Ferdinand was elected asKing of the Romans, and a week later, he was crowned by theArchbishop of Mainz. Maria Anna was crowned Queen of Germany one month later, on 21 January 1637. After his father's death, on 15 February 1637, Ferdinand becameHoly Roman Emperor under the regnal name of Ferdinand III and also became sovereign king of Hungary and Bohemia. As his wife, she received the titles of Holy Roman Empress and sovereign queen. Her coronation as Queen of Hungary took place inPressburg during theHungarian Diet of 1637–1638.[16][17]
Maria Anna, being active in politics as the adviser of her spouse, was an important mediator between the emperor and their Spanish relatives. Although she always defended the interests of her husband, she did not forget the interests of her brothers King Philip IV and the Cardinal-Infante.[18] In her court, which was consisted mainly of Spaniards, frequent guests were the Spanish ambassador and other diplomats. The emperor, during his absences from the Imperial court in Vienna, appointed his wife asregent, such as in 1645, during theThirty Years' War, when he was in theKingdom of Bohemia.[14]
In March 1645 Maria Anna and her children leftLinz because of the approach of the ProtestantSwedish army and moved toVienna. By April, it was ready to cross theDanube there and threatened to occupy the city. The Imperial family fled instead temporarily toGraz.[19] After returning to Vienna, it was forced to move again to Linz because of the plague. Maria Anna's sixth pregnancy became known in January 1646. Four months later, on 12 May at Linz Castle, she suddenly felt ill with fever and heavy bleeding and died the next morning. Her unborn child, a girl, was taken out alive from her womb. She was named Maria after her mother but lived only a few hours. On 24 May, both mother and daughter in the same coffin were moved to Vienna and buried in theImperial Crypt, which already contained the coffins with the remains of the two sons of the empress who had died earlier. The funeral cortege was accompanied by the Spanish ambassador and the empress's maid of honor. Very upset by the death of his wife and child, the emperor was unable to attend the funeral.[20][21] However, after returning to Vienna in late August, he finally paid his respects to the remains of Maria Anna, and in September, he announced the engagement of their eldest daughter, Maria Anna, withBalthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias. However, the prince died the following month shortly after the announcement. Members of the late empress' household who came with her from Spain, including her confessor and maids of honour, lived at the Imperial court in Vienna for a few more years after her death.[22]
During her marriage, Maria Anna gave birth to six children:[23]
| Ancestors of Maria Anna of Spain |
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Claire Jowitt views the character of princess Donusa inMassinger's 1624 playThe Renegado as an allegory of the Infanta during the failed marriage attempt.[30]
In 1634, the Spanish poet and playwrightPedro Calderón de la Barca, in honour of the victory of the Spaniards and the Austrians over the Swedes in theBattle of Nördlingen, set in Madrid a performance in which Maria Anna, with her husband, was one of the actors.[31]
Save a few portraits of Maria Anna as child, almost all of them are included in the collection of theKunsthistorisches Museum inVienna. In the earliest of those paintings, made byJuan Pantoja de la Cruz, she is shown at one year of age.[32] The collection of thePortland Art Museum includes a 1630s portrait of Maria, painted byFelipe Diriksen. A portrait of the Infanta Maria Anna, then Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, made byDiego Velázquez, court painter at Madrid, was part of the collection of theMuseo del Prado.[33] Portraits of the Empress made byFrans Luycx (painter at the court in Vienna),Bartolomé González y Serrano,Rodrigo de Villandrando,Justus Sustermans,Juan van der Hamen and other unknown authors are also stored in the collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum,[34] Museo del Prado,[35] the gallery of theSchloss Esterházy inEisenstadt[36] and theMusée Fesch inAjaccio.[37]
Media related toMaría Ana de Austria (1606-1646) at Wikimedia CommonsMaria Anna of Spain Born: 18 August 1606 Died: 13 May 1646 | ||
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| Preceded by | Empress of the Holy Roman Empire German Queen,Archduchess consort of Austria 1637–1646 | Vacant Title next held by Maria Leopoldine of Austria |
| Queen consort of Hungary andBohemia 1631–1646 | ||
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