Anna of Austria (1573-1598)

Anna of Austria, Habsburg, (Polish Anna Austriaczka¹, Anna Habsburżanka, Anna Rakuszanka) (b. August 16, 1573 in Graz-February 2, 1598 in Warsaw) was Queen of Poland and Sweden.

Daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria, Habsburg. Anna's grandfather was Ferdinand I of the Holy Roman Empire and her brother was the emperor Ferdinand II.

Anna became the first wife of Sigismund III of Poland and Sweden on May 31, 1592. This marriage was opposed by many nobles (szlachta) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who were opposed to the alliance with Habsburgs that Zygmunt pursued.

When Zygmunt sent a diplomatic mission, lead by cardinal Radziwill to Prague for his bride, Anna, the anti-Habsburg party with chancellor Jan Zamoyski guarded the borders to prevent archprincess from entering the country. Anna evaded the guards, arrived in Cracow and was coronated in May by primas Karnkowski as the Queen of Poland, and two years later, in 1594, in Sweden, as the Queen of Sweden.

Not very beautiful, she and Zygmunt fell in love. Anna gained the friendship and respect of many of her former enemies with her politeness and culture. It was during her lifetime that Zygmunt moved the capital of the Commonwealth from Cracow to Warsaw.

They had five children, but only Wladislaw lived to become an adult:

1. Anna Maria (1593-1600)
2. Katharina (1594-1594)
3. Vladislaus (1595-1648), (reigned 1632-1648 as Władysław IV Waza of Poland)
4. Katharina (1596-1597)
5. Kristofer (1598-1598)

Anna died on February 2, 1598 and Sigismund III then married her sister Constance Renate Habsburg.

Notes

1. Anna Austriaczka is more often used for the Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII of France.