Anna the Jagiellonian
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| Anna the Jagiellonian | |
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| On a 1595 painting by Marcin Kober, oil on canvas | |
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| Reign | 15 December 1575 - 1586 |
| Coronation | 1 May 1576 in Krakow |
| Predecessor | Henry of Valois Interrex 1574 - 1575 |
| Successor | Interrex 1586 - 1587 Sigismund III Vasa 1587 |
| Spouse | Stefan Batory |
| Dynasty | Jagiellon |
| Father | Sigismund I the Old |
| Mother | Bona Sforza |
| Born | 18 October 1523 Kraków, Poland |
| Died | 9 September 1596 (aged 72) Warsaw, Poland |
| Burial | Wawel Cathedral |
Anna the Jagiellonian (Polish: Anna Jagiellonka, Lithuanian: Ona Jogailaitė; 1523–1596), daughter of Poland's King Sigismund I the Old, wife of Stefan Batory. She was elected, along with her then fiance, Stefan Batory, as co-ruler in the second election of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Anna was the last member of the Jagiellon dynasty.
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[edit] Royal titles
- Royal titles, in Latin: "Anna Dei gratia Infans Regni Poloniae."[citation needed]
- English translation: "Anna, by the Grace of God, Infanta of the Kingdom of Poland."[citation needed]
[edit] Biography
Anna was born in 1523 to the Jagiellon King, Sigismund I the Old and his wife Bona Sforza.[1] Most of her life was not spectactular.[1]
However, in 1572, her brother Sigismund II Augustus died, leaving the thrones to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth vacant.[1] In 1572 Jean Montluc, Bishop of Valence, offered Henry Valois to the electors of the commonwealth as the next King. Montluc promised the electors that Henry would marry Anna, "to maintain the dynastic tradition".[2] Unfortunately, for Anna, after Henry Valois was elected as the first monarch in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he withdrew his promise and they never wed.[1] In June of 1574 Henry left Poland to assume his new duties as King of France and by May of 1575 the Parliament of the Commonwealth had removed him as their monarch.[3]
By the autumn of 1575 a new candidate was offered to the electors of the commonwealth, Stefan Batory, Prince of Transylvania.[4] Stefan had to agree to the condition that he would marry Anna the Jagiellonian, which he did.[1][4] On 15 December 1575, near Warsaw, Anna along with Stefan Batory, her fiance, was elected as co-rulers, as the second monarch in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual title of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania[4] The coronation took place in Krakow 1 May 1576.[5]
With the death of her husband in 1586, she had one final play to influence the thrones of the Commonwealth. She put forth, to the electors, Sigismund III Vasa, the only son of her youngest sister, Catherine Jagellon of Poland, Queen of Sweden.[1] With Anna's help he gained the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth thrones as the third elected monarch.[1]
Anna died, during her nephew Sigismund's reign, in her own country, where she had been born and had lived, on 9 September 1596.[1] She was the last member of the Jagiellons.[1]
Warsaw was Anna's main residence before it became the capital and she embellished the city by funding the construction of a variety of structures, many of which still exist today. She also funded several distinguished tomb monuments in the Wawel Cathedral, including the monument of her brother King Sigismund Augustus, her own monument in Sigismund's Chapel (both 1574–1575, Santi Gucci) and her husband Stefan Batory in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1586, Santi Gucci) as well as the tomb of mother Bona Sforza in the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari (1593). In 1586 (ten years after it was painted) she ordered that a portrait of her in coronation robes be placed in the Sigismund's Chapel.[6]
[edit] Ancestors
[edit] Gallery
 Portrait of the King in coronation robes (detail) in the Sigismund's Chapel, 1576 |
 Cross on Anna Jagiellon's Chain (see the King/Queen's portrait by Marcin Kober) |
 The Sigismund's Chapel of the Wawel Cathedral; the roof was gilded on her order[7] |
 View of Warsaw near the end of the 16th century |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Anna Jagiellonka (1523 – 1596)". Government of Poland. http://www.poland.gov.pl/Anna,Jagiellonka,(1523,–,1596),1960.html. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
- ^ Stone, Daniel (2001). The Polish-Lithuanian state, 1386-1795 [A History of East Central Europe, Volume IV.]. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 118. ISBN 0295980931.
- ^ Stone, Daniel (2001). The Polish-Lithuanian state, 1386-1795 [A History of East Central Europe, Volume IV.]. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 121. ISBN 0295980931.
- ^ a b c Stone, Daniel (2001). The Polish-Lithuanian state, 1386-1795 [A History of East Central Europe, Volume IV.]. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 122. ISBN 0295980931.
- ^ Stone, Daniel (2001). The Polish-Lithuanian state, 1386-1795 [A History of East Central Europe, Volume IV.]. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 123. ISBN 0295980931.
- ^ WAWEL 1000-2000. Kultura artystyczna dworu królewskiego i katedry. Sala IV. Portrety rodowe. (Polish)
- ^ Kaplica Zygmuntowska (Polish)
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anna Jagiellonka |
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Anna the Jagiellonian
Born: 18 October 1523 Died: 9 September 1596 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by Henry III Walezy |
King of Poland 1575 – 1586 With: Stefan Batory |
Succeeded by Sigismund III Vasa |
| Grand Duke of Lithuania 1575 – 1586 With: Stefan Batory |
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