Anna of Saxony
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| Anna of Saxony | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Orange | |
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| Spouse | William I of Orange |
| Issue | |
| Anna Anna Maurits August Philip Maurits Emilia |
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| House | House of Orange House of Wettin |
| Father | Maurice, Elector of Saxony |
| Mother | Agnes of Hesse |
| Born | 23 December 1544 Dresden |
| Died | 18 December 1577 (aged 32) Dresden |
| Religion | Lutheranism |
Anna of Saxony (23 December 1544 – 18 December 1577) was the only child and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes, eldest daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. She was the second wife of William the Silent.
Anna was born and died in Dresden. She was reputedly unattractive and lame, but her wealth drew many suitors; before the proposal of Orange in 1560, there were negotiations with the Swedish royal house. She accepted the suit of William I of Orange, and they were married on 25 August 1561.
Anna and William produced five children:
The marriage was unhappy: Anna suspected William was unfaithful, felt neglected by him and was displeased that he denied her access to her money. In 1567, William placed her in Dillenburg under supervision of his family. She left Dillenburg for Cologne in 1568 and, with her family's consent, applied for access to the estates granted to her as dower lands, which was now under occupation by the Habsburg forces.
She entered in to a relationship with her lawyer, Jan Rubens, in 1570. News of this indiscretion reached her husband, and Rubens was arrested and forced to confess the relationship. Later, Rubens was released and returned to his wife, by whom he was father of Peter Paul Rubens. Anna initially claimed that the confession of Rubens had been extracted by means of torture and demanded that her case be brought before the Imperial court, but the birth of her daughter with Rubens, Christina, on 22 August 1571, made her adultery undeniable. William refused to acknowledge Christina as his own and removed his and Anna's children, who never saw their mother again. As a woman, Anna could be executed for adultery, but William did not insist upon this as he had political use of her family.
In 1572, Anna was sent to Beilstein castle along with Christina. She was submitted to a house arrest where she was allowed to receive only a Lutheran priest as visitor and her reading limited to religious literature. She complained about her isolation, and her behaviour became more and more unstable, until the servants were ordered to keep all knives away from her, lest she attack someone. Anna began to suffer from hallucinations and violent outbursts. Christina was removed from her care and sent to be raised with her half-siblings. William annulled their marriage in 1575, and remarried twice. In 1575, Anna was moved to Dresden, where she was incarcerated in a single room with the windows walled and only an opening through which she would receive food. Under these living conditions, her mental and physical health deteriorated to insanity. Anna lived out the rest of her days in Dresden, until her death aged thirty-two in 1577.
Anna had a very bad reputation in history, where she was described as a selfish lunatic according to the contemporary standards of the day, but in the 20th century, a more nuanced and neutral image has been developed of her.
[edit] References
- (in Dutch) Anna van Saksen, Netherlands: Inghist, http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/DVN/lemmata/data/AnnavanSaksen.
[edit] External links
- J.N.W. Bos, "Biography of Anna of Saxony", Mad Monarchs, Netherlands: XS4All, http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmonarchs/anna/anna_bio.htm.
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