Maria Anna of Bavaria (born 1574)

For other people named Maria Anna of Bavaria, see Maria Anna of Bavaria (disambiguation).

Maria Anna of Bavaria
Portrait by Joseph Heintz the Elder, 1604
Archduchess consort of Inner Austria
Tenure	23 April 1600 – 8 March 1616
Born	(1574-12-18)18 December 1574 Munich, Duchy of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire
Died	8 March 1616(1616-03-08) (aged 41) Graz, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Spouse	Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor ​ ​ (m. 1600)​
Issue	Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor Maria Anna, Electress of Bavaria Cecilia Renata, Queen of Poland Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
House	Wittelsbach
Father	William V, Duke of Bavaria
Mother	Renata of Lorraine

Maria Anna of Bavaria (18 December 1574 – 8 March 1616) was a German princess, a member of the House of Wittelsbach by birth and an Archduchess consort of Inner Austria by marriage.

Born in Munich, she was the fourth child and second (but eldest surviving) daughter of William V, Duke of Bavaria and Renata of Lorraine.

Life

On 23 April 1600, Maria Anna married her first cousin Ferdinand, Archduke of Inner Austria at Graz Cathedral. This marriage reaffirmed the alliance between the House of Habsburg and House of Wittelsbach. Without interfering in politics, Maria Anna lived in her husband's shadow. She gave him seven children, five of whom lived to adulthood.

Maria Anna died in Graz aged 41, three years before the coronation of her husband as King of Bohemia and King of Hungary and his elevation to Holy Roman Emperor, so she was never a Holy Roman Empress. She was buried in the Mausoleum near the Cathedral in Graz.

Issue

• Archduchess Christine (25 May 1601 – 12/21 June 1601), died in infancy.
• Archduke Charles (born and died 25 May 1603).
• Archduke John-Charles (1 November 1605 – 28 December 1619), died unmarried.
• Ferdinand III (13 July 1608 – 2 April 1657), Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia, who married:
  • Maria Anna of Spain in 1631
  • Maria Leopoldine of Austria in 1648
  • Eleanor Gonzaga in 1651
• Archduchess Maria Anna (13 January 1610 – 25 September 1665), who was married on 15 July 1635 to Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (her uncle).
• Archduchess Cecilia Renata (16 July 1611 – 24 March 1644), who was married on 9 August 1637 to Wladyslaw IV, King of Poland (her cousin).
• Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (6 January 1614 – 20 November 1662), Bishop of Passau and Strasbourg (1625–37), Olmütz (1637–55), Breslau (1655–62), Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (1647–56), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1641–62). He died unmarried.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Maria Anna of Bavaria (born 1574)

16. Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria 8. William IV, Duke of Bavaria 17. Kunigunde of Austria 4. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria 18. Philip I, Margrave of Baden 9. Jakobaea of Baden 19. Elisabeth of the Palatinate 2. William V, Duke of Bavaria 20. Philip I of Castile (=30) 10. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor 21. Joanna I of Castile (=31) 5. Anna of Austria 22. Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary 11. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary 23. Anne of Foix-Candale 1. Maria Anna of Bavaria 24. René II, Duke of Lorraine 12. Antoine, Duke of Lorraine 25. Philippa of Guelders 6. Francis I, Duke of Lorraine 26. Gilbert, Count of Montpensier 13. Renée of Bourbon-Montpensier 27. Clara Gonzaga 3. Renata of Lorraine 28. John of Denmark 14. Christian II of Denmark 29. Christina of Saxony 7. Christina of Denmark 30. Philip I of Castile (=20) 15. Isabella of Austria 31. Joanna I of Castile (=21)

References

• Constantin von Wurzbach: Habsburg, Maria Anna von Bayern in: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, vol 7, ed L. C. Zamarski, Vienna 1861, p. 23 on-line [retrieved 8 April 2015].
• Hellmut Andics: Die Frauen der Habsburger. Heyne, Munich 1997.
• Richard Reifenscheid: Die Habsburger in Lebensbildern. Piper, 2007.