Anna of Austria was the daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...

 and his wife Anna of Bohemia and Hungary

Anna of Bohemia and Hungary

Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, also sometimes known as Anna Jagellonica was, by marriage to Ferdinand I, King of the Romans and later Holy Roman Emperor, Queen of the Romans.-Family:She was the elder child and only daughter of king Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his third...

 (1503–1547).

Family

Anna was the third of fifteen children. Her siblings included: Elizabeth, Queen of Poland, Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...

, Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria

Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria

Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria was ruler of Further Austria including Tirol.-Life account:...

, Catherine, Queen of Poland, Eleanor, Duchess of Mantua

Eleonora of Austria

Archduchess Eleanor of Austria was the daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.-Family:...

, Barbara, Duchess of Ferrara

Barbara of Austria

Barbara of Austria was born in Vienna to Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary...

, Charles II, Archduke of Austria

Charles II, Archduke of Austria

Charles II Francis of Austria was an Archduke of Austria and ruler of Inner Austria from 1564...

 and Johanna, Duchess of Tuscany

Johanna of Austria

Joanna of Austria was born an Archduchess of Austria as the youngest daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. By marriage, she was the Grand Princess of Tuscany and later the Grand Duchess of Tuscany...

.

Anna's paternal grandparents were Philip I of Castile

Philip I of Castile

Philip I , known as Philip the Handsome or the Fair, was the first Habsburg King of Castile...

 and his wife Joanna of Castile

Joanna of Castile

Joanna , nicknamed Joanna the Mad , was the first queen regnant to reign over both the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon , a union which evolved into modern Spain...

. Her maternal grandparents were Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary

Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary

Vladislaus II, also known as Ladislaus Jagiellon ; was King of Bohemia from 1471 and King of Hungary from 1490 until his death in 1516...

 and his third wife Anne de Foix.

Life

She was engaged several times as a child, first to Prince Theodor of Bavaria (1526–1534), then to Charles d'Orléans (1522–1545), but both died young.

Anna finally married on July 4, 1546 in Regensburg

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...

 at the age of 17, Duke Albert V, Duke of Bavaria

Albert V, Duke of Bavaria

Albert V was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to William IV and Marie Jacobaea of Baden.-Early life:Albert was educated at Ingolstadt under good Catholic teachers...

, the brother of her first fiancé. This marriage was part of a web of alliances in which her uncle Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

 hoped to secure Albert's support before embarking on the Schmalkaldic War

Schmalkaldic War

The Schmalkaldic War refers to the short period of violence from 1546 until 1547 between the forces of Emperor Charles I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire, commanded by Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, and the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League within the domains of the Holy Roman...

s. The wedding gift was 50,000 Guilder. The couple lived at the Trausnitz Castle

Trausnitz Castle

Trausnitz Castle is a medieval castle situated in Landshut, Bavaria in Germany. It was the home of the Wittelsbach dynasty, and it served as their ducal residence for Lower Bavaria from 1255–1503, and later as hereditary rulers of the whole of Bavaria...

 in Landshut, until Albert became Duke.

Anna and Albert had great influence on the spiritual life in the Duchy, and enhanced the reputation of Munchen as a city of art, by founding several museums and the Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek.

Anna and Albert were also patrons to the painter Hans Müelich, and composer Orlando di Lasso.

Children

• Karl (7 September 1547 – 7 December 1547)
• William V
  William V, Duke of Bavaria
  William V, Duke of Bavaria , called the Pious, was Duke of Bavaria from 1579 to 1597.- Education and early life :...
  
   (1548–1626)
• Ferdinand (20 January 1550 – 30 January 1608)
• Maria Anna (1551–1608) married Archduke Charles II of Austria
• Maximiliana Maria (4 July 1552 – 11 July 1614)
• Friedrich (26 July 1553 – 18 April 1554)
• Ernst
  Ernest of Bavaria
  Ernest of Bavaria was Prince-elector-archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne from 1583 to 1612 as successor of the expelled Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg. He was also bishop of Münster, Hildesheim, Freising and Liège....
  
   (17 December 1554 – 17 February 1612), Archbishop of Cologne
  Cologne
  Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
  
  

Ancestors