Maria Anna of Spain
1606 – 1646 · Generation XIII · Infanta · Austrian Habsburgs
Maria Anna (1606 – 1646). Infanta. Married Ferdinand in 1631. Daughter of Philip III; Holy Roman Empress as wife of her first cousin Ferdinand III; mother of Mariana and Leopold I. Born at the Escorial, she was first betrothed to Ferdinand’s elder brother John Charles, whose death in 1618 ended the plan, and in 1623 she was courted in Madrid by Charles, Prince of Wales. That “Spanish match” came to nothing — among other obstacles, she would not wed a Protestant, nor he convert. Her marriage contract, unlike her sister Anne’s, preserved her rights to the Spanish throne. Leaving Madrid in December 1629, she spent more than a year on the road, delayed by plague in Italy, before a proxy wedding at Trieste and the ceremony in Vienna in February 1631. She brought Spanish fashion, theatre and music to Vienna and acted as her husband’s adviser and go-between with her brothers in Spain; he named her regent during his absences, notably in 1645. Uprooted by the Swedish advance and by plague, she died suddenly at Linz Castle during her sixth pregnancy.
Place in the family
- Maria Anna of Spain was a great-granddaughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
- Maria Anna of Spain was the younger of 2 children of Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain recorded in this archive.
- The archive records 31 of her descendants, across 12 generations.
One of 24 people of Austrian Habsburgs (1527–1754) in this archive. The Vienna line, which held the Holy Roman crown almost without a break.
Line of descent: Rudolf I of Germany → Albert I of Germany → Albert II, Duke of Austria → Leopold III, Duke of Austria → Ernest, Duke of Austria → Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor → Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor → Philip I of Castile → Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor → Philip II of Spain → Philip III of Spain → Maria Anna of Spain.
Parents
- Philip III of Spain (1578 – 1621)
- Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain (1584 – 1611)
Siblings
- Philip IV of Spain (1605 – 1665)
Partners
- Married Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (1608 – 1657) in 1631
Children
- Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 – 1705)
- Mariana of Austria (1634 – 1696)
Life
- 1606 — Born
- 1631 — Married Ferdinand
- 1646 — Died