Maria Anna von Spanien

Maria Anna of Spain was born on 18 August 1606 at El Escorial Palace near Madrid. She was the fourth child and third daughter of King Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria, who belonged to the Inner Austrian branch of the Habsburgs. Of her seven siblings, only four survived childhood: Anna, who later married King Louis XIII of France; Philip IV; Charles; and Ferdinand, who became known as the Cardinal-Infante and governor of the Spanish Netherlands. Maria Anna was baptized on 8 September, the feast of the Nativity of Mary. Her godparents included her sister Anna and Francisco de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma. From an early age, Maria Anna was included in her father’s dynastic marriage plans. As a teenager, she was betrothed to Johann Karl, the eldest son and heir of Emperor Ferdinand II. The match never took place because Johann Karl died in 1618. A few years later, Maria Anna became a possible bride for the English heir to the throne, Charles, the future King Charles I. The proposed marriage was intended to improve relations between Spain and England. King James I also hoped that Spain would restore the Palatinate to his daughter Elizabeth and her husband in return. Negotiations between Madrid and London led to a spectacular visit by the Prince of Wales to Madrid in 1623. Charles traveled with George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, to meet his possible bride. The proposed union, known as the Spanish Match, triggered a political crisis in England and Scotland. Maria Anna, however, would rather have entered a convent than marry a Protestant, while Charles was unwilling to convert to Catholicism. Political reservations held by the new Spanish king about an alliance with the House of Stuart further complicated the negotiations. The marriage ultimately did not take place, and Charles later married the French Catholic Henrietta Maria of the House of Bourbon. At the end of 1626, Maria Anna became engaged to Archduke Ferdinand, the younger brother of her first fiancé and the new heir to Emperor Ferdinand II. Ferdinand had become King of Hungary in 1625 and also ascended the Bohemian throne in 1627. The marriage negotiations regulated, among other matters, Maria Anna’s position at the Viennese court. A marriage contract signed in 1628 secured her right to inherit the Spanish throne. Her sister Anna had been required to renounce that right when she married Louis XIII of France. Maria Anna left Madrid in December 1629. Because of various difficulties, her journey to Vienna lasted more than a year. A plague epidemic on the Italian peninsula initially prevented her from stopping in Bologna. Instead, she received the Golden Rose, a papal honor, in Naples. She then made a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Santa Casa and traveled through the Papal States accompanied by Roman nobles. On 26 January 1631, she reached Trieste. That same day, she married Ferdinand by proxy, with his brother Leopold Wilhelm standing in for the bridegroom. Leopold Wilhelm then escorted her to Vienna. Before the official wedding, Ferdinand secretly visited his future wife because he did not fully trust the portraits of her that he had previously seen. During the encounter, he revealed his identity and addressed her in Spanish. According to tradition, Maria Anna immediately impressed him. His affection and respect for her lasted throughout their marriage. Ferdinand remained faithful to her and had no children outside the marriage. Their official wedding took place in Vienna on 20 February 1631. The celebrations lasted a month, and the marriage was regarded as harmonious. Maria Anna was described as cheerful, friendly, and intelligent; she was said to have balanced her husband’s more melancholic temperament. At the Viennese court, Maria Anna retained her Spanish cultural identity. She introduced Spanish clothing, theater, dances, and music, and particularly helped promote the guitar. As the wife of the heir to the throne, she maintained good relations with most members of the imperial family. Her relationship with Eleonora Gonzaga, Ferdinand’s stepmother, was more difficult. Eleonora was only a few years older than Maria Anna, and the two competed for influence at court. Maria Anna also took a strong interest in the visual arts and collected works by Italian, Spanish, and Flemish painters of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. On 22 December 1636, Ferdinand was elected King of the Romans at Regensburg and was crowned a week later. Maria Anna received the title of German queen on 21 January 1637. After the death of his father on 15 February 1637, Ferdinand became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Ferdinand III and the reigning king of Hungary and Bohemia. Maria Anna consequently became empress and queen. Her Hungarian coronation took place in Pressburg. Maria Anna also played an important political role. She advised her husband and acted as an intermediary between the imperial court and her relatives in Spain. In doing so, she supported both Ferdinand’s interests and those of her brothers Philip IV and Ferdinand. Her court was strongly Spanish in character, and Spanish ambassadors and other diplomats were frequent visitors. During the emperor’s absences, she repeatedly served as regent. Her regency in 1645 was particularly significant, when Ferdinand III was in Bohemia during the Thirty Years’ War. The final years of Maria Anna’s life were marked by war, flight, and illness. In March 1645, she had to leave Linz with her children because of the advance of Swedish troops and travel to Vienna. When the Swedes threatened to cross the Danube, the imperial family temporarily fled to Graz. After their return to Vienna, an epidemic forced them to withdraw to Linz once again. Maria Anna’s sixth pregnancy became known in January 1646. On 12 May, she suddenly developed a fever and severe bleeding at Linz Castle. She died the following morning, 13 May, at the age of 39. The unborn child was delivered by cesarean section, given the name Maria, and lived for only a few hours. Mother and daughter were placed in a single coffin, transported to Vienna, and buried together in the Imperial Crypt on 24 May. Ferdinand III was so devastated by the deaths of his wife and child that he could not attend the funeral. He later paid his respects to their remains. Maria Anna and Ferdinand III had six children. Their eldest son, Ferdinand IV, became King of the Romans, Hungary, and Bohemia. Their daughter Maria Anna became Queen of Spain. Their other sons were Philipp August and Maximilian Thomas, both of whom died as young children, and Leopold I, who later became Holy Roman Emperor. Their sixth child was Maria, who died shortly after birth. Maria Anna’s life was also represented in art. A character in Philip Massinger’s drama The Renegado has been interpreted as an allusion to her failed connection with the English prince. In 1634, she appeared alongside Ferdinand in a performance in Madrid celebrating the Spanish-Austrian victory over Swedish troops at Nördlingen. Numerous portraits of her, including works by Diego Velázquez, Frans Luycx, and other court painters, are now held in major European collections.