Maria Anna of Spain

Infanta Maria Anna of Spain was born in the Palace of El Escorial, near Madrid, on 18 August 1606 as the fourth child and third (but second surviving) daughter of King Philip III of Spain and his wife, Margaret of Austria, Archduchess of the Inner Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg. Of her seven siblings, only four survived infancy: Anna (later wife of King Louis XIII of France), Philip IV of Spain, Charles (who died young in 1632) and Ferdinand (later Cardinal-Infante and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands). Maria Anna's parents had a close kinship; her father was her mother's first cousin once removed, and they were related through multiple lines of descent. On her father's side, she was the granddaughter of King Philip II of Spain, and his fourth wife and niece, Archduchess Anna of Austria, and on her mother's side, she was the granddaughter of Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his wife and niece, Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria.

From early childhood, Maria Anna played an important role in the matrimonial projects of her father. In adolescence, she was betrothed to Archduke John-Charles, eldest son and heir of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, and his first wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria. Her fiancé was her first cousin and the son of her mother's brother. The marriage never took place because of Archduke John-Charles's early death in 1618.[4]

In 1622, King James I of England received an offer from Philip IV of Spain to strengthen the relations of their countries through a dynastic marriage between Charles, Prince of Wales, and Infanta Maria Anna. London and Madrid began active negotiations. The possible marriage between the Prince of Wales and the Spanish Infanta was known in history under the name "Spanish match" and caused an internal political crisis in both England and Scotland. In 1623, the Prince of Wales, accompanied by George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, visited Madrid to meet his intended bride.[5] However, Maria Anna did not wish to marry a Protestant, and Charles would not convert to Catholicism. At the end, the wedding never took place for political reasons but also because of the reluctance of the new Spanish King to conclude a dynastic marriage with the House of Stuart.[6][7][8][9] Charles eventually married the devout Catholic Henrietta Maria of France of the House of Bourbon.

In late 1626, Maria Anna was betrothed to Ferdinand, the younger brother of her first fiancé and the new heir of Emperor Ferdinand II. He was her first cousin and was the son of her mother's brother. The formal engagement was preceded by a series of negotiations, which were conducted in 1625. The same year, Ferdinand was crowned King of Hungary, and in 1627, he was crowned King of Bohemia. In the negotiations were included all the life aspects of the Infanta at the court of her future spouse. Despite the desire of the groom for Maria Anna's confessor to be the Jesuit Ambrosio Peñalosa, the appointment eventually went to Capuchin Diego Quiroga. In the marriage contract signed by both parties in 1628, it was noted that Maria Anna could retain her rights of inheritance over the Spanish throne, but her older sister Infanta Anna, who married to King Louis XIII of France in 1615, was forced to renounce her rights.[6][8][10]

Maria Anna had left Madrid for Vienna in December 1629, fully three years after her engagement and nearly five years after the proposal for marriage was first mooted. The journey, once it was embarked upon, took more than a year to complete. On route by sea, in Genoa, complications arose from an epidemic of the plague that erupted in the Italian Peninsula. For that reason, the party was unable to stop in Bologna, where Cardinal Antonio Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII, was waiting for the Infanta to give her the Golden Rose. The party moved to Naples, where Maria Anna finally received the award. Leaving Naples, the Infanta crossed the Papal States after she had made a pilgrimage to the Basilica della Santa Casa. On that section of her journey, Maria Anna was accompanied by Roman aristocracy, led by another nephew of Pope Urban VIII, Taddeo Barberini, Prince of Palestrina. On 26 January 1631, she arrived in Trieste, where she met Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, her future brother-in-law, who would first stand in for his brother at a wedding by proxy and then escort the Infanta to Vienna.[11][12] The very day, Maria Anna was married to King Ferdinand of Hungria-Bohemia per procura, with Archduke Leopold Wilhelm serving as the proxy.

Before the official wedding, King Ferdinand, not trusting the previous portraits that he had seen of the Infanta, decided to view his bride secretly. The Royal Oberhofmeister asked for an audience with Maria Anna. On that visit, he was accompanied by some nobles, one of whom was her groom. Struck by the beauty of the Infanta, King Ferdinand immediately revealed his identity and began a conversation with Maria Anna in Spanish.[13] The love and respect that the future emperor felt for his wife lasted throughout their marriage. He was never unfaithful to her and never had any illegitimate children.[14]

In Vienna on 20 February 1631,[1] Maria Anna was married to King Ferdinand of Hungary-Bohemia. The festivities lasted a whole month. The marriage was described as friendly. Maria Anna was described as happy-tempered, friendly and intelligent, and she relieved the feelings of the rather melancholic Ferdinand.

Detail of the portrait of Infanta Maria Ana of Austria by Felipe Diricksen, 1630 (Portland Art Museum)

Maria Anna arrived at the Imperial court in Vienna with the Spanish fashion, theatre, dance and music (including the first sounded guitar). As the wife of the heir, she maintained good relations with all members of her husband's family, but she had a complicated relationship with Ferdinand's stepmother, Empress Dowager Eleonora Gonzaga, mainly because a competition between them began for influence at the Imperial court. Maria Anna also paid much attention to the arts, especially painting. She collected works of Italian, Spanish and Flemish painters of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.[6][15]

In Regensburg on 22 December 1636, Ferdinand was elected as King of the Romans, and a week later, he was crowned by the Archbishop of Mainz. Maria Anna was crowned Queen of Germany one month later, on 21 January 1637. After his father's death, on 15 February 1637, Ferdinand became Holy Roman Emperor under the regnal name of Ferdinand III and also became sovereign King of Hungary and Bohemia. As his wife, she received the titles of Holy Roman Empress and sovereign Queen. Her coronation as Queen of Hungary took place in Pressburg during the Hungarian Diet of 1637–1638.[16][17]

Maria Anna, being active in politics as the adviser of her spouse, was an important mediator between the Emperor and their Spanish relatives. Although she always defended the interests of her husband, she did not forget the interests of her brothers King Philip IV and the Cardinal-Infante.[18] In her court, which was consisted mainly of Spaniards, frequent guests were the Spanish ambassador and other diplomats. The Emperor, during his absences from the Imperial court in Vienna, appointed his wife as regent, such as in 1645, during the Thirty Years' War, when he was in the Kingdom of Bohemia.[14]

In March 1645 Maria Anna and her children left Linz because of the approach of the Protestant Swedish army and moved to Vienna. By April, it was ready to cross the Danube there and threatened to occupy the city. The Imperial family fled instead temporarily to Graz.[19] After returning to Vienna, it was forced to move again to Linz because of the plague. Maria Anna's sixth pregnancy became known in January 1646. Four months later, on 12 May at Linz Castle, she suddenly felt ill with fever and heavy bleeding and died the next morning. Her unborn child, a girl, was taken out alive from her womb. She was named Maria after her mother but lived only a few hours. On 24 May, both mother and daughter in the same coffin were moved to Vienna and buried in the Imperial Crypt, which already contained the coffins with the remains of the two sons of the Empress who had died earlier. The funeral cortege was accompanied by the Spanish ambassador and the Empress's maid of honor. Very upset by the death of his wife and child, the Emperor was unable to attend the funeral.[20][21] However, after returning to Vienna in late August, he finally paid his respects to the remains of Maria Anna, and in September, he announced the engagement of their eldest daughter, Maria Anna, with Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias. However, the Prince died the following month shortly after the announcement. The Spaniards courtiers, members of the late Empress' household who came with her from Spain, including her confessor and the maids of honour of the late Empress, stayed at the Imperial court in Vienna and lived there for a few more years after her death.[22]