by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Anna of Bavaria was the first wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. She died before her husband became King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, and Holy Roman Emperor, so she held only the title Archduchess of Inner Austria. Born on December 18, 1574, in Munich, Duchy of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, she was the fourth of the ten children and the second eldest but the eldest surviving of the four daughters of Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and Renata of Lorraine. Maria Anna’s paternal grandparents were Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria, a daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her maternal grandparents were François I, Duke of Lorraine and Christina of Denmark, daughter of King Christian II of Denmark.

Maria Anna had nine siblings but only five survived childhood:

• Christoph of Bavaria (born and died 1570), died on the day of his birth
• Christine of Bavaria (1571 – 1580), died in childhood
• Maximilian I, Duke and Elector of Bavaria (1573 – 1651), married (1) his first cousin Elisabeth of Lorraine, no children (2) his niece Maria Anna of Austria, had two sons
• Cardinal Philipp Wilhelm of Bavaria, Bishop of Regensburg (1576 – 1598), unmarried
• Ferdinand of Bavaria, Archbishop and Prince-Elector of Cologne (1577 – 1650), unmarried
• Eleonore Magdalene of Bavaria (1578 – 1579), died in infancy
• Karl of Bavaria (1580 – 1587), died in childhood
• Albrecht VI, Duke of Bavaria (1584 – 1666), married Mechthilde of Leuchtenberg, had five children
• Magdalene of Bavaria (1587 – 1628), married Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, had one surviving son and a total of twelve stillbirths or miscarriages

Maria Anna’s husband Ferdinand; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 23, 1600, at Graz Cathedral in Graz, Styria, Lower Austria, now in Austria, 26-year-old first cousin Maria Anna of Bavaria married her first cousin 22-year-old Ferdinand II, Archduke of Inner Austria, the son of Karl Franz II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria. This marriage reaffirmed the alliance between the House of Habsburg and the House of Wittelsbach.

Maria Anna and Ferdinand had seven children but only four survived childhood:

• Archduchess Christine of Austria (born and died 1601)
• Archduke Karl of Austria (born and died 1603)
• Archduke Johann Karl of Austria (1605 – 1619), died in his teens
• Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (1608 – 1657), married (1) his first cousin Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, had six children (2) Maria Leopoldine of Austria, had one son (3) Eleanor Gonzaga, had four children
• Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1610 – 1665), married her uncle Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, had two sons
• Archduchess Cecilia Renata of Austria (1611 – 1644), married Władysław IV Vasa, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, had two children
• Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614 – 1662), unmarried

Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II next to Graz Cathedral; Credit – Von KarlN – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=981869

Maria Anna was ill for a long time before she died on March 8, 1616, at the age of forty-one, in Graz, Inner Austria, now in Austria. She was interred in the Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II (link in German) which her husband began building in 1614, next to Graz Cathedral on the site of a former cemetery. When Ferdinand died in 1637, he was also interred in the Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II. The tombs of Maria Anna of Bavaria, Ferdinand, and their son Johann Karl, who died in his teens, are coffin wall niches, marked by inscriptions

Maria Anna’s tomb marker; Credit – Von krischnig – selbst fotografiert, Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=129845239

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Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinand-ii-holy-roman-emperor-archduke-of-austria-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
• Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Archduke of Further Austria, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/matthias-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-archduke-of-further-austria-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
• Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551–1608) (2020) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_of_Bavaria_(1551%E2%80%931608) (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
• Mausoleum Kaiser Ferdinands II. (Graz) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_Kaiser_Ferdinands_II._(Graz) (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
• Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
• William V, Duke of Bavaria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_V,_Duke_of_Bavaria (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
• Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.