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Anna Jagellonica of Bohemia and Hungary (July 23, 1503 - January 27, 1547) was queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Queen-consort of the Romans and heiress of Bohemia and Hungary.

She was the elder child and only daughter of Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary (1456-1516) and his fourth wife Anna of Foix-Candale. She was an older sister of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia, and his eventual heiress.

Her paternal grandparents were King Casimir IV of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, of the Jagiellon dynasty, and Elisabeth of Austria, one of the heiresses of Bohemia, duchy of Luxembourg and duchy of Kujavia. Her maternal grandparents were Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale and Catherine de Foix, Infanta of the Kingdom of Navarre.

Life account

She was born in Prague and for the first three years of her life was the heiress presumptive to the thrones of Bohemia and the Kingdom of Hungary. The birth of her younger brother Louis on July 1, 1506 demoted her to second-in-line. Her mother died on July 26 of the same year.

The death of Vladislaus II on March 13, 1516 left both siblings in the care of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. It was arranged that she marry his grandson Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, second son of Queen regnant Joanna of Castile and her late husband and co-ruler Philip I of Castile.

Anna married Ferdinand on May 25, 1521 in Linz, Austria. At the time Ferdinand was governing the Habsburg hereditary lands on behalf of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Her brother Louis was killed in the Battle of Mohács against Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire on August 29, 1526. This left the thrones of both Bohemia and Hungary vacant, and Anna being the closest living relative of Louis, Ferdinand claimed both kingdoms in her right and was elected King of Bohemia on October 24 of the same year.

Hungary was a more difficult case. Suleiman had annexed much of its lands. Ferdinand was proclaimed King of Hungary by a group of nobles, but another faction of Hungarian nobles refused to allow a foreign ruler to hold that title and elected John Zápolya as a rival king. The resulting conflict between them and their successors lasted until 1571.

In 1531 Ferdinand's elder brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor recognised Ferdinand as his successor as Holy Roman Emperor, and Ferdinand was elevated to the title King of the Romans.

Anna and Ferdinand had fifteen children, which was a relief to Bohemia and Hungary, both of which kindoms had suffered for some centuries from a tendency for heirs to die prematurely and a shortage of succession prospects.

Meanwhile Anna served as Queen consort of Bohemia and as one of two rival Queen consorts of Hungary until her death. She died in her native Prague.

In 1556 Charles V abdicated and Ferdinand succeeded as emperor, nine years after Anna's death.

Children

Anna and Ferdinand had fifteen children:

• Elisabeth of Austria (July 9, 1526 - June 15, 1545). In 1543 she was married to king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland and Lithuania, Anna's paternal first cousin, but did not have children.
• Maximilian (July 31, 1527 - October 12, 1576), the future emperor. Each of Maximilian's sons died without surviving issue, and the only child of his who left heirs was Anna, named after grandmother, whose son was Philip III of Spain.
• Anna of Austria (July 7, 1528 - October 16/October 17, 1590). Married Albert V, Duke of Bavaria.
• Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (June 14, 1529 - January 24, 1595), the future Archduke of Further Austria.
• Maria of Austria (May 15, 1531–December 11, 1581). Married William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg.
• Magdalena of Austria (August 14, 1532 - September 10, 1590). A nun.
• Catharina of Austria (September 15, 1533 - February 28, 1572). In 1553 she was married to king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland and Lithuania, Anna's paternal first cousin and her own sister's (Elisabeth's) widower, but did not have children.
• Eleanor of Austria (November 2, 1534 - August 5, 1594). Married William I, Duke of Mantua.
• Margaret of Austria (February 16, 1536 - March 12, 1567). A nun.
• Archduke John of Austria (April 10, 1538 - March 20, 1539).
• Barbara of Austria (April 30, 1539 - September 19, 1572). Married Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, but did not have children.
• Archduke Charles II of Austria (June 3, 1540 - July 10, 1590), the future Archduke of Inner Austria, who was to become father of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.
• Ursula of Austria (July 24, 1541 - April 30, 1543).
• Helena of Austria (January 7, 1543 - March 5, 1574). A nun.
• Johanna of Austria (January 24, 1547 - April 10, 1578). Married Francis I, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

• 1503 births
• 1547 deaths
• People from Prague
• House of Habsburg
• German queen consorts