Today marks another ‘wedding of the century’. On 26 May 1521, Archduke Ferdinand — later Emperor Ferdinand I — married Anne of Bohemia. This union had been arranged years earlier by Ferdinand’s grandfather, Emperor Maximilian I, who was also the guardian of the orphaned Anne and her brother Louis.
Through this marriage, the Habsburgs acquired the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, vastly expanding their influence into Eastern Europe. However, this also brought them into direct conflict with the Ottoman Empire. For the next two centuries, Turkish expansionism posed one of the greatest threats to the Habsburgs’ hereditary lands.
Ferdinand and Anne’s marriage was successful both politically and personally. After the premature death of her brother Louis, the couple became King and Queen of Bohemia and Hungary. In Ferdinand’s absence, Anne served as Regent and was widely praised for her intelligence and sound governance. She gave birth to fifteen children, securing the dynastic succession for the Habsburgs.
Anne never held the title of Empress, as she died in 1547 — just days after giving birth to her youngest child and years before Ferdinand became Emperor.
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