Archduchess Anna, the eldest daughter of Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria, was born on 16 August 1573. Her parents were closely related, being uncle and niece. She grew up among a large horde of siblings under the loving care of her parents and received a strict Catholic education.
As the granddaughter of Emperor Ferdinand I, the niece of Emperor Maximilian II, the cousin of Emperor Rudolf II, and the sister of the future Emperor Ferdinand II, Anna was regarded as a highly desirable match on Europe’s royal marriage market. At first, Duke Henry of Lorraine — and later even Emperor Rudolf himself — was considered as a potential husband, but these plans failed. Ultimately, a dynastic union with Sigismund III Vasa of Poland was arranged to strengthen the Counter-Reformation in his kingdom.
Of Anna and Sigismund’s several children, only their son Władysław (Ladislaus) IV of Poland survived. Anna died in childbirth in 1595 at the age of 24. Sigismund mourned his wife for ten years before finally remarrying — at his mother-in-law’s advice — her youngest sister, Constance Renate, by whom he had further children.
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