Emperor Matthias I and Anna of Tyrol were married on 4 December 1611. I cannot help but suspect that it was something of a hurried wedding — not due to any suspicion of premarital haste, as one might mischievously imagine, but because of the political circumstances of the moment.
Only a few months earlier, Matthias had effectively carried out a coup d’état by depriving his mentally troubled brother, Emperor Rudolf II, of power. Both brothers were lifelong bachelors in their fifties with no legal heir. Thus, marriage and the prospect of fathering a son became a matter of dynastic responsibility for Matthias. His young and devout niece was the obvious choice. Barely a month later, Rudolf died, and the newly married couple was solemnly crowned.
As Empress, Anna displayed an intensely zealous religious devotion: she collected relics, shunned Protestants at court, and practised self-flagellation whenever she believed she had sinned. Curiously, her supposedly fragile health and strict faith did not prevent her from an evident overindulgence in food — an odd trait, considering that gluttony counted among the seven deadly sins. Her decision to move the Imperial court from Prague to Vienna and to establish the Capuchin Church — which has since served as the Habsburgs’ traditional burial place — remains her most enduring legacy.
Despite great hopes, the marriage remained childless, and the spouses died within three months of one another in 1618–1619. The Imperial throne then passed to their nephew, Ferdinand II.
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