Catherine of Austria, Queen of Poland

Catherine of Austria ( born September 15 or September 25, 1533 in Innsbruck, † February 28, 1572 in Linz) was Queen of Poland and Duchess of Mantua.

Biography

Catherine was the daughter of the Roman-German king and later Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary in Innsbruck and raised mostly there. At 16 she was in Mantua with Franz III on October 22, 1549. Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, married, however died just four months after the marriage on February 21, 1550.

On July 31, 1553 Catherine married in Krakow with the Polish King Sigismund II August. She was his third wife; earlier, he had married his first wife, with Catherine's older sister Elizabeth.

The relationship between the royal spouses remained from the beginning cool, but could Katharina build good relationships with key personalities of the Polish court. She suffered from epilepsy as well as her sister, and in 1558 was also announced that she can not have children. Since 1559, therefore, sought the king, who already had two childless marriages behind him for a divorce. In the winter of 1562/1563 he separated from his wife and was never further married life ready despite violent efforts from various sides. Therefore Katharina left Poland in autumn 1566 and retired to the castle in Linz. They even gave all the blame on her unhappy marriage counselors of the king. For years, the king sought in vain now a divorce and survived Catherine by only a few months.

Catherine was buried in 1614 in the monastery crypt of the pen St. Florian near Linz.