Constance of Austria

Constance of Austria ( born December 24, 1588 Graz, † July 10, 1631 in Warsaw) from the House of Habsburg was an Archduchess of Austria and by marriage Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania.

Life

Constance was a daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria - Styria (1540-1590) from his marriage to Maria Anna (1551-1608), daughter of the Bavarian Duke Albrecht V.

On December 11, 1605 Constance married in Warsaw, the widower of her older sister Anna, King Sigismund III. Vasa of Poland, the only son of King John III. of Sweden and his first wife Princess Katharina Jagiellonka, the sister of the Polish king Sigismund II Augustus, who was also King of Sweden to 1599. The wedding festivities were held at great expense.

The re- marriage of the king with a strict Catholic sister of Emperor Ferdinand II and the resulting feared influence of Spanish Jesuiterei and a papist universal monarchy made ​​in Poland for considerable political unrest. At the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War Sigismund joined the Catholic imperial house.

Artistically gifted, Konstanze composed some pieces of music. The basso Asprilio Pacelli taught the Queen singing. Constance was considered a pious and gentle. During the siege of Smolensk, Konstanze lingered for two years in Vilna. During a local conflagration she replied rescued her jewels to feed their staff. During a plague epidemic in Warsaw provided her arms over three months with food and clothing. The marriage of the royal couple, who were both way, no Poles, was considered lucky, and the death of his wife shook King Sigismund difficult. Constance was buried in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow.

Progeny

From their marriage seven children were born:

  • John Casimir (1607-1608)
  • John II Casimir (1609-1672), King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, titular King of Sweden
  • Johann Albrecht (1612-1634), Bishop of Cracow, Prince-Bishop of Warmia, Cardinal
  • Karl Ferdinand (1613-1655), Bishop of Wroclaw and Plock, Prince of Neisse, Duke of Opole and Ratibor
  • Alexander Karl (1614-1634)
  • Anna Konstantina (* / † 1616)
  • Anna Katharina Konstanze (1619-1651)
Kunsthistorisches Museum Albert V, Duke of Bavaria John III of Sweden Marie Louise Gonzaga John Albert Vasa Karol Ferdynand Vasa Philip William, Elector Palatine Constantin von Wurzbach
201093
de