When Swedish king Johan III died, on November 17, 1592, his and Katarina Jagellonica’s son Sigismund became king of Sweden. He was already king of Poland, as nephew to the former queen Anna. He was also already married, to Anna of Austria.
Anna was born in to the Habsburg dynasty on august 16, 1573, daughter to Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bayern. Her parents had a total of 15 children, of which 8 survived to adulthood. Anna and her siblings received a strict catholic education. They would attend church since the age of one, and their first words were to be Jesus and Mary.
When Anna was old enough to marry, a few different candidates were discussed, amongst other her cousin, the Holy Roman Emperor. But in the end, the choice fell upon the Polish king and Swedish crown prince Sigismund. It was said Anna herself was not very happy about this, but of course, she didn’t get a say.
When the marriage negotiations were done, Anna and her mother Maria Anna traveled to Krakow, where Anna and Sigismund married on may 31 1592, and Anna was crowned queen of Poland.
Not just Anna, but also the polish nobility were against the marriage. They did not want an alliance with the Habsburgs, and even tried to block Anna from entering the country.
But despite this inital resistance, the marriage has been described as happy. Anna and Sigismund got along well, and she was one of his closest advisors and a great support during the turbulent years to come.
And they began when Sweden’s king and Sigismund’s father Johan died six months after the wedding. Sigismund and Anna became king and queen of Sweden as well. It would take until September the following year however, before the royal couple arrived in Sweden. The reason for the delay had been that Anna was pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter, Anna Maria on may 23, 1593.
When they left Poland, the polish nobility, who were against Sigismund leaving the country, demanded that he leave Anna behind as pledge to return. Sigismund rejected this, but the couple had to leave their newborn daughter instead.
So at last, on the 30th of September 1593, Anna and Sigismund arrived in Stockholm. Sigismund was now 27 and Anna, who was 20, was pregnant again. The arrival to Sweden was probably an unpleasant chock for them both.
Sigismund found out that the Privy Council, with his uncle Karl (above) at the head, held a lot of power. They had also made a list of demands he would have to accept, amongst other things that Sweden would remain a protestant country, and catholics were denied freedom of religion.
Once he agreed to these terms he and Anna could be crowned king and queen of Sweden, in February 1594. The coronation ceremony was of course protestant, and the fervently catholic Anna felt it to be an empty ceremony lacking real value.
She didn’t speak the language, felt alone and harrassed by the protestant priests. She also found the castle to be dark and austere, and she accused the dowager queen Gunilla Bielke of stealing beautiful and valuable things.
Anna has been described as beautiful and gracious, but reserved, and she only participated in official ceremonies when she really had to.
In April 1594 Anna gave birth to a daughter, Katarina. This was properly celebrated, but unfortunately the child died a couple of months later.
We can guess that Anna did not regret leaving the country when she and Sigismund returned to Poland in July the same year. The Privy Council would govern the country in the kings absence. Sigismund however, did not trust them and tried to limit their power by hiring people loyal to him, and forbade the council to gather parliament without his expressed consent.
But almost at once, the Council broke this rule. In 1595 a parliament was held where duke Karl was appointed regent in Sigismund’s absence. Catholic services where banned and it was decided that all catholics were to be banished.
Sigismund responded with declaring that since parliament had gathered unlawfully, therefore all decisions made there were invalid. This is when the tension between Sigismund and uncle Karl turned to pure animosity, and eventually to open conflict.
But Anna did not live to see much of this. Back in Poland she gave birth to two more children, crown prince Vladislav and another daughter, also named Katarina, who unfortunately died a few months before her first birthday.
Anna was pregnant again, and in February 1598 the contractions started. The birth was long and difficult, and according to one source the child was cut from her body, was emergency baptized and then died.
Anna died soon after, on February 10, of severe bleeding. She was only 25 years old.
After her death, the struggle between Sigismund and Karl would go on. More on that in the next post.
Sources:
Sources:
Lindqvist, Herman. Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar. (2006)
Tegenborg, Falkdalen, Karin. Svenska drottningar – i blickfånget från Vasatiden till idag. (2020)