Constance of Austria

Constance of Austria (German: Konstanza; Polish: Konstancja; 24 December 1588 – 10 July 1631) was queen of Poland as the second wife of King Sigismund III Vasa and the mother of King John II Casimir.

Constance of Austria
Queen consort of Poland
Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania
Tenure1605–1631
Coronation11 December 1605
Born24 December 1588
Graz, Austria
Died10 July 1631(1631-07-10) (aged 42)
Warsaw, Poland
Burial
Wawel Castle, Kraków, Poland
SpouseSigismund III Vasa
Issue
among others...		John II Casimir Vasa
John Albert Vasa
Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Opole
Alexander Charles Vasa
HouseHabsburg
FatherCharles II, Archduke of Austria
MotherMaria Anna of Bavaria
Signature

Biography

Constance was a daughter of Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547). Anne was the only daughter of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his wife Anne de Foix. Her maternal grandparents were Albert V, Duke of Bavaria and Anne Habsburg of Austria.

Constance was also a younger sister of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, Margaret of Austria, Leopold V of Austria and Anna of Austria.

Her older sister Anna was the first wife of king Sigismund III Vasa. After her death Constance and Sigismund were married on December 11, 1605.

They had seven children:

  1. John Casimir (25 December 1607 – 14 January 1608).
  2. John Casimir (22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672), who reigned during 1648–1668 as John II Casimir.
  3. John Albert (25 June 1612 – 29 December 1634).
  4. Charles Ferdinand (13 October 1613 – 9 May 1655).
  5. Alexander Charles (4 November 1614 – 19 November 1634).
  6. Anna Constance (26 January 1616 – 24 May 1616).
  7. Anna Catherine Constance (7 August 1619 – 8 October 1651).

Queen Constance was an ambitious politician. Immediately after the wedding, she made efforts to influence policy. She built a strong faction of followers by arranging marriages between her handmaidens and powerful nobles. She represented the interests of the Habsburg family in Poland, and influenced the appointments of positions in the court, government and church. Her closest confidant was Urszula Meyerin.

Constance was proficient in Spanish, Latin and Italian. She learned Polish after the wedding but rarely used it. She was very religious and went to Mass twice a day. She also was a patron of clerics, painters and architects. She financed the buildings of several palaces for her children, but she was also described as an economic person.

In 1623 Constance bought Żywiec from Mikołaj Komorowski, which was forbidden by law to the members of the Royal Family and caused misunderstandings with the Parliament.[1] Some time later (in 1626) she made it forbidden for Jews to settle in the city (de non tolerandis Judaeis).[2]

Constance wished to secure the succession of her own son to the throne rather than the son of her sister, but she did not succeed. She died of a stroke.

Ancestors
  • Entry of the Wedding Procession of Constance of Austria into Kraków in 1605.
  • Constance of Austria in Spanish dress (saya), portraited by the court painter in 1610.
  • She enhanced and renovated the Castle in Żywiec, where she resided from 1624.
  • Constance of Austria as Queen consort of Poland.
  • Silver-gilt plate, 1605, from Constance's dinner service

See also

References
  1. Bunt chłopów. Bunt, prześladowania i próby wyzwolenia się chłopów na Zywiecczyźnie w XVII wieku.
  2. Miasto Żywiec Archived 2007-12-10 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Philip I, King of Castile at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  4. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  5. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  6. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1860). "Habsburg, Karl II. von Steiermark" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). 6. p. 352 – via Wikisource.
  7. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Joanna" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  8. Casimir IV, King of Poland at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  9. Obermayer-Marnach, Eva (1953), "Anna Jagjello", Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) (in German), 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 299; (full text online)
  10. Revue de l'Agenais (in French). 4. Société des sciences, lettres et arts d'Agen. 1877. p. 497.
  11. Riezler, Sigmund Ritter von (1897), "Wilhelm IV.", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), 42, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 705–717
  12. Goetz, Walter (1953), "Albrecht V.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) (in German), 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 158–160; (full text online)
  13. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Maria von Bayern" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). 7. p. 20 – via Wikisource.
  14. Brüning, Rainer (2001), "Philipp I.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) (in German), 20, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 372; (full text online)
  15. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1860). "Habsburg, Anna von Oesterreich (1528–1587)" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). 6. p. 151 – via Wikisource.
  • The Stockholm Roll, Entry of the Wedding Procession of Constance of Austria and Sigismund III into Kraków in 1605.
Constance of Austria
Born: 24 December 1588 Died: 10 July 1631
Royal titles
Preceded by
Anna of Austria		 Queen consort of Poland
Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania
1605–1631		 Succeeded by
Cecilia Renata of Austria
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