# Maria Anna of Bavaria (born 1551)

Maria Anna of Bavaria (German: Maria Anna von Bayern) (21 March 1551, Munich – 29 April 1608, Graz) was a politically active Archduchess of Austria by her marriage to her uncle Archduke Charles II of Austria. She played an important role in the Counter-Reformation in Austria.

## Biography

Maria Anna was a daughter of Albert V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria. She was given an elementary education in Latin and religion but a high education in music, likely by Orlando di Lasso.
On 26 August 1571 in Vienna, the 20-year-old Maria Anna married her maternal uncle Charles II of Austria. The marriage was arranged to give Austria political support from Bavaria and Bavaria an agent in Vienna.
The relation between Maria Anna and Charles was described as good, and the couple had 15 children in just 18 years. Maria Anna was described as confident, ambitious and a great lover of pomp and power, but foremost a devout Catholic. She participated in affairs of state and successfully benefited a powerful counter reformation in the domains of her spouse. She continued her education in music, benefited the Jesuit school in Graz, and spent her time in worship and religious charity.
Maria Anna was widowed in 1590, but she continued to participate in politics as an advisor to her son and encouraged him to continue the Counter-Reformation and work against the Protestant clergy and nobility.
In 1608, she retired to the Nunnery of St Clare in Graz.
Her correspondence is partially preserved.

## Issue

| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
| Archduke Ferdinand | Judenburg, 15 July 1572 | Judenburg, 3 August 1572 | Died in infancy. |
| Archduchess Anna | Graz, 16 August 1573 | Warsaw, 10 February 1598 | Married on 31 May 1592 to Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Sweden. |
| Archduchess Maria Christina | Graz, 10 November 1574 | Hall in Tirol, Tyrol, 6 April 1621 | Married on 6 August 1595 to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania; they divorced in 1599. |
| Archduchess Catherine Renata | Graz, 4 January 1576 | Graz, 29 June 1599 | Died unmarried. |
| Archduchess Elisabeth | Graz, 13 March 1577 | Graz, 29 January 1586 | Died in childhood. |
| Archduke Ferdinand | Graz, 9 July 1578 | Vienna, 15 February 1637 | Holy Roman Emperor as Ferdinand II in 1619. |
| Archduke Charles | Graz, 17 July 1579 | Graz, 17 May 1580 | Died in infancy. |
| Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana | Graz, 22 March 1581 | Graz, 20 September 1597 | Died unmarried. |
| Archduchess Eleanor | Graz, 25 September 1582 | Hall in Tirol, Tyrol, 28 January 1620 | Died unmarried. |
| Archduke Maximilian Ernest | Graz, 17 November 1583 | Graz, 18 February 1616 | Teutonic Knight. |
| Archduchess Margaret | Graz, 25 December 1584 | El Escorial, 3 October 1611 | Married on 18 April 1599 to Philip III, King of Spain. |
| Archduke Leopold | Graz, 9 October 1586 | Schwaz, 13 September 1632 | Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tirol under the name Leopold V. |
| Archduchess Constance | Graz, 24 December 1588 | Warsaw, 10 July 1631 | Married on 11 December 1605 to Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (widower of her older sister). |
| Archduchess Maria Magdalena | Graz, 7 October 1589 | Passau, 1 November 1631 | Married on 19 October 1608 Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. |
| Archduke Charles | Graz, 7 August 1590 | Madrid, 28 December 1624 | Bishop of Wroclaw and Brixen (1608–24), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1618–24). |

## Ancestry

Ancestors of Maria Anna of Bavaria (born 1551) :