Maria Anna Josepha of Austria (20 December 1654 – 4 April 1689) was born an archduchess of Austria as the daughter of

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III (Ferdinand Ernest; 13 July 1608, in Graz – 2 April 1657, in Vienna) was from 1621 Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary from 1625, King of Croatia and Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 until his death in 1657. ...

, and later became Electoral Princess of the Palatinate as the wife of Johann Willhelm, Elector Palatine.

Life

Early life

Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha was born on 30 December 1654 as the third child and daughter of to

(1608–1657) and his third wife, Eleonora Gonzaga (1630–1686). She also had had seven

half-siblings A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separa ...

from the previous two marriages of her father, only four of whom were still alive at the time of her birth. Two months after she was born, her eldest full sibling, Archduchess Theresa Maria Josepha (1652–1653) died at the age of one and a half years. Her only younger sibling, Archduke Ferdinand Joseph Alois (1657–1658) was born in 1657 and died in infancy.

Marriage

On 25 October 1678, twenty-four-years-old Maria Anna married twenty-years-old

Electoral Prince The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...

Johann Wilhelm (John William) (1658–1716) from the House of Wittelsbach in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

. He was the eldest son and heir of

Philip William, Elector Palatine Philip William of Neuburg, Elector Palatine (german: Philipp Wilhelm) (24 November 1615 – 2 September 1690) was Count Palatine of Neuburg from 1653 to 1690, Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1653 to 1679 and Elector of the Palatinate from 1685 to ...

(1615–1690), and the

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referre ...

of Maria Anna's eldest brother, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640–1705). The wedding ceremony was performed by Archbishop

Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch (also spelt ''Collonicz'', ''Colonitz'', ''Kollonitz'', ''Kolonits'' and ''Kolonić''; 26 October 1631 – 20 January 1707) or Lipót Kollonich was a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Archbishop of Kalocsa and lat ...

. The couple settled in Düsseldorf and led an elaborate household there. In 1679, her

father-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity (law), affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person i ...

gifted them the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. Upon Philip William's death, Johann Wilhelm became Elector Palatine and Duke of Neuburg.

Issue

During her marriage, Maria Anna gave birth to two children, but neither survived infancy: * Son (born and died 6 February 1683). * Son (born and died 5 February 1686).

Death

Maria Anna died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

during a visit in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. She was buried there in the Imperial Crypt beneath the Capuchin Church, the principal place of burial for members of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

Ancestry

Notes

References

*Harm Klueting, Wolfgang Schmale: ''The Empire and its territorial states in the 17th and 18th centuries'', Volume 10, LIT Edit. Münster, 2004, p. 69. *Constantin von Wurzbach
''Maria Anna Josepha''
Nr. 219. In: ''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich'', vol. 7, Edit. L. C. Zamarski, Vienna 1861, p. 29.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Anna Josepha Of Austria, Archduchess 1654 births 1689 deaths 17th-century House of Habsburg 17th-century Austrian women 17th-century deaths from tuberculosis Austrian princesses Electoral Princesses of the Palatinate Countesses Palatine of Neuburg House of Wittelsbach German royalty Burials at the Imperial Crypt Duchesses of Jülich Duchesses of Berg Tuberculosis deaths in Austria Daughters of emperors Children of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor Daughters of kings