Constance of Austria (; ; ; 24 December 1588 – 10 July 1631) was

Queen of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

and

Grand Duchess of Lithuania The Queen consort, consort (or spouse) of the Monarchy, royal rulers of Lithuania and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was in all cases a woman and nearly all took the title of Grand Duchess. Queen consort of Kingdom of Lithuania, Lithua ...

as the second wife of King-Grand Duke

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

and the mother of King

John II Casimir John II Casimir Vasa (; ; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 to his abdication in 1668 as well as a claimant to the throne of Sweden from 1648 to 1660. He was the first son of Sigis ...

Biography

Constance was a daughter of

Charles II of Austria Charles II Francis of Austria () (3 June 1540 – 10 July 1590) was an Archduke of Austria and a ruler of Inner Austria (Styria, Carniola, Carinthia and Gorizia) from 1564. He was a member of the House of Habsburg. Biography A native of Vienn ...

and his niece, Maria Anna of Bavaria. Her paternal grandparents were

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I (10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of rulers of Croatia, Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek ...

and

Anna of Bohemia and Hungary Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (23 July 1503 – 27 January 1547), sometimes known as Anna Jagellonica, was Queen of Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary and Archduchess of Austria as the wife of King Ferdinand I (later Holy Roman Emperor). Early ...

(1503–1547). Anna was the only daughter of King

Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary Vladislav ( (', '); , ; Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, sh-Cyrl, Владислав, ) is a male given name of Slavic origin. Variations include ''Volodislav'', ''Vlastislav'' and ''Vlaslav''. In the Czech Republic, Slovakia and ...

and his wife Anne de Foix. Her maternal grandparents were

Albert V, Duke of Bavaria Albert V (German: ''Albrecht V.'') (29 February 1528 – 24 October 1579) was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to William IV and Maria Jacobäa of Baden. Early life Albert was educated at Ingolstadt by Catholic ...

and Anne Habsburg of Austria. Constance was also a younger sister of

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II, Archduke of Austr ...

, Margaret of Austria, Leopold V of Austria and Anna of Austria. Her older sister Anna was the first wife of King

. After her death Constance and Sigismund were married on December 11, 1605.

Queen

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 The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

family in Poland, and influenced the appointments of positions in the court, government and church. Her closest confidant was

Urszula Meyerin Urszula Meyerin (also, ''Meierin''; 1570–1635) was a politically influential Polish courtier and Mistress (lover), mistress to King Sigismund III of Poland. Her real surname may have been ''Gienger'' (or ''Gienger von Grünbüchl''), but that r ...

. 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 Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

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 Żywiec () is a town on the River Soła in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). It is situated within the Silesian Voivodeship, near the Żywiec Lake and Żywiec Landscape Park, one of the eight protected areas in the voivodeship. H ...

from Mikołaj Komorowski, which was forbidden by law to the members of the royal family and caused misunderstandings with the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Some time later (in 1626) she made it forbidden for

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

to settle in the city (''de non tolerandis Judaeis'').Miasto Żywiec
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 in 1631.

Issue

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

Ancestors

Gallery

Image:Rolka Sztokholmska.jpg, ''Entry of the Wedding Procession of Constance of Austria into

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

'' in 1605. Image:Troschel Constance of Austria.jpg, Constance of Austria in Spanish dress (''saya''), portraited by the court painter in 1610. Image:Zywiec2 (js).jpg, She enhanced and renovated the Castle in

, where she resided from 1624. Image:Konstancja Habsburżanka.jpg, Constance of Austria as Queen consort of Poland and Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania. File:Plate of Constance of Austria.jpg,

Silver-gilt Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French language, French term vermeil, is silver (either pure or sterling silver, sterling) which has been gilding, gilded. Most large objects made in goldsmithing tha ...

plate, 1605, from Constance's dinner service

References

External links

The Stockholm Roll
, Entry of the Wedding Procession of Constance of Austria and Sigismund III into Kraków in 1605. {{DEFAULTSORT:Constance Of Austria 1588 births 1631 deaths Queens consort of Poland 17th-century House of Habsburg Austrian princesses Grand duchesses of Lithuania Burials at Wawel Cathedral Polish Roman Catholics Daughters of dukes Mothers of Polish monarchs