The Complex Mother: Maria Anna of Inner Austria and the Entanglement of the Vasa, Habsburg and Wittelsbach Dynasties

Abstract

Maria Anna of Inner Austria became the mother-in-law of King Sigismund III of Poland-Lithuania (1566–1632) twice due to the marriages of her two daughters, Anna and Constance. This role placed Maria Anna in a position between the dynasties of the House of Wittelsbach (into which she was born), the House of Habsburg (into which she married) and the House of Vasa (into which her daughters married), thus giving her a prominent, albeit informal, position in the structure of early modern foreign relations. Maria Anna had multiple loyalties that she could use depending on the situation. Hostilities that arose on the basis that she was too Bavarian or too Austrian demonstrate that the changing loyalties of the Archduchess between the dynasties were being discussed at the time. Ultimately, the mother-in-law played an important role in the mediation of further kinship relations, serving as an important link between several dynasties.