There was no Czech environment not for Anna foreign, sic was born as a Czech princess to King Vladislav Jagiellonsky († 60) and Anna of Foix († about 22) on July 23, 1503. in Budawhere Vladislav transferred his court after he also became king of Hungary.

For the first time in the Czech Republic

“Princess Anna has been from an early age she taught Hungarian AND Latin, and only in 1509 she found herself in the Czech Kingdom for the first timewhen she went there with her father to the ceremonial coronation of her younger brother Ludvík, the future Czech king, “states publicist Vladimír Liška in the book Women of Czech Monarchs in Facts, Myths and Questions II.

Fateful agreement

Nobody could have guessed that yet then only three-year-old Ludvík († 20) dies 17 years later at the Battle of Mohács, ending the Jagiellonian government on the Czech throne. Or would it? Before his death in 1516, Vladislav Jagiellonský concluded his agreement with the Habsburg Dome, specifically the then reigning German Emperor Maximilian I.

They agreed in it their marriages descendants – Louis was to marry Maximilian’s granddaughter Maria († 53), while Anna of Jagiellonia was promised one of Maximilian’s grandchildren. The two aging monarchs agreed that if one of the clans died out, the other’s clan would ascend to the vacant thrones. It was about an agreement that caused the Habsburg rule in Bohemia for almost 400 years.

The wrong one?

Maximilian had two grandchildren – the future King of Spain and the German Emperor Charles V († 58) and Ferdinand I. One of them was to become Anna’s husband. “Maximilian I had not yet decided who it would be, but on their behalf in 1515 he himself negotiated an engagement and a wedding contract,” says Liška. The choice fell on the younger Ferdinand.

He was said to be “shapely boy with thick blond hair, round face, big eyes, short nose of a nice shape and expressive lips“Historian Alfred Kohler notes in the book Ferdinand I. The Prince, King and Emperor. And the description continues: “He surpassed his peers in creativity and confidence. Endowed with above-average memory, he excelled in his love of truth and justice. ”In the first moments, Anna was said to be unhappy.

“It was a marriage for Anna Jagiellonian great disappointment, “ says Fox. “Supposedly she longed to have Emperor Charles V as her husband.The question of how much she would “improve” with this marriage was answered during her lifetime, as we will see. We can only add that as far as Karel is concerned, he was “well built and of medium height, but his face was not only pale and melancholy, but also had many imperfections. Sagging lower lip and too big a jaw caused that if he wasn’t careful, he had his mouth open, ”Kohler mentions. And Liška adds that the defiance of appearance had “extra a lot of mistresses. “

Happy marriage

The embarrassment soon took over. “The two’s marriages belonged to a few unified political bonds that were happyKohler quotes. Anna went to Ferdinand she sincerely fell in love and he, just as old, hers emotions he returned with a measure rarely seen. They married in Linz, Austria, in 1521, when they were both 18 and 17, respectively.

Anna had “narrow, tender face with small, delicate mouth. Her pale to red hair and blue eyes suggest that she had a Romanesque mother. It was only with increasing age that her features were already rough and increasingly sharp, “says Kohler.

The year then became the revolutionary year of their marriage 1526 Anna’s younger brother Ludvík dies in battle and the Czech and Hungarian thrones thus became vacant for Ferdinand I. Hungarian and Czech queen. And also mom! On July 9, he will give birth to little girls Elizabeth († 18) in Linz – the first of a total of 15 children born to the couple.

Good everywhere, best in Prague

It is difficult to judge how much Anna, who lived in Buda and later in Linz, was impressed when Prague visited her at the age of six. What is certain, however, is that her father has contributed to “Anna, at least to some extent she learned Czech, “ The historian Rudolf Urbánek says in the book The Queen and Princess of Bohemia. Therefore, living with a new “home” was probably easier than in the case of Ferdinand. AND Indeed, Prague became the royal seat again after the coronation in 1527 – be transitional. The couple they alternately lived in Prague, Vienna, Linz and Brno.

For years, Anna lived with Ferdinand in Linz, Austria.

Author: Austria.info/Linztourismus/Heilinger

The people of Prague immediately fell in love with the new queen. She was impressed by her natural modesty. „R. 1527 in the middle of the ceremonial luster at the entrance to Prague was conspicuous queen’s plain dress without ornaments, ”Urbánek describes. She was also distinguished dexterity and sense of justice. Ferdinand often entrusted her with political tasks which, for example, he could not perform on his own.

And when, for example, a huge fire in Prague destroyed Prague Castle with the St. Vitus Cathedral, the queen directly supervised its restoration. Mikuláš from Práchňany wrote about her that “she was benevolent lady and real mother and Hester of the Czech nation. ”Every year, the couple spent a substantial part of it in Prague. Prague then “was the largest and busiest city in the entire Habsburg estatewhile Vienna was within the reach of Turkish power, “writes historian Josef Janáček in Little History of Prague.

Ceremonial storage of coronation jewels and their search by experts. (2018) Daniel Vitous

The most beautiful gift

Not surprisingly, when Ferdinand wanted to make a romantic gesture for his beloved that had no period, he chose to make it Prague. This is about Queen Anne’s Summer Palace, the so-called Belvedere. “In fidelity and conjugal love, Ferdinand was a truly exceptional appearance in his twenty-five-year marriage at the time,” says Urbánek. “He still wanted Anna next to him, if possible. ”And because she enjoyed walking in nature, Ferdinand decided that it would be built at Prague Castle. large garden with summer housewhose form he himself helped to invent.

Queen Anne’s Summer Palace in the Royal Garden at Prague Castle.

Author: Blesk: Alexandr Malachovský

The construction of a Renaissance gem, which can be admired by tourists and Praguers to this day, was not completed until 1564. – Unfortunately, Anna hasn’t lived that long. “It is still said that it should have been a building demonstrating Ferdinand I’s unquenchable love for his wife, which he did not stop honoring until his death as a woman who was a good mentor, companion and faithful companion of his life, “says Liška. This fact is also supported by some of the reliefs that can be seen on the Belvedere – one of them shows royal couple on the huntin another romantic scene Ferdinand hands Anna a flower.

Farewell baby cry

Twilight also comes after each sunrise. So Anna’s days were drawing to a close. That was when the year 1547 came, and Anna was in a different state again. She died January 27 after the birth of the little girl Johana († 31) in Prague. “Sincere mourning for the ‘wife of our dearest,’ which we hear from the king’s announcement for him the most painful losses, it then sounds like an undiminished force in all the following years until his death, “says Urbánek.

Anna of Jagiellonia was buried where she died, where they had her most like – in Prague, in the St. Vitus Cathedral, in the unmissable mausoleum in the middle of the chancel. He mourned the Czech people for everything, in whose favor Anna often pleaded with her husband.

Love in life and death

And Ferdinand? It used to be a habitthat the kings, after the death of their wives, sought out other partners to spread their power through marriage policy. Such thinking was foreign to him. Losing your dearest he mourned for life and did not forget her deathbed. He allegedly even stopped shaving because of her. “The king was overgrown, as presented to us by a portrait of Titian from 1548 (…) a he remained a widower, “ states Urbanek.

“He lived with the memory of Anna, with her name on his lips, seventeen years after her death, he died on July 25, 1564. In the morning just before her death, he had her painting and he looked for a long time at the one he loved in life and death above all thoughts.« He still wanted to kiss the portrait and died, “Adds Rudolf Urbánek. Although Ferdinand died in Vienna, he was buried at his own request in St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle because, as has been said:he still wanted Anna next to him, if possible. “

Collin’s Royal Mausoleum in the Church of St. Vitus, in which (from left) Rest Maximilian II., And his parents Ferdinand I with Anna Jagiellonia.

Author: Wikimedia commons

Ferdinand I, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Germany, loving husband of Anna Jagiellonian.

Author: ČTK