Johanna of Austria

Archduchess Johanna, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (painting by Francesco Terzio , 1565)

Joan of Austria (born January 24, 1547 in Prague , † April 10, 1578 in Florence ) was an Archduchess of Austria and by marriage from April 21, 1574 to April 10, 1578 Grand Duchess of Tuscany .

biography

Johanna was the youngest of fifteen children of the Roman-German King and later Emperor Ferdinand I (1503–1564) and his wife Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547), daughter of the Bohemian and Hungarian King Wladislaw II. As a result of the birth of Joan her mother died. Johanna received a solid education in philosophy , art , music and in French , Spanish , Italian , Hungarian and Latin for the time .

Archduchess Johanna of Austria (half-length portrait on wood by Giuseppe Arcimboldo , around 1562)

Johanna's older sisters Katharina , Eleonore and Barbara had married Italian princes. In order to strengthen the influence of the imperial family in Italy , Johanna's marriage was also negotiated in this direction. On December 18, 1565, Johanna married the later Grand Duke Francis I of Tuscany from the House of Medici (1541–1587) in Florence . On the occasion of Franz's marriage to Johanna, the Palazzo Vecchio was extensively decorated. The old Austrian cities depicted there on frescoes appear as jewels of the imperial crown. For the entry of the bride, Bartolomeo Ammanati also built the Neptune Fountain in the Piazza della Signoria . The association of the Medici family with an Austrian archduchess resulted in a great gain in prestige. Pope Pius IV offered to give Franz I the title of Archduke. While Maximilian agreed, however, the Spanish line of the Habsburgs refused to raise the rank, which regarded the title of Archduke as a prerogative of the House of Austria.

Johanna was described as pale, pious, melancholy, cold and haughty, who, as the daughter and sister of an emperor, despised the Medici and their subjects. Franz I developed no feelings for her and kept his affair with Bianca Cappello going. Johanna complained about this affair constantly in letters to her brother Emperor Maximilian II , who commissioned a special envoy to complain about the neglect and neglect of his sister in Florence.

Immediately after the Grand Duchess died in childbirth in 1578, her husband married his mistress Bianca Cappello two months later. Their marriage was not officially announced until 1579. The grave of Grand Duchess Johanna is in the Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze in Florence.

progeny

From Johanna's marriage to Francesco I de 'Medici there were eight children:

Eleonora (February 28, 1567 - September 9, 1611) ⚭ 1584 Vincenzo I. Gonzaga (1562–1612), Duke of Mantua
Romola (November 20, 1568 - December 2, 1568)
Anna (December 31, 1569 - February 19, 1584)
Isabella (September 30, 1571 - August 8, 1572)
Lucrezia (7 November 1572 - 14 August 1574)
Maria (born April 26, 1575 in Florence; † July 3, 1642 in Cologne ) ⚭ October 5, 1600 Henri IV , King of France (1553–1610)
Filippo (May 20, 1577 - March 29, 1582)
Stillbirth (April 10, 1578 - April 10, 1578)

literature

Constantin von Wurzbach : Habsburg, Johanna von Oesterreich (daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I) . No. 122. In: Biographical Lexicon of the Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 6th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1860, pp. 290–292 ( digitized version ).
My Hellmann: Florence and the Medici , Cologne (1981)
Lorenzo DeMedici: The Medici: The story of my family , Bastei Lübbe, 2008, p. 152

Web links

Commons : Johanna von Österreich - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Yearbook for European History 2007 , Volume 8, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2007, p. 56 digitized
↑ Miles Roddis, Alex Leviton: Tuscany & Umbria , Lonely Planet, 2006, p 102
↑ Klaus Zimmermanns: Florence: Churches, Palaces and Museums in the City of the Medici , DuMont Reiseverlag, 2006, p. 104
^ Franz Dominicus Häberlin: The general world history drawn up by a society of scholars in Teutschland and Engelland , Gebauer, 1790, p. 311
^ Hermann Julius Meyer: New Conversations-Lexicon for All Stands , Volume 4, Bibliogr. Inst., 1858, p. 352
↑ Edith Schlocker: Ambras Castle: The Emperor's Unhappy Daughters. Die Presse, July 25, 2010, accessed on July 26, 2010 (The exhibition “Nozze italiane” illustrates the Habsburgs' marriage policy. The focus is on three daughters of Ferdinand I who were married to Italy).

personal data
SURNAME	Johanna of Austria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Grand Duchess Johanna of Tuscany
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Renaissance princess
DATE OF BIRTH	January 24, 1547
PLACE OF BIRTH	Prague
DATE OF DEATH	April 10, 1578
Place of death	Florence

[1] Yearbook for European History 2007 , Volume 8, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2007, p. 56 digitized

[2] Miles Roddis, Alex Leviton: Tuscany & Umbria , Lonely Planet, 2006, p 102

[3] Klaus Zimmermanns: Florence: Churches, Palaces and Museums in the City of the Medici , DuMont Reiseverlag, 2006, p. 104

[4] Franz Dominicus Häberlin: The general world history drawn up by a society of scholars in Teutschland and Engelland , Gebauer, 1790, p. 311

[5] Hermann Julius Meyer: New Conversations-Lexicon for All Stands , Volume 4, Bibliogr. Inst., 1858, p. 352

[6] Edith Schlocker: Ambras Castle: The Emperor's Unhappy Daughters. Die Presse, July 25, 2010, accessed on July 26, 2010 (The exhibition “Nozze italiane” illustrates the Habsburgs' marriage policy. The focus is on three daughters of Ferdinand I who were married to Italy).