Anna Catherine Constance Vasa ( pl, Anna Katarzyna Konstancja Waza; 7 August 1619 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

– 8 October 1651 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

) was a Polish princess, daughter of

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 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 and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

, King of Sweden and Poland and his second wife

Constance of Austria Constance of Austria (german: Konstanza; pl, Konstancja; 24 December 1588 – 10 July 1631) was Queen of Poland as the second wife of King Sigismund III Vasa and the mother of King John II Casimir. Biography Constance was a daughter of Charles ...

Life

After the successive deaths of her mother (1631) and father (1632), and in order to secure her upkeeping according to her rank, in 1632 the parliament bestowed her with the counties of Brodnickie, Gołubskie and Tucholskie, which previously had belonged to her mother; however, she only came into possession of them when she came of age in 1638.S. Ochmann-Staniszewska: Dynastia Wazów w Polsce (''The Vasa dynasty in Poland''), PWN, Warsaw 2007, pp. 165-167. Since 1637, a marriage was suggested between Anne Catherine Constance and

Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria Ferdinand Charles (17 May 1628 – 30 December 1662) was the Archduke of Further Austria, including Tyrol, from 1646 to 1662. As the son of Archduke Leopold V and Claudia de' Medici, he succeeded his father upon the latter's death in 1632, un ...

, heir of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

and nephew 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 Charles II, Archduke of Austria, Archd ...

. Despite arrangements in 1639 and 1642, the marriage never actually took place, because of the age of Ferdinand Charles and because of disagreement about the amount of

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...

, and

Gaston, Duke of Orléans '' Monsieur'' Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Gaston Jean Baptiste; 24 April 1608 – 2 February 1660), was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a '' Fils de France''. He lat ...

(brother of King

Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

), were also candidates for her hand. However, Anne Catherine Constance finally married Philip William, heir of the Count Palatine of Neuburg and later Elector Palatine, in

on 8 June 1642.Zygmunt Wdowiszewski: Genealogia Jagiellonów i Domu Wazów w Polsce (''Genealogy of the Jagiellonian dynasty and the House of Vasa in Poland''), Kraków 2005, p. 236. She brought a considerable dowry in jewels and cash, calculated at a total of 2 million

thaler A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter of ...

s. On 18 July 1645 she gave birth her only child, a son, who died the same day.Complete Genealogy of the House of Wittelsbach
(Retrieved 17 June 2014). She died childless in Cologne and was buried in the church of the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Ancestors

Gallery

Image:Anonymous Diamond double-headed eagle.jpg, Diamond double-headed eagle of the House of Austria, most probably from dowry of Anna Catherine Constance Vasa Image:Danckers de Rij Anne Catherine Constance Vasa with a dog.jpg, Portrait of Anne Catherine Constance Vasa with a dog, ca. 1638 Image:Flanders Tapestry with the coat of arms of Anna Catherine Constance Vasa.jpg, Tapestry with the coat of arms of Anna Catherine Constance Vasa, before 1642

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasa, Anna Catherine Constance Polish princesses 1619 births 1651 deaths Anna Catherine Constance Electresses of the Palatinate Daughters of kings 17th-century Polish women 17th-century Polish people