Anna of Masovia (c. 1498 – after 26 January 1557 in

Jarosław Jarosław (; uk, Ярослав, Yaroslav, ; yi, יאַרעסלאָוו, Yareslov; german: Jaroslau) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 38,970 inhabitants, as of 30 June 2014. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), previ ...

) was a Polish princess, Titular Duchess of Masovia and the last representative of the Masovian branch of the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

. She was the second daughter of

Konrad III of Masovia Konrad III Rudy, also known in English as Konrad the Red (1447/48 – 28 October 1503), was a Polish prince and member of the Piast dynasty in the Masovian branch. He was a duke of Czersk, Liw, Warsaw, Nur, Łomża, Ciechanów, Różan, Zakroc ...

and

Anna Radziwiłł Anna Maria Radziwiłł (; 20 April 1939 – 23 January 2009) was a Polish historian, educator, and politician. She was a former member of the Polish Senate and Minister of Education, and was very active in educational reform and the underground ...

, and the sister to

Janusz III Janusz III of Masovia (pl: ''Janusz III mazowiecki''; ca. 27 September 1502 – 9/10 March 1526), was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast in the Masovian branch. He was a Duke of Czersk, Warsaw, Liw, Zakroczym and Nur during 1503-152 ...

Stanislaus Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

, and Sophia, who married

Stephen VII Báthory Stephen VII Báthory ( hu, Báthory István, links=no; died 3 May 1530) was a Hungarian nobleman and commander. His most prestigious position was Palatine of Hungary. Stephen belonged to the Ecsed branch of the Báthory family. His father was A ...

Life

After the death of her brother Janusz III, a group of powerful nobles at the Masovian court attempted to maintain the separate legal status of Masovia and prevent its incorporation into the surrounding Kingdom of Poland. In 1526 this group proclaimed Anna as Duchess, the last representative of the family (however, her elder sister Sophia was still alive at the time). This resistance to the duchy's incorporation, which was largely caused by their fear of losing their significance, was also fuelled by political forces interested in maintaining the status of fiefdoms. In this state Masovia would be united in resistance against the Crown and would also have encouraged the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

(in comparison with the Polish rivalry for influence in

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

). In 1536 Anna concluded a marriage with

Stanisław Odrowąż Stanisław Odrowąż (1509-1545) was a Polish noble (szlachcic). He married Katarzyna Górka in 1530 and Anna of Masovia from the Piast dynasty in February 1536. He had one child with Anna, Zofia Odrowąż. He was castellan of Lwów since 1533, ...

. But the king refused to return their goods in return for 10,000 ducats. This caused conflict between the couple and

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...

, who deprived the groom of his offices. The dispute ended with the parliament in 1537, which forced Anna and her husband to take an oath before the king, and renounce the hereditary rights of Masovia and the estate for the benefit of the Crown. After leaving Masovia, Anna temporarily settled in Odrowąż and

Sprowa Sprowa is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Słupia, within Jędrzejów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately west of Słupia, west of Jędrzejów, and south-west of the regional ...

, near the city of

Kielce Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the bank ...

. The rest of her life was spent mostly at the castle in

, where in approximately 1540 she had her only child, Sophia. Anna died and was buried in Jarosław. She was the ancestor of

Marie Leszczyńska Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska (; ; 23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768), also known as Marie Leczinska, was Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XV from their marriage on 4 September 1725 until her death in 1768. The daughter of Stanis ...

who became

Queen consort of France This is a list of the women who were queen consort, queens or Emperor, empresses as wives of List of French monarchs, French monarchs from the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which gave rise to West Francia, until 1870, when the French Third Republic, Th ...

by her marriage to

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

Ancestors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anna of Masovia 1498 births 1557 deaths Piast dynasty Odrowąż family