King Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632) & Wifes (Anne of Austria & Constance of Austria)

[Blog Real]

Sigismund III Vasa (Polish: Zygmunt III Waza, Lithuanian: Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632) 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 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Religiously zealous, he imposed Roman Catholicism across the vast realm, and his crusades against neighbouring states marked Poland's largest territorial expansion. As an enlightened despot, he presided over an era of prosperity and achievement, further distinguished by the transfer of the country's capital from Kraków to Warsaw.

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismund_III_Vasa

King of Poland
Grand Duke of Lithuania:
Reign: 19 August 1587 – 30 April 1632
Coronation: 27 December 1587
Predecessor: Anna Jagiellon and Stephen Báthory
Successor: Władysław IV

King of Sweden
Grand Duke of Finland:
Reign: 17 November 1592 – 24 July 1598
Coronation: 19 February 1594
Predecessor: John III
Successor: Charles IX

Born: 20 June 1566. Gripsholm, Mariefred, Sweden
Died: 30 April 1632 (aged 65)
Warsaw, Poland
Burial: 4 February 1633
Wawel Cathedral, Kraków
Spouses:
Anne of Austria
​(m. 1592; died 1598)​
Constance of Austria
​(m. 1605; died 1631)​
House: Vasa
Father: John III of Sweden
Mother: Catherine Jagiellon
Religion: Roman Catholicism

Children:
Children by first marriage to Anne of Austria (1573–1598):

1. Anne Marie (Polish: Anna Maria; 23 May 1593 – 9 February 1600)
2. Catherine (Polish: Katarzyna; May 1594 – June 1594)
3. Ladislaus (Polish: Władysław; 9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648), reigned 1632–1648 as Władysław IV
4. Catherine (Polish: Katarzyna; 27 September 1596 – June 1597)
5. Christopher (Polish: Krzysztof; 10 February 1598)

Children from second marriage to Constance of Austria (1588–1631):

1. John Casimir (Polish: Jan Kazimierz; 25 December 1607 – 14 January 1608)
2. John Casimir (Polish: Jan Kazimierz; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672), reigned 1648–1668 as John II Casimir
3. John Albert (Polish: Jan Albert/Olbracht; 25 May 1612 – 22 December 1634)
4. Charles Ferdinand (Polish: Karol Ferdynand; 13 October 1613 – 9 May 1655)
5. Alexander Charles (Polish: Aleksander Karol; 4 November 1614 – 19 November 1634)
6. Anna Constance (Polish: Anna Konstancja; 26 January 1616 – 24 May 1616)
7. Anna Catherine Constance (Polish: Anna Katarzyna Konstancja; 7 August 1619 – 8 October 1651), the first wife of Philip William, Elector Palatine.

Anne of Austria (16 August 1573 – 10 February 1598) was Queen of Poland and Sweden as the first consort of King Sigismund III Vasa.
More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Austria,_Queen_of_Poland

Constance of Austria (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.
More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_of_Austria

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Did King Sigismund III move the capital of Poland from Krakow to Warsaw?

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Queen Constance in coronation robes
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soutman_Constance_of_Austria_in_coronation_robes.jpg

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Marcello Bacciarelli painted a portrait of King Sigismund III.

Portrait of Sigismund III Vasa

The Portrait of Sigismund III Vasa painting originally painted by Marcello Bacciarelli can be yours today. All reproductions are hand painted by talented artists. Free Shipping.

www.oceansbridge.com

 

[An Ard Ri]

Sigismund III in February 1594 following his Coronation at Uppsala Cathedral.

 

[Blog Real]

Sigismund III in his youth, 1585.

 

[Meraude]

King Sigismund's two wives, Anne and Constance, were sisters, daughters of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, and his wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. She was also her husband's niece, as her mother, Anna, was an older sister of her future son-in-law. Marriages between uncles and nieces was not unusual in the Habsburg dynasty, be it the Austrian, or the Spanish branches.

Anne's youngest child, Christopher, was delivered posthumously via ceasarean section after the death of Anne, but he died later the same day.

King Sigismund was religiously zealous, and impost Roman Catholicism in his country, he was still close to his sister, Princess Anna Vasa (of Sweden). Anna had been raised a Catholic, like her brother, by their mother Queen Catherine Jagellon, but a year after their mother's death Anna conversed to Lutheranism, and remained a Protestant all her life, even after remaining permanently in Poland after 1598, where she spent her last 27 years. She must have had a strong character, to continue being a Lutheran in a Catholic country.

Anna Vasa of Sweden - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[An Ard Ri]

King Sigismund's two wives, Anne and Constance, were sisters, daughters of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, and his wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. She was also her husband's niece, as her mother, Anna, was an older sister of her future son-in-law. Marriages between uncles and nieces was not unusual in the Habsburg dynasty, be it the Austrian, or the Spanish branches.

Anne's youngest child, Christopher, was delivered posthumously via ceasarean section after the death of Anne, but he died later the same day.

King Sigismund was religiously zealous, and impost Roman Catholicism in his country, he was still close to his sister, Princess Anna Vasa (of Sweden). Anna had been raised a Catholic, like her brother, by their mother Queen Catherine Jagellon, but a year after their mother's death Anna conversed to Lutheranism, and remained a Protestant all her life, even after remaining permanently in Poland after 1598, where she spent her last 27 years. She must have had a strong character, to continue being a Lutheran in a Catholic country.

Anna Vasa of Sweden - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Anna died in 1625 and was buried at the Assumption of Our Lady Church in Toruń and her tomb has survived to this day.
It was restored in the mid 1990's and her remains were re-examined.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...ol_NMP_mauzoleum_Anny_Wazowny_(portal)_01.jpg

 

[Blog Real]

Portrait of Queen Anne.

 

[Meraude]

Anna died in 1625 and was buried at the Assumption of Our Lady Church in Toruń and her tomb has survived to this day.
It was restored in the mid 1990's and her remains were re-examined.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Torun_kosciol_NMP_mauzoleum_Anny_Wazowny_(portal)_01.jpg/500px-Torun_kosciol_NMP_mauzoleum_Anny_Wazowny_(portal)_01.jpg

Yes, Anna died on 26 Februay 1625, but her burial in the church in Torun didn't happen until 16 July 1636! The pope (Urban VIII) refused to allow her brother Sigismund to bury Anna, a Lutheran, in a Catholic graveyard. The Papal decree was only reversed during the reign of her nephew, Władysław IV, and it was he who let build her lovely tomb monument.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Yes, Anna died on 26 Februay 1625, but her burial in the church in Torun didn't happen until 16 July 1636! The pope (Urban VIII) refused to allow her brother Sigismund to bury Anna, a Lutheran, in a Catholic graveyard. The Papal decree was only reversed during the reign of her nephew, Władysław IV, and it was he who let build her lovely tomb monument.

Its a miracle that her tomb monument has survived to this day with all of the wars and upheavals in Poland over the centuries.