The Complex Mother: Maria Anna of Inner Austria and the Entanglement of the Vasa, Habsburg and Wittelsbach Dynasties

Abstract

Maria Anna of Inner Austria became the mother-in-law of King Sigismund III of Poland-Lithuania (1566–1632) twice due to the marriages of her two daughters, Anna and Constance. This role placed Maria Anna in a position between the dynasties of the House of Wittelsbach (into which she was born), the House of Habsburg (into which she married) and the House of Vasa (into which her daughters married), thus giving her a prominent, albeit informal, position in the structure of early modern foreign relations. Maria Anna had multiple loyalties that she could use depending on the situation. Hostilities that arose on the basis that she was too Bavarian or too Austrian demonstrate that the changing loyalties of the Archduchess between the dynasties were being discussed at the time. Ultimately, the mother-in-law played an important role in the mediation of further kinship relations, serving as an important link between several dynasties.

Notes

1 Relevant literature on this topic: Ryszard Skowron, ‘Budowanie prestiżu królewskiego rodu. Związki rodzinne Wazów z dynastiami europejskimi [Building the Royal Family’s Prestige. Family Relations of the Vasa with European Dynasties]’, Studia Europaea Gnesnensia — czasopismo naukowe i seria wydawnicza 20 (2019), pp. 558-81; Dominik Kadzik, Utrzymanie królewskiej teściowej. Wizyta Marii Bawarskiej podczas wesela Zygmunta III Wazy z Anną Habsburg 23 maja–16 czerwca 1592 r. [Maintenance of the Royal Mother-in-Law. The visit of Maria of Bavaria During the Wedding of Sigismund III Vasa with Anna Habsburg, May 23–June 16, 1592], (Krakow, 2017); Almut Bues, ‘Frictions in the Life of Polish Princesses and Queens Consort 1500–1800’, in: Almut Bues (ed.), Frictions and Failures: Cultural Encounters in Crisis (Wiesbaden, 2017), pp. 105-33; Tomasz Poznański, ‘“Amicitia, sed … ” — Friendship, Raison d’État, and Political Compromise. Relations between Sigismund III Vasa and the Habsburg Emperors in 1613–1632’, in: Ryszard Skowron (ed.), The House of Vasa and the House of Austria. Correspondence from the Years 1587 to 1668, Part I: The Times of Sigismund III, 1587­–1632, vol. I (Katowice, 2016), pp. 145-86; Karl Vocelka, ‘Marriages of Habsburg Archduchesses into Poland-Lithuania’, in: Almut Bues and Zbiniew Krysiewicz (eds), Royal Marriages of Princes and Princesses in Poland and Lithuania c. 1500–1800 (Warsaw, 2016), pp. 15-16; Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg, Edmund Kizik, Altes Reich und alte Republik. Deutsch-polnische Beziehungen und Verflechtungen 1500–1806 (Darmstadt, 2014), pp. 64-78; Walter Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III. von Polen, 4 vols (Vienna, 2009); Stefania Ochmann-Staniszewska, Dynastia Wazów w Polsce [The Vasa Dynasty in Poland] (Warsaw, 2007); Henryk Wisner, Zygmunt III Waza (Wrocław, 2006); Henryk Wisner, ‘Rzeczpospolita i Habsburgowie. Czasy Zygmunta III’ [Poland-Lithuania and the Habsburgs. The Time of Sigismund III], Sobótka 4 (1983), pp. 479-86.

2 See examples in a letter from Ursula Meyer to Maria Anna, Warsaw, March 8, 1598: Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Vienna [hereafter HHStA], Hausarchiv [hereafter HA], Familienkorrespondenz [hereafter FamKorr] 44, fol. 30r-32v, fol. 30v. An edition of the letters Ursula Meyer, a key person at the court of Poland, is currently being prepared under the project title: ‘Die polnischen Hofkorrespondenzen Ursula Meyers. Deutschsprachige Netzwerke und Wissenszirkulation um 1600 zwischen Warschau, Graz und München; to be published in 2021.

3 Walter Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III. von Polen (Vienna, 2009), vol. II, p. 1574: ‘Seit dem Tod der Mutter war er [=Sigismund III] auf der Suche nach einer Ersatzmutter.’

4 Erica Longfellow pointed out that ‘private’ in the early modern period had remarkably different meanings and should be used as analytical category only with extreme care: Erica Longfellow, ‘Public, Private and the Household in Early Seventeenth-Century England’, Journal of British Studies 45-2 (2006), pp. 313-34, p. 333; see also: Leonhard Horowski, Das Europa der Könige. Macht und Spiel an den Höfen des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts (Hamburg, 2017), p. 56.

5 Corina Bastian, Eva Dade, Hillard von Thiessen et al. ‘Einleitung’, in: Corina Bastian, Eva Dade, Hillard von Thiessen et al. (eds), Das Geschlecht der Diplomatie. Geschlechterrollen in den Außenbeziehungen vom Spätmittelalter bis zum 20. Jahrhundert (Cologne, 2014), pp. 7-14, pp. 7-8.

6 Corina Bastian, Eva Dade and Eva Ott, ‘Weibliche Diplomatie? Frauen als außenpolitische Akteurinnen im 18. Jahrhundert’, in: Bastian, Dade and von Thiessen (eds), Das Geschlecht der Diplomatie, pp. 103-14, p. 103.

7 Heidrun Kugeler, Christian Sepp and Georg Wolf, ‘Einführung: Internationale Beziehungen in der Frühen Neuzeit. Ansätze und Perspektiven’ in: Heidrun Kugeler, Christian Sepp and Georg Wolf (eds), Internationale Beziehungen in der Frühen Neuzeit. Ansätze und Perspektiven (Hamburg, 2006), pp. 9-35, p. 23.

8 Bastian, Dade and Ott, ‘Weibliche Diplomatie’, p. 106; Gisela Bock, Frauen in der europäischen Geschichte. Vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (Munich, 2005), pp. 13-52; Jean-Claude Waquet, ‘Schlussbetrachtung: Frauen in Verhandlungen’, in: Bastian, Dade and von Thiessen (eds), Das Geschlecht der Diplomatie, pp. 257-74, p. 258.

9 Bastian, Dade and von Thiessen, ‘Einleitung’, p. 10.

10 Bastian, Dade and Ott, ‘Weibliche Diplomatie’, p. 114; see also the conclusions of Corina Bastian, Verhandeln in Briefen. Frauen in der höfischen Diplomatie des frühen 18. Jahrhunderts (Cologne, 2013), pp. 421-36, pp. 430, 435.

11 Katrin Keller, ‘Frauen — Hof — Diplomatie: Die höfische Gesellschaft als Handlungsraum von Frauen in Außenbeziehungen’, in: Bastian, Dade and von Thiessen (eds), Das Geschlecht der Diplomatie, pp. 33-50, pp. 35-7.

12 Kugler, Sepp and Wolf, ‘Internationale Beziehungen’, p. 19.

13 Ibid., p. 35; Walter Demel, ‘“European nobility” oder “European nobilities”? Betrachtungen anhand genealogischer Verflechtungen innerhalb des europäischen Hochadels (ca. 1650–1800)’, in: Wolf Dieter, Gruner and Markus Völkel (eds), Region — Territorium — Nationalstaat — Europa. Beiträge zu einer europäischen Geschichtslandschaft. (Rostock, 1998), pp. 81-104.

14 Svante Norrhem, ‘Im Dienste der Dynastie: Frauen als Mittlerinnen bei Heiratsverhandlungen im Schweden der 1690er-Jahre’, in: Bastian, Dade and von Thiessen (eds), Das Geschlecht der Diplomatie, pp. 87-102, p. 87.

15 Ibid., p. 102.

16 There is no contradiction to the fact that a princess initially paid special attention to the advancement of her own children; see Leonhard Horowski, Die Belagerung des Thrones. Machtstrukturen und Karrieremechanismen am Hof von Frankreich 1661–1789 (Ostfildern, 2012), p. 382.

17 Robert T. Anderson, ‘Changing Kinship in Europe’, in: Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers 28 (1963), pp. 1-48.

18 Mitterauer, ‘Mittelalter’, p. 183; Goody, Ehe und Familie in Europa, p. 282; Ute Holfelder, Die Schwiegermutter. Formung und Tradierung eines Stereotyps (Münster, 2009), pp. 31-3.

19 Katrin Keller, Erzherzogin Maria von Innerösterreich (1551-1608). Zwischen Habsburg und Wittelsbach (Vienna, 2012), p. 171; Susanne Helene Betz, Von Innerösterreich in die Toskana. Erzherzogin Maria Magdalena und ihre Heirat mit Cosimo de’ Medici (Frankfurt am Main, 2008), p. 72.

20 Horowski, Belagerung des Thrones, p. 409.

21 He was the son of Anna’s brother Maximilian, later Emperor Maximilian II (1527–1576).

22 Michael Roberts, The Early Vasas. A History of Sweden 1523–1611 (Cambridge, 2009), pp. 207-9.

23 Robert Frost, ‘Polen-Litauen, Moskau und Schweden. Am Anfang einer “Epoche der Nordischen Kriege”’, in: Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg (ed.), Polen in der europäischen Geschichte. Ein Handbuch in vier Bänden, Vol. 2: Frühe Neuzeit (Stuttgart, 2011-2016), pp. 219-37, p. 226.

24 1572 has therefore became an era boundary for Polish historiography: Dariusz Makiłła, ‘Król w prawie ustrojowym Rzeczypospolitej po 1573 r. Próba systematyki’ [The King in Constitutional Law of Poland-Lithuania after 1573. Attempt to Systematize], in: Karol Łopatecki and Wojciech Walczak (eds), Nad społeczeństwem staropolskim. Tom 1: Kultura — instytucje — gospodarka w XVI– XVIII stuleciu (Białystok, 2007), pp. 23-34, p. 23; Andrzej Wyczański, Polska Rzeczpospolitą szlachecką 1454–1764 [Poland, the Aristocratic Republic] (Warsaw, 1965).

25 Discussions about it: Richard Butterwick (ed.), The Polish-Lithuanian Monarchy in European Context (c. 1500–1795) (Basingstoke, 2001); Anna Grześkowiak-Krwawicz, ‘Anti-Monarchism in Polish Republicanism in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries’, in: Martin van Gelderen and Quentin Skinner (eds), Republicanism. A Shared European Heritage. Vol. 1: Republicanism and Constitutionalism in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, 2002), pp. 43-59.

26 Sigismund III forced Archduke Maximilian in the Treaty of Beuthen-Będzin to renounce all claims to the throne; Kolja Lichy, ‘Stand und Aufstand. Adel und polnisch-litauisches Gemeinwesen im Rokosz von 1606–1609’, PhD dissertation, Gießen, 2016, pp. 304-5 and p. 312; on the double election of Maximilian and Sigismund: Aleksandra Barwicka-Makula, ‘Od wrogości do przyjaźni. Habsburgowie austriaccy wobec Polski w latach 1587–1592’ [From Hostility to Friendship. Austrian Habsburgs and Poles in the Years 1587–1592], PhD dissertation, Katowice, 2013, pp. 153-303.

27 ‘Emporkömmlinge’ (‘Parvenus’): Lichy, ‘Stand und Aufstand’, p. 313.

28 Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg, Frühneuzeitliche Nationen im östlichen Europa. Das polnische Geschichtsdenken und die Reichweite einer humanistischen Nationalgeschichte (1500–1700) (Wiesbaden, 2006), especially pp. 177-80.

29 Lichy, ‘Stand und Aufstand’, p. 313; Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, pp. 1155-91.

30 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 172.

31 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 172.

32 Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1157; Skowron, ‘Związki rodzinne Wazów z dynastiami europejskimi’, p. 57; about the interregnum and the election: Maria Rhode, Ein Königreich ohne König. Der kleinpolnische Adel in sieben Interregna (Wiesbaden, 1997), pp. 128-56; on Habsburg’s interests in Poland-Lithuania: Christoph Augustinowicz, Die Kandidaten und Interessen des Hauses Habsburg in Polen-Litauen während des zweiten Interregnums 1574–1576 (Vienna, 2001).

33 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 173.

34 Fundamentally about genealogy as a form of knowledge acquisition: Gert Melville, ‘Zur Technik genealogischer Konstruktionen’, in: Cristina Andenna and Gert Melville (eds), Idoneität — Genealogie — Legitimation. Begründung und Akzeptanz von dynastischer Herrschaft im Mittelalter (Cologne, 2015), pp. 293-304; Volker Bauer, Wurzel, Stamm, Krone. Fürstliche Genealogie (Wolfenbüttel, 2013); Kilian Heck, Genealogie als Monument und Argument. Der Beitrag dynastischer Wappen zur politischen Raumbildung der Neuzeit (Munich, 2002).

35 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 174

36 Charles II of Inner Austria had appointed Emperor Rudolf II (his nephew), Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol (his brother) and William V of Bavaria (his brother-in-law) as guardians, but assigned his wife Maria Anna to them. However, Rudolf II and Ferdinand of Tyrol did not accept Maria Anna as a guardian; Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, pp. 113-20.

37 Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1180.

38 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 174.

39 Maria Anna to Archduke Ferdinand, without location [early June 1591], HHStA, Familienakten 24, fol. 102r-103v; see also Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1180.

40 Archduke Ferdinand to Maria Anna, Ambras May 28, 1591, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 40, fol. 25-26; see also Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1181; Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 174.

41 Maria Anna to Duke William V, BayHStA, Abtl. I., KS 6611, fol. 51; see also Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1181.

42 Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1182; Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 202.

43 Maria Anna informed her brother about all the details: Maria Anna to Duke William V, Graz, July 11, 1591, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6611, fol. 92-4; Maria Anna to Duke William V, Graz, July 27, 1591, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 696, fol. 464-6; Maria Anna to Duke William V, Graz, August 16, 1591, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6611, fol. 98-99; Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, pp. 1182-3.

44 For example, Ursula Meyer to Maria Anna, Warsaw, April 3, 1598, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 44, fol. 34-9, fol. 36r: ‘O verzeich mirs gott, das ich in [=Sigismund III] ungern genumen hab.’

45 Maria Anna to Emperor Rudolf II, Graz, October 27, 1591, Copy in BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6611, fol. 222-31 and fol. 238-44; Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1582.

46 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 175.

47 Maria Anna to Duke William V, Graz, November 17, 1591, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6611, fol. 265-7; Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1582.

48 About the journey of Maria Anna to the wedding-ceremony: Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, pp. 1581-3; Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 176-7; Skowron, ‘Związki rodzinne Wazów z dynastiami europejskimi’, p. 66; Kadzik, Utrzymanie królewskiej teściowej.

49 Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1583.

50 Instructions for Johann Branner [February 26, 1598] and Report from Branner [April / May 1598] in HHStA, Polonica 84, fol. 257-260; Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1360.

51 Ursula Meyer to Maria Anna, Warsaw, April 3, 1598, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 44, fol. 34-40.

52 William V to Maximilian I of Bavaria, without location [probably July 1602], BayHStA, Abtl. III, A 625/1.

53 Georg Schiechel to Maria Anna, May 18, 1598, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 45, fol. 82-4.

54 Ursula Meyer to Maria Anna, Ujazdów, June 8, 1598, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 44, fol. 56-63.

55 Nevertheless, she repeatedly asked for confirmation of this fact: Ursula Meyer to Maria Anna, Łobzów, June 22, 1602, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 44, fol. 82-5; G. Schiechel to Maria Anna, Ujazdów, 2. Juni 1601, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 45, fol. 125-7.

56 Sigismund III to Maria Anna, May 31, 1602, Copy in BayHStA, Abtl. III, A 625/1; Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1366.

57 Ursula Meyer to Maria Anna, Łobzów, June 22, 1603, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 44, fol. 82-85.

58 Maria Anna to William V, Graz, June 13, 1602, BayHStA, Abtl. III, A 625/1.

59 Ibid., p. 1371.

60 Rudolf II to Maria Anna, Prague, January 14, 1603, BayHStA, Abtl. III, A 625/1.

61 William V to Maximilian I, without location [probably July 1602], Copy in BayHStA, Abtl. III, A 625/1.

62 Both reports: without location and date in BayHStA, Abtl. III, A 625/1.

63 Manfred Weitlauff, ‘Die Reichskirchenpolitik des Hauses Bayern im Zeichen gegenreformatorischen Engagements und österreich-bayerischen Gegensatzes’, in: Hubert Glaser (ed.), Um Glauben und Reich. Kurfürst Maximilian I. Beiträge zur Bayerischen Geschichte und Kunst 1573–1657 (Munich, 1980), vol. I, pp. 48-76, p. 59.

64 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 154.

65 Ibid., pp 154-5.

66 Friedrich von Hurter, Geschichte Kaiser Ferdinands II. und seinen Eltern bis zu dessen Krönung in Frankfurt. Personen-, Haus- und Landesgeschichte; mit vielen eigenhändigen Briefen Kaiser Ferdinands und seiner Mutter, der Erzherzogin Maria, 11 vols (Schaffhausen, 1850-1864), vol. V, p. 402.

67 Rudolf II had many marriage projects, but he never married; Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 186.

68 Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, pp. 1372-82.

69 Ibid., pp. 1382-5.

70 Ochmann-Staniszewska, Dynastia Wazów, p. 175; Piotr Guzowski, ‘Postawa prymasa Bernarda Maciejowskiego w dobie rokoszu sandomierskiego’ [The Attitude of Primate Bernard Maciejowski in the Rokosz of Sandomierz], Studia Podlaskie 11 (2001), pp. 35-50, p. 35 and p. 37; Henryk Wisner, ‘Szlachta i Habsburgowie’ [Nobility and Habsburgs], in: Henryk Wisner (ed.), Rzeczpospolita Wazów II: Wojsko Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego, dyplomacja, varia (Warsaw, 2004), pp. 216-218, p. 218.

71 Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, pp. 1417-19.

72 Ibid., p. 1593.

73 Ibid., p. 1384.

74 On the official position of Ursula Meyer: Ibid., p. 1873 and Ochmann-Staniszewska, Dynastia Wazów, p. 269.

75 Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, pp. 1906-7.

76 Ibid., p. 1570.

77 Ibid., p. 1599.

78 Anna to Maria Anna, Stockholm, October 14, 1593, HHStA, HA, FamKorr A, 40-3, fol. 11r-19v.; according to Hanna Dobner, ‘Briefwechsel zwischen Erzherzogin Maria von Innerösterreich und ihrer Tochter Anna, Königin von Polen und Schweden, während ihres Aufenthaltes in Schweden 1593/1594 - Historische Analyse und Edition’ (unpublished MA thesis, Vienna University, 2015), pp. 45-51.

79 Anna to Maria Anna, Uppsala, March 5, 1594, HHStA, HA, FamKorr. A, 40-3, fol. 56r-59v; according to Dobner, ‘Briefwechsel’, pp. 90-101.

80 Anna to Maria Anna, Stockholm, April 20, 1594, HHStA, HA, FamKorr. A, 40-3, fol. 30r-37v, 43r/v, 67r-73v; according to Dobner, ‘Briefwechsel’, pp. 105-19.

81 Anna to Maria Anna, Stockholm, June 12, 1594, HHStA, HA, FamKorr. A, 40-3, fol. 87r-94v; according to Dobner, ‘Briefwechsel’, pp. 149-51.

82 Anna to Maria Anna, Stockholm, February 5, 1594, HHStA, HA, FamKorr. A, 40-3, fol. 50r-55v; according to Dobner, ‘Briefwechsel’, pp. 83-9.

83 Maria Anna to Anna, March/April 1594, HHStA, HA, FamKorr. A, Karton 47-12, fol. 12r/v; according to Dobner, ‘Briefwechsel’, pp. 103-5; Maria Anna blamed religious reasons for the fact that Sigismund III could not abdicate in Poland-Lithuania.

84 Maria Anna to Rudolf II, Graz, July 28, 1593; according to Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1601: ‘alle affection, guete correspondenz und vertrauligkait’.

85 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 125; Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1164.

86 Ibid., p. 1602.

87 Maria Anna to Archduke Ernst, Graz, December 11, 1594, Copy in HHStA, MS 83c, fol. 660-661: ‘meinem herrn sohn, dem könig’; Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1602-1603.

88 Ibid., p. 1571.

89 Ibid., p. 1576.

90 Ursula Meyer to Maria Anna, Warsaw, March 8, 1598, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 44, fol. 30r-32v, fol. 30v: ‘frau muetter’.

91 Ibid.: ‘iez mueß nur die frau muetter mein und der khinder muetter sein.’

92 Anna to Maria Anna, Stockholm, May 20, 1594, HHStA, HA, FamKorr A 40-3, fol. 77r-86v, 84v; according to Dobner, ‘Briefwechsel’, pp. 129-148, p. 146: ‘Ich hab mein gemachel gefragt, wo ED ain plaz im herzen haben. Hat er gesagt, den negsten nach mir. Hof, ED werden darmit zufriden sein, dan iber mich laß ich niemant sein.’

93 Instruction for Johann Branner [February 26, 1598] and his subsequent report [April/May 1598], in HHStA, Polonica 84, fol. 248-53; according to Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1576.

94 ‘Er vertraut mir wie seiner muetter, dann gewiß, wans die Polaken wisseten, so wür es ime zu grossen nachtel kommen.’ Maria Anna to Johann Christoph Unverzagt, Graz, December 12, 1602, copy in BayHStA, Abtl. III, A 625/1; according Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1578.

95 Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1589; Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 201.

96 Maria Anna to Archduke Ferdinand, place unreadable, November 15, 1599, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 6, fol. 234-235; according to Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, pp. 1574-5.

97 Anna to Maria Anna, Posen (Poznań), September 18, 1594, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 40, fol. 116-19; according to Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1595.

98 Instructions for Johann Branner [from February 26, 1598] and report from Branner [from April/May 1598], in HHStA, Polonica 84, fol. 248-53; according to Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1596.

99 Ursula Meyer to Maria Anna, Ujazdów, June 14, 1598, HHStA, HA, FamKorr 44, fol. 64-73.

100 Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1316.

101 The cognatic connections between the Vasa and Wittelsbach dynasties have not always been recognised in historiography, for example: Dieter Albrecht does not mention Sigismund III in his well-founded biography about Maximilian I. (Albrecht, Maximilian I.); the catalogue of the great Maximilian I-exhibition in 1980 contains a small section to the relationship between Maximilian I. and Poland (Glaser, Um Glauben und Reich, vol. II, pp. 393-6), but there is no reference to a kinship with Sigismund III. On the Polish side there are countless publications on the relationship between the Vasa and the Habsburg dynasties, but also the relationship with the Wittelsbach dynasty was never forgotten. For example: Skowron, ‘Związki rodzinne Wazów z dynastiami europejskimi’, pp. 60-5; he not only mentions family visits (Ladislaus, p. 69), but also the importance of godparenthood (p. 62); Ochmann-Staniszewska, Dynastia Wazów, p. 174-5.

102 Horowski, Die Belagerung des Throns, p. 382. Renunciation of the succession (‘Erbverzichtserklärungen’) ensured the preservation of the dynasty (also the Primogeniture). This created a natural contrast between agnates and daughters.

103 Wunder, Dynastie und Herrschaftssicherung, pp. 15-24; with an interesting discussion about whether married women are part of the dynasty; Cordula Nolte, ‘“Ir seyt ein frembs weib, das solt ir pleiben, dieweil ihr lebt”. Beziehungsgeflechte in fürstlichen Familien des Spätmittelalters’, in: Doris Ruhe (ed.), Geschlechterdifferenz im interdisziplinären Gespräch (Würzburg, 1998), pp. 11-41.

104 About Ursula Meyer’s origins: Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, pp. 1859-64.

105 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, pp. 151-2, points out that the majority of Maria Anna’s letters come from correspondence with her brother; HHStA, HA, FamKorr 41; BayHStA, Abtl. III, Korrespondenz-Akten 597/Xa u. 606/V.

106 Keller, Erzherzogin Maria, p. 153.

107 Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych [The Central Archives of Historical Records, hereafter AGAD] Warsaw, Extranea III, IX. Polen, a. Handlingar och brev, 3. Till Sverige under Karl C Gustavs krig förda polska arkiv (från Tidösaml.), Hertig Wilhem af Bayern till Ursula Meierin, without pagination.

108 The political reasons, especially the financial difficulties, were given too little attention in the older historiography in favour of religious motivation, which he undoubtedly had; Marianne Sammer, ‘Wilhelm V. Katholische Reform und Gegenreformation’, in: Alois Schmid and Katharina Weigand (eds.), Die Herrscher Bayerns. 25 historische Porträts von Tassilo III. bis Ludwig III. (Munich, 2001), pp. 189-201.

109 Draft letter from Maximilian I to Ursula Meyer, without location, February 21, 1626, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6613, fol. 125r-130r.

110 A calendar of the correspondence between Ursula Meyer as agent at the Polish court and Maximilian of Bavaria at the beginning of the seventeenth century can be found on the website: http://historyofpoland.cbh.pan.pl/de/materialien/ursula-meyer.

111 For example: Margarta Schad von Mittelbiberach, who went to Warsaw in 1617 and became the second wife of Zygmunt Opacki; Leitsch, Life at the court of Sigismund III., vol. I, p. 562, Vol. 3, p. 2082; draft letter from Elisabeth Renata to Ursula Meyer, without location, March 20 1629, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6613, fol. 545r-546r.

112 André Siber, also Suber, Süber, draft letter from Maximilian I to Ursula Meyer, without location, September 18, 1629, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6613 642r-643v; Horst Leuchtmann, ‘Die Maximilianische Hofkapelle’, in: Glaser (ed.), Um Glauben und Reich, vol. I, pp. 364-75, p. 369.

113 Roland Götz, ‘“Den Bayern ein so lieber und werther Gast”. Benno-Verehrung in Altbayern von 1576 bis zur Säkularisation 1802/1803’, in: Claudia Kunde and André Thieme (eds), Ein Schatz nicht von Gold. Benno von Meißen. Sachsens erster Heiliger (Petersberg, 2017), pp. 396-405; Dieter J. Weiß, ‘Die Kirchenpolitik der bayerischen Herzöge im konfessionellen Zeitalter. Reliquienverehrung und katholische Reform’, in: Kunde and Thieme (eds), Benno von Meißen, pp. 414-23.

114 For example: Letter from Ursula Meyer to the Elisabeth Renata, without location, November 21, 1629, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6613, 666r-v: Queen Constance and Ursula Meyer reported that the Sejm was not interrupted because of the plague and that the royal family is well, thanks to the intercession of St Benno.

115 William V to Ursula Meyer, Munich, February 17, 1623, AGAD Extranea III, IX. Polen, without pagination.

116 Description of the reliquary: Peter Steiner, ‘Hl. Benno thronend’, in: Glaser (ed.), Um Glauben und Reich, vol. II, pp. 558-9.

117 Ursula Meyer to Maximilian I., Warsaw, May 30, 1626, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6613, fol. 137r-141v.

118 Heide Wunder, ‘Einleitung. Dynastie und Herrschaftssicherung: Geschlecht und Geschlecht’, in: Heide Wunder (ed.), Dynastie und Herrschaftssicherung in der Frühen Neuzeit. Geschlechter und Geschlecht (Berlin, 2002), pp. 9-28, p. 18.

119 Otto Feldbauer, ‘Geschichte der Kirchenreformen im Kloster Ebersberg im Spätmittelalter und der Frühen Neuzeit 1427–1773’, in: Bernhard Schäfer (ed.), Kloster Ebersberg. Prägekraft christlich-abendländischer Kultur im Herzen Altbayerns (Munich, 2002), pp. 279-98.

120 About the importance of the Jesuits for William V: Karl Hausberger, ‘Die kirchlichen Träger der Katholischen Reform in Bayern’, in: Glaser (ed.), Um Glauben und Reich, vol. I, pp. 115-24.

121 For example the letter from Ursula Meyer to Maximilian I, without location, November 21, 1629, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6613, fol. 660r-665r.

122 Skowron, ‘Związki rodzinne Wazów z dynastiami europejskimi’, p. 69.

123 Die Reise des Kronprinzen Władysław Wasa in die Länder Westeuropas in den Jahren 1624/1625, ed. Bolko Schweinitz (Munich, 1988); Podróż królewicza Władysława Wazy do krajów Europy Zachodniej w latach 1624-1625 w świetle ówczesnych relacji [Travel of Prince Władysław Waza to Western Europe in the years 1624-1625 in the light of contemporary accounts], ed. Adam Przyboś (Krakow, 1975); Michel Komaszynski, ‘Das Bayern des XVII. Jahrhunderts in polnischen Reisebeschreibungen’, Zeitschrift für bayerische Landesgeschichte 56 (1993), pp. 635-48.

124 Stefan Pac, quotes from: Schweinitz, Die Reise des Kronprinzen Władysław, pp. 66-7.

125 Skowron, ‘Związki rodzinne Wazów z dynastiami europejskimi’, p. 69.

126 Especially: William V to Ursula Meyer, Charterhouse Prüll [near Regensburg], July 2, 1624, AGAD Extranea III, IX. Polen, without pagination.

127 Stefan Pac, quotes from: Schweinitz, Die Reise des Kronprinzen Władysław, p. 65.

128 This was already pointed out by Skowron, who described Ladislaus’ stay in Munich as a ‘special manifestation of family relationships’; Skowron, ‘Związki rodzinne Wazów z dynastiami europejskimi’, p. 60. The connection between the House of Vasa and the House of Wittelsbach was strengthened by the marriage of Ladislaus with Cecilia Renata (1611–1644). She was the sister of the Elector’s second wife, Maria Anna (1574–1616); so Maximilian and Ladislaus were brothers-in-law. See also: Nina Kozłowska, Ewa Krasińska-Klaputh and Aleksander Menhard, Polskie Orły, Bawarskie Lwy: na topach wspólnych historycznych śladów [Polish Eagles, Bavarian Lions: on common historical traces] (Warsaw, 2010), p. 38.

129 William V to Ursula Meyer, Munich, August 3, 1624, AGAD Extranea III, IX. Polen, without pagination.

130 Ibid. William V had interviewed people from Ladislaus’s entourage who reported that there was no doubt that Ladislaus would be elected. About Ladislaus’ status in Poland-Lithuania: Skowron, ‘Związki rodzinne Wazów z dynastiami europejskimi’, p. 74; Urszula Augustyniak, Wazowie i ‘królowie rodacy’. Studium władzy królewskiej w Rzeczypospolitej XVII wieku [The Vasa’s and ‘Royal Compatriots’. A Study of Royal Power in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of the Seventeenth Century] (Warsaw, 1999), pp. 158-66.

131 Maximilian I to Ursula Meyer, without location, October 30, 1631, BayHStA, Abtl. I, KS 6614, fol. 200v-202v: ‘zu aller continuirlicher guetter Correspondent.’

132 Maria Anna to William V, Graz, June 13, 1602, BayHStA, Abtl. III, A 625/1; Leitsch, Das Leben am Hof Sigismunds III., vol. II, p. 1367.

133 In recent years, loyalty research has been carried out intensively, which has developed against identity research: Hannes Grandits, Herrschaft und Loyalität in der spätosmanischen Gesellschaft. Das Beispiel der multikonfessionellen Herzegowina (Vienna, 2008), pp. 5-35; about the identity concept: Liesbeth Geevers and Mirella Marini, ‘Introduction. Aristocracy, Dynasty and Identity in Early Modern Europe, 1520–1700’, in: Liesbeth Geevers and Mirella Marini (eds), Dynastic Identity in Early Modern Europe. Rulers, Aristocrats and the Formation of Identities (Farnham, 2015), pp. 1-22.

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Oliver Hegedüs

Oliver Hegedüs

Oliver Hegedüs is a PhD student at Gießen University (Germany). He is currently working on the topic of securitization of the Protestant and Orthodox minorities in Poland-Lithuania in the second half of the eighteenth century (SFB 138: Dynamics of Security). He is also currently editing Ursula Meyer’s letters to the courts in Graz, Munich and Vienna (together with Kolja Lichy).