Losy sióstr Habsburżanek Katarzyny, Barbary i Joanny po śmierci ojca, cesarza Ferdynanda I w świetle korespondencji rodzinnej

Abstract

Daughters of the Habsburgs, fulfilling the dynastic policy of the family, married European rulers. The aim was to enter into profitable alliances or gain prospective financial aid. In 1553 Katarzyna Habsburżanka (Catherine of Austria) married Zygmunt August (Sigismund II Augustus). It was not a happy marriage. Katarzyna was not able to give her husband a much awaited son, thus, form the end of the 1550s their married life showed signs of falling apart. In 1559 the issue of the king’s divorce appeared for the first time. Despite intense exchange of legation between the Polish king and Maximillian II, Holy Roman Emperor, Katarzyna left the Crown in October 1566. However, Zygmunt August did not get a divorce and, thus, lost a chance to have a legal descendant. Archduchesses Barbara (Barbara of Austria) and Joanna (Joanna of Austria) were married to the rulers on the Apennine Peninsula. The first one became the wife of Alfonso II d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, Joanna was the wife of Francesco I de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Both these marriages constituted a kind of agreement: Italian dukes counted on a powerful ally in the struggle for domination of the Apennine Peninsula; the Habsburgs expected mainly financial and military help in the campaign against Turkey. Marriages of Barbara and Joanna, like that of their sister Katarzyna, were not totally happy, although they did not end in separation. The fates of the Habsburg sisters clearly show that marriages concluded between members of the reigning houses not always fulfilled the expectations of the involved parties.