Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg

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Anna Maria Franziska
Lower Saxony, Holy Roman Empire (now Germany)
Died15 October 1741(1741-10-15) (aged 69)
Zákupy, Bohemia, Habsburg monarchy (now Czech Republic)
Burial
Reichstadt
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1690; died 1693)​
​
​
(m. 1697; died 1737)​
Hedwig of the Palatinate

Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg (13 June 1672 – 15 October 1741) was the legal

Bohemia
.

She was

Gian Gastone
.

Anna Maria Franziska was the elder surviving daughter of

Ferdinando de' Medici's death in 1713, her husband became Tuscany's heir-apparent. She became Grand Duchess of Tuscany upon the incumbent ruler's death in 1723. She was Grand Duchess for fourteen years before being widowed again in 1737.[1]

Biography

Early life

Sibylle
(L), c. 1690 by an anonymous artist

Anna Maria Franziska was born on 13 June 1673. She was the second child of the reigning duke of Saxe-Lauenburg and Maria Hedwig of Sulzbach, who died when Anna Maria was nine years-old.

With the death of her father Duke Julius Francis on 30 September 1689 the Lauenburg line of the House of Ascania was extinct in the male line. However, female succession was possible by the Saxe-Lauenburgian laws. So the legal female heir to the throne, Duchess Anna Maria Franziska, and her sister

Lunenburg-Celle
, who invaded Saxe-Lauenburg with his troops, thus inhibiting Anna Maria's ascension as Duchess regnant.

Also other monarchies claimed the succession, evoking a conflict further involving the neighbouring duchies of

Brandenburg
. The conflict was finally settled on 9 October 1693 (Hamburger Vergleich), definitely ousting the dispossessed Anna Maria and her sister. Both sisters never gave up the claim.

Charles VI enfeoffed George II of Great Britain
with Saxe-Lauenburg, finally legitimising the de facto takeover by his grandfather in 1689 and 1693. In 1731 George II also gained Hadeln from imperial custody.

First marriage

Philip William August, Count Palatine of Neuburg, first husband of Anna Maria. A canvas by Pieter van der Werff, 1690

Anna Maria married Philipp Willhelm August of the Palatinate-Neuburg. The wedding took place in Bohemia, at the castle of Roudnice (Raudnitz) on 29 October 1690. He was the eighth son of Philip William, Elector Palatine. They had two children together, one survived to adulthood:

  • Countess Palatine Leopoldine Eleonore Elisabeth Auguste of Neuburg (b. Neuburg, 22 October 1691 – d. Reichstadt, 8 March 1693).
  • Countess Marie Anne Karoline Louise Franziska of Neuburg (b. Reichstadt, 30 January 1693 – d. Ahaus, 12 September 1751), married on 5 February 1719 to Duke Ferdinand Maria Innocenz of Bavaria (1699–1738), he was the sixth son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and an Imperial Field Marshal; with whom she had two sons and one daughter:
    • Duke Maximilian Joseph Franz of Bavaria (b. Munich, 11 April 1720 – d. Munich, 28 April 1738).
    • Elizabeth Augusta of the Palatinate
      , the couple had two sons and two daughters, who all died very young:
      • Duchess Maria of Bavaria (b. and d. 30 September 1748).
      • A son (b. and d. 31 May 1754).
      • Duchess Maria Anna of Bavaria (b. and d. 28 January 1755).
      • A son (b. and d. 23 June 1756).
    • Duchess Theresia Emanuela of Bavaria (b. Munich, 22 July 1723 – d. Frankfurt, 27 March 1743).

Philipp Wilhelm died on 5 April 1693.

Second marriage

Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, second husband of Anna Maria. A canvas by Franz Ferdinand Richter, 1737
Ploskovice Chateau, Anna Maria's Bohemian residence; she greatly renovated the house and gardens
Zákupy Castle, another Anna Maria's residence in northern Bohemia

Cosimo III de' Medici coaxed his son into marrying Anna Maria Franziska for dynastic purposes, she was very wealthy, and brought a possible claim to the

Bishop of Osnabruck at Düsseldorf but they lived in the Kingdom of Bohemia, at chateaux of Ploskovice (Ploschkowitz) and Zákupy
(Reichstadt).

The new Princess of Tuscany had sprawling estates in the region. At the time of their marriage, contemporaries described the princess as "appalling and immensely fat". Anna Maria Franziska dominated her weak husband, which drove him into the arms of alcohol. He deplored her behaviour, "capriciousness, peevish faces and sharp words". Gian Gastone stayed with his wife for a mere ten months, before fleeing to Prague.[3] The princess refused to leave Reichstadt, despite her husband's constant protestations. She believed that the Medici were in the habit of murdering their consorts.[4]

The Grand Duke attempted to force his daughter-in-law to move back to Tuscany with Gian Gastone. He asked the Pope,

Archbishop of Prague to reproach her, and convince her to fulfil her wifely obligations. She replied that there was no point because Gian Gastone was "absolutely impotent". He left without her in 1708.[5]
Ferdinando, the heir to the collapsing grand duchy, died in 1713. Therefore, she became the Grand Princess of Tuscany.

Later life

Gian Gastone became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1723, and, she, the Grand Duchess. Her husband continued to live in

Francis Stephen of Lorraine (later Holy Roman Emperor
) ascended the grand ducal throne. She died in 1741.

Ancestry

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg". Yahoo.com - Geocities. Archived from the original on 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  2. ^ Strathern pp. 397 – 398
  3. ^ "Gian Gastone". Yahoo.com - Geocities. Archived from the original on 2009-10-27. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  4. ^ Strathern p 403
  5. ^ Strathern, p 404
  6. ^ Hale, p 189

Further reading

Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg
Born: 13 June 1673 Died: 15 October 1741
Italian royalty
Preceded by
Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany

1723–1737 		Succeeded by
Maria Theresa of Austria
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