Early life Princess Anna was born on 21 July 1616 at the
Palazzo Pitti in
Florence, the capital of the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Her father was
Cosimo II de' Medici, he had been the reigning
Grand Duke of Tuscany since 1609. Anna's mother was
Maria Maddalena of Austria, a daughter of
Charles II, Archduke of Austria, and a sister of
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. Her Medici and Habsburg ancestry was a common pairing among seventeenth century marriages in her family; indeed, she herself would come to marry a Habsburg, as would her daughter. Her father died on 28 February 1621, causing her mother and grandmother Grand Duchess
Christina to serve as regents until the majority of Anna's brother was reached. It was said that Anna and her sister Margherita inherited from Maria Maddalena her good qualities and marked abilities.
Marriage Following failed plans for Anna to marry
Gaston, Duke of Orléans, she was instead engaged to
Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria. In 1646, Anna left her native
Florence for
Innsbruck to be married. On 10 June, she was married to her double first cousin Ferdinand Charles. He was the eldest son of
Leopold V, Archduke of Austria and his wife
Claudia de' Medici. Anna was almost thirty years old, while Ferdinand Charles was only eighteen. The match was negotiated by Ferdinand Charles' formidable mother, who had been regent of
Further Austria and
Tyrol since Leopold's death in 1632. Claudia had ruled the duchy well in her regency from 1632 to 1646, and was successful in keeping Tyrol out of the
Thirty Years War. As a result, their eldest daughter was born in Anna's home court, not Ferdinand Charles'.
Widowhood . In 1662, Ferdinand Charles died. As they had only two surviving daughters, his younger brother
Sigismund Francis inherited the County of Tyrol and Further Austria. On the eve of his marriage to another princess however, Sigismund Francis died in 1665. This meant that the county reverted to direct rule from Vienna, despite the efforts of Anna to preserve some vestige of power for herself as dowager countess. Her attempts to persuade Vienna also stemmed from the fact that Anna wanted to protect the rights of her two daughters. The dispute was remedied in 1673, when Claudia Felicitas married
Emperor Leopold I, who had seized the county. Anna not only survived her husband by fourteen years but also outlived both her children. Maria Magdalena died in 1669, and Empress Claudia Felicitas died soon after her marriage. On 11 September 1676 in Vienna, Anna died aged sixty. ==Patron of the arts==