アンナ・デ・メディチ、オーストリア大公妃

アンナ王女は1616年7月21日、トスカーナ大公国の首都フィレンツェのピッティ宮殿で生まれた。彼女の父はコジモ2世・デ・メディチで、1609年からトスカーナ大公を統治していた。アンナの母はオーストリアのマリア・マッダレーナで、オーストリア大公カール2世の娘であり、神聖ローマ皇帝フェルディナント2世の妹であった。彼女のメディチ家とハプスブルク家の血筋は、17世紀の彼女の家族における結婚ではよくある組み合わせであり、実際、彼女自身も娘もハプスブルク家の一員と結婚することになる。

彼女の父は1621年2月28日に亡くなり、母と祖母であるクリスティーナ大公妃がアンナの兄が成人するまで摂政を務めた。アンナと妹のマルゲリータはマリア・マッダレーナから優れた資質と卓越した能力を受け継いだと言われている。^{[ 1 ]}

Following failed plans for Anna to marry Gaston, Duke of Orléans,^[2] 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.^[3][4] 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.^[4] During the year of their marriage, Ferdinand Charles took over his mother's gubernatorial duties and became the ruler of Tyrol and Further Austria, as he was now of age.^[3] Anna and Ferdinand Charles had three daughters. The couple preferred the attractions of the opulent Tuscan court to the mountains of Tyrol, and consequently were more often at Florence than at Innsbruck.^[5] As a result, their eldest daughter was born in Anna's home court, not Ferdinand Charles'.

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.^[3] 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.^[3] The dispute was remedied in 1673, when Claudia Felicitas married Emperor Leopold I, who had seized the county.^[3]

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.