Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Johanna of Austria (b. 24 January 1547 – d. 11 April 1578), was the youngest daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. By marriage, she was a Grand Duchess of Tuscany; one of her daughters was the famous Marie de Medici, Queen-consort and second wife of King Henri IV of France.

Family

Johanna was born in Prague as the youngest of 15 children. She never knew her mother and eldest sister: her mother Anna died 2 days after Johanna's birth and her sister Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of Poland, had died in 1545, two years before Johanna was born.

Her paternal grandparents were Philip, Duke of Burgundy and Joanna of Castile. Her maternal grandparents were King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary, and Anna of Foix-Candale. Through her father, Johanna was also a descendant of Isabella I of Castile and Mary of Burgundy.

Marriage

Her marriage to Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, took place on 25 December 1565 in Florence, after she solemny arrived to the city by the Porta al Prato. Giorgio Vasari and Vincenzo Borghini, with the help of Giovanni Caccini made big festivities for these event.

Nevertless, Johanna was homesick and unhappy. Ignored by her husband, and despised by the Florentines for her Austrian hauteur, she never felt at home in Florence.

Her father-in-law, Cosimo I de' Medici, was reasonably kind to Johanna. He had the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio specially decorated for her; the lunettes were painted with murals of Austrian towns by pupils of Vasari, and Verrocchio's Putto with Dolphin fountain was brought down from the Careggi villa where it had been set up in the garden by Lorenzo de' Medici.

The position of Johanna in the Florentine court was during most of her marriage, difficult: between 1566 and 1573, she gave birth six daughters, from who only three survive infancy. The abscence of a male heir to continue the dinasty was a constant rift with her husband, who prefered the company and love of his mistress Bianca Capello, who -although some believed that was a fraud- she gave birth a son, Antonio, in 1576.

Finally, in 1577 Johanna gave the long-awaited heir, baptized Filippo in honour to the King Philip II of Spain, Johanna's first cousin. The birth was celebrated with great joy by all the court, because was secured the succession of the Grand Duchy for another generation and eliminated all the hopes of Bianca Capello to made her "son" Antonio as heir of Tuscany. At the end, was Johanna's brother-in-law, Ferdinando, who succeded Francesco as Grand Duke.

Death

On 10 April 1578 Johanna, heavily pregnant from her eight child, fall from the stairs in the Grand Ducal Palace in Florence. Some hours later, she gave birth a son, who, born prematurely, died inmediately. At the morning of the next day, 11 April, she also died. Francesco subsequently married his mistress, Bianca Cappello.

The misterious circumstances around these accident made the rumours, who acused her husband Francesco and Bianca together murdered Johanna so that they could be married.

Ancestors

Johanna's ancestors in three generations'

Johanna of Austria	Father: Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor	Paternal Grandfather: Philip I of Castile	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Mary of Burgundy
		Paternal Grandmother: Joanna of Castile	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Ferdinand II of Aragon
			Paternal Great-Grandmother: Isabella I of Castile
	Mother: Anna of Bohemia and Hungary	Maternal Grandfather: Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary	Maternal Great-Grandfather: Casimir IV Jagiellon
			Maternal Great-Grandmother: Elisabeth of Austria
		Maternal Grandmother: Anne de Foix	Maternal Great-grandfather: Gaston de Foix
			Maternal Great-Grandmother: Infanta Catherine of Navarre

Children

Eleonora de' Medici, Johanna's eldest surviving daughter

Marie de' Medici, Johanna's younger surviving daughter

The seven children of Francesco and Johanna were:

• Eleonora (b. 1 March 1566 – d. 9 September 1611), who married Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (1582-1612).

• Romola (b. 20 November 1568 – d. 2 December 1568).

• Anna (b. 31 December 1569 – d. 19 February 1584).

• Isabella (b. 30 September 1571 – d. 8 August 1572).

• Lucrezia (b. 7 November 1572 – d. 14 August 1574).

• Maria (b. 26 April 1573 – d. 3 July 1642), who became Queen of France by her marriage to Henri IV in 1600.

• Filippo (b. 20 May 1577 – d. 29 March 1582).

Out of a total of seven children, only two daughters, Eleonora and Marie lived to adulthood, the rest of the children died young. Anna the second eldest daughter died at the age of fourteen.