Maria Anna Vasa

Maria Anna Vasa
File:Schultz Maria Anna Teresa Vasa.jpg Princess Maria Anna Theresa of Poland with the Carmelite habit, by Daniel Schultz, ca. 1651.
Born	1 July 1650 Warsaw, Poland
Died	Warsaw, Poland
Burial	Church of the Holy Spirit, later in Kazanowski Palace
Full name Maria Anna Theresa Vasa
House	Vasa
Father	John II Casimir Vasa
Mother	Marie Louise Gonzaga

Maria Anna Theresa Vasa (1 July 1650 - 1 August 1651), was a Polish princess and a member of the House of Vasa.

Born in Warsaw, she was the eldest child and only daughter of John II Casimir Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, by his wife Marie Louise Gonzaga.

Life

The solemn baptism of the Princess took place on 2 August 1650 in St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw, her birthplace. Sacrament was performed by Maciej Łubieński, Primate of Poland. Godparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (for whom Prince Karol Ferdynand Vasa stood proxy) and his recently new consort Eleonora Gonzaga (for whom the Princess Theodora Christine Sapieha stood proxy), and Pope Innocent X (represented by Nuncio Giovanni de Torres).

Since her birth, Maria Anna was destined to enter in the Carmelite Order, because her parents are devoted Catholics and planned this for her. Soon her preparation for this began, but she suddenly died aged thirteen months in Warsaw.

Maria Anna's funeral took place on 12 August 1651 in the Church of the Carmelite sisters in Warsaw. The little princess was buried in a carmelite habit at the great altar. Her remains were changed from location several times. In 1652, placed in a golden coffin, she was moved to Church of the Holy Spirit, and in 1663 was finally placed under the altar of the Carmelite convent in the old Kazanowski Palace, where the Charitable Center Res Sacra Miser stands today.

Ancestry

Family of Maria Anna Vasa

16. Gustav I of Sweden               8. John III of Sweden                       17. Margaret Leijonhufvud               4. Sigismund III Vasa                             18. Sigismund I the Old               9. Catherine Jagiellon                       19. Bona Sforza               2. John II Casimir Vasa                                   20. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor               10. Charles II, Archduke of Austria                       21. Anne of Bohemia and Hungary               5. Constance of Austria                             22. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria               11. Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551–1608)                       23. Archduchess Anna of Austria               1. Maria Anna Vasa                                         24. Frederick II of Mantua               12. Louis Gonzaga                       25. Margaret Paleologa of Montferrat               6. Charles I of Mantua                             26. Francis I of Nevers               13. Henriette of Cléves                       27. Margaret of Vendôme               3. Marie Louise Gonzaga                                   28. Francis of Guise               14. Charles of Mayenne                       29. Anna d'Este               7. Catherine of Mayenne                             30. Francis, Duke of Guise               15. Henriette of Savoy                       31. Anna d'Este

Bibliography

• Z. Wdowiszewski, Genealogia Jagiellonów i Domu Wazów w Polsce, Kraków 2005, pp. 238–239.
• S. Ochmann-Staniszewska, Dynastia Wazów w Polsce, Warszawa 2006, pp. 205–208, 234–239.
• D. Żołądź-Strzelczyk, Dziecko w dawnej Polsce, Poznań 2007, p. 91, 234, 250.