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Archduchess Joanna of Austria
Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany
Tenure	1574 - 1578
Spouse	Francesco I de' Medici
Issue
Eleonora, Duchess of Mantua Marie, Queen of France Anna de' Medici Filippo de' Medici
House	House of Habsburg
Father	Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
Born	24 January 1547 Prague, Czech Republic
Died	11 April 1578 Florence, Italy

Joanna of Austria (24 January 1547 – 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 Henry IV of France.

[edit] Family

Joanna 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 Joanna's birth and her sister Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of Poland, had died in 1545, two years before Joanna was born.

Her paternal grandparents were Philip I of Castile 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.

[edit] Marriage

Her marriage to Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, took place on 18 December 1565 in Florence, after she solemnly arrived in the city by the Porta al Prato. Giorgio Vasari and Vincenzo Borghini, with the help of Giovanni Caccini made big festivities for these event.

Nevertheless, Joanna 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 Joanna. 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 Joanna in the Florentine court was during most of her marriage, difficult: between 1566 and 1575, she gave birth to six daughters, of whom only three survived infancy. The absence of a male heir to continue the dynasty was the cause of constant conflict with her husband, who preferred the company and love of his mistress Bianca Capello, who - although some call it a fraud- gave birth a son, Antonio, in 1576.

Finally, in 1577 Joanna gave birth to the long-awaited heir, baptized Filippo in honour to the King Philip II of Spain, Joanna'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 succeeded Francesco as Grand Duke.

[edit] Death

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

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

[edit] Ancestors

[edit] 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. 28 February 1567 – 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 1575 – 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.

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