Anna Jagellonská’s life shaped Habsburg rule
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The National Gallery in Prague is exhibiting portraits and personal items belonging to Anna Jagellonská, a queen who lived from 1503 to 1547, to show her role in establishing Habsburg power in Bohemia and Hungary.
Anna Jagellonská, princess of the Jagellonian dynasty, enabled her husband Ferdinand I and the Habsburgs to claim the Czech and Hungarian crowns. Historians now see her as an active participant in the changes of her time, not simply a witness to them.
The exhibition displays around 200 items including paintings, sculptures, letters, and documents that detail Anna’s life and the broader European context of the early 16th century. These include a portrait of the young queen painted by Hans Maler, which her husband likely used to familiarise himself with her before their wedding. The exhibit also explores the political and cultural landscape of the era, including the Renaissance, religious shifts, and the Ottoman threat.
The death of Anna’s brother, Ludvík Jagellonský, without an heir at the Battle of Mohács in 1526 opened the way for the Habsburgs to assert their claim to the Hungarian and Czech thrones. The gallery also presents a digital reconstruction of Prague Castle as it appeared during Anna Jagellonská’s time.
