administrative tasks, however, which virtually left the Dowager Electress ruler of Bavaria. In addition to Albert VI and the Dowager Electress, the Hofkammerpräsident Mändl belonged to the administration that continued to work with the young Elector when he attained his majority in 1654. In 1664 Maria Anna, who remained a close advisor to her son even after the end of her regency, suggested putting the country under the patronage of St. Joseph. After the death of her husband, she lived in the so-called Widow's floor (Witwenstock) in the southwestern part of the Munich Residenz. Until her death she was a member of the Privy Council, the highest governmental body, although she hadn't the right of voting. She died in Munich aged 55 and was buried at St. Michael's Church, while her heart was deposited in the Shrine of Our Lady of Altötting. In literature Maria Anna is a central character in the novel, 1634: The Bavarian Crisis (Eric Flint & Virginia DeMarce. Baen Books.) She escaped marriage to Maximilian and escaped to her cousin, Don Fernando, who had declared himself "King in the Low Countries". Ancestry References and notes |- |- 1610 births 1665 deaths 17th-century House of Habsburg Electresses of the Palatinate House of Wittelsbach Electresses of Bavaria Austrian princesses 17th-century women rulers Duchesses of Bavaria Regents of Bavaria German Roman Catholics Daughters of emperors Burials at St. Michael's Church, Munich Daughters of kings