Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (German: Maria Anna von Habsburg, Erzherzogin von Österreich, also known as Maria Anna von Bayern or Maria-Anna, Kurfürstin von Bayern; 13 January 1610 – 25 September 1665), was a German regent, Electress of Bavaria by marriage to Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, and co-regent of the Electorate of Bavaria during the minority of her son Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria from 1651 to 1654. Life Archduchess of Austria Born in Graz, she was the fifth child and second, but oldest surviving, daughter of Archduke Ferdinand of Inner Austria by his first wife Maria Anna, a daughter of William V, Duke of Bavaria. She was probably named after her mother, who died in 1616. Maria Anna, who had a particular fondness for hunting, received a strict Jesuit upbringing and was considered a great beauty with exceptional virtues, such as prudence, orderly life and stateliness. She also spoke fluent Italian in addition to her native German. In 1619 her father became Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia and Hungary, an event that considerably raised her status. Two years later, in 1622, the now Emperor Ferdinand II married again, with Eleonora, daughter of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, with whom he had no children. Marriage On 15 July 1635 at the Augustinian Church, Vienna, Maria Anna married her uncle, Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, whose previous wife, Elisabeth of Lorraine, had died a few months earlier. The wedding was celebrated by Franz von Dietrichstein, Bishop of Olomouc. In the marriage contract, which was signed two days later on 17 July, the Emperor made the exceptional stipulation that Maria Anna would not renounce her rights over the Habsburg inheritance (Erbverzicht) as was customary for Austrian Archduchesses when they married foreign princes; this was made probably by Ferdinand II with the intention to secure the rights of his eldest daughter in the case of the extinction of his male descendants. As a dowry, Maria Anna received the amount of 250,000 florins secured from Wasserburg Castle and the districts of Kraiburg and Neumarkt. As a widow's seat she received Trausnitz Castle in Landshut. With this union, the Bavarian Elector not only gained the opportunity to sire the long-waited heir (his first marriage was childless) but also to demonstrate his alliance with the Holy Roman Empire against France, which was prepared for an imminent war. However, this connection only played a