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Anna of Saxony (23 December 1544 – 18 December 1577) was the heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes, eldest daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.〔 Maurice's only son, Albert, died in infancy. Anna was the second wife of William the Silent. Anna was born and died in Dresden. Her wealth drew many suitors;〔 before the proposal of Orange in 1560, there were negotiations with the Swedish royal house. She accepted the suit of William I of Orange, and they were married on 25 August 1561.〔 ==Early life== After the death of her younger brother Albert (born November 28, 1545 † April 12, 1546) Anna was the only remaining child of her parents, and was especially loved and spoiled by the mother. Anna's shoulder was deformed and she walked with a limp. On 11 July 1553, her father died leaving his younger brother, August (1526–1586), at the head of the office of elector. Anna's mother married the Duke Johann Friedrich the Middle of Saxony (1529–1595) two years after. Anna lived with two step-siblings from then on with her mother in Weimar. On 4 November 1555, six months after her second marriage, her mother died. The 11-year-old orphan then moved in with her closest relatives at the Dresden court, her uncle August and his wife Anne of Denmark and Norway, and was often unhappy and alone. She was described as proud, defiant, and stubborn, but was also regarded as intelligent and passionate. She was, in her time, the wealthiest heiress in Germany. In 1556 Erik, son of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa, sought her hand in marriage, followed two years later by William of Orange. A marriage with a rich heiress and relation to the important electoral houses of Germany for him seemed of great value. Money may have not been one of the main motives for the marriage, but was probably the furthest planned course of the marriage. Anna's maternal grandfather, Philip the Magnanimous of Hesse, was opposed to the marriage. First, he did not consider William of Orange, already having a male heir, as befitting for an elector's daughter, believing she could marry someone of even higher rank. Secondly, there would have been too much debt incurred in the event of William's death. Philip's negative attitude delayed the marriage for a full year. Ultimately, however, the decisive factor was probably that William was a valuable ally for Germany and his Dutch resources for the Protestant cause. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Anna of Saxony」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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