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Anna von Helfenstein was one of two named mistresses of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and the woman by whom he fathered the most children. Maximilian was married three times, though only the first had issue (a son and a daughter). In 1493, the Emperor married his final wife, Bianca Maria Sforza, who was a little more than a decade his junior. Maximilian was unhappy with his bride; however, whom he claimed to be uneducated, naïve, and careless. Despite several pregnancies, none culminated in the birth of a living child, and by 1500, he had completely lost interest. Bianca began living at her own court in Tyrol until her death in 1510 at the age of 38. Maximillian did not attend her funeral nor did he even purchase a gravestone to mark her burial place.
By 1507, Maximilian had begun his longest and most intense affair with Anna and the couple had at lease nine children (though possibly as many as eleven) during the years they were together. Several of the surviving children had advantageous marriages. Unfortunately, little else is known about Anna and it is not clear what happened to her. As for the Emperor, he died at the age of 59, leaving specific instructions for how to prepare his body, which included cutting off his hair, knocking out his teeth and covering his corpse in lime and ash after whipping it.
Children of Maximilian I by Anna von Helfenstein:
1490 |
1490
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1511 |
June 10, 1511
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1515 |
1515
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1516 |
1516
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1517 |
August 1, 1517
Age 27
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Slot Amberg, Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, Austria
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1517
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