Jewellery and precious objects in the formation of Habsburg family relationships: Anne of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547) and her inventories

Abstract

Abstract Queen Anne of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547), wife of Ferdinand I of Austria, assembled a remarkable collection of jewellery and valuables. Analysis of her collection is aided by the survival of four inventories, as well as household accounts, which not only reveal its origins, development and structure during the queen’s lifetime, but also its fate after her death. The complex distribution of the artefacts involved Anne’s children and other Habsburg family members, as well as other European female rulers and noblewomen. Some of the jewels have been identified in portraits of Queen Anne and her daughters. The present study seeks to shed light on the role of jewellery in establishing personal bonds within the Habsburg family and within the cultural and political networks that linked European elites during the Renaissance.