This biography, written by Gabby Storey, is shared with permission from Team Queens, an educational history blog run by a collective of historical scholars. All rights reserved; this material may not be republished without the author’s consent.
Born: 1484, France
Died: 26 July 1506
Country most active: Hungary, Czechia
Also known as: Anne of Foix-Candale
Anne was the daughter of Gaston of Foix and Catherine of Navarre. Her maternal grandparents were Eleanor, queen of Navarre, and Gaston IV, count of Foix, and her paternal grandparents were John de Foix and Margaret Kerdeston.
Anne grew up at the French royal court, where she received a good education in Latin alongside the classics. She was betrothed in 1500 to Vladislaus II, king of Hungary. They were married on 29 September 1502 at Székesfehérvár, and Anne was crowned queen of Hungary the same day.
Anne’s wedding ceremony was recorded in much detail by the French chronicler Jean d’Auton, and Anne of Brittany’s herald, Pierre Choque, the former of whom also noted the proxy arrangements prior to the in person ceremony.
Anne bore two children: a daughter, Anna, in 1503, who later became queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and a son, Louis II, later king of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, born in 1506.
Anne and Vladislaus’ marriage was unfortunately short. Reports of Anne’s popularity, particularly in Venice, have been recorded. Her relationship with Vladislaus appears to have been successful as she demonstrated some agency during her reign.
Anne died in Buda on 26 July 1506, shortly after the birth of Louis, owing to complications from childbirth, at the age of 22.
Recommended Reading
A. Le Roux De Lincy, Discours des cérémonies du maiage d’Anne de Foix, de la maison de France, avec Ladislas VI, roi de Bohême, précédé du discours du voyage de cette reine dans la seigneurie de Venise, le tout mis en écrit du commandant d’Anne, reine de France, duchesse de Bretagne, par Pierre Choque, dit Bretagne, l’un de ses rois d’armes. Mai 1502 (Paris : 1861)
Katarzyna Kosior, Becoming a Queen in Early Modern Europe: East and West (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)
P. L. Jacob, Chroniques de Jean d’Auton, publiées pour la première fois en entier, d’après les manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Roi, avec une notice et des notes (Paris: 1834).