Born: 15 September 1533, Austria
Died: 28 February 1572
Country most active: Poland, Lithuania
Also known as: Katarzyna Habsburżanka, Kotryna Habsburgaitė
One of 15 children of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, Catherine of Austria was the queen consort of Poland and grand duchess consort of Lithuania through her marriage to Sigismund II Augustus. Wed in 1553, the couple were unhappy and the pope denied her husband’s appeal for a divorce. Both spouses had opposed the marriage, but her father pushed it through for political reasons, threatening to create an alliance with Russia against Poland. Sigismund’s first wife was Catherine’s older sister, Elizabeth, and she blamed his mistreatment for her sister’s death at just 18 years old.
She returned to Austria in 1565, living there for the remainder of her life. It was technically her second marriage, as she had been married off at age 16, but was widowed within four months, and the family claimed that marriage was never consummated.