Anna Gonzaga

Anne Gonzaga (Anne Marie; 1616 – 6 July 1684) was a French noblewoman and political hostess of Italian descent. She was by marriage Countess Palatine of Simmern, called "Princess Palatine", as the wife of Edward of the Palatinate, a grandson of King James I of England and an uncle of King George I of Great Britain. She bore Edward three children, all daughters. Had she not converted Edward to Catholicism, the English throne might have passed to their descendants. Anne was the youngest daughter of Charles I, Duke of Mantua and Catherine de Mayenne (daughter of Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne). Anne was born in Paris into a cadet French branch of the ducal House of Gonzaga, which ruled Mantua in northern Italy. Her father's family...