Cecilia Renata of Austria (German: Cäcilia Renata, Polish: Cecylia Renata, Lithuanian: Cecilija Renata; 16 July 1611 – 24 March 1644) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the wife of King-Grand Duke Władysław IV Vasa.
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Selection and coronation
Cecilia Renata was a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, of the House of Habsburg, and Maria Anna of Bavaria. Born in 1611 in Graz, she was chosen as a bride by the Polish-Lithuanian nobility. She married Władysław on 9 August in Vienna by proxy, and then in Warsaw in person on 12 September 1637, and the same day was crowned at St. John's Cathedral. This was the first royal coronation outside of Kraków, the historic, former capital of Poland, and this greatly angered the Polish nobility. A law was instigated to reserve coronations to Kraków in 1638.
Queenship
Young and energetic, Queen Cecilia Renata soon began organising the royal court to her liking. She was popular, especially for her politeness. One noble wrote in his memoirs that she insisted other women sit with her, even though she was queen. Cecilia Renata could not remove her husband's mistress, Hedwig Łuszkowska, by herself, so she arranged a marriage between Hedwig and Starosta Merecki, John Wypyski. In 1638, Cecilia Renata and Władysław visited Vienna.