Maria Anna of Spain was a Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia by marriage to Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor. She acted as regent on several occasions during the absences of her spouse.
Daughter of King Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria, prior to her Imperial marriage she was considered a possible wife for Charles, Prince of Wales; the event, later known in history as the "Spanish Match", provoked a domestic and political crisis in the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. In the imperial court in Vienna she continued to be strongly influenced by her native Spanish culture and also to promote the strengthening of relations between the Imperial and Spanish branches of the House of Habsburg.