Tadea of Austria

Tadea della Penna (1523 – 1562) was an Italian noblewoman. She was an illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Life Tadea was born in Bologna in 1523, whilst her mother was travelling to Rome. She was the illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Orsolina della Penna, an Italian widow who was known as "the beauty of Perugia."

Tadea was taken to see Charles when he was in Bologna in 1530 and 1532-3. when she was 13 years old. Whilst the Emperor did not recognise all of his illegitimate children, including Tadea, he did strive to keep their lives under his control. When he found out that the marriage had taken place, he wrote angrily to the groom's aunt, who had organised the wedding. Charles' biographer Kohler has suggested that it is likely that he had grander aspirations for his daughter's marriage,

She died in about 1562 in Rome.