Countess Palatine Elisabeth of Simmern-Sponheim
Elisabeth of Simmern-Sponheim | |
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Duchess consort of Saxony | |
Tenure | 1558–1566 |
Born | Birkenfeld | 30 June 1540
Died | 8 February 1594 Wiener Neustadt | (aged 53)
Burial | |
Spouse | |
Issue among others... | |
House | Wittelsbach |
Father | Frederick III, Elector Palatine |
Mother | Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach |
Elisabeth of the Palatinate (German: Elisabeth von der Pfalz; 30 June 1540 in Birkenfeld – 8 February 1594 in Wiener Neustadt) was the second wife of John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony.
Life
Elisabeth was born in Birkenfeld, the daughter of Frederick III, Elector Palatine, and his wife, Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. Elisabeth was the third child of the couple and the second to reached adulthood.
On 12 June 1558 in
In the following years, Elisabeth wrote a number of petitions to, among others, Emperor
In the summer of 1572, Elisabeth moved in with her husband in captivity in the castle of Wiener Neustadt. From there, she has returned twice more to Coburg. On 5 August 1572, her son Frederick Henry died in Eisenberg. Her two youngest sons John Casimir and John Ernest moved into the Ehrenburg Palace at Coburg on 5 December 1572, where they were raised by under the governorship of Count Barby, who was a confidant of Augustus.
In June and July 1578, Elisabeth traveled via Prague, where they unsuccessfully tried to meet Dowager Empress Maria, to Coburg where she met with her younger sister Dorothea Susanna. In 1583, Elisabeth traveled in the period from March to August, via Prague and Coburg to Weimar to attend on 5 May at the wedding of
Elisabeth died on 8 February 1594 in the armory of Wiener Neustadt. Her body was repatriated to Coburg at the end of the year and buried in the Morizkirche on 30 December 1594. In 1598, Duke John Casimir had a twelve-meter-high alabaster epitaph by the sculptor Nikolaus Bergner erected on the tomb of Elisabeth and John Frederick, who had died in 1595.[1]: 48
Marriage and issue
On 12 June 1558 in Weimar, Elisabeth married John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony, the eldest son of John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony. The couple had four sons:
- John Frederick (30 November 1559, Weimar - 8 August 1560, Weimar)
- Frederick Henry (3 February 1563, Heldburg - 4 August 1572, Eisenberg)
- John Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg (12 June 1564, Gotha - 16 July 1633,Coburg); married in 1586 Anna of Saxony. The couple divorced in 1593, after which he married Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1599.
- John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach (9 July 1566, Gotha - 23 October 1638, Eisenach); married in 1591 Elisabeth of Mansfeld-Hinterort. Elisabeth died in 1596, and in 1598, he married Christine of Hesse-Kassel.
References
- ^ Klüglein, Norbert (1991). Coburg Stadt und Land (German). Verkehrsverein Coburg.
- August von Kluckhohn (1877), "Elisabeth (Herzogin zu Sachsen)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 6, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, p. 38
- Joachim Kruse: Herzog Johann Friedrich II. der Mittlere von Sachsen (1529-1595) und das ernestinische Familienepitaph in St. Moriz, Coburg, vollendet 1598. Eine kultur- und kunstgeschichtliche Studie", part 1, in: Jahrbuch der Coburger Landesstiftung 2007, ISSN 0084-8808