Emilie of Saxony

Emilie of Saxony
Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Lucas Cranach the Elder - Emilie of Saxony, detail of a painting from 1535, oil on a poplar panel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Tenure1536–1543
Born(1516-07-27)27 July 1516
Freiberg
Died9 April 1591(1591-04-09) (aged 74)
Ansbach
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1533; died 1543)​
IssueSophie, Duchess of Legnica
Barbara
Dorothy Catherine, Burgravine of Meissen
George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
HouseWettin
FatherHenry IV, Duke of Saxony
MotherCatherine of Mecklenburg

Emilie of Saxony (27 July 1516 – 9 April 1591) was Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach as the third wife of Margrave George the Pious of Brandenburg-Ansbach. As her husband's prior wives died before his accession, Emilie of Saxony was the only spouse to hold the title of Margravine.

Life

Emilie was the daughter of the Duke Henry IV of Saxony and his wife Catherine of Mecklenburg. She was a member of the House of Wettin.

On 25 August 1533 Emilie of Saxony married the much older George of Brandenburg, the future Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, who had been recognised as the duke of Silesia. She was sixteen years old. [1]He also administered Brandenburg-Kulmbach on behalf of Albert, the son of his deceased brother Casimir. The marriage produced the heir he had hoped for: George Frederick, later Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

After the death of her husband in 1543, Emilie was the legal guardian of her son,George Frederick, who was a minor, until 1556. She provided George Frederick with a humanistic education. However, the regency of Brandenburg-Ansbach was administered jointly by the reigning Electors of Saxony, Electors of Brandenburg, and the Landgrave of Hesse, Philip I.

Emilie was described as wise, virtuous and pious. She was a strict Lutheran and actively opposed Catholicism in the territories of her husband and son.[2][3] In later life she retired to her widow seat.

Offspring

Her children with George the Pious of Brandenburg-Ansbach included the following:

married in 1560 Duke Henry XI of Legnica (1539–1588)
married in 1556 Henry V, Burgrave of Plauen, Burgrave of Meissen
married first, in 1558, Princess Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin (1540–1578)
second, in 1579, Princess Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1563–1639)

Ancestors

References

  1. ^ "Princess Emilia of Saxony". National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  2. ^ Johann Heinrich Schülin: Life and history of the ... Margrave George ..., p. 170
  3. ^ Schornbaum., K. (1920-01-01). "Markgraf Georg Friedrich von Brandenburg und die Einigungsbestrebungen der protestantischen Stände 1556—1559". Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte. 17 (2). doi:10.14315/arg-1920-0203. ISSN 2198-0489. S2CID 183356762.
  4. ^ Tondel, Janusz; Wagner, Arkadiusz (2019). The Silver Library of Duke Albrecht of Prussia and his wife Anna Maria. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 65. ISBN 978-3-643-91157-5.
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