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Christine of Saxony

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For the Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, see Christina of Saxony.

Christina of Saxony
Landgravine consort of Hesse
Tenure11 December 1523 – 15 April 1549
Born25 December 1505
Dresden
Died15 April 1549(1549-04-15) (aged 43)
Kassel
SpousePhilip I, Landgrave of Hesse
IssueAgnes, Electress of Saxony
Anna, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken
William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Philipp Ludwig
Barbara, Duchess of Württemberg-Mömpelgard
Louis IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg
Elisabeth, Electress Palatine
Philip II, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels
Christine, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp
George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
HouseWettin
FatherGeorge, Duke of Saxony
MotherBarbara Jagiellon

Christine of Saxony (25 December 1505 – 15 April 1549) was a German noblewoman, landgravine consort of Hesse by her marriage to Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.[1] She was the regent of Hesse during the absence of her spouse in 1547–1549.

Life

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She was a daughter of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony and Barbara Jagiellon. She married Landgrave Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse on 11 December 1523 in Kassel.[2] The marriage was arranged to forge a political alliance between Hesse and Saxony and was unhappy. Philip claimed to be disgusted by her and the "sexual wasteland" of his arranged marriage,[3] said that he only shared her bed by duty and stated that she drank too much.[4] Christine was nevertheless frequently pregnant; she gave birth to ten children in twenty years,[5] nine of whom lived to adulthood.

Whilst married to Christine, Philip had adulterous affairs from as early as 1526 and even practised bigamy.[6] He had another nine children with his other (morganatic) wife, Margarethe von der Saale, one of his sister’s ladies-in-waiting.[7] In 1540, Christine gave her consent to her husband's bigamy with his lover in writing as long as any children had an inferior status,[8] but it was politically disadvantageous[9] had a negative effect upon the Protestant Reformation.[10] Margarethe von der Saale was never seen at court and her children were barred from any claim to the landgraviate and from inheriting their fathers lands.[11]

During Philip's absence and captivity under Imperial arrest during 1547–1549, Christine was regent jointly with her oldest son.[2] She died before Philip's release in 1552.

Depictions

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Lead glazed earthenware stove tiles of Phillip and Christine were excavated in Haapsalu, Estonia, and are held in the collection of the Läänemaa Museum.[12][13]

Children with Philip of Hesse

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  1. Agnes of Hesse (31 May 1527 – 4 November 1555),[14] married:
    1. in Marburg on 9 January 1541 to Maurice, Elector of Saxony;
    2. in Weimar on 26 May 1555 to John Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha.
  2. Anna of Hesse (26 October 1529 – 10 July 1591), married on 24 February 1544 to Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken.
  3. William IV of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) (24 June 1532 – 25 August 1592).
  4. Philipp Ludwig (29 June 1534 – 31 August 1535), died in infancy.
  5. Barbara of Hesse (8 April 1536 – 8 June 1597), married:
    1. in Reichenweier on 10 September 1555 to Duke George I of Württemberg-Mömpelgard;
    2. in Kassel on 11 November 1568 to Count Daniel of Waldeck.
  6. Louis IV of Hesse-Marburg (27 May 1537 – 9 October 1604).
  7. Elisabeth of Hesse (13 February 1539 – 14 March 1582), married on 8 July 1560 to Louis VI, Elector Palatine.
  8. Philip II of Hesse-Rheinfels (22 April 1541 – 20 November 1583).
  9. Christine of Hesse (29 June 1543 – 13 May 1604), married in Gottorp on 17 December 1564 to Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.
  10. Georg I of Hesse-Darmstadt (10 September 1547 – 7 February 1596).

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ Eckhart G. Franz (Hrsg.): Haus Hessen. Biografisches Lexikon. (= Arbeiten der Hessischen Historischen Kommission N.F., Bd. 34) Hessische Historische Kommission, Darmstadt 2012, ISBN 978-3-88443-411-6
  2. ^ a b Venning, Timothy (30 June 2023). A Compendium of World Sovereigns: Volume III Early Modern. Taylor & Francis. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-000-86452-6.
  3. ^ Abbott, Elizabeth (4 January 2011). A History of Marriage: From Same Sex Unions to Private Vows and Common Law, the Surprising Diversity of a Tradition. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-1-60980-085-7.
  4. ^ Culpepper, Scott. (2016) "Sola Wife." Dordt Digital Collections. p. 2.
  5. ^ Moller, Violet (13 June 2024). Inside the Stargazer's Palace: The Transformation of Science in 16th-Century Northern Europe. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-86154-753-1.
  6. ^ Maddock, Robert (19 December 2016). The 1300 Year's War: Volume 2. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1-5245-4935-0.
  7. ^ Mann, Ingrun (23 January 2017). Anna of Saxony: The Scarlet Lady of Orange. Winged Hussar Publishing. p. 1524. ISBN 978-1-945430-25-1.
  8. ^ Eder, Franz (2 November 2023). Sexuality in Premodern Europe: A Social and Cultural History from Antiquity to the Early Modern Age. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 290. ISBN 978-1-350-34105-0.
  9. ^ Schneider-Ludorff, Gury (6 February 2006). "Philipp of Hesse as an Example of Princely Reformation A Contribution to Reformation Studies". Reformation & Renaissance Review. 8 (3): 310. doi:10.1558/rrr.v8i3.301. ISSN 1462-2459.
  10. ^ Sikora, Michael (2012). "As Long as it's Marriage. The Hessian Bigamy Case of 1540 within the Competing Interests of Dynasty, Desire and New Moral Demands". Dimensioni e Problemi della Ricerca Storica (2/2012): 33–0. doi:10.7376/72638. ISSN 1125-517X.
  11. ^ Romein, Christel Annemieke (2021). Protecting the Fatherland: Lawsuits and Political Debates in Jülich, Hesse-Cassel and Brittany (1642-1655). Springer Nature. p. 88. ISBN 978-3-030-74240-9.
  12. ^ Kristiansen, Kristian; Lindkvist, Thomas; Myrdal, Janken (5 July 2018). Trade and Civilisation: Economic Networks and Cultural Ties, from Prehistory to the Early Modern Era. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-42541-4.
  13. ^ Gaimster, David. (2021) "New Faith, New Home, New Stove. The Role of the Hanseatic Ceramic Trade in the Transmission of New Confessional and Political Identities in the Northern European Home, c. 1500–1600". Berg, Ria., Coralini, Antonella., Koponen, Anu Kaisa., and Välimäki, Reima. (eds). Tangible Religion, Materiality of domestic cult practices from antiquity to Early Modern era. Rome: Institutum Romanum Finlandiae. p. 275. ISBN 978-88-5491-164-2. ISSN 0538-2270.
  14. ^ Vredeveld, Harry (9 December 2019). The Poetic Works of Helius Eobanus Hessus: Volume 5: A Veritable Proteus, 1524–1528 (in Latin). BRILL. p. 465. ISBN 978-90-04-41466-2.
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