Christine (Wettin) von Sachsen (1505 - 1549)

Born 25 Dec 1505 in Dresden, Herzogtum Sachsen, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 15 Apr 1549 at age 43 in Kassel, Landgrafschaft Hessen, Heiliges Römisches Reich

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Christine Wettin was a member of the aristocracy in Europe.

Biography

Birth

Christine or Christina of Saxony, was born 25 December 1505,^[1] probably at Dresden,^[2]; the third, but eldest surviving daughter of Georg 'der Bärtige' (the Bearded), Herzog von Sachsen (Duke of Saxony), and his wife, Barbara, Princess of Poland.^[1]

Marriage and children

She was betrothed on 14 October 1523 to Philipp, Landgraf von Hessen,^[2] in order to confirm links between these two Protestant countries. They were married at Dresden 11 December 1523, ^[1]; ^[2] and then again at Kassel on 25 January 1524.^[2]

They were to have ten children:^[3]

1. Agnes, born 31 May 1527 at Marburg, and married 1) 11 January 1541, Moritz, Herzog zu Sachsen; 2) 26 May 1555, Johann Friedrich II, Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg-Eisenach; and had issue with both husbands;
2. Anna, born 26 October 1529 at Kassel, married 24 February 1545, Wolfgang, Pfalzgraf und Herzog von Zweibrücken, and had issue;
3. Wilhelm IV, born 24 June 1532 Kassel, succeeded his father as Landgraf von Hessen zu Kassel;
4. Philipp Ludwig, born 29 June 1534 at Kassel, died young on 31 August 1535 at Kassel, and was buried in St Martinskirche;
5. Barbara, born 8 April 1536, married 1) 10 September 1555, Georg, Graf zu Württemberg; 2) 11 November 1568, Daniel, Graf zu Waldeck, and had issue, including illegitimate issue;
6. Ludwig, born 27 May 1537 at Kassel, succeeded as Landgraf von Hessen zu Marburg;
7. Elisabeth, born 13 February 1539 at Kassel, married 8 July 1560, Ludwig VI, Kurfürst von der Pfalz;
8. Philipp, born 22 April 1541 at Marburg, succeeded as Landgraf von Hessen zu Rheinfels;
9. Christine, born 29 June 1543 at Kassel, married 16 December 1564, Adolf, Herzog zu Schleswig-Holstein;
10. Georg I, born 10 September 1547 at Kassel, succeeded as Landgraf von Hessen zu Darmstadt.

Philip's bigamous marriage

Although there were 10 children, the marriage wasn't considered happy, Philip had "no pleasure in her society"^[4] and perhaps Christine had little pleasure in his.

Like many noblemen of the period, Philip had a number of other sexual partners but his conscience troubled him, though not enough to remain faithful to Christine. As early as 1526 he had made enquiries about how bigamy was viewed from a Protestant perspective^[4] but it wasn't until 1539/40 that he pressed the issue in order to marry Margarethe von der Saale. Christine apparently gave her written consent to this second marriage^[4] and they were married at Rotenburg an der Fulda on 4 March 1540.^[2] As a part of the conditions of her approval, Margarethe was never to appear at court, and any sons from this marriage were not to be given any rights to inherit the Hessian lands.

Death and burial

In 1547, Philip was arrested and during this time Christine and her eldest son, Wilhelm (later Wilhelm IV) administered Hesse. She was never to see her husband again as she died between 10 and 11 o'clock in the evening^[2] of 15 April 1549 at Kassel and was buried there in St Martinskirche ^[1]; ^[2]

A monument by the Hessian sculptor, Philipp Soldan was originally erected on the North side of the Choir in 1550, but after the death of her husband in 1567, a more magnificent tomb was built commemorating both of them. Originally planned and begun by the court sculptor the Dutch, Elias Godefroy, it was finished in 1572 by his pupil Adam Liquir Beaumont.^[5]

During World War II it was "walled up to protect it from damage" and it was only partially damaged when the church was destroyed on 22 October 1943.^[6] There had been a number of preservation attemps before World War II, but the latest in 2004 was partly to repair any damage caused from that time.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Posse, Otto. 1897. Die Wettiner: Genealogie des gesammthauses Wettin Ernestinischer und Albertinischer linie mit einischluss der Regierenden Häuser von GrossBritannien, Belgien, Portugal und Bulgarien. Leipzig & Berlin: Giesecke & Devrient. Tafel 28 & notes pp. 88-89. Digital image Bayerische StaatsBibliothek, https://bildsuche.digitale-sammlungen.de/index.html?c=viewer&bandnummer=bsb00070744.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Knetsch, Carl. 1917. Das Haus Brabant: Genealogie der Herzoge von Brabant und der Landgrafen von Hessen. Vol. 1 - Vom 9. jahrhundert bis zu Philipp dem Grossmütigen. Darmstadt: Historischen Vereins für das Grossherzogtum Hessen. pp. 67-68. Digital image (89-90). Marburg: Philipps Universität. http://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/eb/2015/0060/view.html.
3. ↑ Knetsch, Carl. 1931. Das Haus Brabant: Genealogie der Herzoge von Brabant und der Landgrafen von Hessen. Vol. 2 - Die nachkommen Philipps des Grossmütigen. pp. 83-90, Darmstadt: Historischen Vereins für Hessen. Digital image. (13-20) Marburg: Philipps Universität. http://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/eb/2015/0061/view.html.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Faulkner, John Alfred. 1913. 'Luther and the bigamous marriage of Philip of Hesse' in The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 206-231. Digital image, JSTOR database http://www.jstor.org/stable/3154607
5. ↑ 'Martinskirche' in Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Kassel-Mitte http://www.ekkw.de/kassel-mitte/martinskirche.php : viewed 21 January 2017.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Presche, Christian. n.d. Das Grabmal für Landgraf Philipp den Großmütigen und Christina von Sachsen in der Kasseler Martinskirche und seine Restaurierung im Jahre 2004. http://www.presche-chr.de/christian/philippsgrabmal.htm : viewed 21 January 2017.

See also:

• Wikipedia Christine of Saxony
• Wikidata: Item Q271799