Duchess Maria Elisabeth of Saxony


Duchess Marie Elisabeth of Saxony was a duchess consort of Holstein-Gottorp as the spouse of Duke Frederick III of Holstein-Gottorp. As a widow, she became known as a patron of culture.

Biography

She was a daughter of John George I, Elector of Saxony and his spouse, Princess Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia. She was engaged in 1627 and married in 1630. Her marriage was arranged by the Danish queen dowager Sophie and the dowager duchess of Saxony, Hedwig of Denmark. In her dowry, she brought paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder.
In 1659, she became a widow; she moved to Wittum Husum Castle in 1660. Her household at Husum became renowned as a culture center, and she herself a noted patron. She produced an interpretation of the Bible in 1664.

Marriage and issue

Marie Elisabeth was married on 21 February 1630 to Duke Friedrich III of Holstein-Gottorp and gave birth to sixteen children in just over eighteen years, ten of whom lived to adulthood:
  1. Sofie Auguste, married on 16 September 1649 to John VI, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst. Mother of John Louis I, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg, grandmother of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, and great-grandmother of Catherine II of Russia.
  2. Magdalene Sibylle, married on 28 November 1654 to Gustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. Mother of Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, Queen of Denmark.
  3. Johann Adolf, died in early childhood.
  4. Marie Elisabeth, married on 24 November 1650 to Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.
  5. Friedrich, died unmarried.
  6. Hedwig Eleonore, married on 24 October 1654 to King Charles X of Sweden.
  7. Adolf August, died in infancy.
  8. Johann Georg, died unmarried.
  9. Anna Dorothea, died unmarried.
  10. Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, married on 24 October 1667 to Princess Frederica Amalia of Denmark.
  11. Gustav Ulrich, died in infancy.
  12. Christine Sabine, died in infancy.
  13. August Friedrich, Prince-Regent of Eutin and Prince-Bishop of Lübeck; married on 21 June 1676 to Christine of Saxe-Weissenfels ; no issue.
  14. Adolf, died in infancy.
  15. Elisabeth Sofie, twin of Adolf, died in infancy.
  16. Augusta Marie, married on 15 May 1670 to Frederick VII, Margrave of Baden-Durlach.
Via her daughters Augusta Marie and Magdalene Sibylle, Marie Elisabeth is the most recent common matrilineal ancestor of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Catherine the Great of Russia.