Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach

Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe Louise of Saxe-Eisenach (13 April 1662 – 9 September 1696) was the mother of Caroline of Ansbach, queen consort of King George II of Great Britain. She was the Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach from 1681 to 1686 as the second wife of John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and the Electress of Saxony from 1692 to 1694 as a result of her disastrous second marriage to John George IV, Elector of Saxony.

Biography

Eleonore Erdmuthe Louise was the firstborn daughter of John George I, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach, and Joanna of Sayn-Wittgenstein. One of her younger siblings was the future John William III, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach.

In 1681, she became the second wife of John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. She had a son, William Frederick, and a daughter, Caroline. In 1686, she was widowed. As a widow, she and her children lived in poverty in Crailsheim.

In Leipzig on 17 April 1692, Eleonore Erdmuthe married Johann Georg IV. The young Elector was forced to marry by his mother, the Dowager Electress Anna Sophie, ostensibly to produce legitimate heirs to the Electorate but truly to end the liaison between John George and his mistress, Magdalene Sibylle "Billa" of Neidschutz. Another consideration was an alliance between Brandenburg and Saxony.

Immediately after assuming the Electorate, John George lived openly with Billa, and she became the first ever Official Mistress (Favoritin) of an Elector of Saxony. Eleonore was relegated to the Hofe (the official residence of the Elector) while John George moved into another palace with Billa.

Desperate to marry his mistress, John George tried to murder Eleonore, but was prevented by his younger brother, Frederick August. When John George tried to stab Eleonore with a sword, the unarmed Frederick turned the impact away with his hand, leaving him with a lifelong handicap.

Electress Eleonore suffered two miscarriages during their marriage, in August 1692 and February 1693, and a phantom pregnancy in 1693.^[1] She confided in the English diplomat George Stepney, who wrote extensively about her and the Saxon court. Johann Georg died on 27 April 1694 from smallpox. As a widow, she and her children were exiled to Pretzsch. She died after two years, on 9 September 1696.

References

Sources

• Sharp, Tony. Pleasure and Ambition: The Life, Loves and Wars of Augustus the Strong, 1670-1707. London: I.B. Tauris, 2001. Google Books. Web. 24 May 2010. google.books.com
• This page is a translation of its German equivalent.