Charlotte von Liegnitz-Brieg-Wohlau
Charlotte von Liegnitz-Brieg-Wohlau (* December 2, 1652 in Brieg ; † December 24, 1707 in Breslau ) was Duchess of Liegnitz , Brieg and Wohlau and by marriage Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg .
Life
Her parents were Duke Christian von Liegnitz, Brieg and Wohlau and Luise von Anhalt , daughter of Prince Johann Casimir . She was raised a Calvinist .
A few months after her father's death, on July 14, 1672, she secretly married Duke Friedrich von Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg (1652–1724), whom she met at the end of 1671 when he stopped at her parents' Brieger Castle on his way to Hungary . The wedding took place at night in the Brieger Palace without the knowledge of Charlotte's mother. Although the bride and groom were Protestant, the wedding was carried out by a Catholic priest. Due to the improper marriage of her daughter, which endangered the dynasty's reputation, Duchess Luise got into trouble. Finally, she had given Charlotte a say in the choice of her future husband, which had previously led to 16 rejected marriage proposals. Their advisers accused them of failure, which is why they pleaded for an end to their reign. These circumstances probably also led to Charlotte's younger brother Georg Wilhelm being declared of age ahead of time so that he could independently take over the government in the three principalities.
After lengthy disputes, the marriage between Charlotte and Duke Friedrich was legalized with a formal marriage contract dated May 10, 1673. This marriage contract was recognized by Emperor Leopold I on July 15, 1673 . On January 12, 1674, Charlotte gave birth to a son who was given the imperial first name Leopold (1674–1744) as a thank you.
She converted to Catholicism around 1687. This triggered a lot of polemics in her region of origin, as her dynasty was considered the last defender of Protestantism in Silesia. However, beyond her personal motives, Charlotte's step can also be viewed as a reflection of the denominational change in weight.
Duchess Charlotte, who later lived apart from her husband and lived strictly religiously, died in Wroclaw in 1707. According to her wishes, her body was buried at the feet of her ancestor, Saint Hedwig , in the Hedwig's chapel of the Trebnitz monastery . In the princely crypt of the Liegnitz Johanniskirche she is depicted in an alabaster statue.
Charlotte was the last duchess from the ruling Silesian Piast family , which in the male tribe only existed in illegitimate descendants after the death of her brother Georg Wilhelm I in 1675.
literature
- Joachim Bahlcke : Counterforces. Studies on the political culture and social structure of East Central Europe in the early modern period . Marburg 2015, ISBN 3-879-69396-X .
- Norbert Conrads : The homage visit of the last Piast in 1675 in Vienna . In: Joachim Bahlcke (Ed.): Silesia in early modernity: On the political and spiritual culture of a Habsburg country . New research on Silesian history. Weimar 2009, ISBN 3-412-20350-5 .
- Andreas Rüther : Art. " Piasts ". In: Werner Paravicini (ed.): Dynasties and courts . Ostfildern 2003, pp. 172-180, ISBN 9783799545150 .
- Georg Thebesius : Joachim Friedrich von Liegnitz-Brieg-Wohlau (1586–1602) until the end of the Piast family. In: Georg Jaeckel (Hrsg.): Geschichte der Liegnitz-Brieger Piasten , Vol. 2. Lorch 1982. http://d-nb.info/840173962
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Charlotte von Liegnitz-Brieg-Wohlau |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | last female descendant of the Silesian Piasts, Duchess of Liegnitz, Brieg and Wohlau and of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 2, 1652 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brieg |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 24, 1707 |
| Place of death | Wroclaw |