Elisabeth Dorothea of ​​Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Elisabeth Dorothea of ​​Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Countess of Hesse-Darmstadt

Elisabeth Dorothea von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg (born January 8, 1640 in Coburg , † August 24, 1709 in Butzbach ) was a landgrave by marriage and regent of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1678 to 1688 .

Life

Elisabeth Dorothea was the eldest daughter of Duke Ernst the Pious of Saxe-Gotha (1601–1675) and his wife Elisabeth Sophia (1619–1680), daughter of Duke Johann Philipp of Saxe-Altenburg .

On December 5, 1666, she married Landgrave Ludwig VI at Friedenstein Castle in Gotha . of Hessen-Darmstadt (1630–1678). Ludwig was a close friend of Elisabeth Dorothea's brother, Duke Friedrich I of Saxe-Gotha, and at the time of the marriage was already a widower and father of six children.

Both Ludwig VI. and Elisabeth Dorothea's stepson Ludwig VII of Hessen-Darmstadt had determined the wife or stepmother to be regent of the state in a will. After the death of Ludwig VII. In 1678 she took over the reign of Hessen-Darmstadt for her own son Ernst Ludwig, who was still underage . The Landgravine had been assigned a Regency Council, whose president she appointed Weiprecht von Gemmingen . The politically interested, worldly and energetic Elisabeth Dorothea personally chaired the council meetings. Hessen-Darmstadt experienced an upswing under their government.

After the death of Landgrave Wilhelm Christoph von Hessen-Homburg-Bingenheim in 1681, there were disputes with the Hessen-Homburg line about the inheritance - Elisabeth Dorothea claimed Bingenheim for Hessen-Darmstadt, which a Darmstadt princess had previously brought into the line, which she finally succeeded.

Under the regent the Darmstadt suburb was completed and the Homburg orphanage built. After the end of her reign she withdrew to her widow's residence in Butzbach , from where she tried to have a positive effect on her son.

Elisabeth Dorothea kept a diary that includes 52 years and has been preserved from 1667 without gaps. It is one of the most extensive diary projects of a dynastic personality describing politics and court life.

progeny

Elisabeth Dorothea had the following children from their marriage:

• Ernst Ludwig (1667–1739), Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

⚭ 1. 1687 Princess Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1661–1705)

⚭ 2. ( morning ) 1727 Luise Sophie von Spiegel , Countess von Epstein (1690–1751)

• Georg (1669–1705), emperor. Field Marshal, Viceroy of Catalonia
• Sophie Luise (1670–1758)

⚭ 1688 Prince Albrecht Ernst II of Oettingen-Oettingen (1669–1731)

• Philipp (1671–1736), emperor. Field Marshal and Governor of Mantua

⚭ 1693 Princess Marie Therese von Croy (1673–1714)

• Johann (1672–1673)
• Heinrich (1674–1741), emperor. officer
• Elisabeth Dorothea (1676–1721)

⚭ 1700 Landgrave Friedrich III. Jakob von Hessen-Homburg (1673–1746)

• Friedrich (1677–1708), Canon of Cologne and Breslau, Russian field marshal

⚭ 1704 Petronella by Stockmans (1677–1751)

literature

• Michael Conrad Curtius : History and statistics of Hessen. In the Neue Akademischen Buchhandlung, Marburg 1793, p. 257 .
• Linda Maria Koldau : Women - Music - Culture. A manual on the German-speaking area of ​​the early modern period. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2005, ISBN 3-412-24505-4 , pp. 120-125.
• Pauline Puppel: The regent. Guardian rule in Hesse 1500–1700 (= series "History and Gender". Vol. 43). Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main et al. 2004, ISBN 3-593-37480-3 , p. 279 ff.
• Hans-Gert Roloff (ed.): Editionsdesiderate zur early modern times. Contributions to the meeting of the commission for the edition of texts of the early modern period (= Chloe. Supplements to Daphnis . Vol. 25). Part 2. Rodopi, Amsterdam et al. 1997, ISBN 90-420-0312-X .