Sibylla of Anhalt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sibylla of Anhalt

Sibylla von Anhalt (born September 28, 1564 in Bernburg (Saale) ; † November 16/26 , 1614 in Leonberg ) was the abbess of the free secular monastery of Gernrode and Frose from 1577 to 1581 . She left the monastery for her marriage to Friedrich I , thereby becoming Duchess of Württemberg.

Life

Childhood and early adolescence

Emperor Rudolf II portrayed by Joseph Heinz the Elder, miniature oil on copper 1594, dimensions 16.2 × 12.7 cm

Sibylla was born in 1564 as the daughter of Prince Joachim Ernst von Anhalt and his first wife Agnes von Barby († 1569). Under pressure from her father, Sibylla, who was still a minor, was elected by the Chapter to succeed her sister Anna Maria von Anhalt in 1577 . She was confirmed in office by Emperor Rudolf II . During her reign as abbess she only appears in a deed of the monastery in which she enfeoffed the widow of Stefan Molitor, who was the monastery’s first evangelical superintendent, with a piece of land. Sibylla resigned her office as abbess in 1581 because she married, arranged by her stepmother, Eleanor of Württemberg , Friedrich I, son of Count Georg I of Württemberg-Mömpelgard (1498–1558) and Barbara von Hessen (1536 -1597). Her successor in office as abbess was her sister Agnes Hedwig von Anhalt .

The years of marriage of Sibylla von Anhalt with Friedrich I.

At this time her husband received the government of his lords on the left bank of the Rhine from Württemberg-Mömpelgard . In 1593 he became the heir of Duke Ludwig von Württemberg and took power over the entire Duchy of Württemberg .

Sibylla married at the age of 16 and had 15 children in the following 15 years. She did not play a major role at court and had no influence alongside her husband. The idea of ​​marital fidelity was also incompatible with his conception of an absolutist prince. After 15 years they practically lived separately. He did not take them with him on his long trips to France, Italy and England.

Studies of botany and chemistry

She then intensified her occupation with botany and chemistry. In order to disguise her interest in the infamous alchemy , she explained her job as a herb collection for the manufacture of medicines for poor people. As a consultant she was able to employ Helena Magenbuch (1523–1597), a daughter of the professor and personal physician Luther and Charles V Johann Magenbuch (1487–1546) and the third wife of Andreas Osiander . Helena Magenbuch was thus awarded the title of Württemberg court pharmacist. From 1606/07 Maria Andreae took over this task.

Old age at Leonberg Castle

After Friedrich's death in 1608, she retired to Leonberg and had the Leonberg Palace expanded there by the architect Heinrich Schickhardt and the renaissance style bitter orange garden built in front of the palace . Not far from Leonberg, Schickhardt built the “ Forst- und Seehaus Eltingen ” on their behalf from 1609 , which served as a hunting and country residence.

progeny

Duke Friedrich I of Württemberg and Sibylla von Anhalt (in the center) , the five sons: Johann Friedrich, Ludwig Friedrich, Julius Friedrich, Friedrich Achilles and Magnus (from top left to bottom) , the five daughters: Sibylla Elisabeth, Eva Christina, Agnes, Barbara and Anna (from top right to bottom)

The following children emerged from his marriage to Friedrich I:

literature

  • Andreas Popperodt: Historia Ecclesiae Gerenrodenses 1560. In: Johann Christoph Beckmann (Ed.): Accesiones Historia Anhaltinae as Annales Gernrodensis. 1716.
  • Thomas Lansius : Laudatio funebris Divae Sibillae, Principis Anhaltinae, Domus Würtembergicae Conferuatricis , Tübingen, 1615 Digitized of the funeral oration at the Collegium Illustre in Latin
  • Hans Hartung: On the past of Gernrode. Verlag Carl Mittag, Gernrode 1912.
  • Hans Schulze, Reinhold Specht , Günther Vorbrodt: The Gernrode Abbey. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 1965.
  • Hansmartin Decker-Hauff : Women in the Württemberg house. Edited by Wilfried Setzler. DRW, Leinfelden-Echterdingen 1997, ISBN 3-87181-390-7 , p. 71 ff.
  • Dieter Stievermann: Sibylla. In: Sönke Lorenz , Dieter Mertens , Volker Press (eds.): Das Haus Württemberg. A biographical lexicon. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-17-013605-4 , p. 142.
  • Gerhard Raff : Hie good Wirtemberg all the way. Volume 2: The House of Württemberg from Duke Friedrich I to Duke Eberhard III. With the Stuttgart, Mömpelgard, Weiltingen, Neuenstadt am Kocher, Neuenbürg and Oels lines in Silesia. 4th edition. Landhege, Schwaigern 2014, ISBN 978-3-943066-12-8 , pp. 56-78.

Web links

Commons : Sibylla von Anhalt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Sibylla of Anhalt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duchess of Württemberg
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1564
PLACE OF BIRTH Bernburg (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH November 26, 1614
Place of death Leonberg