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Emilie of Saxony

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Emilie of Saxony
Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Lucas Cranach the Elder - Emilie of Saxony, detail of a painting from 1535, oil on a poplar panel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Tenure1536–1543
Born(1516-07-27)27 July 1516
Freiberg
Died9 April 1591(1591-04-09) (aged 74)
Ansbach
Spouse
(m. 1533; died 1543)
IssueSophie, Duchess of Legnica
Barbara
Dorothy Catherine, Burgravine of Meissen
George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
HouseWettin
FatherHenry IV, Duke of Saxony
MotherCatherine of Mecklenburg

Emilie of Saxony (27 July 1516 – 9 April 1591) was Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach as the third wife of Margrave George the Pious of Brandenburg-Ansbach. As her husband's prior wives died before his accession, Emilie of Saxony was the only spouse to hold the title of Margravine.

Life

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Emilie was the daughter of the Duke Henry IV of Saxony and his wife Catherine of Mecklenburg. She was a member of the House of Wettin.

On 25 August 1533 Emilie of Saxony married the much older George of Brandenburg, the future Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, who had been recognised as the duke of Silesia. She was sixteen years old. [1]He also administered Brandenburg-Kulmbach on behalf of Albert, the son of his deceased brother Casimir. The marriage produced the heir he had hoped for: George Frederick, later Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

After the death of her husband in 1543, Emilie was the legal guardian of her son,George Frederick, who was a minor, until 1556. She provided George Frederick with a humanistic education. However, the regency of Brandenburg-Ansbach was administered jointly by the reigning Electors of Saxony, Electors of Brandenburg, and the Landgrave of Hesse, Philip I.

Emilie was described as wise, virtuous and pious. She was a strict Lutheran and actively opposed Catholicism in the territories of her husband and son.[2][3] In later life she retired to her widow seat.

Offspring

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Her children with George the Pious of Brandenburg-Ansbach included the following:

married in 1560 Duke Henry XI of Legnica (1539–1588)
married in 1556 Henry V, Burgrave of Plauen, Burgrave of Meissen
married first, in 1558, Princess Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin (1540–1578)
second, in 1579, Princess Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1563–1639)

Ancestors

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References

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  1. ^ "Princess Emilia of Saxony". National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  2. ^ Johann Heinrich Schülin: Life and history of the ... Margrave George ..., p. 170
  3. ^ Schornbaum., K. (1920-01-01). "Markgraf Georg Friedrich von Brandenburg und die Einigungsbestrebungen der protestantischen Stände 1556—1559". Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte. 17 (2). doi:10.14315/arg-1920-0203. ISSN 2198-0489. S2CID 183356762.
  4. ^ Tondel, Janusz; Wagner, Arkadiusz (2019). The Silver Library of Duke Albrecht of Prussia and his wife Anna Maria. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 65. ISBN 978-3-643-91157-5.
[edit]
Emilie of Saxony
Born: 27 July 1516 Died: 9 April 1591
German nobility
Vacant
Title last held by
Sophia of Poland
Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach
4 April 1536 - 27 December 1543
Vacant
Title next held by
Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin