Duchess consort of Saxe-Weissenfels
Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg
(14 January 1656 in
Altenburg
? 22 January 1686 in
Weißenfels
) was a member of the
House of Wettin
. She was a Duchess of
Saxe-Altenburg
by birth and by marriage a Duchess of
Saxe-Weissenfels
-Querfurt.
Life
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The last member of the Saxe-Altenburg line
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Johanna Magdalena was the only daughter of Duke
Frederick William II of Saxe-Altenburg
and his wife
Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony
, the daughter of Elector
John George I
of Saxony.
She became an orphan at an early age when her parents died in 1668 and 1669. She quickly became a pawn in the hands of her family. In 1671, her uncles
John George II
and
Maurice
, in whose residences she frequently stayed, decided that for dynastic reasons, she would marry her cousin, Duke
John Adolph I
of Saxe-Weissenfels.
At the time, this marriage was politically sensitive, because her elder brother, Hereditary Prince Christian of Saxe-Altenburg, had already died young and her younger brother,
Frederick William III
, who had succeeded her father as Duke, was still under the guardianship of her uncles and did not have children yet.
The two uncles, members of the Albertine branch of the
House of Wettin
, speculated that the Altenburg line (part of the Ernestine branch of the House) would die out and via Johanna Magdalena's marriage, Altenburg would fall to the Weissenfels line, which was also part of the Albertine branch. Duke
Augustus
of Saxe-Weissenfels was in favour of such an inheritance. If the Saxe-Weisenfels were to die out in turn, then their possessions would fall to the other Albertine lines, who were the closest relatives.
Duke Frederick William III died of smallpox, only six months after Johanna Magdalena married. The rival Albertine and Ernestine lines of the House of Wettin both claimed the inheritance. After length discussions, two Ernestine Dukes prevailed:
Ernest I
of Saxe-Gotha and
John Ernest II
of Saxe-Weimar. They successfully argued that their dynastic marriages with the Saxe-Altenburg line in the 1630s gave them the older claims.
In Saxe-Weissenfels
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Johanna Magdalena had been educated by the theologicians Johann Stiel and Johann Christfried Sagittarius (1617?1689). She was pious and showed much interest in the ecclesiastical affairs of the duchy. In private, she studied her Bible frequently and wrote numerous comments in its margin. She created prayer books, collections of proverbs and didactic writeups and gave these to relatives and members of the court. She donated gold-embroidered robes to the castle church and later a golden chalice and wafer box. In 1681, she donated a silver baptismal font to the St. Mary Church in Weißenfels. When she died in 1686, commemorative coins were struck, and were handed out at her funeral.
She died on 22 January 1686, at the age of 30 and was buried in a resplendent pewter coffin in the church of Neu-Augustenburg castle. She was popular around her country and cared for the social needs of her subjects. She regularly donated to the poor inhabitants of Weissenfels throughout her life and left them some money in her will.
Marriage and issue
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She married on 25 October 1671 in
Altenburg
with
John Adolph I
, the son of Duke
Augustus
of Saxe-Weissenfels from his marriage to
Anna Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
. They had eleven children:
- Magdalene Sibylle
(3 September 1673,
Halle
? 28 November 1726,
Eisenach
), married Duke
John William III
of Saxe-Eisenach.
- August Frederick (15 September 1674, Halle ? 16 August 1675, Halle).
- John Adolph (7 June 1676, Halle ? 17 June 1676, Halle).
- John George
(13 July 1677, Halle ? 16 March 1712,
Weissenfels
), married
Friederike Elisabeth of Saxe-Eisenach
.
- Unnamed son (born and died on 24 July 1678, Halle).
- Johanna Wilhelmina (20 January 1680, Halle ? 4 July 1730, Halle).
- Frederick William (18 January 1681, Weissenfels ? 20 November 1681, Weissenfels).
- Christian
(23 February 1682, Weissenfels ? 28 June 1736,
Sangerhausen
), married Louise Christiana of Stolberg-Stolberg.
- Anna Maria (17 June 1683 in Weissenfels ? 16 March 1731 in Sorau), married
Erdmann II of Promnitz
.
- Sophia
(2 August 1684 in Weissenfels ? 6 May 1752 in
Slezske Rudoltice
in what was then
Austrian Silesia
), married firstly
George William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
and secondly
Albert Joseph, Count of Hoditz-Wolframitz
.
- John Adolph II
(4 September 1685, Weissenfels ? 16 May 1746,
Leipzig
), married firstly
Johannette Antoinette Juliane of Saxe-Eisenach
and secondly
Fredericka of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
.
Ancestors
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Ancestors of Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg
|
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| | | | | | | | | 16.
John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony
| | | | | | | 8.
John William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
| | | | | | | | | | 17.
Sybille of Cleves
| | | | | | | 4.
Frederick William I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
| | | | | | | | | | | | 18.
Frederick III, Elector Palatine
| | | | | | | 9.
Dorothea Susanne of Simmern
| | | | | | | | | | 19.
Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
| | | | | | | 2.
Frederick William II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20.
Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrucken
| | | | | | | 10.
Philip Louis, Count Palatine of Neuburg
| | | | | | | | | | 21.
Anna of Hesse
| | | | | | | 5.
Countess Palatine Anna Maria of Neuburg
| | | | | | | | | | | | 22.
William, Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg
| | | | | | | 11.
Anna of Cleves
| | | | | | | | | | 23.
Archduchess Maria of Austria
| | | | | | | 1.
Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 24.
Augustus I, Elector of Saxony
| | | | | | | 12.
Christian I, Elector of Saxony
| | | | | | | | | | 25.
Anna of Denmark
| | | | | | | 6.
John George I, Elector of Saxony
| | | | | | | | | | | | 26.
John George, Elector of Brandenburg
| | | | | | | 13.
Sophie of Brandenburg
| | | | | | | | | | 27.
Sabina of Brandenburg-Ansbach
| | | | | | | 3.
Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 28.
Albert of Prussia
| | | | | | | 14.
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
| | | | | | | | | | 29.
Anna Marie of Brunswick-Luneburg
| | | | | | | 7.
Duchess Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia
| | | | | | | | | | | | 30.
William, Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg
(= 22)
| | | | | | | 15.
Marie Eleonore of Cleves
| | | | | | | | | | 31.
Archduchess Maria of Austria
(= 23)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
References
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- 300 Jahre Schloß Neu-Augustusburg, 1660-1694 — Residenz der Herzoge von Sachsen-Weißenfels: Festschrift
, Weißenfels, 1994, pp. 38?39
- Friedrich Gerhardt:
Schloß und Schloßkirche zu Weißenfels
, Weißenfels, 1898, pp. 55?56
- Johann Christoph Dreyhaupt:
Beschreibung des ... Saal-Creyses, insonderheit der Stadte Halle
, Halle, 1749/1751 (also known as the
Dreyhaupt-Chronicle
)
External links
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