Christine of Hesse-Kassel (1578–1658)

Duchess consort of Saxe-Eisenach

Christine of Hesse-Kassel

Coat-of-arms of Hesse.

Duchess consort of Saxe-Eisenach
Tenure| 1598-1638
Duchess consort of Saxe-Coburg
Tenure| 1633-1638

Born| 19 October 1578
Kassel
Died| 19 August 1658(1658-08-19) (aged 79)
Eisenach
Spouse| John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
House| House of Hesse
Father| William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Mother| Sabine of Württemberg

Christine of Hesse-Kassel (19 October 1578 – 19 August 1658) was a German noblewoman member of the House of Hesse and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Eisenach and Saxe-Coburg.

Born in Kassel, she was the tenth of eleven children born from the marriage of William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and his wife Duchess Sabine of Württemberg. She was probably named after both her paternal grandmother and aunt (by marriage Duchess consort of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp).

## Life[edit]

In Rotenburg an der Fulda on 14 May 1598, Christine married John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach as his second wife.[1][better source needed] On the occasion of the marriage Jacob Thysius wrote a special Epithalamium. Since her father had died in 1592, was her older brother Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, who took care of her trousseau. The dowry was retained until her Wittum (widow's seat) was negotiated. In the marriage contract was stipulated, in addition to her paternal, maternal and fraternal inheritance, an income from her future husband.

Christine was described as a learned and pious woman, who being married to a Calvinist prince was forced to renounce her Lutheran faith against her will. Her union was happy, but remained childless. She survived her husband by 20 years and during her long widowhood dedicated herself to pious foundations. Christine was extremely well versed in mathematics, history, astronomy, astrology and Nativitätstellerei. Because of her progressive deafness, in her last years she used an ear trumpet.

Christine died in Eisenach, aged 79. She was buried in the Georgenkirche, Eisenach;[2] in her will, she left 6,000 guilders for the purpose of scholarship and alleviation of poverty.

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Marek, Miroslav. "Genealogy of the House of Wettin". genealogy.euweb.cz. Retrieved 28 September 2014.[self-published source]
2. ^ Hesse-Kassel line in: Royaltyguide.nl Archived 2019-03-26 at the Wayback Machine [retrieved 28 September 2014].

## References[edit]

* Emil Rückert: Altensteins u. Liebensteins Vorzeit p. 71.
* Christoph von Rommel: Geschichte von Hessen p. 313.
* Johann Christian Friedrich Harless: Die Verdienste der Frauen um Naturwissenschaft, Gesundheits- und Heilkunde ... p. 157.
* Johann Samuel Ersch: Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste in alphabetischer ... p. 244.

Christine of Hesse-Kassel (1578–1658)

House of Hesse

Born: 19 October 1578 Died: 19 August 1658

German royalty
New creation  |  Duchess consort of Saxe-Eisenach
1598-1638  | Duchy divided between Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Altenburg
Preceded by

Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg

|  Duchess consort of Saxe-Coburg
1633-1638

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany

People|

* Deutsche Biographie