Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Maria Josepha of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empress, 2nd wife of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Maria Joseph of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria was the second of the two wives of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor who also was the ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands. Maria Josepha Antonia Walburga Felizitas Regula was born on March 20, 1739, in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. She was the seventh of the seven children and the youngest of the five daughters of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, also Karl I, Elector of Bavaria, and Archduchess Maria Amalie of Austria. Maria Josepha’s paternal grandparents were Maximilian II Emanuel, Prince-Elector of Bavaria and his second wife Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska. Her maternal grandparents were Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Two of Maria Josepha’s siblings, her father’s successor Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria and Joseph Ludwig; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Josepha had six elder siblings but only three survived to adulthood

Archduke Joseph of Austria, the future Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, was the eldest son of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, the only woman to be ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands in her own right. His father was born Prince François Étienne of Lorraine. Maria Theresa had arranged for her husband to be elected Holy Roman Emperor as Franz I but she wielded the real power and Joseph’s father was content to leave the act of reigning to his wife.

In the fall of 1763, there was an outbreak of smallpox in and around Vienna, and IIsabella of Parma, Archduchess of Austria, the pregnant wife of Archduke Joseph of Austria, the future Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, became ill with smallpox. Isabella’s high fever induced labor three months early, and on November 22, 1763, she gave birth to a second daughter. The baby was baptized Maria Christina, as Isabella requested, but died the same day. Five days later, a month short of her 22nd birthday, Isabella died from smallpox. Joseph was devastated by Isabella’s death and never fully recovered. In a letter to Isabella’s father, Joseph wrote: “I have lost everything. My adorable wife and only friend is no more. (…) What a frightful separation! Can I survive it? Yes, and only to be unhappy all my life. (…) There is nothing I will enjoy ever again.”

Joseph did not want to marry again after Isabella’s death but his mother wanted him to provide a male heir. Some overtures were made to Isabella’s younger sister Maria Luisa of Parma but she was already promised to the future Carlos IV, King of Spain. At his mother’s insistence, Joseph married again to his second cousin Maria Josepha of Bavaria. Joseph did not find Maria Josepha physically attractive. After seeing her for the first time, he described her in a letter: “Her figure is short, thickset, and without a vestige of charm. Her face is covered with spots and pimples. Her teeth are horrible.”

Maria Josepha’s husband Joseph in 1765, the year of their marriage; Credit – Wikipedia

A proxy marriage was held in Munich on January 13, 1765, and then 23-year-old Joseph and 25-year-old Maria Josepha were married in person on January 25, 1765, at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. Holy Roman Emperors could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed them after their death. The elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans. In 1764, Joseph was elected and crowned King of the Romans and so Maria Josepha’s new title was Queen of the Romans

Maria Josepha as Holy Roman Empress, circa 1765; Credit – Wikipedia

During his unsuccessful marriage to Maria Josepha of Bavaria, Joseph’s father Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor died suddenly of a stroke or heart attack on August 18, 1765, at the age of 56, in his carriage while returning from the opera in Innsbruck, Austria. Since Joseph had been elected and crowned King of the Romans, the title of the elected heir to the Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph became Holy Roman Emperor but his mother Maria Theresa continued to wield the real power. On September 17, 1765, Joseph was elevated by his mother Maria Theresa to be her co-regent in the Habsburg hereditary lands. Maria Josepha, of course, held the female counterparts of Joseph’s titles.

Maria Josepha’s state of health led her and others to believe that she was pregnant. Joseph never loved Maria Josepha and the marriage was probably never consummated. Joseph avoided sharing a bedroom and even had their shared balcony in Schönbrunn Palace partitioned off so he would not have to see Maria Josepha. In a letter to his brother Leopold, Joseph wrote: As for my empress, there is no change. She has no illness but considerable disturbance. She [Josepha] may be pregnant though without the slightest swelling. I just don’t understand it, and I console myself with the happy life I lead as a bachelor husband.”

Maria Josepha loved Joseph despite his frigid behavior toward her. She was naturally timid, always felt inferior, and trembled and turned pale in Joseph’s presence. Joseph’s father had been the only family member who gave Maria Josepha any support and with his death, that support was gone.

Tomb of Maria Josepha of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – By Krischnig at German Wikipedia – Own work., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5557276

A severe smallpox epidemic broke out in 1767, and Maria Josepha came down with the disease. Although Joseph, who had survived smallpox at an earlier time, had nursed his first wife Isabella as she was dying from smallpox, he did not visit Maria Josepha while she was ill. Her mother-in-law Maria Theresa, did and also caught the disease, but she survived. Maria Josepha was not so lucky. On May 28, 1767, a little more than two years after her marriage to Joseph, Maria Josepha, aged 28, died at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. She was interred at the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria

Joseph did have some regrets after Maria Josepha’s death. He told some close friends that he regretted the coldness he had shown to her, and surprisingly, Joseph told Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony, Maria Josepha’s sister, that his wife had been “for so many reasons worthy of respect”. Despite this, Joseph did not attend Maria Josepha’s funeral and never visited her tomb. Joseph also never married again. He survived Maria Josepha by twenty-three years, dying from tuberculosis, aged 48, on February 20, 1790, in Vienna, Austria.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor also King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/joseph-ii-holy-roman-emperor-also-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia-archduke-of-austria/ (Accessed: 05 September 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-vii-holy-roman-emperor/ (Accessed: 05 September 2023).
  • Maria Josepha of Bavaria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Josepha_of_Bavaria (Accessed: 05 September 2023).
  • Maria Josepha von Bayern (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Josepha_von_Bayern (Accessed: 05 September 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; Credit – Wikipedia

Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The new counties remained in the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution. In 1697, the County of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1710.

The death of Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen without an heir in 1909 caused the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen to be united under Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in a personal union. Following his succession in Sondershausen, Prince Günther Victor dropped the name Rudolstadt from his title and assumed the title Prince of Schwarzburg.

At the end of World War I, Prince Günther Victor was the last German prince to renounce his throne, abdicating on November 22, 1918. He made an agreement with the government that awarded him an annual pension and the right to use several of the family residences. The territory that encompassed the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is now located in the German state of Thuringia.

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Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was the first wife of Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Born on August 9, 1693, in Saalfeld, then in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in the German state of Thuringia, Sophia Wilhelmina was the third of the eight children and the eldest of the five daughters of Johann Ernst IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and his second wife Charlotte Johanna of Waldeck-Wildungen. Sophia Wilhemina’s paternal grandparents were  Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha and Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg. Her maternal grandparents were Count Josias II of Waldeck-Wildungen and Countess Wilhelmine Christine of Nassau-Siegen.

Sophia Wilhelmina had seven siblings but only four survived childhood:

  • Wilhelm Friedrich of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1691 – 1720), unmarried
  • Karl Ernst of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1692 – 1720), unmarried
  • Henriette Albertine of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1694 – 1695), died in infancy
    Luise Amaliaof Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1695 – 1713), died as a teenager
  • Charlotte of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld  (born and 1696), died in infancy
  • Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1697 – 1764), married Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, had four sons and four daughters
  • Henriette Albertine of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1698 – 1728), unmarried

Sophia Wilhelmina had three half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Sophie Hedwig of Saxe-Merseburg who died on August 2, 1686, giving birth to a stillborn son.

In 1699, when Sophia Wilhelmina was six years old, her 34-year-old mother Charlotte Johanna died a little more than two months after giving birth to her eighth child. Sophia Wilhelmina’s father never remarried.

Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophia Wilhelmina’s father undertook a marriage policy to create a better alliance with the Principality of Schwarzburg Rudolstadt. On February 8, 1720, in Saalfeld, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in the German state of Thuringia, 26-year-old Sophia Wilhelmina married 28-year-old Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Three years later, Sophia Wilhelmine’s younger brother, the future Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld married Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the younger sister of Sophie Wilhelmina’s husband.

Sophia Wilhelmina and Friedrich Anton had three children but only two survived childhood:

The marriage of Friedrich Anton and Sophia Wilhelmina lasted only seven years as Sophia Wilhelmina died on December 4, 1727, aged 34, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. She was buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg, the castle church at Schwarzburg Castle (link in German) in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia.

Schlosskirche Schwarzburg, circa 1890; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophia Wilhelmina’s husband Friedrich Anton married again, on January 6, 1729, to Christina Sophia of East Friesia, the eldest daughter of Prince Christian Eberhard of East Friesia and Eberhadine Sophie of Oettingen-Oettingen. Unfortunately, the marriage was childless. Friedrich Anton survived his first wife Sophia Wilhelmina by fifteen years, dying on September 1, 1744, aged 52, in Rudolstadt. He was also buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg, the castle church at Schwarzburg Castle in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, as was his second wife Christina Sophia when she died six years later.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas; Credit – Wikipedia

In the early 1940s, the remains of the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt family buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg were transferred to the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany before the demolition of Schwarzburg Castle and Schlosskirche Schwarzburg by the German government who planned to convert the castle into Adolf Hitler’s Imperial Guest House. However, the construction was never completed and the ruins of the castle and the incomplete construction of the guest house were left for years until reconstruction of the original castle, which is still occurring, began.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/friedrich-anton-prince-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/ (Accessed: 07 September 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Johann Ernst IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/johann-ernst-iv-duke-of-saxe-coburg-saalfeld/ (Accessed: 07 September 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 07 September 2023].
  • Princess Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Sophia_Wilhelmina_of_Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Accessed: 07 September 2023).
  • Sophie Wilhelmine von Sachsen-Saalfeld (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Wilhelmine_von_Sachsen-Saalfeld (Accessed: 07 September 2023).

Isabella of Parma, Archduchess of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Isabella of Parma, Archduchess of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Princess Isabella of Parma, Infanta of Spain was the first wife of the future Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor who was also the ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands. Isabella died before Joseph became Holy Roman Emperor. Isabella Maria Luisa Antonietta Ferdinanda Giuseppina Saveria Dominica Giovanna was born on December 31, 1741, at Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid, Kingdom of Spain. She was the eldest of the three children and the elder of the two daughters of Infante Felipe of Spain, from 1748 until his death also Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, and his first cousin once removed Princess Louise Élisabeth of France. Isabella’s paternal grandparents were Felipe V, King of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma. Her maternal grandparents were Louis XV, King of France and Marie Leszczyńska.

Isabella had two younger siblings:

Isabella’s maternal grandparents Felipe V, King of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese of Parma who were important during the early years of her life; Credit – Wikipedia

Isabella’s mother was only fourteen years old when she gave birth to Isabella. Two months later, Isabella’s father left to fight in the War of the Austrian Succession and did not return until Isabella was eight years old. Just a child herself, Isabella’s mother showed little affection toward Isabella and probably found the baby to be a burden. For the first seven years of her life, Isabella was raised at the Madrid court of her paternal grandfather Felipe V, King of Spain. Her paternal grandmother Queen Elisabeth was the primary influence in young Isabella’s life.

Following the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Isabella’s father became Duke of Parma and Piacenza, a title formerly belonging to the House of Farnese, his mother’s family. Isabella was now a Princess of Parma and a member of the new House of Bourbon-Parma. Isabella and her mother arrived in Parma in November 1749.

Isabella’s family in Parma in 1757; Isabella, age 16, standing in a light purple dress. Left to right are Isabella’s brother Ferdinando and sister Maria Luisa, her mother Louise Élisabeth of France, her father Felipe of Spain, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, and the children’s governess Marie Catherine de Bassecourt, Marchioness of Borghetto.

Isabella was well educated. She was eager to learn and was interested in many things. She read the writings of Italian and French philosophers and had an understanding of mathematics and military matters. Isabella was very musical and excelled at singing and playing the violin and the harpsichord. She drew, painted, and began to write about serious topics. As an adult, Isabella wrote on various topics including an analysis of her life, her philosophy, and the state of the world around her. Isabella wrote a humorous autobiography Les Aventures de l’étourderie (The Adventures of Amazement). In her Christian Reflections, she wrote about her thoughts on many religious questions, especially death.

Over and over again, Isabella expressed her desire to become a nun but other plans were in the works for her. To strengthen the relations between the Bourbons and the Habsburgs, Isabella’s grandfather King Louis XV of France and Maria Theresa of Austria, ruler in her own right of the Habsburg hereditary lands, Holy Roman Empress by her marriage to Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor and in reality the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire because her husband left the ruling to her, arranged a marriage between Isabella and Maria Theresa’s eldest son Archduke Joseph of Austria, the future Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor and future ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands.

Isabella’s husband, then Archduke Joseph of Austria, after her death Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1765; Credit – Wikipedia

A proxy marriage was held on September 5, 1760, at Padua Cathedral in Padua, then in the Republic of Venice, now in Italy. Josef Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein, who had a successful military career in the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire and as a diplomat for the Holy Roman Empire, was given the honor of escorting Isabella to Vienna, Austria. On October 6, 1760, at the Augustinerkirche (Augustinian Church) in Vienna, Austria, the two 18-year-olds Joseph and Isabella were married by the Papal Nuncio Cardinal Vitaliano Borromeo.

Isabella and her elder daughter Archduchess Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph and Isabella had two daughters but neither survived childhood:

Left to right: Isabella’s husband Joseph, her mother-in-law Maria Theresa, Isabella, and Joseph’s sister Maria Christina in 1763; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph adored his wife but Isabella hated the strict court ceremonies and was very reserved toward Joseph. Joseph’s sister Archduchess Maria Christina was Isabella’s best friend and closest confidante. Some modern historians believe that Isabella and Maria Christina likely had a romantic, and possibly a sexual relationship. They exchanged letters and small notes in French but only the nearly two hundred letters and notes written by Isabella have survived. Isabella’s letters and notes show a deep affection toward Maria Christina and are characteristic of a romantic-sexual relationship. See Wikipedia: Relationship with Archduchess Maria Christina and scroll down to A selection of quotes by Isabella in letters to Marie cited by Badinter as supporting a love affair.

Isabella had a very difficult first pregnancy with her first child Maria Theresa, suffering from many physical symptoms, depression, and a lingering fear of death. This was only worsened by her inexperienced husband not understanding her problems. Isabella had miscarriages in August 1762 and January 1763. Her mother-in-law Maria Theresa, who had given birth to sixteen children, was so worried that she advised her son Joseph to wait for six months before trying for another child. However, Isabella was soon again pregnant.

It was a tradition that the imperial court spent the summer at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna but away from the more populated central part of Vienna. In 1763, warm weather lasted well into the autumn and the court returned to Hofburg Palace, located in central Vienna, on November 14, 1763. Isabella would have preferred to remain at the more isolated Schönbrunn Palace. She was six months pregnant and there were reports of smallpox cases in and around Vienna. After returning to Hofburg Palace, Isabella developed a fever on November 18, 1763, and it soon became clear that she had smallpox. Isabella’s high fever induced labor three months early, and on November 22, 1763, she gave birth to a premature second daughter. The baby was baptized Maria Christina, as Isabella requested, but died the same day.

Following the birth, Isabella was rarely conscious but during her moments of consciousness, she displayed extraordinary courage. Joseph, who had already had smallpox, stayed by her side and took care of her without a break. On November 27, 1763, one month and three days before her 22nd birthday, Isabella died from smallpox at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Because her body was still infectious, it was buried quickly without an autopsy or embalming in the Maria Theresa Crypt at the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria. The tiny coffin of her daughter Maria Christina was placed under Isabella’s coffin. In 1770, when Isabella’s elder daughter Maria Theresa died at the age of seven from pleurisy, her coffin was placed next to her mother’s and younger sister’s coffins.

Isabella’s tomb in the middle with the coffin of her younger daughter Maria Christina sticking out underneath. To the right is the tomb of Isabella’s elder daughter Maria Theresa who died in 1770; Credit – By C.Stadler/Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28671919

Joseph was devastated by Isabella’s death and never fully recovered. In a letter to Isabella’s father, Joseph wrote: “I have lost everything. My adorable wife and only friend is no more. (…) What a frightful separation! Can I survive it? Yes, and only to be unhappy all my life. (…) There is nothing I will enjoy ever again.” At his mother’s insistence, Joseph married again to his second cousin Maria Josepha of Bavaria, daughter of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor and Elector of Bavaria and Maria Amalie of Austria. On May 28, 1767, after only two years of a childless marriage, Maria Josepha died of smallpox, as had her predecessor Isabella. Joseph never remarried.

Smallpox, now eradicated, was a serious contagious disease that killed many and left many survivors scarred. The disease knew no class boundaries and royalty was as likely to suffer from it as the common folk. (See Unofficial Royalty: Royal Deaths from Smallpox.) Smallpox was a leading cause of death in the 18th century. It killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans each year in the 18th century. Before Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine that contained the cowpox virus in 1796 and that ultimately led to the eradication of smallpox, there was another way to possibly prevent smallpox called variolation and it was first seen in China in the fifteenth century. In 1716, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu accompanied her husband to Turkey where he was to serve as the British ambassador. While she was in Turkey, Lady Mary observed the Turkish practice of smallpox variolation or inoculation and she brought the practice back to Great Britain. Lady Mary persuaded Caroline, Princess of Wales (wife of the future King George II) to arrange to have the inoculation tested using prisoners and orphans, all of whom survived the inoculation. In 1722, King George I allowed the inoculation of two of his grandchildren, the children of the Prince and Princess of Wales and they survived. Variolation gained acceptance and was used until Edward Jenner developed his much safer vaccination using the cowpox virus instead of the smallpox virus.

The tragedy of Isabella’s death and the death of Joseph’s second wife from smallpox along with the earlier deaths from smallpox of four of Joseph’s siblings, and the suffering of the Habsburg family members who had survived smallpox, contributed to Maria Theresa’s decision to have the younger members of the Habsburg family inoculated, and the subsequent acceptance of variolation in Austria, thus saving many lives.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor also King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/joseph-ii-holy-roman-emperor-also-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia-archduke-of-austria/ (Accessed: 04 September 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2013) Smallpox knew no class boundaries, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-illnesses-and-deaths/smallpox-knew-no-class-boundaries/ (Accessed: 04 September 2023).
  • Isabella von Bourbon-Parma (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_von_Bourbon-Parma (Accessed: 04 September 2023).
  • Princess Isabella of Parma (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Isabella_of_Parma (Accessed: 04 September 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Anna Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Anna Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; Credit – Wikipedia

Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The new counties remained in the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution. In 1697, the County of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1710.

The death of Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen without an heir in 1909 caused the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen to be united under Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in a personal union. Following his succession in Sondershausen, Prince Günther Victor dropped the name Rudolstadt from his title and assumed the title Prince of Schwarzburg.

At the end of World War I, Prince Günther Victor was the last German prince to renounce his throne, abdicating on November 22, 1918. He made an agreement with the government that awarded him an annual pension and the right to use several of the family residences. The territory that encompassed the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is now located in the German state of Thuringia.

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Princess Anna Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was the wife of Ludwig Friedrich I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Born on December 22, 1670, in Gotha, then in the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, now in the German state of Thuringia, Anna Sophie was the eldest of the eight children and the eldest of the six daughters of Friedrich I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and his first wife Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels. Her paternal grandparents were Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg and Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg. Anna Sophie’s maternal grandparents were August, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, and Anna Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Anna Sophie had seven younger siblings but only five survived childhood:

When Anna Sophie was ten-years-old, her mother Magdalena Sibylle died, aged 32, on January 7, 1681, just three months after giving birth to her last child. Later in 1681, Anna Sophie’s father Friedrich married a second time to Christine of Baden-Durlach, daughter of Frederick VI, Margrave of Baden-Durlach and Christina Magdalena of the Palatinate-Zweibrücken. Friedrich’s second marriage to Christine of Baden-Durlach was childless.

Anna Sophie’s husband; Ludwig Friedrich, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 15, 1691, at Friedenstein Palace in Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, now in the German state of Thuringia, the nearly 21-year-old Anna Sophie married 24-year-old Ludwig Friedrich of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the son and heir of Albrecht Anton, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and his wife Countess Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen. Emilie Juliane was the most productive of the German female hymn-writers, composing nearly 600 hymns. She was an early adherent of Pietism, a movement within Lutheranism that emphasized biblical doctrine, individual piety, and living a vigorous Christian life.

Anna Sophie’s daughter, also named Anna Sophie, who was the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld by marriage and great-great-grandmother of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert; Credit – Wikipedia

Ludwig Friedrich and Anna Sophie had thirteen children. Via their daughter, Anna Sophie who married Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Ludwig Friedrich and Anna Sophie are the ancestors of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert, and their uncle Leopold I, King of the Belgians. The royal families of Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are their descendants.

  • Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1692 – 1744), married (1) Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, had one son and two daughters (2) Christina Sophia of East Frisia, no children
  • Amalie Magdalene of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1693), died in infancy, twin of Sophie Luise
  • Sophie Luise of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1693), died in infancy, twin of Amalie Magdalene
  • Sophie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1694 – 1776), a nun at Gandersheim Abbey
  • Wilhelm Ludwig of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1696 – 1757), married morganatically Caroline Henriette Gebauer who was created Baroness of Brockenburg, had three sons and two daughters
  • Christine Dorothea of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1697 – 1698), died in infancy
  • Albrecht Anton of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1698 – 1720), unmarried
  • Emilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1699 – 1774), unmarried
  • Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1700 – 1780), married Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, had four sons and four daughters
  • Sophia Dorothea of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1706 – 1737), unmarried, twin of Friederike Luise
  • Friederike Luise of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1706 – 1787), unmarried, twin of Sophia Dorothea
  • Magdalena Sibylle of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1707 – 1795), a nun at Gandersheim Abbey
  • Ludwig Günther II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1708 – 1790), married Sophie Henriette of Reuss-Untergreiz, had two daughters and two sons

View of Schwarzburg Castle, lithograph around 1860; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1697, Albrecht Anton, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Ludwig Friedrich’s father, was raised to a Prince and the County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was raised to a principality by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. However, Albrecht Anton chose not to accept his elevation due to his religious modesty which focused on the Pietism of his mother. He also wanted to avoid a confrontation with his neighbors, the dukes from the Ernestine lines of the House of Wettin, (whose duchy names began with “Saxe”) who had opposed his elevation. In 1710, the elevation to Prince was offered again and this time, Albrecht Anton accepted it. However, he did not publish notice of his elevation and continued to use the style Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. On December 15, 1710, Albrecht Anton died and his son Ludwig Friedrich succeeded him. Ludwig Friedrich published notice of the elevation to Prince in 1711 and began using the style Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt on April 15, 1711. The elevation strengthened the position of the House of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt against the House of Wettin.

Schlosskirche Schwarzburg, circa 1890; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 24, 1718, Ludwig Friedrich I, aged 50, died in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in Thuringia, Germany. He was buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg (link in German), the castle church at Schwarzburg Castle (link in German), in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Anna Sophie survived her husband by ten years, dying on December 28, 1728, at the age of 58, and was buried with her husband at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas; Credit – Wikipedia

In the early 1940s, the remains of the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt family buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg were transferred to the Stadtkirche St. Andreas (link in German) in Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, before the demolition of the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg and Schwarzburg Castle. The German government took possession of Schwarzburg Castle and compensated the widow of the last reigning prince. They planned to convert the castle into Adolf Hitler’s Imperial Guest House. In June 1940, demolition began on Schwarzburg Castle, one of the most important Baroque castles in central Germany. In 1942, the construction was stopped and the Imperial Guest House was never finished. The ruins of the castle and the incomplete construction of the guest house were left for years. The only thing that remained of the castle church was the tower dome but it was destroyed in a fire caused by fireworks on New Year’s Eve 1980. There has been much reconstruction on the castle especially after Schwarzburg Castle was transferred to the Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation in 1994.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Anna Sophie von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Sophie_von_Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg (Accessed: 06 September 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Ludwig Friedrich I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ludwig-friedrich-i-prince-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/ (Accessed: 06 September 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 06 September 2023].
  • Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (2022) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_I,_Duke_of_Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Accessed: 06 September 2023).
  • Princess Anna Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Anna_Sophie_of_Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Accessed: 06 September 2023).

Marguerite Bellanger, Mistress of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Marguerite Bellanger, born Julie Justine Marine Leboeuf, circa 1870; Credit – Wikipedia

Marguerite Bellanger was the mistress of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French from 1863 until 1870 when he was deposed and exiled.

Born Julie Justine Marine Leboeuf on June 10, 1838, in Saint-Lambert-des-Levées, Maine-et-Loire, France, Marguerite Bellanger, her stage name, was the daughter of François Leboeuf and Julie Hanot. Marguerite’s family was poor and when she was fifteen, she began working as a laundress. After an affair with a lieutenant from the French army, Marguerite joined a local circus, performing as an acrobat and a trick rider.

Margurite traveled to Paris and made her acting debut at the Théâtre de la Tour d’Auvergne using the stage name Marguerite Bellanger, Bellanger being the surname of an uncle. Her acting career was not successful and Marguerite became a popular courtesan, cocotte in French. Cocette is defined as a woman in France under the Second Empire who was paid for sexual services but who was not or no longer registered as a prostitute by the police. Marguerite was much in demand and lived a very comfortable life.

Napoleon III, Emperor of the French in 1863; Credit – Wikipedia

In June 1863, Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, known as Louis-Napoleon, while driving through a park in his carriage, happened to see 25-year-old Marguerite sheltering from the rain under a tree. She soon became his mistress, and, with the knowledge of all those around him, including his wife Empress Eugénie, Marguerite traveled with Louis-Napoleon on his private and official trips. Empress Eugénie had given her husband his heir in 1856 after a two-day labor that endangered both mother and child and required a lengthy recovery. Empress Eugénie found sex with her husband disgusting and it is doubtful that she allowed further approaches by her husband. She accepted her husband’s lovers and mistresses.

The grounds of the Château de Saint-Cloud where Louis-Napoleon gave Marguerite a home; Credit – Wikipedia

Louis-Napoleon gave Marguerite two homes: one at 57 rue des Vignes in the Passy section of Paris and the other on the grounds of the Château de Saint-Cloud, Louis-Napoleon’s preferred residence.

Marguerite and her son Charles; Credit – Look and Learn

In February 1864, Marguerite gave birth to a son Charles Jules Auguste François Marie Leboeuf, who was in all likelihood, Louis-Napoleon’s son. After the birth of her son, Louis-Napoleon gave Marguerite the Château de Villeneuve-sous-Dammartin, near Meaux, France.

Napoleon III at the Battle of Sedan by Wilhelm Camphausen; Credit – Wikipedia

In July 1870, France entered the Franco-Prussian War. Without significant allied support, and with unprepared and limited forces, the French army was quickly defeated. Louis-Napoleon was captured at the Battle of Sedan and surrendered on September 1, 1870. As word reached Paris, the Third Republic was declared on September 4, 1870, ending, for the last time, the French monarchy. Louis-Napoleon was held by the Prussians in a castle in Wilhelmshöhe, near Kassel until peace was established between France and Germany. He was released in March 1871 and quickly went into exile. Arriving in England on March 20, 1871, Napoleon and his family settled at Camden Place, a large country house in Chislehurst, England where he lived until his death in 1873. With Louis-Napoleon’s exile, his affair with Marguerite ended. In 1872, she married William Kulbach, Baronet, a Captain in the British Army and the couple lived in England and France. When Louis-Napoleon died in 1873, Marguerite went to England to mourn him.

Marguerite Bellanger, aged 48, died on November 23, 1886, at the Château de Villeneuve-sous-Dammartin, near Meaux, France. Her funeral was held at the Church of Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot in Paris and she was buried in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. Her only child Charles Leboeuf had a military career and died in Paris on December 7, 1941. He was buried with his mother.

Burial site of Marguerite Bellanger and her son in Montparnasse Cemetery; Credit – https://androom.home.xs4all.nl/biography/i020183.htm

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Mehl, Scott. (2016). Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon III of the French. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-napoleon-bonaparte-emperor-napoleon-iii-of-the-french/
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2019). Charles Lebœuf. Wikipedia (French). https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Leb%C5%93uf
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, September 10). Marguerite Bellanger. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Bellanger
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, August 29). Marguerite Bellanger. Wikipedia (French). https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Bellanger

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The County of Waldeck was a county within the Holy Roman Empire since 1180.  In 1625, the much smaller County of Pyrmont became part of the much larger County of Waldeck through inheritance and the combined territory was known as the County of Waldeck-Pyrmont. In 1712,  Friedrich Anton Ulrich, Count of Waldeck-Pyrmont was elevated to Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont by Holy Emperor Karl VI.

Friedrich, the last Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont, was the brother of Marie, the first wife of King Wilhelm II of Württemberg, Emma who married King Willem III of the Netherlands, and Helena, the wife of Queen Victoria’s hemophiliac son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and the mother of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Friedrich abdicated on November 13, 1918, and negotiated an agreement with the government that gave him and his descendants the ownership of the family home Arolsen Castle and Arolsen Forest. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont is located in the German states of Hesse and Lower Saxony

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Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont; Credit – By Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1969-041-62 / CC-BY-SA, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5482509

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont was the last heir apparent to the throne of the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont from 1946 until his death in 1967, and a convicted Nazi war criminal. Josias Georg Wilhelm Adolf was born on May 13, 1896, at Arolsen Castle in Arolsen, then in the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse. He was the eldest of the four children and the eldest of the three sons of Friedrich, the last reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe. Josias’ paternal grandparents were Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his first wife Princess Helena of Nassau. His maternal grandparents were  Prince Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Bathildis of Anhalt-Dessau. Through his father, Josias was the first cousin of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and two grandchildren of Queen Victoria, Charles Edward, the last reigning Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his sister Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone.

Josias had three younger siblings:

Beginning in 1902, Josias was educated by private tutors. In 1912, he began to attend the Royal Wilhelms-Gymnasium (link in German) in Kassel, then in the Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Hesse. In 1914, 18-year-old Josias passed the Notabitur (link in German), which replaced the usual Abitur, exams taken for a high school diploma, for students in the final years of high school who wanted to serve in the German Army during World War I.

When World War I broke out, Josias enlisted in the German army and was wounded several times, including a grazing shot to his head. After the defeat of the German Empire in World War I and the end of all the German monarchies, Josias’ father Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont abdicated on November 13, 1918. He was the only German prince who refused to sign an abdication agreement. However, Friedrich did negotiate an agreement with the new government that gave him and his descendants the ownership of the family home Arolsen Castle and the Arolsen Forest.

On August 25, 1922, at Rastede Palace in Rastede, in Lower Saxony, Germany, Josias married Duchess Altburg of Oldenburg, the daughter of Friedrich August II, the last reigning Grand Duke of Oldenburg, and his second wife Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Josias and Altburg had four daughters and one son. Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, the two most powerful Nazis, were among the godparents of their only son Wittekind.

  • Princess Margarethe of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1923 – 2003), married Franz II, Count of Erbach-Erbach von Warthenberg-Roth, had two children, divorced in 1979
  • Princess Alexandra of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1924 – 2009), married Botho, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt, had two children
  • Princess Ingrid of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1931 – ), unmarried
  • Prince Wittekind, Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont (born 1936), married, Cecilia Countess Goëß-Saurau, had three sons
  • Princess Guda of Waldeck and Pyrmont (born 1939), married Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Wied, had two children, divorced in 1962

Josias, with the rank of an SS-Obergruppenführer; Credit – By Franz Langhammer – Retrieved from germanianternational.com, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11725055

Josias’ parents both lived through World War II but neither joined the Nazi Party. However, their eldest son Josias, his wife Altburg, and their eldest child Margarethe were members of the Nazi Party. Josias joined the Nazi Party in 1929 and by 1930, he was a member of the Schutzstaffel, better known as the SS. The SS was the primary agency of security, surveillance, and terror in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. In September 1930, Josias became the Adjutant and Staff Chief of Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, and the main architect of The Holocaust. In 1933, Josias was promoted to the rank of SS Lieutenant General. He was promoted again in 1938, to the Higher SS and Police Leader for Weimar. In this position, he had supervisory authority over the Buchenwald concentration camp. His final rank was SS- Obergruppenführer, the highest commissioned SS rank and General of Waffen-SS. Members of the Waffen-SS were involved in numerous atrocities. At the Nuremberg Trials (1945 – 1946), the Waffen-SS was judged to be a criminal organization because of its direct involvement in numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Toward the end of World War II, Josias oversaw the efforts to conceal the horrors of the Buchenwald concentration camp by sending off inmates, resulting in thousands of deaths. Some inmates were sent on forced marches. Others were put in sealed trains for days. On one train trip that was supposed to last eighteen hours, only 300 of the 3,105 on the train survived the poor conditions, after days without any provisions for food or sanitation.

Josias; mug shot after being arrested; Credit – By unknown soldier or employee of the U.S. Army Signal Corps – Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4783531

Josias was captured by American General George Patton’s forces at the Buchenwald concentration camp on April 13, 1945, the day the camp was liberated. While he was in custody, Josias learned of the death of his father on May 26, 1946. Josias was now the Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont and began to use the title Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont but Josias would soon face two trials during the post-war period.

Josias in black facing the judges as a defendant at the Buchenwald Trial in 1947; Credit – Wikipedia

The Buchenwald Trial or United States of America vs. Josias Prince of Waldeck et al was a war crime trial conducted by the United States Army from April 11 to August 14, 1947, at the internment camp for war criminals, the SS and important witnesses in Dachau, Germany at the site of the former Dachau concentration camp. Thirty-one people, including Josias and many of the doctors responsible for Nazi human experimentation, were indicted for war crimes related to the Buchenwald concentration camp and its satellite camps, and all thirty-one defendants were convicted. On August 14, 1947, Josias was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and was sent to Landsberg War Criminal Prison Nr. 1 in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany.

On September 17, 1949, a denazification appeals court classified Josias as a Level 2 – Offender: Activist, Militant, or Profiteer, on the five-tier scale of the denazification system, with Level 1, Main Offender, being the worst. As a result, 70% of his property was seized along with other sanctions and fines.

On November 29, 1950, after serving just three years in prison, Josias was released. He was one of the first to benefit from US High Commissioner for Germany John J. McCloy’s amnesty program. At the strong urging of the West German government, and under pressure from the West German people, McCloy approved recommendations for the commutation of sentences of some Nazi criminals. In 1953, Josias received an amnesty from Georg-August Zinn, Minister President of Hesse reducing his fine from the denazification appeals court by more than half of the original fine.

Schaumberg Castle where Josias spent his final years; Credit – By Carsten Steger – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122795425

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont spent the last years of his life in seclusion at Schaumburg Castle near Limburg an der Lahn in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. He was investigated in the late 1950s and early 1960s in connection to atrocities at the Buchenwald concertation camp, the war-time murder of civilian workers, and the Röhm Purge of 1934, a series of political executions without trials intended to consolidate Hitler’s power. However, most investigations were discontinued because the statute of limitations had expired or guilt could not be proven.

Waldeck-Pyrmont Princely Mausoleum and Cemetery; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont died, aged, 71, on November 30, 1967, at Schaumburg Castle, and was buried in the Princely Cemetery at Schloss Rhoden (link in German), the burial site of the Waldeck-Pyrmont family in Rhoden, now in the German state of Hesse. He was succeeded as Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont by his only son Prince Wittekind. Josias’ wife Altburg survived him by 34 years, dying on June 16, 2001, aged 98. She was buried with her husband in the Princely Cemetery at Schloss Rhoden.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021). Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/friedrich-prince-of-waldeck-pyrmont/
  • Petropoulos, Jonathan. (2009). Royals and the Reich. Oxford University Press.
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Buchenwald Trial. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_trial
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Josias zu Waldeck und Pyrmont. German Wikipedia. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josias_zu_Waldeck_und_Pyrmont
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josias,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Waldeck_and_Pyrmont

Leonora Dori Galigai, Favorite of Marie de’ Medici, Queen of France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Favorite: a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, queen, or another royal person

Leonora Dori Galigai and later, her husband Concino Concini, were favorites of Marie de’ Medici, Queen of France, the second wife of Henri IV, King of France. Neither Leonora nor Concino had a happy ending.

Leonora Dori Galigai; Credit – Wikipedia

The daughter of Jacopo di Sebastiano Dori and Caterina Dori, Leonora Dori Galigai was born on May 19, 1568, in Florence, then in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy. Her father was a carpenter and her mother was a wet nurse at the court of the Medicis who were Grand Dukes of Tuscany from 1569 to 1737. Jacopo was able to buy the adoption of his children by the Galigai family, a poor but noble Florentine family from which he was descended in the female line. This gave his children some advantages socially and politically.

Leonora had two brothers and one sister:

  • Andrea Dori Galigai
  • Sebastiano Dori Galigai, Archbishop of Tours (? – 1694)
  • Cassandra Dori Galigai

In 1588, Ferdinando I de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany appointed twenty-year-old Leonora to be the maid to his thirteen-year-old niece Marie de’ Medici. Having lost her mother at the age of five, and her father at the age of twelve, Marie was raised by her uncle Ferdinando, who had succeeded her father as Grand Duke of Tuscany. For nearly thirty years, Leonora remained in service to Marie, becoming her close friend and confidante. In late 1600, when Marie traveled to France to become the second wife of Henri IV, King of France, Leonora was included in her retinue as lady-in-waiting and wardrobe attendant.

Leonora’s husband Concino Concini; Credit – Wikipedia

Also in Marie’s retinue was Concino Concini, whose father was First Secretary to Marie’s uncle. During the journey to France, Concino romanced Leonora and proposed to her. King Henri IV opposed the marriage because he considered Concino too ambitious but he finally gave his approval, and Leonora and Concino were married on July 12, 1601. Marie de’ Medici, now Queen of France, gave Leonora a large dowry. In 1605, Concino became maître d’hôtel (chief steward) of Queen Marie’s household, and in 1608, he received the additional appointment of premier écuyer of the queen, being in charge of her royal stables. These positions allowed Concino to amass a small fortune, which he invested in real estate.

Leonora and Concino had two children, named after King Henri IV and Queen Marie:

  • Henri Concini (1603 – 1631), died of the plague
  • Marie Concini (1607 – 1617), died in childhood

In 1610, King Henri IV was assassinated and Queen Marie was appointed Regent for their eldest son, the eight-year-old King Louis XIII of France. Leonora exploited her friendship with Queen Marie, encouraging the rapid rise of her husband’s career. Concino became Queen Marie’s most trusted advisor. He was created Marquis d’Ancre and a Marshal of France. Leonora and Concino successfully plotted to have King Henri IV’s very capable Chief Minister, Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully dismissed. Queen Marie was strongly influenced by Concino and Leonora and many of her policies were in sharp contrast to those of her late husband. Concino and Leonora hoped to influence the suppression of Protestantism in France. However, Queen Marie, as Regent, maintained her late husband’s policy of religious tolerance. As one of her first acts, Marie reconfirmed Henri IV’s Edict of Nantes, which ordered religious tolerance for Protestants in France while asserting the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church.

The behavior and policies of Concino and Leonora caused hatred among the French people. The French nobility had to deal with their power being weakened because Concino and Leonora’s Tuscan followers were given preference in the awarding of positions and privileges. The French common people resented the power of these Tuscans who had become masters of France.

A contemporary depiction of the assassination of Concino Concini; Credit – Wikipedia

Finally, sixteen-year-old King Louis XIII, who detested Leonora and Concino, stepped up and asserted his position as King. In April 1617, he organized a coup d’état with Charles d’Albert, Duke of Luynes, a close advisor and favorite of King Louis XIII from childhood until his death, who held numerous top positions within the French court. Since Concino could not be arrested because he had a personal army of more than 7,000 soldiers, it was planned to have him assassinated. On April 24, 1617, Concino Concini was killed in the courtyard of the Louvre Palace in Paris. He was buried at the Church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois in Paris but an angry crowd of Parisians exhumed his body and dragged it through the streets of Paris. After being stoned and beaten, Concino’s body was hanged by the feet from a gallows, and then dismembered and burned.

17th-century engraving of the execution of Leonora; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of her husband, the tides also turned against Leonora. She was arrested, accused of witchcraft, and sent to the Bastille. Queen Marie was unable to help her old friend because she had been sent into exile at the Château de Blois in the Loire Valley on the orders of her son King Louis XIII. After a short trial, Leonora was found guilty of having bewitched Queen Marie, Regent of France. On July 8, 1617, at the Place de Grève in Paris, now the Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville, Leonora was beheaded, and then her headless body burned at the stake.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Leonora Doria Galigai. geni_family_tree. (2016). https://www.geni.com/people/Leonora-Doria-Galigai/6000000022782162100
  • Mehl, Scott. (2016). Marie de’ Medici, Queen of France. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/marie-de-medici-queen-of-france/
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Leonora Galigaï. Wikipedia (German). https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Galiga%C3%AF
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Leonora Dori. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Dori
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2022). Leonora Dori Galigai. Wikipedia (Italian). https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Dori_Galigai

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor also King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Joseph II reigned from 1765 to 1790 as Holy Roman Emperor after being elected Holy Roman Emperor following the death of his father Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1765. He was co-regent with his mother from 1765 – 1780 of Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, and several other Habsburg hereditary lands and was the sole ruler from 1780 to 1790, following the death in 1780 of his mother Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, the only woman to be ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands in her own right. Joseph’s mother was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. Maria Theresa, who had arranged for her husband to be elected Holy Roman Emperor, wielded the real power and Joseph’s father was content to leave the act of reigning to his wife.

Born Joseph Benedikt Anton Michael Adam on March 13, 1741, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria, he was the fourth of the sixteen children and the eldest of the five sons of Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1745 – 1765) also Duke of Lorraine (reigned 1729 – 1737), Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1737 – 1765), born of Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1745 – 1765) also Duke of Lorraine (reigned 1729 – 1737), Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1737 – 1765), born François Étienne of Lorraine and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, in her own right Queen of Bohemia (reigned 1740 – 1741 and 1743 – 1780), Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, Archduchess of Austria (reigned 1740 – 1780) along with a number of other titles of Habsburg hereditary lands.

Joseph’s paternal grandparents were Leopold, Duke of Lorraine and Princess Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans, the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (brother of King Louis XIV of France) and his second wife Princess Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate. His maternal grandparents were Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor (and ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands) and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Joseph’s parents and their family; Joseph is in the red, standing next to his mother; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph had fifteen siblings but eight of them died in childhood and four of the eight died from smallpox:

Joseph in 1765: Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph’s mother Maria Theresa had a comprehensive, detailed educational program arranged for him to prepare him as optimally as possible for his future duties as a ruler. Starting at a young age, he received riding and fencing lessons. A Jesuit priest gave him religious instruction, supplemented by instruction in ethics, morality, and philosophy. Joseph had a talent for languages, learning Latin, French, Italian, Hungarian, and Czech. Science, mathematics, dance, and theater classes were included in the curriculum. As Joseph grew older, the focus shifted to history lessons, and the study of natural, constitutional, church, and international law. He received specific instruction related to the inner workings of the monarchy and military training.
Starting in 1760, Joseph was allowed to participate in the meetings of the high administrative authorities and the Council of State.

Joseph’s first wife Isabella of Parma; Credit – Wikipedia

To strengthen the relations between the Habsburgs and the Bourbons, Joseph’s mother Maria Theresa and King Louis XV of France arranged a marriage between Joseph and Louis XV’s granddaughter Princess Isabella of Parma, daughter of Felipe of Spain, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla and Louise Élisabeth of France. A proxy marriage was held on September 5, 1760 at Padua Cathedral in Padua, then in the Republic of Venice, now in Italy. Josef Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein, who had a successful military career in the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire and as a diplomat for the Holy Roman Empire, was given the honor of escorting Isabella to Vienna, Austria. On October 6, 1760, at the Augustinerkirche (Augustinian Church) in Vienna, Austria, the two 18-year-olds Joseph and Isabella were married by the Papal Nuncio Cardinal Vitaliano Borromeo.

Isabella with her elder daughter Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph and Isabella had two daughters but neither survived childhood:

Joseph adored his wife but Isabella hated the strict court ceremonies and was very reserved toward Joseph. Joseph’s sister Archduchess Maria Christina was Isabella’s best friend and closest confidante. Some modern historians believe that Isabella and Maria Christina likely had a romantic, and possibly a sexual relationship. They exchanged letters and small notes in French but only the nearly two hundred letters and notes written by Isabella have survived. Isabella’s letters and notes show a deep affection toward Maria Christina and are characteristic of a romantic-sexual relationship.

Isabella had a very difficult first pregnancy with her first child Maria Theresa, suffering from many physical symptoms, depression, and a lingering fear of death. This was only worsened by her inexperienced husband not understanding her problems. Isabella had miscarriages in August 1762 and January 1763. Her mother-in-law Maria Theresa, who had given birth to sixteen children, was so worried that she advised her son Joseph to wait for six months before trying for another child. However, Isabella was soon again pregnant. In the fall of 1763, there was an outbreak of smallpox in and around Vienna, and the pregnant Isabella became ill with smallpox. Isabella’s high fever induced labor three months early, and on November 22, 1763, she gave birth to a second daughter. The baby was baptized Maria Christina, as Isabella requested, but died the same day. Five days later, a month short of her 22nd birthday, Isabella died from smallpox at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Isabella was interred in the Maria Theresa Crypt at the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria. The coffin of her daughter Maria Christina was placed under Isabella’s coffin. In 1770, when Isabella’s elder daughter Maria Theresa died at the age of seven, her tomb was placed next to her mother’s and younger sister’s coffins.

Isabella’s tomb in the middle with the coffin of her younger daughter sticking out underneath. To the right is the tomb of Isabella’s elder daughter Maria Theresa who died in 1770; Credit – By C.Stadler/Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28671919

Joseph was devastated by Isabella’s death and never fully recovered. In a letter to Isabella’s father, Joseph wrote: “I have lost everything. My adorable wife and only friend is no more. (…) What a frightful separation! Can I survive it? Yes, and only to be unhappy all my life. (…) There is nothing I will enjoy ever again.”

Joseph’s second wife Maria Josepha of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

At his mother’s insistence, Joseph married again to his second cousin Maria Josepha of Bavaria, daughter of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Amalie of Austria. After a proxy marriage on proxy on January 13, 1765, Joseph and Maria Josepha were married in person on January 25, 1765, at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. Joseph, who never wanted to remarry after the death of Isabella, found Maria Josepha unattractive. On May 28, 1767, after only two years of a childless marriage, Maria Josepha died of smallpox, as had her predecessor Isabella. Joseph never remarried.

Joseph and Isabella’s daughter Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Sadly, Joseph had one more death to endure. On January 23, 1770, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, the seven-year-old daughter of Joseph and his first wife Isabella, died from pleurisy. She was buried next to her mother and sister in a tomb with an effigy representing Maria Theresa sleeping on a bed, covered by a blanket, with her hands in prayer. (See photo above.) Joseph was heartbroken over his daughter’s death and cried out to heaven, “I’ve stopped being a father. Oh my God give me back my daughter…”

Coronation of Joseph as as King of the Romans in Frankfurt Cathedral, April 3 1764; Credit – Wikipedia

During his unsuccessful marriage to Maria Josepha of Bavaria, Joseph’s father Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor died suddenly of a stroke or heart attack on August 18, 1765, at the age of 56, in his carriage while returning from the opera in Innsbruck, Austria. Holy Roman Emperors could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed them after their death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans. In 1764, Joseph had been elected and crowned King of the Romans, and so when his father died, Joseph became Holy Roman Emperor although his mother Maria Theresa continued to wield the real power. On September 17, 1765, Joseph was elevated by his mother Maria Theresa to be her co-regent in the Habsburg hereditary lands. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany that Joseph had inherited from his father was given to his younger brother Leopold, who would be the childless Joseph’s successor.

Joseph in 1775; Credit – Wikipedia

It was not until his mother’s death in 1780, that Joseph could finally pursue his own policies. Josephinism was the name given collectively to his policies. Joseph was educated during the Age of Enlightenment which emphasized rationality, order, and careful organization in statecraft. Joseph issued over 6,000 edicts, plus 11,000 new laws designed to regulate and reorder every aspect of the lands he ruled. Among many other issues, Joseph tried to reduce the influence of the nobility and clergy, and the serfdom of the peasants was abolished in 1781. Despite Joseph’s policies provoking resistance both inside and outside the Habsburg hereditary lands, he is still remembered by historians as an enlightened ruler.

Joseph came from a family in which all members played at least one musical instrument and music was important to him. He declared the Burgtheater in Vienna as the German national theater. Joseph was passionate about opera, and often attended opera rehearsals at the Burgtheater, accompanying the singers on the harpsichord like a professional. Antonio Salieri was his choirmaster and opera director but he focused on the fashionable Italian opera. Joseph commissioned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to write the first opera in the German language: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) in 1782.

Coffin of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor in front of the tomb of his parents; Credit – By Wotau – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21894136

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor died from tuberculosis, aged 48, on February 20, 1790, in Vienna, Austria. Before his death, Joseph had renounced the Habsburg practice of separate burial, a form of partial burial in which internal organs are buried separately from the rest of the body. He was buried in a field marshal’s uniform in an oak coffin at the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria. At a later date, the oak coffin was put in a simple copper coffin and placed in front in front of his parents’ magnificent double sarcophagus.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021) Francis Stephen of Lorraine, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/francis-stephen-of-lorraine-duke-of-lorraine-grand-duke-of-tuscany-holy-roman-emperor/ (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2013) Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maria-theresa-archduchess-of-austria-queen-of-hungary-croatia-and-bohemia/ (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
  • Joseph II. (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_II. (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
  • Joseph II (Empereur du Saint-Empire) (2023) Wikipedia (French). Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_II_(empereur_du_Saint-Empire) (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
  • Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

In 1647, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was formed through the division of the County of Schaumburg by treaties between the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and the Count of Lippe.  In 1808, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was raised to a Principality and Georg Wilhelm, Count of Schaumberg became the first Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Adolf II, the last Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and lived out his life in exile. In 1936, Adolf and his wife were killed in an airplane crash in Mexico.

Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe is in the German state of Lower Saxony.

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Born Elisabeth Franziska von Bischoff-Korthaus on November 6, 1894, in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, and known as Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus, she was the wife of Adolf II, the last reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

Ellen was an actress under the stage name Ellen Korth. She had roles in two silent films in 1918: Othello, a play by William Shakespeare, directed by Max Mack, playing Desdemona, Othello’s wife, with renowned German actors Wilhelm Diegelmann, Julius Falkenstein, Max Gülstorff and Rosa Valetti, and Wanderratten (link in German) also directed by Max Mack and also with Wilhelm Diegelmann, Max Gülstorff and Rosa Valetti, and Rudolf Lettinger. After the films, Ellen concentrated on her stage career.

Adolf was not the first prince Ellen married. On August 24, 1918, she married Prince Eberwyn of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1882 – 1949), son of Alexis, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt, and Princess Pauline of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Ellen was the second of Prince Eberwyn’s three wives. The couple divorced on December 13, 1919.

Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

On January 10, 1920, in Berlin, Germany, 25-year-old Ellen married 37-year-old Adolf II, the last reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, the son of Georg, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Marie Anna of Saxe-Altenburg. Upon his father’s death on April 29, 1911, Adolf became the reigning Prince of Schaumberg-Lippe. After the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, Adolf II was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and the Principality of Schaumberg-Lippe became the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe, and later part of Germany. Adolf was exiled from the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe and lived mostly in the Brionian Islands, then Italy, now in Croatia. After her marriage, Ellen used the title Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe. In 1919, Germany abolished noble and royal titles and the privileges that the titles endowed but titles were allowed as part of surnames. The marriage of Ellen and Adolf was childless.

While living in Italy, Ellen and Adolf were investigated by the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei, Secret State Police) beginning in June 1934. They were later denounced by Kurt von Behr, head of the Nazi Party in Italy.

On March 26, 1936, Adolf, aged 53, and Ellen, aged 42, were killed in an airplane crash in Zumpango, Mexico, along with eight other passengers from Germany, Austria, and Hungary, and four crew members. Their plane developed engine trouble and crashed between the volcanoes Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl as they were flying from Mexico City, Mexico to Guatemala City, Guatemala. The plane had been chartered by Hamburg-American Line which brought the Europeans to Mexico on a tour. It was the worst Mexican plane crash at that time.

Bückeburg Mausoleum; Credit – Von Corradox – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7328133

The bodies of Adolf and Ellen were recovered and returned to Germany thanks to the intervention of Adolf’s youngest brother Friedrich Christian who was aide-de-camp to Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Friedrich Christian joined the Nazi Party in 1928, one of the first German princes to do so. He never distanced himself from the Nazi ideology and championed it until the end of his life. Initially, Friedrich Christian was against the idea of burying Ellen’s remains in the Bückeburg Mausoleum because he thought that she was not of Aryan origin. When Friedrich Christian was proven wrong, Ellen was buried with Adolf at the Bückeburg Mausoleum (link in German) on the grounds of Bückeburg Castle

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/adolf-ii-prince-of-schaumburg-lippe/ (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • IMDb (no date) Ellen Korth | actress, IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0466765/ (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Timesmachine.nytimes.com. 1936. 14 Die In Worst Mexican Air Crash; Three Titled Germans Among Dead; Plane Carrying Ten Tourists From Europe And Four In Crew Falls Between Two Volcanoes, Killing All — Prince And Princess Adolf Of Schaumburg-Lippe Lose Lives. [online] Available at: <https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/03/27/87926235.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0> [Accessed 1 September 2023].
  • Staedeli, Thomas. (no date) Portrait of the actress Ellen Korth by Thomas Staedeli. Available at: https://www.cyranos.ch/smkore-e.htm (Accessed: 01 September 2023).

Maria Amalie of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, Electress of Bavaria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Amalie of Austria, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

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Archduchess Maria Amalie of Austria was the wife of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor who was also Karl I, Elector of Bavaria. Born on October 22, 1701, at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, Maria Amalie was the youngest of the three children and the second of the two daughters of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, King of Hungary and Princess Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Her paternal grandparents were Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife Eleonore Magdalena of Neuburg. Maria Amalie’s maternal grandparents were Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate.

Maria Amalie had two elder siblings. Her brother, her parents’ only son, died from hydrocephalus before his first birthday, eleven weeks before Maria Amalie’s birth.

Maria Amalie as a child, 1709; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Amalie was raised with her sister Maria Josepha who was less than two years older. Both girls received a strict Roman Catholic upbringing. Maria Amalie was proposed as a bride for Vittorio Amadeo, Prince of Piedmont, the heir to the Kingdom of Sicily and the Duchy of Savoy, in the hopes of improving relations between Austria and Sicily and Savoy. Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sicily and Duke of Savoy was not in favor of the marriage and his son died from smallpox in 1715.

Karl of Bavaria, as a young man; circa 1717 – 1719; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Amalie met Karl of Bavaria, the heir to the Electorate of Bavaria at the imperial court in Vienna. Karl thought a marriage into the House of Habsburg would widen his dynastic and economic prospects. On October 5, 1722, Marie Amalie married Karl of Bavaria, son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Prince-Elector of Bavaria and his second wife Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska.

Two of Maria Amalie and Karl’s children, Karl’s successor Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria and Joseph Ludwig; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Amalie and Karl had seven children but only four survived to adulthood:

Nymphenburg Palace; Credit – By Richard Bartz, Munich aka Makro Freak – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4083697

Maria Amalie and Karl lived at the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. In 1726, after the death of his father, Karl became Elector of Bavaria. He maintained good relations with both the Habsburgs and France, continuing his father’s policies. In May 1727, after the birth of an heir to the Electorate of Bavaria, Karl gave Maria Amalia Fürstenried Palace in Munich as her own residence. Despite Karl having a mistress and an illegitimate son, Maria Amalie and Karl’s marriage was relatively happy. The couple had similar personalities and interests. They both enjoyed the pomp and the festive life at court and together they made the Bavarian court a cultural center. Maria Amalie enjoyed opera, politics, and hunting, and loved to travel. She supported churches and convents and had a close relationship with her sister-in-law Maria Anna Karoline of Bavaria (1696 – 1750), a Poor Clare nun.

During his reign, Maria Amalie’s grandfather Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor had devised the 1703 Mutual Pact of Succession, a succession device, because there was a lack of males in the family. The Mutual Pact of Succession effectively made Maria Josepha, Maria Amalie’s elder sister the heir presumptive to the Habsburg hereditary lands if neither of his sons, the future Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and the future Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, had sons. However, when Maria Josepha and Maria Amalie’s 32-year-old father Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor died suddenly from smallpox in 1711, he was succeeded in the Habsburg hereditary lands by his brother Karl who was also elected Holy Roman Emperor. In 1713, Karl VI annulled the 1703 Mutual Pact of Succession with his Pragmatic Sanction which made his daughter Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria the heir presumptive to the Habsburg hereditary lands instead of her cousin Maria Josepha. Both Maria Josepha and Maria Amalie would have to renounce their succession rights to the Habsburg hereditary lands before they were allowed to marry.

After Karl VI died in 1740, his daughter Maria Theresa succeeded to the Habsburg hereditary lands as the Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, Queen of Bohemia, and Archduchess of Austria in her own right, the only female to hold those sovereign positions. However, as the son-in-law of the late Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I and brother-in-law of Archduchess Maria Josepha, Karl, Elector of Bavaria, Maria Amalie’s husband rejected the Pragmatic Sanction. He claimed the Habsburg hereditary territories against Maria Theresa, even though his wife Maria Amalia had renounced her claims to the Habsburg lands upon her marriage. With the 1741 Treaty of Nymphenburg, Karl, Elector of Bavaria aligned himself with Spain, France, Prussia, Saxony, and Sardinia against Austria. This led to led to the War of Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) which resulted in the eventual confirmation of Maria Theresa’s Habsburg titles.

Maria Amalie’s husband as Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

While the War of the Austrian Succession was occurring, Karl, Elector of Bavaria was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII in 1742, and his wife Maria Amalie was now Holy Roman Empress. Karl VII’s three-year reign as Holy Roman Emperor was greatly overshadowed by the War of Austrian Succession.

On January 20, 1745, 47-year-old Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor died at the Munich Residenz in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. His autopsy report listed gout, kidney stones, and heart problems as contributory factors to his death. He was interred in the Theatinerkirche in Munich. On the day of his death, Karl VII, Holy Roman had declared his son Maximilian III Joseph, two months short of his eighteenth birthday, to be of legal age, which enabled him to succeed as Elector of Bavaria without a regent. At the urging of his mother Maria Amalie, Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria made peace with Austria via the 1745 Treaty of Füssen. Bavaria recognized the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria promised to support the candidacy of Francis Stephen of Lorraine, the husband of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (the daughter of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor) and future Habsburgs, as Holy Roman Emperor. In return, Austria recognized the legitimacy of Karl VII’s election as Holy Roman Emperor.

Maria Amalie as a widow; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of her husband, Maria Amalie lived at the home her husband had given her, Fürstenried Palace, for the rest of her life. In 1754, she founded the first modern hospital in Munich (link in German), managed by nuns of the Order of Saint Elisabeth whom she had invited to found a convent. The nuns at the hospital not only served the sick people of Munich, but they also trained lay nursing assistants.

Theatinekirke where Maria Amalie and her husband are interred; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Maria Amalie of Austria, daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and wife of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, survived her husband by nearly thirteen years, dying at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich on December 11, 1756, aged 55. Like her husband, she was buried in the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/joseph-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-king-of-croatia-king-of-hungary/ (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-vii-holy-roman-emperor/ (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Amalia,_Holy_Roman_Empress (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Maria Amalia von Österreich (1701–1756) (2022) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Amalia_von_%C3%96sterreich_(1701%E2%80%931756) (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.