Category Archives: Royal Relationships

First Cousins: King Edward VI of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Edward VI of England (1537 – 1553)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King Henry VIII finally got his long-awaited male heir, the future King Edward VI, via his third wife Jane Seymour who died twelve days after her son’s birth, most likely from puerperal fever or childbed fever, a bacterial infection. Edward VI’s paternal grandparents were King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, the eldest child of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville. His maternal grandparents were Sir John Seymour of Wolf Hall and Margery Wentworth.

Edward was well educated by tutors who were among the greatest scholars in England. These tutors not only gave Edward a strong education, but they also imparted to him the tenets of the Protestant Reformation that had swept through Germany and the Netherlands. Nine-year-old Edward succeeded his father upon his death in 1547. Edward VI’s maternal uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset was made Lord Protector of the Realm and Governor of the King’s Person. With this new position, Edward Seymour had almost regal power.

Edward Seymour’s younger brother Thomas Seymour, who had married Henry VIII’s widow Catherine Parr (who died after childbirth in 1548), was embittered over the power his older brother had and demanded a share of the power. In March 1549, Thomas was arrested on various charges and beheaded for treason.

Seven months later, Edward Seymour became aware that his rule as Lord Protector was being threatened. Seymour took possession of his nephew, and then went to the safety of the fortified Windsor Castle, where Edward VI wrote, “Me thinks I am in prison.” Seymour was arrested and eventually executed. John Dudley, Earl of Warwick (later 1st Duke of Northumberland and Lady Jane Grey‘s father-in-law (who would lose his head due to his involvement in Lady Jane’s succession to the throne) became the leader of the Regency Council and Lord Protector.

During the reign of King Edward VI, the English Protestant Reformation advanced with the approval and encouragement of Edward VI. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (who was to be burned for heresy under the reign of Queen Mary I) wrote and compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer, a complete liturgy for the English Church which is still used. Cranmer also revised canon law and prepared a doctrinal statement, the Thirty-Nine Articles, to clarify the practice of the reformed religion.

In January 1553, King Edward became ill with a fever and cough that gradually worsened. It is probable that he had tuberculosis. By May 1553, the royal doctors had no hope that the king would recover and John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and Lord Protector, became to scheme for a succession that would benefit him. The powerful Duke of Northumberland thought marrying one of his sons to Lady Jane Grey would be a good idea and Lord Guildford Dudley, the fifth surviving son of the Duke of Northumberland married Lady Jane Grey.

King Edward VI’s death and the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would spell trouble for the English Reformation. What exact role the Duke of Northumberland had in what followed is still debated, but surely he played a big part in the unfolding of what happened. King Edward composed a document “My devise for the succession” in which he passed over his half-sisters and the Duchess of Suffolk (Frances Brandon, the elder surviving daughter of Mary Tudor, the younger surviving daughter of King Henry VII). Edward meant for the throne to go to the Duchess’ daughters and their male heirs.

After great suffering, fifteen-year-old King Edward VI died. Lady Jane Grey was told that she was Queen, and reluctantly accepted the fact. However, the Privy Council switched their allegiance from Jane to Edward’s sister Mary and proclaimed her Queen. Mary arrived triumphantly into London accompanied by her half-sister Elizabeth and a procession of over 800 nobles and gentlemen. Ultimately, Lady Jane Grey, her husband, her father and her father-in-law would all lose their heads.

Edward shared his paternal first cousins with his half-sisters Queen Mary I of England and Queen Elizabeth I of England.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles of Edward VI of England: Children of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles of King Edward VI of England: Children of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins of Edward VI of England: Children of Margaret Tudor and James IV, King of Scotland

James, Duke of Rothesay (1507 – 1508)

James was born at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was styled Duke of Rothesay, the title held by the eldest son of the King of Scots who is also the heir apparent. James died at Stirling Castle in Stirling, Scotland six days after his first birthday.

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Arthur, Duke of Rothesay (1509 – 1510)

Arthur was born at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. As his elder brother had died, he was the eldest son of the King of Scots and the heir apparent, so he was styled Duke of Rothesay. He died when he was eight months old at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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James V, King of Scots (1512 – 1542)

Born at Linlithgow Palace in Linlithgowshire, Scotland, at his birth, James became Duke of Rothesay, the traditional title of the eldest son of the King of Scots as his two elder brothers James and Arthur had died in infancy. His 30-year-old father James IV was killed at the Battle of Flodden and 17-month-old James succeeded his father as James V, King of Scots.

James married 16-year-old Madeleine of Valois, daughter of King François I of France. Madeleine, who was sickly since her birth, had developed tuberculosis. Six months after the wedding and just two months after arriving in Scotland, Madeleine died. Less than a year after the death of his first wife, James V married again to Marie of Guise, the eldest daughter of Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, head of the House of Guise. James V and Marie had two sons and one daughter, but their sons died in infancy.

After a disastrous defeat of the Scots army by the English army at the Battle of Solway Moss, James V fled to Falkland Palace in Fife, Scotland where he became ill and took to his bed. Overcome with grief and shame about the Battle of Solway Moss, James V lost the will to live. The news that Marie of Guise had given birth to a daughter did nothing to raise his spirits. 30-year-old James V, King of Scots died and was succeeded by his only surviving, legitimate child, six-day-old Mary, Queen of Scots.

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Alexander, Duke of Ross (1514 – 1515)

Alexander was born at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland, seven months after the death of his father King James IV at the Battle of Flodden. He died four months short of his second birthday at Stirling Castle in Stirling, Scotland.

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Paternal First Cousins of Edward VI of England: Child of Margaret Tudor and her second husband Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus

Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (1515 – 1578)

Margaret was the only child of Margaret Tudor and the second of her three husbands, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus.  Prior to her birth, Margaret’s parents left Scotland for England because of difficulties her father was having in Scotland, and so, Margaret was born in England. She was brought up in England with her cousin Mary, the future Queen Mary I. The two cousins remained close to each other their whole lives.  Margaret married a Scottish exile, Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox. The couple had several children but only two sons survived childhood. Their elder son Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was the second of the three husbands of his first cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. Their only child was James VI, King of Scots who succeeded Queen Elizabeth I of England as James I, King of England. Through her grandson King James I, Margaret is an ancestor of the British royal family and many other European royal families. When Margaret died, she was given a grand funeral by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I and was buried at Westminster Abbey where a beautiful tomb was erected, most likely by her grandson King James I, in the same chapel where James later erected a tomb for his mother Mary, Queen of Scots.

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Paternal First Cousins of Edward VI of England: Children of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

Henry Brandon (1516 – 1522), died in childhood

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Lady Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk (1517 – 1559)

Although Frances and her siblings were only the children of a duke, they had their mother’s royal blood. They were the grandchildren of King Henry VII of England and the nieces and nephews of King Henry VIII of England, and therefore had claims to the English throne. Frances married Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, later Duke of Suffolk. They had a son and a daughter who both died young and then had three daughters including Lady Jane Grey. As the niece of King Henry VIII, Frances was one of the highest-ranking women at court and often took on ceremonial duties. When Henry VIII died, his only son and Frances’ first cousin, succeeded him as King Edward VI.

Edward VI was sickly and probably had tuberculosis. His reign would only last six years. Edward VI’s death and the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would spell trouble for the English Reformation. Edward opposed his half-sister Mary’s succession not only for religious reasons but also because he believed her to be illegitimate and his belief in male succession. He also opposed the succession of his half-sister Elizabeth for reasons of illegitimacy and belief in male succession. King Edward VI composed a document “My devise for the succession” in which he passed over his half-sisters and Frances. Edward meant for the throne to go to the Frances’ daughters and their male heirs. After great suffering, fifteen-year-old King Edward VI died and Frances’ eldest daughter Lady Jane Grey was told that she was queen, and reluctantly accepted the fact. Jane’s reign lasted only nine days. Henry VIII’s elder daughter and Jane’s first cousin Mary gathered an army and marched on London. In the aftermath, among those executed were Frances’ husband, her daughter Jane, and Jane’s husband Lord Guildford Dudley.

Frances’ life was now in ruins. Because her husband was a traitor, all his possessions reverted to the Crown. Frances managed to plead with her cousin Queen Mary I to show mercy. Mary agreed that some of the Duke of Suffolk’s property could remain with the family. Frances married her Master of the Horse Adrian Stokes and they had two stillborn children and a daughter who died in infancy. Frances, aged 42, died during the reign of her first cousin Queen Elizabeth I who paid the cost of her funeral. She was buried at Westminster Abbey. Four years later, her widower Adrian Stokes had a beautiful tomb and effigy placed over her grave.

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Portrait of either Lady Eleanor or her daughter Lady Margaret

Lady Eleanor Brandon, Countess of Cumberland (1519 – 1547)

Eleanor married Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland. Eleanor’s uncle King Henry VIII attended her wedding. Eleanor and her husband had two sons who did not survive infancy and one daughter Lady Margaret Clifford. Eleanor received the honor of being chief mourner at the funeral of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife.

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Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln (circa 1523 – 1534)

Henry was created Earl of Lincoln by his uncle Henry VIII when he was two-years-old. He died when he was ten or eleven years old.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins of King Edward VI of England: Children of, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector and his first wife Catherine Fillol

John Seymour (1527 – 1552)

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset’s two sons by his first wife remained loyal to their father and Jon was imprisoned in the Tower of London with him where he died after being imprisoned for three years. All of his lands had been taken from him but he successfully petitioned for the restoration of his inheritance from his mother. However, his mother’s lands had been sold so in compensation he received the lands of a granted to his father at the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII, which had descended to his half-siblings. At his death, John’s estate was left to his younger brother Lord Edward Seymour.

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Lord Edward Seymour (1529 – 1593)

After the death of Lord Edward’s mother, his father Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset married Anne Stanhope and they had ten children. Probably influenced by his second wife, the Duke of Somerset had declared the two sons of the first marriage declared illegitimate because of his first wife’s suspected adultery. His titles and properties would then pass directly to the children of his second marriage.

Lord Edward, however, did benefit from appointments granted to him by his father, who became increasingly powerful and influential with his appointment as Lord Protector. However, the lust for power of his father and uncle Thomas Seymour did not affect Lord Edward and he did not become involved in their intrigues and plotting which caused their death sentence for treason.

Lord Edward married Margaret Walshe, a daughter and co-heiress of John Walshe of Cathanger, a Justice of the Common Pleas and a Member of Parliament. They had one son Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baronet. Eventually, Lord Edward’s descendants were granted the title denied him centuries before. When the last descendant of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and his second wife Anne Stanhope died in 1750 without children. The title of Duke of Somerset then passed to the descendants of Lord Edward and the current Duke of Somerset is his descendant.

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Maternal First Cousins of King Edward VI of England: Children of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector and second wife Anne Stanhope

Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp of Hache (1537 – 1539)

Edward was known by one of his father’s subsidiary titles. He died when he was two-years-old.

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Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (1539 – 1621)

Edward was educated with his cousin Edward VI and was knighted on Edward VI’s coronation day. After his father was executed, Edward was barred from inheriting his titles and his estate. However, his cousin King Edward VI did restore some lands to him and Queen Elizabeth I created him Earl of Hertford.

Edward married Lady Catherine Grey, a younger sister of Lady Jane Grey without the approval of Queen Elizabeth I. Because Lady Catherine was in the line of succession to the throne as a descendant of Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII, her marriage needed approval from Queen Elizabeth I. Both Edward and Catherine were confined to the Tower of London. While imprisoned in the Tower of London, Catherine gave birth to two sons. The marriage was annulled and Edward and Catherine were censured as fornicators by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Their sons were declared illegitimate and therefore, not eligible to succeed to the throne. However, this did not stop them from being courted as potential heirs to the throne. After the birth of their second child, Queen Elizabeth I ordered the couple to permanently separate. Catherine died of tuberculosis several years later.

Edward married secretly again two more times but both marriages were childless. His second marriage to Frances Howard was kept a secret for nearly ten years. Edward attempted to have this marriage set aside, still hoping to have his sons by Catherine declared legitimate. He was once again arrested and Frances died.

His third wife was the wealthy widow Frances Prannell, forty years younger than Edward. She had also been born Frances Howard, the daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Viscount Howard of Bindon who was the son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. The marriage was performed in secret by Thomas Montfort without banns or license and Monfort was suspended for three years from his clergy position. The marriage lasted twenty years, until Edward’s death.

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Lady Anne Seymour, Countess of Warwick (1538 – 1588)

Lady Anne married John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick, the son and heir of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, who lost his head because of the Lady Jane Grey incident. Her husband was imprisoned in the Tower of London with his father. He was eventually released but died a few days later due to illness. Lady Anne’s second husband was Sir Edward Unton, a Member of Parliament with whom she had two sons. She suffered from mental illness and was placed in the custody of one of her sons. Anne along with her sisters Jane and Margaret wrote a poem called Hecatodistichon upon the death of Marguerite, wife of King Henri III of Navarre and the sister of King François I of France. The poem was the only work by Englishwomen published in Latin in the 16th century, and the only work by any Englishwomen published in any language before the 1560s.

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Lord Henry Seymour (1540 – 1588)

Lord Henry was a naval commander during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. In his position as Admiral of the Narrow Seas, he took part in the Battle of Gravelines against the Spanish Armada. He married Lady Joan Percy, daughter of Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland.

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Lady Margaret Seymour (born 1540)

Lady Margaret, along with her sisters Anne and Jane wrote a poem called Hecatodistichon upon the death of Marguerite, wife of King Henri III of Navarre and the sister of King François I of France. The poem was the only work by Englishwomen published in Latin in the 16th century, and the only work by any Englishwomen published in any language before the 1560s.

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Lady Jane Seymour (1541 – 1561)

Lady Jane, along with her sisters Anne and Margaret wrote a poem called Hecatodistichon upon the death of Marguerite, wife of King Henri III of Navarre and the sister of King François I of France. The poem was the only work by Englishwomen published in Latin in the 16th century, and the only work by any Englishwomen published in any language before the 1560s.

Lady Jane served as a Maid of Honor to Queen Elizabeth I. She was the only witness to the secret marriage of her brother Edward and Lady Catherine Grey but she died of tuberculosis at the age of 20 before the marriage was discovered.

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Lady Catherine Seymour (1548–1625)

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Lord Edward Seymour (1548 – 1574), unmarried

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Lady Mary Seymour (born 1552)

Lady Mary married Andrew Rogers, a Member of Parliament but the marriage was childless. Her second husband was Sir Henry Peyton.

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Lady Elizabeth Seymour (1552 – 1602)

Lady Elizabeth married Sir Richard Knightley of Fawsley Hall and had seven sons and seven daughters.

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Maternal First Cousins of King Edward VI of England: Children of Sir Henry Seymour and Barbara Morgan

  • Sir John Seymour, married Susan Powlett, had three sons
  • Jane Seymour (died 1634), married Sir John Rodney of Stoke Rodney, had sixteen children but only four sons and three daughters survived

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Maternal First Cousins of King Edward VI of England: Children of Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley and Catherine Parr, Queen of England

Mary Seymour (1548 – circa 1550)

Mary was born at Sudley Castle in Gloucestershire, England. Although her mother, Catherine Parr, the widow of King Henry VIII, had been married four times, Mary was her only child. Tragically Catherine died six days after Mary’s birth of puerperal fever or childbed fever. Her daughter Mary Seymour appears to have died young. Six months after Catherine’s death, Thomas Seymour was beheaded for treason.

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Maternal First Cousins of King Edward VI of England: Children of Elizabeth Seymour and her first husband Sir Anthony Ughtred

Sir Henry Ughtred (1533 – 1598)

Sir Henry was a Member of Parliament, a shipowner, and shipbuilder. He married Elizabeth Paulet, daughter of John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester. After his first wife died, Sir Henry married again but the name of his second wife is unknown.

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Margery Ughtred (born circa 1535)

Margery married William Hungate of Burnby, Yorkshire

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Elizabeth Seymour and her second husband Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell of Oakham, son of Thomas Cromwell, chief minister of King Henry VIII

Henry Cromwell, 2nd Baron Cromwell, (1538 – 1592)

Henry married Mary Paulet, daughter of John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester and had two sons and one daughter.

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Edward Cromwell (born 1539), died young

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Thomas Cromwell, (circa 1540 – 1611)

Thomas was he was educated at St John’s College, Cambridge. He married Katherine Gardner and had five sons and four daughters. He was a Member of Parliament. His diaries of proceedings in the House of Commons are an important source for historians of parliamentary history.

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Catherine Cromwell (circa 1541 – ? )

Catherine married Sir John Strode of Parnham, Dorset.

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Frances Cromwell (circa 1544 – 1562)

Frances married Richard Strode of Newnham, Devon.

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Maternal First Cousins of King Edward VI of England: Children of Dorothy Seymour and Sir Clement Smyth

  • Bennett Smyth
  • Clement Smyth
  • Anne Smyth
  • Dorothy Smyth
  • Mabel Smyth
  • Grace Smyth
  • John Smyth (born 1531)

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Works Cited

    • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
    • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
    • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

First Cousins: Queen Mary I of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Queen Mary of England (1516 – 1558)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Mary was the only child of King Henry VIII of England and his first of six wives, Catherine of Aragon, to survive infancy. Her paternal grandparents were King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, the eldest child of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville. Mary’s maternal grandparents The Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.

Mary was well educated and studied Greek, Latin, French, Italian, science, and music but her father was disappointed that Mary was not a male. By the time Mary’s mother Catherine of Aragon turned 40, it was very unlikely that she would produce the male heir that Henry yearned for. Ultimately, Henry broke with the Vatican, formed the Church of England and had his marriage with Catherine declared null and void. Catherine was banished from the court and was forbidden to see her daughter Mary. Mary was forced into acknowledging, at least outwardly, that her father was the Head of the Church of England but throughout her life, Mary remained true to the Roman Catholic Church.

Through the influence of Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife, the family was drawn closer together. Catherine Parr was influential in Henry’s passing of the Third Succession Act in 1543 which restored both his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession to the throne. King Henry VIII died in 1547 and was succeeded by his 9-year-old son as King Edward VI. Henry’s three children remained on friendly terms despite their great differences in age and religious belief.

As 15-year-old King Edward VI lay dying, probably of tuberculosis, many feared that Edward VI’s death and the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would spell trouble for the English Reformation. Edward opposed his half-sister Mary’s succession not only for religious reasons but also because he believed her to be illegitimate and his belief in male succession. He also opposed the succession of his half-sister Elizabeth for reasons of illegitimacy and belief in male succession. King Edward VI composed a document “My devise for the succession” in which he passed over his half-sisters and his cousin Frances Brandon, the daughter of Mary Tudor. Edward meant for the throne to go to Frances’ daughters and their male heirs. After great suffering, fifteen-year-old King Edward VI died and Frances’ eldest daughter Lady Jane Grey was told that she was queen, and reluctantly accepted the fact. Jane’s reign lasted only nine days. Henry VIII’s elder daughter and Jane’s first cousin Mary gathered an army and marched on London. In the aftermath, among those executed were Frances’ husband, her daughter Jane, and Jane’s husband Guilford Dudley.

Mary was 37, and it was vital that she marry and produce a Catholic heir to supplant her Protestant sister Elizabeth. Mary married Philip of Spain (later King Philip II of Spain), the only son of Mary’s first cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Philip was eleven years younger than Mary and he found her repugnant. Mary had a phantom pregnancy, Philip came and went from England and finally left for good after three years of marriage.

Throughout her reign, Mary was steadfast in her determination to restore the Roman Catholic religion to England. During Mary’s reign, nearly 300 Protestants were burned at the stake for heresy. Included in this number were the famous three Oxford Martyrs: Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury; Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester; and Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London.

Mary shared her paternal first cousins with her half-siblings Queen Elizabeth I of England, who succeeded her, and King Edward VI of England.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles of Queen Mary I of England: Children of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles of Queen Mary I of England: Children of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins of Queen Mary I of England: Children of Margaret Tudor and James IV, King of Scotland

James, Duke of Rothesay (1507 – 1508)

James was born at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was styled Duke of Rothesay, the title held by the eldest son of the King of Scots who is also the heir apparent. James died at Stirling Castle in Stirling, Scotland six days after his first birthday.

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Arthur, Duke of Rothesay (1509 – 1510)

Arthur was born at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. As his elder brother had died, he was the eldest son of the King of Scots and the heir apparent, so he was styled Duke of Rothesay. He died when he was eight months old at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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James V, King of Scots (1512 – 1542)

Born at Linlithgow Palace in Linlithgowshire, Scotland, at his birth, James became Duke of Rothesay, the traditional title of the eldest son of the King of Scots as his two elder brothers James and Arthur had died in infancy. His 30-year-old father James IV was killed at the Battle of Flodden and 17-month-old James succeeded his father as James V, King of Scots.

James married 16-year-old Madeleine of Valois, daughter of King François I of France. Madeleine, who was sickly since her birth, had developed tuberculosis. Six months after the wedding and just two months after arriving in Scotland, Madeleine died. Less than a year after the death of his first wife, James V married again to Marie of Guise, the eldest daughter of Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, head of the House of Guise. James V and Marie had two sons and one daughter, but their sons died in infancy.

After a disastrous defeat of the Scots army by the English army at the Battle of Solway Moss, James V fled to Falkland Palace in Fife, Scotland where he became ill and took to his bed. Overcome with grief and shame about the Battle of Solway Moss, James V lost the will to live. The news that Marie of Guise had given birth to a daughter did nothing to raise his spirits. 30-year-old James V, King of Scots died and was succeeded by his only surviving, legitimate child, six-day-old Mary, Queen of Scots.

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Alexander, Duke of Ross (1514 – 1515)

Alexander was born at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland, seven months after the death of his father King James IV at the Battle of Flodden. He died four months short of his second birthday at Stirling Castle in Stirling, Scotland.

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Paternal First Cousins of Queen Mary I of England: Child of Margaret Tudor and her second husband Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus

Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (1515 – 1578)

Margaret was the only child of Margaret Tudor and the second of her three husbands, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus.  Prior to her birth, Margaret’s parents left Scotland for England because of difficulties her father was having in Scotland, and so, Margaret was born in England. She was brought up in England with her cousin Mary, the future Queen Mary I. The two cousins remained close to each other their whole lives.  Margaret married a Scottish exile, Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox. The couple had several children but only two sons survived childhood. Their elder son Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was the second of the three husbands of his first cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. Their only child was James VI, King of Scots who succeeded Queen Elizabeth I of England as James I, King of England. Through her grandson King James I, Margaret is an ancestor of the British royal family and many other European royal families. When Margaret died, she was given a grand funeral by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I and was buried at Westminster Abbey where a beautiful tomb was erected, most likely by her grandson King James I, in the same chapel where James later erected a tomb for his mother Mary, Queen of Scots.

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Paternal First Cousins of Queen Mary I of England: Children of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

Henry Brandon (1516 – 1522), died in childhood

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Lady Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk (1517 – 1559)

Although Frances and her siblings were only the children of a duke, they had their mother’s royal blood. They were the grandchildren of King Henry VII of England and the nieces and nephews of King Henry VIII of England, and therefore had claims to the English throne. Frances married Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, later Duke of Suffolk. They had a son and a daughter who both died young and then had three daughters including Lady Jane Grey. As the niece of King Henry VIII, Frances was one of the highest-ranking women at court and often took on ceremonial duties. When Henry VIII died, his only son and Frances’ first cousin, succeeded him as King Edward VI.

Edward VI was sickly and probably had tuberculosis. His reign would only last six years. Edward VI’s death and the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would spell trouble for the English Reformation. Edward opposed his half-sister Mary’s succession not only for religious reasons but also because he believed her to be illegitimate and his belief in male succession. He also opposed the succession of his half-sister Elizabeth for reasons of illegitimacy and belief in male succession. King Edward VI composed a document “My devise for the succession” in which he passed over his half-sisters and Frances. Edward meant for the throne to go to the Frances’ daughters and their male heirs. After great suffering, fifteen-year-old King Edward VI died and Frances’ eldest daughter Lady Jane Grey was told that she was queen, and reluctantly accepted the fact. Jane’s reign lasted only nine days. Henry VIII’s elder daughter and Jane’s first cousin Mary gathered an army and marched on London. In the aftermath, among those executed were Frances’ husband, her daughter Jane, and Jane’s husband Lord Guildford Dudley.

Frances’ life was now in ruins. Because her husband was a traitor, all his possessions reverted to the Crown. Frances managed to plead with her cousin Queen Mary I to show mercy. Mary agreed that some of the Duke of Suffolk’s property could remain with the family. Frances married her Master of the Horse Adrian Stokes and they had two stillborn children and a daughter who died in infancy. Frances, aged 42, died during the reign of her first cousin Queen Elizabeth I who paid the cost of her funeral. She was buried at Westminster Abbey. Four years later, her widower Adrian Stokes had a beautiful tomb and effigy placed over her grave.

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Portrait of either Lady Eleanor or her daughter Lady Margaret

Lady Eleanor Brandon, Countess of Cumberland (1519 – 1547)

Eleanor married Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland. Eleanor’s uncle King Henry VIII attended her wedding. Eleanor and her husband had two sons who did not survive infancy and one daughter Lady Margaret Clifford. Eleanor received the honor of being chief mourner at the funeral of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife.

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Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln (circa 1523 – 1534)

Henry was created Earl of Lincoln by his uncle Henry VIII when he was two-years-old. He died when he was ten or eleven years old.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins of Queen Mary I of England: Child of Isabella of Aragon, Princess of Asturias, Queen of Portugal and King Manuel I of Portugal

Miguel da Paz, Prince of Portugal and Prince of Asturias (1498 – 1500)

Miguel’s mother, who was the heir presumptive to the thrones of Castile and Aragon, died giving birth to him. During his short life, he was heir to the thrones of Portugal, Castile, and Aragon and there were dreams of uniting the Iberian Peninsula into one kingdom. He died in the arms of his maternal grandmother Queen Isabella I of Castile, one month short of his second birthday. He was buried at the Capilla Real in Granada, where his maternal grandparents were also eventually buried.

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Maternal First Cousins of Queen Mary I of England: Children of Juana I, Queen of Castile, Queen of Aragon and Philip of Habsburg (Philip I of Castile)

Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal, Queen of France (1498 – 1558)

Eleanor was the third wife of King Manuel of Portugal who had been previously married to two of Eleanor’s maternal aunts. They had one son who died in infancy and one daughter. Three years after her marriage, Eleanor became a widow when her husband died of the plague. She made a second marriage to King François I of France but the couple had no children. Eleanor’s second marriage was not really a happy one as François preferred his mistresses. However, she helped raise François’ daughters from his first marriage. After François’s death, Eleanor lived in Brussels with her brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. After Charles’ abdication, Charles and Eleanor went to their homeland of Spain where they spent the rest of their lives.

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Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500 – 1558)

Charles was the heir of three of Europe’s leading dynasties: Valois of Burgundy, Habsburg of Austria, and Trastámara of Spain. He was the first to rule a unified Spain. As a Habsburg, he inherited Austria and other lands in central Europe and was also elected to succeed his grandfather Maximilian I as Holy Roman Emperor. Charles was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain (Castile and Aragon), and Prince of the Habsburg Netherlands as Duke of Burgundy. He ruled over a large territory in Europe including the Holy Roman Empire extending from Germany to northern Italy with direct rule over the Low Countries and Austria, and a unified Spain with its southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia.

Charles married his maternal first cousin Isabella of Portugal and they had seven children but only three survived childhood including Philip II who succeeded his father as King of Spain.

Physically exhausted after forty years of ruling, Charles abdicated and retired to the peace of the Monastery of Yuste in Extremadura, Spain, where he died three years later. Upon Charles’s abdications, the Holy Roman Empire was inherited by his younger brother Ferdinand, who had previously been given the Austrian lands. The Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy, was inherited by Philip, Charles’ son.

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Isabella of Austria, Queen of Denmark (1501 – 1526)

Isabella married King Christian II of Denmark. They had three sons and two daughters but only their daughters survived to adulthood. After a reign of ten years, Christian II was forced by disloyal nobles to abdicate and his uncle succeeded him as King Frederik I. Christian and his family were exiled to the Netherlands, ruled by his brother-in-law, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. When Isabella visited Brandenburg (now in Germany), she became interested in the teachings of Martin Luther. Although she never officially converted, Isabella received communion in Protestant rites and sympathized with Protestants. Isabella died at the age of 25 after an illness. Her fifteenth-generation great-granddaughter, Princess Isabella of Denmark, was named after her.

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Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (1503 – 1564)

Ferdinand was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King Hungary and King of Croatia. During his reign, the Ottoman Empire began its advance into Central Europe, and the Protestant Reformation began. He married Anna of Bohemia and Hungary and they had eleven daughters and four sons. Only two of their children did not survive childhood.

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Mary of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia (1505 – 1558)

At the age of ten, Mary married King Ludovik II of Hungary and Bohemia. By the time she was 21-years-old, Mary was a childless widow, her husband having died in battle. Mary then governed Hungary as regent in the name of the new king, her brother Ferdinand. After the death of her aunt Archduchess Margaret of Austria, who had been the Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, Mary assumed her position for twenty-four years. She retired as Governor of the Netherlands only three years before her death.

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Catarina of Austria, Queen of Portugal (1507 – 1578)

Catarina was born after the death of her father and was named after her maternal aunt Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. Catarina married her first cousin King João III of Portugal. They had six sons and three daughters but only one son and one daughter survived childhood. When her husband died, he was succeeded by their three-year-old grandson King Sebastian. Catarina served as her grandson’s regent for five years until Sebastian’s great-uncle (and successor) Henrique, Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church took over as regent.

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Maternal First Cousins of Queen Mary I of England: Children of Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal and King Manuel I of Portugal, widower of her sister Isabella

King João III of Portugal (1502 – 1557)

João is nicknamed “the Colonizer” because, during his reign, Portugal’s possessions were extended in Asia and in the New World. Also, during his reign, the Portuguese became the first Europeans to make contact with both China and Japan. João married his first cousin Catherine of Austria. They had six sons and three daughters but only one son and one daughter survived childhood. João’s only surviving son João Manuel predeceased him and so upon João’s death, he was succeeded by João Manuel’s only child, three-year-old Sebastian.

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Isabella of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress (1503 – 1539)

Isabella married her first cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and had four sons and two daughters including King Philip II of Spain. Isabella held the titles Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Spain and Duchess of Burgundy. She served as regent of Spain during the absences of her husband. Isabella’s health was quite fragile. She had suffered from malaria and had a total of seven pregnancies. During the first trimester of her seventh pregnancy, Isabella again became ill with a fever which resulted in a stillborn birth of a son. She died two weeks later at the age of 35.

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Beatriz of Portugal, Duchess of Savoy (1504 – 1538)

Beatriz married Charles III, Duke of Savoy. They had six sons and three daughters but only one son Emmanuel Philibert survived childhood and was his father’s successor. Beatriz died shortly after giving birth to her last child.

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Luis of Portugal, Duke of Beja (1506 – 1555)

Luis was Constable of Portugal, the head of the Military, the second most powerful person in the Kingdom of Portugal. He commanded the military in the absence of the king, maintained discipline in the army and was present at all military tribunals. Luis never married but he had at least one illegitimate son.

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Fernando of Portugal, Duke of Guarda (1507 – 1534)

Fernando married Guiomar Coutinho, 5th Countess of Marialva and 3rd Countess of Loulé, a rich heiress from a Portuguese noble family. Their two children both died in childhood. Fernando died at age 27 and his wife died one month later.

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Cardinal-Infante Afonso of Portugal, Archbishop of Lisbon (1509 – 1540)

Afonso was destined for a life in the Roman Catholic Church from an early age. When Afonso was three-years-old, his father King Manuel I wanted him to become a cardinal but Pope Julius II said it was not in accordance with canon law. He did become a Cardinal at the age of sixteen and ten years later was made Archbishop of Lisbon. Afonso’s fear of the Reformation caused him to order all printers and booksellers in Lisbon to present catalogs of the books they printed and sold to be scrutinized for heresy. This was a precursor to the Inquisition.

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Cardinal-King Henrique of Portugal (1512 – 1580)

Henrique was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and, for the last two years of his life, also King of Portugal. As a younger son, he was not expected to become king and so he began a life in the Roman Catholic Church. He rose quickly in the church ranks: Archbishop of Braga, Archbishop of Évora and Grand Inquisitor before becoming a Cardinal at the age of 33. Henrique served as regent for his great-nephew King Sebastian and when Sebastian died, Henrique succeeded him. His request to be released from his priestly vows so he could marry and provide for the succession was denied. Upon Henrique’s death, King Philip II of Spain was elected King of Portugal.

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Maria of Portugal (born and died 1513)

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Duarte of Portugal, Duke of Guimarães (1515 – 1540)

Duarte married his second cousin Isabella of Braganza and had two daughters and one son. Their daughter Catarina, who married João I, Duke of Braganza, was a claimant to the Portuguese throne during the 1580 succession crisis.  However, Philip II of Spain became King of Portugal at that time. Living under the rule of her Spanish cousin, Catarina worked hard to pave the way for her descendants to take the Portuguese throne, which finally happened in 1640 when her grandson became King João IV of Portugal, the first ruler of the House of Braganza. The House of Braganza ruled until the abolition of the monarchy in 1910.

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Antonio of Portugal (born and died 1516)

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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

    • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
    • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
    • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

First Cousins: Queen Elizabeth I of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533 – 1603)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

The last monarch of the House of Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I was the only surviving child of King Henry VIII of England and Anne Boleyn, the second of six wives. Elizabeth’s paternal grandparents were King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, the eldest child of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville. Her maternal grandparents were Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and Lady Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. After Elizabeth’s mother failed to give Henry VIII a male heir, he was determined to be rid of her, and her fall and execution were engineered by Henry’s chief minister Thomas Cromwell. Anne was found guilty of the fabricated charges of adultery, incest, and high treason, and was beheaded at the Tower of London. Elizabeth was not quite three-years-old.

25-year-old Elizabeth became Queen of England upon the death of her elder half-sister Queen Mary I, the only surviving child of Henry VIII’s first wife Catherine of Aragon. During Elizabeth’s reign, called the Elizabethan Age, the Church of England took its final form, a middle path between Catholicism and Reform Protestantism, William Shakespeare created numerous works, modern science had its birth based upon Francis Bacon‘s inductive method for scientific inquiry, Francis Drake sailed around the world, and the first colony in America was founded and named Virginia in honor of Elizabeth the Virgin Queen.

From the start of Elizabeth’s reign, it was expected that she would marry to provide for the succession. Although she received many offers, she never did marry and the reasons for this are not clear. She continued to consider suitors until she was about fifty. Since none of the children of Henry VIII had children, King James VI of Scotland, the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots, was the senior heir of King Henry VII through his eldest daughter Margaret Tudor. On her deathbed, Queen Elizabeth I finally gave her assent that James should succeed her.

Elizabeth shared her paternal first cousins with her half-siblings Queen Mary I of England and King Edward VI of England.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Thomas Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Howard

  • Mary Boleyn (circa 1499 – 1543), mistress of King Henry VIII of England, married (1) William Carey of Aldenham, had one son and one daughter who may be Carey’s or Henry VIII’s; (2) Sir William Stafford, possible one son and one daughter
  • Thomas Boleyn the younger (born and died circa 1500)
  • Henry Boleyn (born and died circa 1502 – 1503)
  • George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford (circa 1504 – 1536), married Jane Parker, no children; George was executed as one of his sister Anne Boleyn’s supposed lovers.  His wife Jane served as lady-in-waiting to Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife. Jane was executed with Catherine Howard for facilitating Catherine’s adultery.

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Margaret Tudor and James IV, King of Scotland

James, Duke of Rothesay (1507 – 1508)

James was born at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was styled Duke of Rothesay, the title held by the eldest son of the King of Scots who is also the heir apparent. James died at Stirling Castle in Stirling, Scotland six days after his first birthday.

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Arthur, Duke of Rothesay (1509 – 1510)

Arthur was born at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. As his elder brother had died, he was the eldest son of the King of Scots and the heir apparent, so he was styled Duke of Rothesay. He died when he was eight months old at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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James V, King of Scots (1512 – 1542)

Born at Linlithgow Palace in Linlithgowshire, Scotland, at his birth, James became Duke of Rothesay, the traditional title of the eldest son of the King of Scots as his two elder brothers James and Arthur had died in infancy. His 30-year-old father James IV was killed at the Battle of Flodden and 17-month-old James succeeded his father as James V, King of Scots.

James married 16-year-old Madeleine of Valois, daughter of King François I of France. Madeleine, who was sickly since her birth, had developed tuberculosis. Six months after the wedding and just two months after arriving in Scotland, Madeleine died. Less than a year after the death of his first wife, James V married again to Marie of Guise, the eldest daughter of Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, head of the House of Guise. James V and Marie had two sons and one daughter, but their sons died in infancy.

After a disastrous defeat of the Scots army by the English army at the Battle of Solway Moss, James V fled to Falkland Palace in Fife, Scotland where he became ill and took to his bed. Overcome with grief and shame about the Battle of Solway Moss, James V lost the will to live. The news that Marie of Guise had given birth to a daughter did nothing to raise his spirits. 30-year-old James V, King of Scots died and was succeeded by his only surviving, legitimate child, six-day-old Mary, Queen of Scots.

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Alexander, Duke of Ross (1514 – 1515)

Alexander was born at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland, seven months after the death of his father King James IV at the Battle of Flodden. He died four months short of his second birthday at Stirling Castle in Stirling, Scotland.

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Paternal First Cousins: Child of Margaret Tudor and her second husband Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus

Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (1515 – 1578)

Margaret was the only child of Margaret Tudor and the second of her three husbands, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus.  Prior to her birth, Margaret’s parents left Scotland for England because of difficulties her father was having in Scotland, and so, Margaret was born in England. She was brought up in England with her cousin Mary, the future Queen Mary I. The two cousins remained close to each other their whole lives.  Margaret married a Scottish exile, Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox. The couple had several children but only two sons survived childhood. Their elder son Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was the second of the three husbands of his first cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. Their only child was James VI, King of Scots who succeeded Queen Elizabeth I of England as James I, King of England. Through her grandson King James I, Margaret is an ancestor of the British royal family and many other European royal families. When Margaret died, she was given a grand funeral by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I and was buried at Westminster Abbey where a beautiful tomb was erected, most likely by her grandson King James I, in the same chapel where James later erected a tomb for his mother Mary, Queen of Scots.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

Henry Brandon (1516 – 1522), died in childhood

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Lady Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk (1517 – 1559)

Although Frances and her siblings were only the children of a duke, they had their mother’s royal blood. They were the grandchildren of King Henry VII of England and the nieces and nephews of King Henry VIII of England, and therefore had claims to the English throne. Frances married Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, later Duke of Suffolk. They had a son and a daughter who both died young and then had three daughters including Lady Jane Grey. As the niece of King Henry VIII, Frances was one of the highest-ranking women at court and often took on ceremonial duties. When Henry VIII died, his only son and Frances’ first cousin, succeeded him as King Edward VI.

Edward VI was sickly and probably had tuberculosis. His reign would only last six years. Edward VI’s death and the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would spell trouble for the English Reformation. Edward opposed his half-sister Mary’s succession not only for religious reasons but also because he believed her to be illegitimate and his belief in male succession. He also opposed the succession of his half-sister Elizabeth for reasons of illegitimacy and belief in male succession. King Edward VI composed a document “My devise for the succession” in which he passed over his half-sisters and Frances. Edward meant for the throne to go to the Frances’ daughters and their male heirs. After great suffering, fifteen-year-old King Edward VI died and Frances’ eldest daughter Lady Jane Grey was told that she was queen, and reluctantly accepted the fact. Jane’s reign lasted only nine days. Henry VIII’s elder daughter and Jane’s first cousin Mary gathered an army and marched on London. In the aftermath, among those executed were Frances’ husband, her daughter Jane, and Jane’s husband Lord Guildford Dudley.

Frances’ life was now in ruins. Because her husband was a traitor, all his possessions reverted to the Crown. Frances managed to plead with her cousin Queen Mary I to show mercy. Mary agreed that some of the Duke of Suffolk’s property could remain with the family. Frances married her Master of the Horse Adrian Stokes and they had two stillborn children and a daughter who died in infancy. Frances, aged 42, died during the reign of her first cousin Queen Elizabeth I who paid the cost of her funeral. She was buried at Westminster Abbey. Four years later, her widower Adrian Stokes had a beautiful tomb and effigy placed over her grave.

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Portrait of either Lady Eleanor or her daughter Lady Margaret

Lady Eleanor Brandon, Countess of Cumberland (1519 – 1547)

Eleanor married Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland. Eleanor’s uncle King Henry VIII attended her wedding. Eleanor and her husband had two sons who did not survive infancy and one daughter Lady Margaret Clifford. Eleanor received the honor of being chief mourner at the funeral of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife.

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Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln (circa 1523 – 1534)

Henry was created Earl of Lincoln by his uncle Henry VIII when he was two-years-old. He died when he was ten or eleven years old.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Mary Boleyn and her first husband William Carey

Catherine Carey, Lady Knollys (1524 – 1569)

Catherine’s mother Mary Boleyn had once been the mistress of King Henry VIII. Some historians believe that Catherine was an illegitimate child of Henry VIII. It is thought that Catherine witnessed the execution of her aunt Anne Bolyen and even stayed with her the night before her execution. She served as Maid of Honor to Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard, the fourth and fifth wives of Henry VIII, and was Chief Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I, her first cousin.

Catherine married Sir Francis Knollys, a courtier in the service of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I, and Treasurer of the Household for Elizabeth I. The couple had 15 children including Lettice Knollys, who married three times. Lettice’s first marriage was to Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and they were the parents of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, a favorite of Elizabeth I in her old age. He led an unsuccessful coup d’état against the government and was executed for treason. Lettice’s second marriage was to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for Elizabeth’s hand for many years.

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Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (1526 – 1596)

Although some historians think Henry VIII could have been Henry’s father, it is probable that the affair between Henry VIII and Mary Boleyn ended before Henry was conceived. Henry married Anne Morgan, daughter of Sir Thomas Morgan of Arkestone and had eight sons and eight daughters. Henry was a Member of Parliament. He was created Baron Hunsdon and made a Knight of the Garter by his first cousin Elizabeth I. Elizabeth also appointed Henry Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners, making him her personal bodyguard. For the last eleven years of his life, Henry was the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer of the royal household. Henry was the founder and the patron of Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the company of actors for which William Shakespeare wrote during most of his career.

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Works Cited

    • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
    • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
    • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

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.

First Cousins: James I, King of England/James VI, King of Scots

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

James I, King of England/James VI, King of Scots (1566 – 1625)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

James was born in Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband and first cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, both grandchildren of Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England and sister of King Henry VIII of England. James’ paternal grandparents were Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and Lady Margaret Douglas, the only child of Margaret Tudor and her second husband Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. James’ maternal grandparents were James V, King of Scots, son of Margaret Tudor and her first husband James IV, King of Scots, and his second wife Marie of Guise, the eldest daughter Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, head of the House of Guise, and his wife Antoinette de Bourbon.

Before James’ first birthday, his father was murdered by an explosion and his mother was forced to abdicate in James’ favor. Mary was forced to flee to England, where she was subsequently imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I of England. She remained imprisoned for 21 years, until she was implicated in a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and beheaded. James married Anne of Denmark, the eldest daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark and Sophia of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. James and Anne had seven children, but only three survived childhood including King Charles I and Elizabeth Stuart who was the grandmother of the first Hanover king, King George I.

Since none of the children of King Henry VIII of England had children, James was the senior heir of King Henry VII of England through his eldest daughter Margaret Tudor. On her deathbed, Queen Elizabeth I gave her assent that James should succeed her. Upon the death of Elizabeth I, James was King James VI of Scotland and King James I of England. During James’ reign, the Golden Age of Elizabethan literature and drama continued, with writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Sir Francis Bacon and English colonization started in North American with the founding of Jamestown, Virginia. Several years after he became King of England, James ordered his beheaded mother’s remains exhumed from Peterborough Cathedral and reburied in Westminster Abbey. He built a beautiful marble tomb with an effigy in a chapel directly opposite the chapel where the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I is located.

James I had no maternal first cousins because all his maternal uncles died young and he had no maternal aunts.  He had only one first cousin, the daughter of his father’s brother and she has an interesting story (below).

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Paternal Uncle of King James I: Children of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and Lady Margaret Douglas

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Maternal Uncles of King James I: Children of James V, King of Scots and his second wife Marie of Guise

  • James, Duke of Rothesay (1540 – 1541), died in infancy
  • Arthur, Duke of Albany (born and died April 1541), died in infancy

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Maternal Half Uncles of King James I: Children of Marie of Guise and her first husband Louis II d’Orléans, Duke of Longueville

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Paternal First Cousin: Child of Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox and Elizabeth Cavendish

Lady Arbella Stuart (1575 – 1615)

Lady Arbella Stuart was the only child of Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox and Elizabeth Cavendish. Her paternal grandparents were Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and Lady Margaret Douglas, the only child of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England and widow of King James IV of Scotland. Arbella’s maternal grandparents were Elizabeth Hardwick, known as Bess of Hardwick, and Sir William Cavendish, the second of Bess’ four husbands. Arbella’s paternal uncle was Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the second of the three husbands of Mary, Queen of Scots. Like her husband, Mary, Queen of Scots was also a grandchild of Margaret Tudor.

Arbella was born in either Nottinghamshire or Hackney, both in England. By the time of her birth, her eight-year-old first cousin James VI, King of Scots had been King of Scots for seven years. In England, Queen Elizabeth I sat upon the throne. Both Arbella and James VI were Elizabeth I’s first cousins twice removed. Since none of the children of King Henry VIII of England had children, the line of Henry VII’s eldest daughter Margaret Tudor was the senior line and Arbella and James VI were both considered as possible heirs to the English throne. Some considered that Arbella had the stronger claim because she had been born in England. On her deathbed, Queen Elizabeth I gave her assent that James should succeed her.

Because Arbella was high up in the line of succession, she had a number of marriage prospects but they all came to naught.  In 1610, King James I heard rumors that Arbella was planning to marry William Seymour, then known as Lord Beauchamp, later 2nd Duke of Somerset. At that time, the rules of primogeniture placed Arbella fourth in the line of succession after James’ three surviving children and placed William Seymour sixth in the line of succession.

William was a descendant of Mary Tudor, King Henry VII’s younger surviving daughter. (Henry VII → Mary Tudor → Frances Brandon → Lady Catherine Grey → Edward Seymour → William Seymour). King James I saw a marriage between two potential Tudor pretenders to the throne as a threat to the fledgling English Stuart dynasty. Nevertheless, Arbella and William married in secret, without the permission of the king. When King James found out about the marriage, he ordered that Arbella be held in the custody of William James, Bishop of Durham and William to be imprisoned in the Tower of London for life.

In June 1611, William escaped from the Tower. He planned to meet Arbella, who also had escaped her captivity, and flee to Flanders, now in Belgium. However, bad weather and other circumstances prevented their meeting. Arbella was recaptured and taken to the Tower of London. William safely reached Flanders and was never reunited with Arbella.

Arabella was kept in confinement in the Tower but was never charged with a crime. Her health deteriorated and she hoped, to no avail, that her cousin James would release her. Eventually, Arbella gave up hope that she would be released. Refusing both medical attention and food, she died at the age of 39.

King James I refused to give his cousin Arbella a funeral and she was buried without ceremony in the vault of her aunt by marriage and first cousin once removed Mary, Queen of Scots in Westminster Abbey. In the 19th century, during a search for the tomb of King James I, Arbella’s coffin was found in the vault of Mary, Queen of Scots directly on top of Mary’s coffin.

William Seymour

As for William Seymour, he eventually returned to England, was elected a Member of Parliament and became a member of the House of Lords when he succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Hereford. He was a Royalist commander during the English Civil War. When the monarchy was restored, his service to the Royalist cause was recognized by King Charles II. All William’s former positions were restored including his great-grandfather’s Dukedom of Somerset, which had been forfeited in 1552 when Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector of England during the minority of his nephew King Edward VI, had been executed. William became the 2nd Duke of Somerset.

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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

    • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
    • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
    • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

First Cousins: Charles I, King of England, King of Scots

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Charles I, King of England, King of Scots (1600 – 1649)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Charles I was born at Dunfermline Palace in Fife, Scotland while his father was only King of Scots. He was the second son and fourth of the seven children of James VI, King of Scots (later also King James I of England) and Anne of Denmark. Charles’ paternal grandparents were Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who were both grandchildren of Margaret Tudor, elder sister of King Henry VIII of England. His maternal grandparents were King Frederik II of Denmark and Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. When Queen Elizabeth I of England died, Charles’ father also became King James I of England. Since none of the children of King Henry VIII of England had children, James was the senior heir of King Henry VII of England through his eldest daughter Margaret Tudor. The family then moved to England.

Charles was not expected to be king as he had an elder brother Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales who was named after his grandfathers. When 18-year-old Henry died from typhoid fever, Charles became heir to the thrones of England and Scotland. He married Henrietta Maria, the youngest child of King Henri IV of France and his second wife, Marie de’ Medici. They had nine children including King Charles II and King James II.

Charles had issues with Parliament, clashing with its members over financial, political and religious issues. The situation got worse when Charles committed the unprecedented act of entering the House of Commons with an armed guard and demanding the arrest of five Members of Parliament. There was a great public outcry, Charles fled London and civil war appeared inevitable. The English Civil War led to Charles being tried and convicted for treason and other high crimes. He was beheaded at the Palace of Whitehall in London where a scaffold had been built outside the Banqueting House.

King Charles I shared his first cousins with his siblings Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales; Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine of the Rhine; Margaret Stuart; Robert, Duke of Kintyre; Mary Stuart; and Sophia Stuart.  Charles I had no paternal aunts and uncles because his father King James I was an only child. Therefore, Charles I had no paternal first cousins.

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Frederik II of Denmark and Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Elisabeth of Denmark, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Heinrich Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Friedrich Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1591 – 1634)

Because of his alcoholism, Friedrich Ulrich was temporarily deposed by his mother with the help of her brother King Christian IV of Denmark. Eventually, he was allowed to regain control but his ineffective rule caused the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg to lose much territory during the Thirty Years’ War. Friedrich Ulrich married Anna Sophia of Brandenburg but their marriage was unhappy and they had no children.

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Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Countess of Nassau-Dietz (1592 – 1642)

Sophia Hedwig married Ernst Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz and had four sons and two daughters but only two sons survived childhood. After the death of her husband, Sophia Hedwig was instrumental in limiting the damage to the County of Nassau-Dietz during the Thirty Years’ War.

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Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg (1593 – 1650)

When Elisabeth was 19-years-old, she married August, Duke of Saxony. The couple had no children and August died suddenly after three years of marriage. She made a second marriage to Johann Philip, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and had one daughter. Through their daughter Elisabeth Sophie who married Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha, Elisabeth and Johann Philip are the ancestors of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Pomerania (1595 – 1650)

Hedwig married Ulrich, Duke of Pomerania but the marriage was childless. Ulrich died three years after the marriage. Hedwig never remarried. She wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life and devoted herself to charity.

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Dorothea of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Margravine of Brandenburg (1596 – 1643)

Dorothea was the first of the three wives of Christian Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg. The couple had one daughter. During their marriage, Dorothea’s husband converted to Roman Catholicism and he tried to influence their daughter Sophie Elisabeth to also convert. Dorothea sent her daughter to live with her sister Hedwig to prevent the conversion.

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Heinrich Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1597 – 1606), died in childhood

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Christian the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1599 – 1626)

Christian was titular Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt, and a German Protestant military leader during the early years of the Thirty Years’ War. He never married and died on battle wounds at the age of 26.

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Rudolf’s tomb; Credit – Von Mogadir – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29388237

Rudolf of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1602 – 1616)

Rudolf died two days before his 14th birthday while studying at the University of Tübingen, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and was buried in the Tübingen Collegiate Church.

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Heinrich Karl of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1609 – 1615), died in childhood

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Anna Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Countess of Nassau-Dillenburg (1612 – 1673)

Anna married Georg Ludwig, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, who was the Hereditary Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg. He never became Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg because he predeceased his father. Anna and Georg Ludwig had five daughters and one son.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway and his first wife Anne Catherine of Brandenburg

Frederik of Denmark (born and died 1599), died in infancy

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Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark (1603 – 1647)

Christian was appointed by the Royal Council as heir to the throne of Denmark. He was a great collector of antiques and works of art. He married Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony, daughter of the Johann Georg I, Elector of Saxony, but the couple had no children. As a result of his unhealthy lifestyle, Christian predeceased his father.

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Sophie of Denmark (born and died 1605), died in infancy

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Elisabeth of Denmark (1606 – 1608), died in childhood

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Frederik III, King of Denmark and Norway (1609 – 1670)

During his childhood and early adulthood, Frederik had no prospect of becoming. However, when he was 38-years-old, his elder brother Christian died and Frederik was elected heir by the Royal Council. During Frederik’s reign, an absolute monarchy was established which lasted almost 150 years in Norway and over 200 years in Denmark. Frederik married Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg and had three sons and five daughters including George who married Queen Anne of Great Britain.

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Ulrik of Denmark, Prince-Bishop of Schwerin (1611 – 1633)

When Ulrik was 13-years-old, he was appointed administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin. During the Thirty Years’ War, fought between various Protestant and Catholic states in the Holy Roman Empire, Ulrik served in the army of the Electorate of Saxony. After a dinner with imperial officers during a truce, Ulrik was fatally wounded by an unexpected shot fired an imperial knight and died the next evening.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway and his morganatic second wife Kirsten Munk

Christian IV’s morganatic wife and their children were given the title Count or Countess of Schleswig-Holstein.

Countess Anna Catharine of Schleswig-Holstein (1618 – 1633)

Anna Catharine married Frands Rantzau, who had become a member of the Danish Council of State and a state governor in Copenhagen at the age of only 22. Frands drowned in the moat at Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen after a party with Anna Catharine’s father. The following year, 15-year-old Anna Catharine died.

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Countess Sophie Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein (1619 – 1657)

Sophie Elisabeth married Christian von Pentz, Governor of Glückstadt and a diplomat in the service of King Christian IV.

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Countess Leonora Christina of Schleswig-Holstein (1621 – 1698)

Leonora Christina married Corfitz Ulfeldt, a Danish nobleman and statesman who is considered the worst traitor in Danish history. The couple had seven sons and three daughters and through their youngest child Austrian Field Marshal Count Leo Ulfeldt, they are the ancestors of many noble and royal families. Their descendants include Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria, King Michael of Romania, Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein, Emperor Karl I of Austria-Hungary, King Peter II of Yugoslavia, King Manuel II of Portugal, and Marie Christine, Princess Michael of Kent.

Leonora Christina’s husband was rumored to have been associated with a plot to poison her half-brother King Frederik III and his family. They both left Denmark and for several years and traveled around Europe avoiding capture. Ulfeldt offered Elector Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg to incite a revolt in Denmark in order to put him on the Danish throne. The Elector himself communicated this treason to King Frederik III and Ulfeldt was tried for treason in absentia and condemned to be beheaded and quartered. Instead of submitting himself to execution, Ulfeldt apparently drowned himself in the Rhine River near Basel, Switzerland.

Leonora Christina was eventually captured and was imprisoned for 22 years in the Blue Tower of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. She was not released until the death of Queen Dowager Sophie Amalie, the widow of King Frederik III, Leonora Christina’s half-brother. While imprisoned, Leonora Christina wrote her memoirs Jammers Minde (A Memory of Lament), considered to be Denmark’s most important 17th-century prose work.

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Count Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1622 – 1656)

Valdemar Christian was sent to Russia to marry Irina Mikhailovna, the eldest daughter of Michael, Tsar of All Russia. After arriving in Russia, Valdemar refused to convert to the Russian Orthodox religion. Valdemar was imprisoned for a year and then was finally allowed to leave Russia. He had issues with his half-brother King Frederik III because Valdemar wanted to be elected king instead of Frederik. Because of the dispute, Valdemar decided to leave Denmark. He served in the Swedish Army and was killed in battle in Poland

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Countess Elisabeth Auguste of Schleswig-Holstein (1623 – 1677)

Elisabeth Auguste married Hans Hansen Lindenov, a member of the Council of State and had one daughter. She was considered vulgar and was always in debt because of her gambling habit. Even after being granted a royal pension, her problems with money continued.

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Count Friedrich Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1625 – 1627), died in early childhood

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Countess Christiane of Schleswig-Holstein (1626 – 1670)

Christiane was the twin sister of Hedwig. At the age of ten, she was engaged to marry Hannibal Sehested, Governor-General of Norway. The marriage took place when Christiane was 16-years-old and thereafter, she left for Norway with her husband where they lived in Akershus Fortress in Oslo. Christiane and Hannibal had one daughter. Hannibal was accused of embezzlement which resulted in him surrendering all his private property in Norway to the crown. Christiane lost her title of Countess and all her private property. Eventually, they were reconciled with the Danish court and Christiane’s title and property were returned.

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Countess Hedwig of Schleswig-Holstein (1626 – 1678)

Hedwig was the twin sister of Christiane. She married Ebbe Ulfeldt, a cousin of the traitor Corfitz Ulfeldt mentioned above. Ebbe was an officer in the Danish Navy and later a landscape painter. Hedwig and Ebbe had one daughter. Their marriage was unhappy and eventually, Hedwig left her husband.

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Countess Maria Katharina of Schleswig-Holstein (born and died 1628), died in infancy

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Augusta of Denmark and Duke Johann Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp

Friedrich III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (1597 – 1659)

Friedrich married Marie Elisabeth of Saxony and had eight daughters and eight sons. Friedrich and his wife are great-great-grandparents of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia.

Friedrich had ambitious plans concerning the development of sea trade which were, for the most part, unsuccessful. His alliance with Sweden during the Thirty Years’ War which included marrying his daughter Hedwig Eleonora to King Carl X of Sweden, ultimately weakened the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp because Sweden failed at establishing itself as a Great Power.

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Elisabeth Sofie of Holstein-Gottorp (1599 – 1627)

Elisabeth Sofie was the first wife of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg. They had three daughters and three sons. Elisabeth Sofie died from childbirth complications shortly after the birth of her last child who lived for only five days.

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Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp (1600 – 1631)

Adolf fought in the Thirty Years’ War for the Catholic Holy Roman Empire against the forces of his uncle King Christian IV and other Protestant rulers. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Breitenfeld and died two days later.

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Dorothea Augusta of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (1602 – 1682)

Dorothea Augusta married Joachim Ernest, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön. They had five sons and three daughters.

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Hedwig of Holstein-Gottorp (1603 – 1657)

Hedwig married Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach and had four sons and three daughters.

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Anna of Holstein-Gottorp (1605 – 1623)

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Johann of Holstein-Gottorp (1606 – 1655)

Johann was a Lutheran Administrator of Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck. He married Julia Felicitas of Württemberg-Weiltingen and had three sons and one daughter. The marriage was very unhappy and the couple eventually divorced.

Wikipedia: Johann of Holstein-Gottorp

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Christian of Holstein-Gottorp (born and 1609), died in infancy

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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

    • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
    • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
    • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

First Cousins: Charles II, King of England, King of Scots and James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Charles II, King of England, King of Scots (1630 – 1685)

James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots (1633 – 1701)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Charles II and James II were the two eldest surviving sons of Charles I, King of England and King of Scots and Henrietta Maria of France. Their paternal grandparents were James I, King of Scots/James VI, King of Scots (the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots and her first cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley) and Anne of Denmark (daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark and Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow). Their maternal grandparents were King Henri IV of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici.

After their father was executed during the English Civil War, Charles and James lived in France, where their mother already lived in exile with their youngest sister Henriette and where their first cousin King Louis XIV was on the French throne. They also spent time in The Hague in the Dutch Republic (now the Netherlands) their sister Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange lived. After the death of Oliver Cromwell, his son Richard Cromwell ruled only for six months and there was a real possibility for the restoration of the monarchy after ten years. Parliament formally invited Charles, as King Charles II, to be the English monarch in what has become known as the Restoration.

Charles II married Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King João IV of Portugal but their marriage remained childless. Charles had at least fourteen illegitimate children whom he ennobled and officially recognized and through these children, he is the ancestor of many British aristocrats and of several women who married into the British Royal Family – Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester; Diana, Princess of Wales; Sarah, Duchess of York; and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Charles II was succeeded by his younger brother James who had converted to Catholicism and was unpopular. James had married twice and both his wives gave birth to quite a number of children, most who died in infancy or early childhood. From James’ first marriage to Anne Hyde, only the future Queen Mary II and Queen Anne survived. James’ second wife Maria Beatrice of Modena was childless.  She had ten pregnancies and gave birth to five live children, all of whom died young. England might very well have tolerated King James II knowing that his heirs were the Protestant daughters of his first wife Anne Hyde, Mary and Anne. However, on June 10, 1688, Maria Beatrice gave birth to a son James Francis Edward. Immediately, false rumors swirled that the infant had been smuggled into the queen’s chambers in a warming pan.

Eventually, King James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution and lived out the rest of his life in France. Parliament offered the throne to James’ elder daughter Mary and her first cousin and husband William III, Prince of Orange. William was the only child of James II’s sister Mary, Princess Royal and was third in the line of succession to the throne after Mary and her sister Anne. William and Mary reigned jointly as Queen Mary II and King William III.

James, his wife, and his son settled at the Palace of St. Germain-en-Laye near Paris, France where a court in exile was established. After James II lost his throne, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland. James was determined to regain the throne and landed in Ireland with a French force but he was defeated by his nephew William at the Battle of the Boyne and was forced to withdraw once again to France. James spent the rest of his life in France, planning invasions that never happened. While in exile, Maria Beatrice gave birth to a daughter Louisa Maria Teresa.

Charles II and James II shared their first cousins with their siblings: Mary, Princess Royal; Princess Elizabeth; Princess Anne; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Princess Henrietta.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of James I, King of England/James VI, King of Scots and Anne of Denmark

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Henri IV of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine of the Rhine and Friedrich V, Elector Palatine of the Rhine

Heinrich Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of the Palatinate (1614 – 1629)

When Heinrich Friedrich was 15-years-old, he was traveling with his father aboard a ship from The Hague to Amsterdam to see the treasures of the Silver Fleet. The Silver Fleet was an annual convoy of ships that brought valuables from the Spanish colonies in the Americas to Spain. In 1628, Piet Hein, a Dutch lieutenant admiral and West Indian Company commander, hijacked the Silver Fleet and brought the treasures to Amsterdam. During the voyage from The Hague to Amsterdam, there was a strong storm, the ship sank and four people died including Heinrich Friedrich.

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Karl I Ludwig, Elector of the Palatinate of the Rhine (1617 – 1680)

Karl Ludwig’s father Friedrich V, Elector of the Palatinate had been elected King of Bohemia but the crown of Bohemia had been in Habsburg hands for a long time and the Habsburg heir, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor refused to accept Friedrich as King of Bohemia. Friedrich not only lost the Kingdom of Bohemia but also the Electorate of the Palatinate. After Friedrich’s early death at the age of 36, Karl Ludwig’s mother Elizabeth decided to fight for the rights of her eldest son Karl Ludwig. She raised a small army on his behalf, and finally, the Palatinate was restored to him. Karl Ludwig married three times. With his first wife was Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel, he had two sons and one daughter including his successor Karl II and Elisabeth Charlotte nicknamed Lieselotte who was the second wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger brother of King Louis XIV of France. Karl Ludwig then made two morganatic marriages: with Marie Luise von Degenfeld, he had eight sons and five daughters and with Elisabeth Hollander von Bernau, he had one son.

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Elisabeth of the Palatinate, Princess-Abbess of Herford Abbey (1618 – 1680)

Elisabeth was extremely well-educated and throughout her life, she corresponded with many intellectuals including French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes. She never married and entered the Protestant Hereford Abbey in the Duchy of Saxony. She eventually became the Abbess.

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Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland (1619 – 1682)

Rupert had a long military career and fought in the Thirty Years War and in the English Civil War in support of first, his uncle King Charles I and then his first cousin King Charles II. After the restoration of the English monarchy, served as private secretary to King Charles II and took care of naval affairs. He held various naval commands, was appointed Admiral and eventually became, Lord High Admiral, the head of the Royal Navy. Rupert never married but he did have an illegitimate son and daughter. He died in London and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

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Prince Maurice of the Palatinate (1620 – 1652)

Maurice also served with his brother Rupert in support of their uncle King Charles I and then their first cousin King Charles II. He was created Vice Admiral of the Fleet. While sailing to the Virgin Islands in the West Indies, his fleet was caught in a hurricane and Maurice went down with his ship.

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Princess Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate (1622 – 1709)

Louise Hollandine was a very talented portrait painter. During the English Civil War, she went to France to be with her aunt Henrietta Maria, the widow of her uncle, the beheaded King Charles I. There Louise Hollandine converted to Roman Catholicism, to the horror of her mother. She became a nun at the Cistercian Maubuisson Abbey, and later, became the abbess. Louise Hollandine suffered a stroke and was paralyzed for the last few years of her life.

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Prince Louis of the Palatinate  (born and died 1624)

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Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern (1625 – 1663)

Due to their differences in religion, Edward married Anna Gonzaga, a French noblewoman from an Italian background, in secret. Not wanting to cause any issues, Edward converted to Roman Catholicism despite his mother’s threats to disown any of her children who converted. The couple had three daughters lived in Paris and were supported by King Louis XIV of France. Edward eventually reconciled with his mother.

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Princess Henriette Marie of the Palatinate, Countess of Mongatsch (1626 – 1651)

Henriette Marie married Sigismund Rákóczi, Count of Mongatsch, son of George I Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania. A few months after the marriage, Henriette died suddenly at the age of 25 and her husband died a few months later.

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Prince Philip Friedrich of the Palatinate (1627 – 1650)

Philip Friedrich was educated at the French court and then went to live with his mother at The Hague. During a duel or a fight, Philip killed Lieutenant Colonel Jacques de l’Epinay, a favorite of his mother, and then fled, refusing to submit to the Dutch authorities. His mother never spoke to him again and refused to recognize him as her son. Philip entered the military service of the Duke of Lorraine and was killed at the Battle of Rethel during the Fronde.

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Princess Charlotte of the Palatinate (1628 – 1631), died in childhood

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Sophia of the Palatinate, Electress of Hanover (1630–1714)

If the Stuarts had been able to provide a Protestant heir to the British throne, Sophia, Electress of Hanover would not have become possibly the most famous footnote in British royal history.  Sophia married Ernst August, Elector of Hanover had six sons and one daughter including King George I of Great Britain.  Sophia’s birth family was the most junior of the Stuart lines but was the most Protestant. In 1701, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement, giving the succession to the British throne to Sophia and her non-Catholic heirs. This act ensured the Protestant succession and bypassed many Catholics who had a better hereditary claim to the throne. Sophia narrowly missed becoming queen, having died two months before Queen Anne. Sophia’s son George, Elector of Hanover became King George I.

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Gustavus with his eldest sister Elizabeth

Prince Gustavus Adolphus of the Palatinate (1632 – 1641)

Gustavus died of epilepsy at the age of eight.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of King Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria

King Louis XIV of France (1638 – 1715)

Louis became King of France at age four and is the longest-reigning French monarch, reigning for 72 years. His first wife was his first cousin twice over, Maria Theresa of Spain. They had six children but only one survived childhood. He had several mistresses and a number of illegitimate children. After the death of Maria Theresa, Louis made a morganatic marriage with Françoise d’Aubigné, Madame Scarron (later created Marquise de Maintenon). Because the marriage was morganatic, she was never publicly acknowledged as his wife or as queen.

Louis was an ardent believer in the divine right of kings, assumed full control of the monarchy, and went on to become one of France’s most powerful sovereigns, and establishing France as one of the leading powers of Europe. Perhaps Louis’ best-known building project was the Palace of Versailles. Having inherited the hunting lodge built there by his father, Louis oversaw several building campaigns which resulted in the magnificent palace which still stands today. Louis XIV survived his surviving son and his son’s eldest son. He was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson who reigned as King Louis XV.

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Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (1640 – 1701)

Philippe married his first cousin Henrietta of England, daughter of the beheaded King Charles I and Philippe’s aunt Henrietta Maria of France. Philippe had homosexual affairs but apparently, he was intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children. Philippe and Henrietta had two daughters and one son. Henrietta died at the age of 26 amid rumors that she had been poisoned. As Philippe’s only son had died, Louis XIV wanted his brother to marry again to provide a male heir to continue the Orléans line.

Philippe married another first cousin,  the Protestant Princess Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. She was the only daughter of Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel. Liselotte’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England and granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots. Liselotte converted to Roman Catholicism and produced two sons and one daughter. Through their daughter, Philippe and Liselotte were the grandparents of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. Philippe’s careful investment and management of his various estates made him a wealthy man and his wealth was greatly increased when he inherited the fortune of his extremely wealthy paternal first cousin Anne Marie Louise of Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier. Philippe is acknowledged as being not only the biological founder of the House of Orléans but as its financial founder

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Elisabeth of France, Queen of Spain and King Felipe IV of Spain

Maria Margarita of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1621)

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Margarita Maria Caterina of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1623)

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Maria Eugenia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1625 – 1627)

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Isabella Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1627)

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Baltasar Carlos of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1629 – 1646)

The only son of King Felipe IV of France and his first wife Elisabeth of France, Baltasar was his father’s heir apparent until his death from smallpox at age 16. He was buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in Spain.

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Francisco Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (born and died 1634)

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Infanta Maria Ana “Mariana” Antonia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1636)

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Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, Queen of France (1638–1683)

The youngest of eight children, Maria Theresa was the only one of her siblings to reach adulthood. As Spain allowed for females to ascend the throne, Maria Theresa was heiress-presumptive to the Spanish throne between the death of her elder brother Balthasar Charles and the birth of her younger half-brother Felipe Próspero. She was again heiress-presumptive following Felipe Próspero’s death and the birth of the future King Carlos II. As part of the Treaty of the Pyrenees of which ended the Franco-Spanish War, Maria Theresa was betrothed to King Louis XIV of France. Maria Theresa and Louis were first cousins twice over – his father and her mother were siblings, and his mother and her father were siblings.) She was forced to renounce any rights to the Spanish throne and was to receive a large financial settlement in exchange. The couple They had three sons and three daughters. Only their eldest son reached adulthood but he predeceased his father.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Christine Marie of France, Duchess of Savoy and Vittorio Amadeo I, Duke of Savoy

Prince Luigi Amadeo of Savoy (1622 – 1628), died in childhood

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Princess Luisa Cristina of Savoy (1629 – 1692)

Due to a regency dispute when two of her brothers succeeded to the Dukedom of Savoy, 13-year-old Luisa Cristina married her 49-year-old paternal uncle Prince Maurice of Savoy as a reconciliation measure. Maurice had been a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church but received papal permission to leave the priesthood to marry his niece. Luisa Christina and Maurice had no children.

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Francesco Giacinto, Duke of Savoy (1632 – 1638)

Francesco Giacinto became Duke of Savoy when he was five-years-old, following the death of his father. His mother acted as regent. A year later, he died from a fever.

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Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy (1634 – 1675)

Four-year-old Carlo Emanuele succeeded his six-year-old brother Francesco Giacinto as Duke of Savoy. His mother served as regent and even after Carlo Emanuele reached adulthood, he allowed his mother to continue ruling. He assumed power only after the death of his mother. He married his first cousin Françoise Madeleine d’Orléans, daughter of his maternal uncle Gaston, Duke of Orléans. They had no children and Françoise Madeleine died the year after their marriage. Carlo Emanuele’s second wife was another first cousin, Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours. The couple had one son who succeeded his father as Vittorio Amadeo II, Duke of Savoy.

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Princess Margherita Violante of Savoy, Duchess of Parma (1635 – 1663)

Once considered a bride for her first cousin King Louis XIV of France, Margherita Violante married Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma. The couple had a stillborn daughter and a son who died the day of his birth as did Margherita Violante.

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Princess Enrichetta Adelaide of Savoy, Electress of Bavaria (1636 – 1676)

Enrichetta Adelaide was the twin of Caterina Beatrice who died in infancy. She married Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and had four daughters and three sons. Through her eldest daughter, Enrichetta  Adelaide is an ancestor of the Spanish royal family. Enrichetta Adelaide and her husband built the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, which became the summer palace of the Bavarian royals. They also built the Theatine Church of St. Cajetan in Munich in thanksgiving for the birth of their long-awaited heir Prince Maximilan II Emanuel.

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Princess Caterina Beatrice of Savoy (1636 – 1637), died in infancy

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Maternal First Cousins: Child of Gaston of France, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier

Anne Marie Louise of Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, La Grande Mademoiselle (1627 – 1693)

Anne Marie Louise’s mother was the immensely wealthy Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier in her own right. Four days after Anne Marie Louise’s birth, her mother died due to childbirth complications and her infant daughter inherited her fortune and titles. Anne Marie Louise was not only the wealthiest woman in France but also the second-highest ranked woman after the queen. When Anne Marie Louise died, her fortune was handed over to her cousin Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, King Louis XIV’s only sibling.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Gaston of France, Duke of Orléans and his second wife Marguerite of Lorraine

Marguerite Louise of Orléans, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1645 – 1721)

Marguerite Louise married Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and had two sons and one daughter. The couple did not get along. After their first child, a son, was born they lived separately with Marguerite Louise constantly complaining to her cousin King Louis XIV of France. The couple reconciled for a period of several years. However, when her mother died, Marguerite Louise asked Louis XIV for permission to leave her husband and settle in France. Three years later, Louis XIV but confined his cousin to the Abbey of Saint Peter at Montmartre in Paris, which housed the noble ladies separated from their husbands. Previous abbesses had tolerated Marguerite Louise’s behavior but a new abbess complained to Louis XIV and Marguerite Louise was moved to a different convent. Eventually, Marguerite Louise was able to buy a house in Paris at 15 Place des Vosges, where she spent her final years.

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Élisabeth Marguerite of Orléans, Duchess of Guise (1646 – 1696)

Élisabeth Marguerite married Louis Joseph of Lorraine, Duke of Guise. Louis Joseph was only 17, four years younger than Élisabeth Marguerite who outranked him as a petite-fille de France (“Granddaughter of France”) and considered him a social inferior. Louis Joseph died from smallpox four years after their marriage. The couple did manage to produce one son but he was quite sickly. Still unable to walk unaided at age four, he was dropped by his nurse and died from a head injury. Élisabeth Marguerite never married again. She lived in her various homes, sometimes stayed at the Abbey of Saint Peter at Montmartre with her sister Marguerite Louise and was often at the court of her cousin Louis XIV.

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Françoise Madeleine of Orléans, Duchess of Savoy (1648 – 1664)

Françoise Madeleine was the first wife of her first cousin Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy. They married in April 1663 and nine months later 15-year-old Françoise Madeleine died. Her husband was inconsolable at her death and gave her a lavish funeral.

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Jean Gaston of Orléans, Duke of Valois (1650 – 1652)

Jean Gaston was the only son of Gaston, Duke of Orléans. His birth was greatly celebrated by his wealthy and much older half-sister Anne Marie Louise who ordered a large fireworks display in Paris to celebrate his birth. Jean Gaston was always in frail health. He was never able to walk, could not speak, and had a leg deformity. He died when he was two-years-old.

Wikipedia: Jean Gaston of Orléans, Duke of Valois

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Marie Anne of Orléans (1652 – 1656), died in childhood

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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

    • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
    • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
    • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

First Cousins: William III, King of England, William II, King of Scots, Willem III, Prince of Orange

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

William III, King of England, William II, King of Scots, Willem III, Prince of Orange (1650 – 1702)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

William III, King of England, William II, King of Scots, Willem III, Prince of Orange was born on November 14, 1650, at Binnenhof in The Hague in the Dutch Republic, now in the Netherlands. He was the only child of Willem II, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and Mary, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England. William’s father died at age 24 of smallpox eight days before William’s birth, so from birth, William was the sovereign Prince of Orange. William’s maternal grandparents were King Charles I of England and Princess Henrietta Maria of France, daughter of King Henri IV of France and Marie de Medici. His paternal grandparents were Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels.

William married his maternal first cousin Mary, the elder surviving daughter of James, Duke of York, later James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots. Mary soon became pregnant but suffered a miscarriage which may have prevented any successful pregnancies. It is suspected that she had at least two more miscarriages. Her inability to have children was Mary’s greatest unhappiness.

William and Mary’s uncle King Charles II died without any legitimate children despite having at least 14 illegitimate children. Mary’s father, who had converted to Roman Catholicism, succeeded his brother as King James II and set on a course of restoring Catholicism to England. England might very well have tolerated King James II knowing that his heirs were the Protestant daughters of his first wife Anne Hyde, Mary and Anne. However, on June 10, 1688, James’ second wife Maria Beatrice of Modena, who had no surviving children, gave birth to a Catholic son, James Francis Edward. William III, Prince of Orange, the nephew and son-in-law of King James II, landed in England vowing to safeguard the Protestant interest. He marched to London, gathering many supporters. James panicked and sent his wife and infant son to France. He tried to flee to France about a month later but was captured. William had no desire to make his uncle a martyr, so he allowed him to escape. James was received in France by his first cousin King Louis XIV, who offered him a palace and a pension.

James had effectively abdicated the throne. James’s elder daughter Mary was declared Queen Mary II and she was to rule jointly with her husband William, who would be King William III. This overthrow of King James II in 1688 is known as the Glorious Revolution. Sadly, in 1694, 32-year-old Mary died of smallpox, the same disease that had killed both of William’s parents. William continued to reign alone for the remainder of his life. Upon William’s death in 1702, he was succeeded by Mary’s younger sister Anne.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels

Frederik Hendrik and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels with their three youngest daughters

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France

Charles I’s five eldest children, 1637. Left to right: Mary, James, Charles, Elizabeth, and Anne

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Luise Henriette of Nassau, Electress of Brandenburg and Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia

Wilhelm Heinrich, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg (1648 – 1649), died in infancy

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Karl, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg (1655 – 1674)

When Karl was 19-years-old, he accompanied his father on a military campaign during the Franco-Dutch War. The weather was cold and wet and this led to poor sanitary conditions and disease including dysentery also called the bloody flux, the scourge of armies for centuries. Karl died from dysentery after suffering from the disease for about two weeks.

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Friedrich I, King of Prussia (1657 – 1713)

Friedrich succeeded his father as Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia. In 1700, Friedrich persuaded Leopold I, Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor to allow Prussia to be elevated to a kingdom and so he became the first King of Prussia. Friedrich married three times. His first wife Elizabeth Henrietta of Hesse-Kassel, with whom he had one daughter, died at age 21 from smallpox. His second wife Sophia Charlotte of Hanover gave birth to two sons including his successor King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia. Sophia Charlotte died of pneumonia at the age of 36. Sophia Louisa of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Friedrich’s third wife survived him but their marriage was childless

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Amalie of Brandenburg (1664 -1665), died in infancy

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Heinrich of Brandenburg (born and died 1664)

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Ludwig of Brandenburg (1666 – 1687)

Ludwig married Ludwika Karolina Radziwill, the sole heir to the Calvinist line of the House of Radziwill in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The couple did not have any children. Six years after his marriage, 21-year-old Ludwig suddenly died after a ball at the Potsdam City Palace in Brandenburg. An investigative commission requested by Ludwig’s father found that poisoning was the probable cause of death. The poisoning suspicions caused conflict between Ludwig’s only surviving brother Friedrich and his half-siblings and his stepmother, his father’s second wife Sophie Dorothea of Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Friedrich suspected that his stepmother wanted to get rid of her stepsons so her own sons would succeed to the throne. Against his father’s wishes, Friedrich left the Brandenburg court and lived at the court of his father-in-law Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg until he succeeded his father upon his death the following year.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Albertine Agnes of Nassau, Princess of Nassau-Dietz and Willem Frederik, Prince of Nassau-Dietz

Amalia of Nassau-Dietz, Duchess of Saxe-Eisenach (1655 – 1695)

Amalia married Johann Wilhelm III, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach, had one son and one daughter. She died when she was 39-years-old.

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Hendrik Casimir II, Count of Nassau-Dietz (1657 – 1696)

Hendrik Casimir was Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen in the Dutch Republic. He married his first cousin Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau (see below) and had two sons and seven daughters. Their son Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange and his wife Princess Marie Luise of Hesse-Kassel hold the distinction of being the most recent common ancestors to all currently reigning European monarchs. In addition, they are the ancestors of many formerly reigning families. See Wikipedia: Royal descendants of Johan William Friso.

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Wilhelmina Sophia Hedwig (1664–1667), died in childhood

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Henriette Catherine of Nassau, Princess of Anhalt-Dessau and Johann Georg II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau

Amalie Ludovika of Anhalt-Dessau (born and died 1660)

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Henriette Amalie of Anhalt-Dessau (born and died 1662)

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Frederick Casimir, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (1663 – 1665), died in early childhood

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Elisabeth Albertine of Anhalt-Dessau, Duchess of Saxe-Weissenfels, Countess of Barby (1665 – 1706)

With the help of her father, Elisabeth Albertine was elected as Princess-Abbess of Herford Abbey, a secular women’s religious house in the Duchy of Saxony. The town of Herford, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, developed around the abbey. Elisabeth Albertine served as Princess-Abbess for six years, until her marriage to Heinrich, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, Count of Barby was arranged. The couple had four sons and one daughter. Elisabeth Albertine died in childbirth delivering her seventh child who was stillborn.

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Henriëtte Amalie of Anhalt-Dessau, Princess of Nassau-Dietz (1666 – 1726)

Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau married her first cousin Heinrich Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz (see above) and had two sons and seven daughters. When her husband, Henriëtte Amalia became regent for their nine-year-old son Johan Willem Friso, who succeeded to his father’s titles. When Henriëtte Amalia’s first cousin William III, King of England, William II, King of Scots, William III, Prince of Orange died, her son Johan Willem Friso inherited his title Prince of Orange. Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange and his wife Princess Marie Luise of Hesse-Kassel hold the distinction of being the most recent common ancestors to all currently reigning European monarchs. In addition, they are the ancestors of many formerly reigning families. See Wikipedia: Royal descendants of Johan William Friso.

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Louise Sophie of Anhalt-Dessau (1667 – 1678), died in childhood

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Marie Eleonore of Anhalt-Dessau, Duchess of Nieswicz and Olyka (1671 – 1756)

Marie Eleonore married Jerzy Radziwill, Duke of Nieswicz and Olyka, a nephew of Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, but the marriage was childless. Her husband died two years after their marriage and Marie Eleonore returned to Anhalt-Dessau. She survived all her sisters and inherited her mother’s estate including an important collection of paintings by Dutch masters.

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Henriette Agnes of Anhalt-Dessau (1674 – 1729), unmarried

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Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (1676 – 1747)

Leopold had a career in the Prussian Army and served with distinction during the War of the Spanish Succession. and the Great Northern War. His major achievement was his training of the Prussian infantry. He became one of the greatest drillmasters in Europe. Leopold married Anna Louise Föhse, the daughter of the court pharmacist, despite great resistance Leopold’s mother and Anna Louise’s father. The couple had five sons and five daughters.

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Johanna Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau, Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1682 – 1750)

Johanna Charlotte married Philip Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt and had three sons and three daughters. Her husband died after eleven years of marriage. In 1729, Johanna Charlotte was elected as Princess-Abbess of Herford Abbey, a secular women’s religious house in the Duchy of Saxony. The town of Herford, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, developed around the abbey. She remained Princess-Abbess until her death.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of King James II of England and his first wife Anne Hyde, Duchess of York

Charles, Duke of Cambridge (1660 – 1661)

Conceived before his parents’ official marriage, Charles was styled Duke of Cambridge but never formally created Duke of Cambridge. He died at the age of six months from smallpox and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.

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Mary II, Queen of England, Queen of Scots, Princess of Orange (1662 – 1694)

A short entry as Mary is covered above: Mary married her first cousin William III, Prince of Orange, ascended to the throne in 1689 as co-ruler with her husband who reigned as King William III of England) after her father was deposed. William and Mary had no children. Mary died from smallpox, as did William’s father and mother.

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James, Duke of Cambridge (1663 – 1667)

James was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Cambridge and Baron of Dauntsey by his uncle King Charles II. He was also named a Knight of the Garter but was never officially installed. Both James and his younger brother Charles, Duke of Kendal (see below) became ill with what was likely smallpox or the bubonic plague. Little Charles died first and three-year-old James died three weeks later and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.

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Queen Anne of Great Britain (1665 – 1714)

Anne succeeded to the thrones of England and Scotland after the death of her brother-in-law and first cousin King William III who had co-reigned with his wife and first cousin, Anne’s elder sister Queen Mary, until her death. In 1707, England and Scotland were united into a single kingdom called Great Britain and thereafter, Anne was styled Queen of Great Britain. Anne is well known for her tragic obstetrical history. She married Prince George of Denmark and had 17 pregnancies with only five children being born alive. Two died on the day of their birth, two died at less than two years old within six days of each from smallpox, and one died at age 11. Anne suffered from what was diagnosed as gout and had pain in her limbs, stomach, and head. Based upon these symptoms and her obstetrical history, Anne may have had systemic lupus erythematosus which causes an increased rate of fetal death. Upon Anne’s death, the throne of Great Britain passed to George, Elector of Hanover and of Brunswick-Lüneburg, a Protestant great-grandson of James I, King of England/James VI, King of Scots, who reigned as King George I of Great Britain.

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Charles, Duke of Kendal (1666 – 1667)

Charles was styled Duke of Kendal but was never official created Duke of Kendal because of his early death. He died at the age of ten months, shortly before his elder brother James, Duke of Cambridge died, and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.

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Edgar, Duke of Cambridge (1667 – 1671)

Edgar was created was Duke and Earl of Cambridge and Baron of Dauntsey by his uncle King Charles II. Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts was named after him. Edgar died at the age of three and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.

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Henrietta Stuart (born and died 1669)

Named after her paternal grandmother Henrietta Maria of France, Henrietta was born at the Palace of Whitehall in London, England. She died at St. James’ Palace in London, England when she was ten months old and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

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Catherine Stuart (born and died 1671)

Catherine was born at the Palace of Whitehall in London, England. Her mother died seven weeks after her birth from breast cancer. Catherine did not survive her mother for very long. She died at the age of ten months at St. James’ Palace in London, England and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of King James II of England and his second wife Marie Beatrice of Modena

Catherine Laura Stuart (1675 – 1676)

Born at St. James’ Palace in London, England, Catherine Laura was named after Catherine of Braganza, the wife of her uncle King Charles II of England, and her maternal grandmother Laura Martinozzi, Duchess of Modena. Catherine Laura’s Catholic mother had her baptized in a Catholic rite but her uncle Charles II carried her off to the Chapel Royal and had her christened in a Church of England rite. Catherine Laura died at the age of nine months and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

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Isabella Stuart (1676 – 1681)

Isabella was born at St. James’ Palace. She was the first of her parents’ children to survive infancy but died at the age of four. She was buried at Westminster Abbey.

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Charles, Duke of Cambridge (born and died 1677)

Charles was born at St. James’ Palace and was styled Duke of Cambridge but was never formally created Duke of Cambridge. He died 35 days after his birth and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

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Elizabeth Stuart (born and died 1678), died in infancy

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Charlotte Maria Stuart (born and died 1682)

Charlotte Maria was born at St. James’ Palace in London, England. She died of convulsions at the age of two months and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

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James Francis Edward Stuart, The Old Pretender (1688 – 1766)

James Francis Edward Stuart was born into controversy. His father King James II set upon a course of restoring Catholicism to England. England might very well have continued tolerating King James II knowing that his heirs were the Protestant daughters of his first wife. However, James II’s wife Queen Maria Beatrice, whose previous children had all died, gave birth to a Roman Catholic son. Immediately, false rumors swirled that the infant had been smuggled into the queen’s chambers in a warming pan. Eventually, King James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution and lived out the rest of his life in France, where James Francis Edward was raised. After James II lost his throne, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland. After the death of his father, James Francis Edward was the Jacobite heir.

James Francis Edward married Maria Clementina Sobieski, granddaughter of King Jan III Sobieski of Poland. The couple had two sons Charles Edward Stuart, The Young Pretender, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Neither son had any children. After James Francis Edward’s failures to regain the throne, attention fell upon his son Charles Edward, The Young Pretender, whose Jacobite Rising of 1745 culminated in the final devastating loss for the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden. James Francis Edward Stuart died at his home, the Palazzo Muti in Rome and was buried in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

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Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart (1692 – 1712)

Louisa Maria Teresa was born at the Château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, west of Paris, France where her parents lived in exile. At the age of 13, Louisa was introduced at the court of Versailles where she enjoyed dancing and attending the opera and became quite popular. Soon she had some potential marriage candidates but nothing happened with any of the possibilities. Louisa died of smallpox at the age of 19 and was buried with her father at the Chapel of Saint Edmund in the Church of the English Benedictines in the Rue St. Jacques in Paris, France. During the French Revolution, the Chapel of Saint Edmund and all the English Benedictines buildings were destroyed along with the remains of King James II and his daughter Louisa Maria Teresa. Some of their remains were discovered after the French Revolution and reburied in 1824 at the Parish Church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans and her first cousin Philippe, Duke of Orléans

Marie Louise of Orléans, Queen of Spain (1662 – 1689)

Marie Louise was a niece of King Louis XIV of France and a granddaughter of King Louis XIII of France and King Charles I of England. Her marriage to King Carlos II of Spain was part of a plan to have better relations with Spain. Carlos suffered from physical and mental disabilities, most likely the result of inbreeding. His parents were uncle and niece and all eight of his great-grandparents were descendants of Joanna, Queen of Castile and Philip I, King of Castile. After ten years of marriage, Marie Louise and Carlos still had no children. Marie Louise died at the age of 26 after suffering from sudden, severe abdominal pains. Unconfirmed rumors said that she had been poisoned at the instigation of her mother-in-law because she had no children.

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Philippe Charles of Orléans, Duke of Valois (1664 – 1666) died in childhood

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Anne Marie of Orléans, Queen of Sardinia (1669 – 1728)

Anne Marie married Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, the future King of Sardinia, and had three daughters and three sons including Marie Adélaïde of Savoy who was the mother of King Louis XV of France. Anne Marie and Victor Amadeus’ descendants include King Felipe VI of Spain; Philippe, King of the Belgians; Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg; Henri, Count of Paris, the Orléanist pretender to the French throne; and Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, the pretender to the Italian throne. In addition, after the death of Henry Benedict Stuart when the line King James II of England ended, the Jacobite claim to the British throne descended from Anne Marie. See Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

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Paternal First Cousins: Illegitimate Children of Charles II, King of England, King of Scots

King Charles II is an ancestor through his mistresses of many British aristocrats and of several women who married into the British Royal Family:

by Lucy Walter

James Scott, Duke of Monmouth (1649–1685), married Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch, had four sons and two daughters, executed for treason

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by Elizabeth Killigrew

Charlotte Jemima Henrietta Maria FitzRoy, Countess of Yarmouth (1650–1684), married (1) James Howard, had one daughter (2) William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth, had two daughters and one son

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by Catherine Pegge

Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth (1657–1680), married Lady Bridget Osborne, daughter of Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, no children

Catherine FitzCharles (born 1658; she either died young or became a nun)

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by Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland (in her own right), wife of Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine

Lady Anne Palmer, Countess of Sussex (may have been the daughter of Roger Palmer, but Charles II accepted her as his child) (1661–1722), married Thomas Lennard, 1st Earl of Sussex, had two sons and two daughters

Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, 1st Duke of Southampton (1662–1730), married (1) Mary Wood, no children, (2) Anne Pulteney, had three sons and three daughters

Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton (1663–1690), married Isabella Bennet, 2nd Countess of Arlington, had one son

Charlotte Fitzroy, Countess of Lichfield (1664–1717), married Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield, had thirteen sons and  five daughters

George Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1665–1716), married (1) Catherine Wheatley, no children, (2) Mary Dutton, no children

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by Nell Gwyn

Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans (1670–1726), married Lady Diana de Vere, had nine sons and three daughters

Lord James Beauclerk (1671–1680), died young

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by Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth (in her own right)

Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, 1st Duke of Aubigny (1672–1723), married Anne Brudenell, had two daughters and one son

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by Mary ‘Moll’ Davis

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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

    • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
    • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
    • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

First Cousins: Mary II, Queen of England, Queen of Scots and Queen Anne of Great Britain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Mary II, Queen of England, Queen of Scots, Princess of Orange (1662 – 1694)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Mary II, Queen of England, Queen of Scots and Queen Anne of Great Britain were sisters, the only surviving children of the eight children of James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots and his first wife Lady Anne Hyde. Anne Hyde died before her husband became king and during their marriage, Anne and her husband were the Duke and Duchess of York. Charles I, King of England, King of Scots and Henrietta Maria of France, daughter of King Henri IV of France and Marie de’ Medici, were the paternal grandparents of Mary II and her sister Anne. Their maternal grandparents were Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and his second wife Frances Aylesbury.

Mary II married her first cousin William III, Prince of Orange, the only child of her paternal aunt Mary, Princess Royal and Willem II, Prince of Orange, who had died of smallpox a few days before his son’s birth. William III, Prince of Orange was fourth in line to the English throne after his uncle James, Duke of York and his cousins Mary and Anne. Mary soon became pregnant but suffered a miscarriage which may have prevented any future successful pregnancies. It is suspected that she had at least two more miscarriages. Her inability to have children was Mary’s greatest unhappiness.

Mary and Anne’s father James succeeded his childless brother King Charles II as James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots. Charles II’s marriage was childless but he had at least fourteen illegitimate children by his mistresses. King James II had converted to Roman Catholicism and set on a course of restoring Catholicism to England. England might very well have tolerated King James II knowing that his heirs were the Protestant daughters of his first wife Anne Hyde, Mary and Anne. However, on June 10, 1688, James II’s second wife Maria Beatrice of Modena, who had no surviving children, gave birth to a son, James Francis Edward. Immediately, false rumors swirled that the infant had been smuggled into the queen’s chambers in a warming pan.

William III, Prince of Orange, the nephew and son-in-law of King James II, landed in England vowing to safeguard the Protestant interest. He marched to London, gathering many supporters. James II panicked and sent his wife and infant son to France. He tried to flee to France about a month later but was captured. William had no desire to make his uncle a martyr, so he allowed him to escape. James was received in France by his first cousin King Louis XIV, who offered him a palace and a pension. This overthrow of King James II is known as the Glorious Revolution.

James II’s elder daughter Mary was declared Queen Mary II and she was to rule jointly with her husband and first cousin William, who would be King William III. Following the death of either William or Mary, the other was to continue to reign. Next in the line of succession would be any children of the couple, to be followed by Mary’s sister Anne and her children. Last in the line of succession stood any children William III might have had from any subsequent marriage. Sadly, in 1694, Mary II died from smallpox at the age of 32. William reigned alone until his death in 1702 when he was succeeded by Mary’s sister Anne.

Anne with her son Prince William, Duke of Gloucester

Queen Anne of Great Britain (1665 – 1714)

Anne had married the Protestant Prince George of Denmark, son of King Frederik III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg and brother of King Christian V of Denmark. Even though the marriage was arranged, the marriage was happy and they were faithful to each other. Anne became pregnant a few months after her wedding but she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. Anne’s obstetrical history is tragic. She had 17 pregnancies with only five children being born alive. Two died on the day of their birth, two died at less than two years old within six days of each from smallpox, and her longest surviving child Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, died at age 11. Anne suffered from what was diagnosed as gout and had pain in her limbs, stomach, and head. Based upon these symptoms and her obstetrical history, Anne may have had systemic lupus erythematosus which causes an increased rate of fetal death.

The failure of the Protestant Stuarts to produce heirs meant the end of the Protestant Stuart dynasty because the legitimate descendants of King Charles I were either childless or Roman Catholic. The Act of Settlement 1701 secured the Protestant succession to the throne. The act excluded the former King James II (who died a few months after the act received royal assent) and the Roman Catholic children from his second marriage and also excluded the descendants of King James II’s sister Henrietta, the youngest daughter of King Charles I. Parliament’s choice was limited to the Protestant descendants of Elizabeth Stuart, Electress of the Palatinate, the only other child of King James I not to have died in childhood. The senior Protestant descendant was Elizabeth Stuart’s youngest daughter Sophia, Electress of Hanover. The Act of Settlement put Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs in the line of succession after Anne. Electress Sophia of Hanover, the heir to the throne according to the Act of Settlement, died just six weeks before the death of Queen Anne, and so Sophia’s eldest son became King George I and started the House of Hanover.

Mary and Anne shared their paternal cousins with Mary’s husband William and their surviving half-siblings from their father’s second marriage to Maria Beatrice of Modena: James Edward Francis Stuart, Prince of Wales, The Old Pretender and Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Charles I, King of England, King of Scots and Henrietta Maria of France

Children of King Charles I in 1637 – Left to right: Mary, James, Charles, Elizabeth, and Anne

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and his second wife Frances Aylesbury

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Child of Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange and William II, Prince of Orange

William III, Prince of Orange, later William III, King of England and William II, King of Scots (1650 – 1702)

William was the only child of William II, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and Mary, Princess Royal, who was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England. William’s father died at age 24 of smallpox eight days before William’s birth, so from birth, William was the sovereign Prince of Orange. William married his first cousin Mary, elder daughter of his maternal uncle, James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots. The couple had no children and later reigned jointly as William III, King of England/William II, King of Scots and Mary II, Queen of England, Queen of Scots. See above for more information.

William and Mary left a legacy in the United States. In 1693, William and Mary granted a royal charter to found the College of William and Mary, now in present-day Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the second oldest university in the United States after Harvard University and the only university in the United States with a royal charter. The College of William and Mary educated American Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler and other key figures important to the development of the United States as a nation, including Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, Speaker of the House of Representatives Henry Clay, sixteen members of the Continental Congress, and four signers of the Declaration of Independence. Another alumnus of The College of William and Mary is this writer’s son.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans and her first cousin Philippe, Duke of Orléans

Marie Louise of Orléans, Queen of Spain (1662 – 1689)

Marie Louise was a niece of King Louis XIV of France and a granddaughter of King Louis XIII of France and King Charles I of England. Her marriage to King Carlos II of Spain was part of a plan to have better relations with Spain. Carlos suffered from physical and mental disabilities, most likely the result of inbreeding. His parents were uncle and niece and all eight of his great-grandparents were descendants of Joanna, Queen of Castile and Philip I, King of Castile. After ten years of marriage, Marie Louise and Carlos still had no children. Marie Louise died at the age of 26 after suffering from sudden, severe abdominal pains. Unconfirmed rumors said that she had been poisoned at the instigation of her mother-in-law because she had no children.

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Philippe Charles of Orléans, Duke of Valois (1664 – 1666) died in childhood

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Anne Marie of Orléans, Queen of Sardinia (1669 – 1728)

Anne Marie married Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, the future King of Sardinia, and had three daughters and three sons including Marie Adélaïde of Savoy who was the mother of King Louis XV of France. Anne Marie and Victor Amadeus’ descendants include King Felipe VI of Spain; Philippe, King of the Belgians; Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg; Henri, Count of Paris, the Orléanist pretender to the French throne; and Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, the pretender to the Italian throne. In addition, after the death of Henry Benedict Stuart when the line King James II of England ended, the Jacobite claim to the British throne descended from Anne Marie. See Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

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Paternal First Cousins: Illegitimate Children of Charles II, King of England, King of Scots

King Charles II is an ancestor through his mistresses of many British aristocrats and of several women who married into the British Royal Family:

by Lucy Walter

James Scott, Duke of Monmouth (1649–1685), married Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch, had four sons and two daughters, executed for treason

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by Elizabeth Killigrew

Charlotte Jemima Henrietta Maria FitzRoy, Countess of Yarmouth (1650–1684), married (1) James Howard, had one daughter (2) William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth, had two daughters and one son

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by Catherine Pegge

Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth (1657–1680), married Lady Bridget Osborne, daughter of Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, no children

Catherine FitzCharles (born 1658; she either died young or became a nun)

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by Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland (in her own right), wife of Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine

Lady Anne Palmer, Countess of Sussex (may have been the daughter of Roger Palmer, but Charles II accepted her as his child) (1661–1722), married Thomas Lennard, 1st Earl of Sussex, had two sons and two daughters

Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, 1st Duke of Southampton (1662–1730), married (1) Mary Wood, no children, (2) Anne Pulteney, had three sons and three daughters

Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton (1663–1690), married Isabella Bennet, 2nd Countess of Arlington, had one son

Charlotte Fitzroy, Countess of Lichfield (1664–1717), married Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield, had thirteen sons and  five daughters

George Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1665–1716), married (1) Catherine Wheatley, no children, (2) Mary Dutton, no children

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by Nell Gwyn

Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans (1670–1726), married Lady Diana de Vere, had nine sons and three daughters

Lord James Beauclerk (1671–1680), died young

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by Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth (in her own right)

Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, 1st Duke of Aubigny (1672–1723), married Anne Brudenell, had two daughters and one son

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by Mary ‘Moll’ Davis

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Child of Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon and his first wife Theodosia Capell

Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon (1661 – 1723)

At the start of the Glorious Revolution, Edward Hyde was a supporter of his first cousin Mary and her husband William III of Orange over his uncle by marriage King James II. His support was rewarded by later appointments as Colonial Governor of New Jersey and the Colonial Governor of New York. He married Katherine O’Brien, 8th Baroness Clifton and had three daughters and one son.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Lawrence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester and Lady Henrietta Boyle

Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon and 2nd Earl of Rochester (1672 – 1753)

Henry Hyde was a Member of Parliament, High Steward of the University of Oxford, and a member of the Privy Council. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Rochester and his cousin as 4th Earl of Clarendon. Henry married Jane Leveson-Gower, daughter of Sir William Leveson-Gower, 4th Baronet, and had five daughters and three sons. He died six months after his last surviving son died and so both his earldoms became extinct.

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Credit – http://thepeerage.com/p1586.htm#i15859

Lady Anne Hyde, Duchess of Ormonde (died 1685)

Lady Anne married James FitzJames Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde and had one daughter.

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Lady Mary Hyde and Lady Henrietta Hyde; Credit – http://thepeerage.com/p31954.htm#i319536

Lady Mary Hyde, Baroness of Conway (1669 – 1709)

Lady Mary married Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Ragley, 1st Baron Conway of Killultagh and had four daughters.

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Lady Henrietta Hyde, Countess of Dalkeith (1677 – 1730)

Lady Henrietta married Sir James Scott, Earl of Dalkeith, son of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, the illegitimate son of King Charles II, and Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch. The couple had three sons, two daughters and one child whose name and gender is unknown.

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Maternal First Cousins: Child of Lady Frances Hyde and Thomas Keightley

Catherine Keightley

Catherine’s father was the Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. She married a Member of Parliament, Lucius O’Brien, son of Sir Donough O’Brien, 1st Baronet. The couple had four children.

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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

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

First Cousins: King George I of Great Britain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King George I of Great Britain (1660 – 1727)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King George I of Great Britain was born His Highness Duke Georg Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg on May 28, 1660, at the Leineschloss (Leine Palace) in Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany. He was the eldest of the seven children of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Sophia of the Palatinate, usually referred to as Electress Sophia of Hanover. George I’s paternal grandparents were Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Anna Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt. His maternal grandparents were Friedrich V, Elector Palatinate of the Rhine and Elizabeth Stuart. It is through his maternal grandmother that his destiny drastically changed.

George I’s maternal grandmother Elizabeth Stuart was the second child and eldest daughter of King James VI of Scotland/King James I of England. The House of Stuart occupied the British throne but the Stuarts failed to produce a legitimate Protestant heir. George I’s mother Sophia, Electress of Hanover was the closest Protestant heir and was named the heiress presumptive to the British throne. However, Sophia of Hanover died two months before Queen Anne of Great Britain died and her son George I succeeded to the British throne upon the death of Queen Anne.

Before George I became King of Great Britain and while he was still living in Hanover, he married his paternal first cousin Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle, known as Sophia Dorothea of Celle. The couple had two children, the eventual King George II of Great Britain and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover who married King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia. Both George I and his wife Sophia Dorothea committed adultery and their marriage was dissolved. Sophia Dorothea was declared to be the guilty party and so she was confined in the Castle of Ahlden in Celle, now in Germany, for the rest of her life, 32 years. At the time Sophia Dorothea’s son was eleven-years-old and her daughter was eight-years-old. They never saw their mother again.

King George I shared his 33 first cousins with his only sibling Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Queen of Prussia. He shared his paternal first cousins with his first cousin and wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Anna Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Friedrich V, Elector Palatinate of the Rhine and Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatinate

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Child of Georg Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Eleonore d’Esmier d’Olbreuse

Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover (1666 – 1726)

George I’s first cousin but also his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Celle was born on September 15, 1666, in Celle, now in Germany, the only child of Georg Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his mistress Éléonore d’Esmier d’Olbreuse. Sophia Dorothea was legitimized by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I who granted her mother Éléonore the titles Gräfin (Countess) von Harburg and Wilhelmsburg. Éléonore and Georg Wilhelm later married morganatically. At the age of 16, in a marriage arranged by the bride and groom’s fathers (who were brothers), Sophia Dorothea was married to her first cousin, 22-year-old Georg Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the future King George I of Great Britain, had one son and one daughter, the future King George II of Great Britain and Sophia Dorothea, the future Queen Consort of Prussia.

The marriage was happy at first but then both George and Sophia Dorothea had affairs. Sophia Dorothea’s lover disappeared and was never seen again. It was widely believed that George ordered his death. A tribunal of judges and Lutheran Church officials declared the marriage of George and Sophia Dorothea dissolved on the grounds of Sophia Dorothea’s desertion. Because she was considered the guilty party, Sophia Dorothea was not allowed to remarry, would never again see her children, and would be kept as a prisoner at the Castle of Ahlden for the remainder of her life. Although Sophia Dorothea spent 32 years in captivity, she received an income that allowed her to live in the style of a princess and she was able to go for drives in her coach with an escort. When Sophia Dorothea died, her former husband, now King George I of Great Britain, would not allow mourning at the British court and was furious when he learned that his daughter had ordered court mourning in Prussia.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate

Anna Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1670 – 1672), died in childhood

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Charlotte Felicitas of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duchess of Modena (1671 – 1710)

Charlotte married Rinaldo d’Este who had been a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He left the church to succeed his nephew Francesco II as Duke of Modena. Charlotte and Rinaldo had three daughters and three sons. Charlotte died in childbirth delivering a fourth daughter who also died.

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Henriette Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1672 – 1757), unmarried

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Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia (1673 – 1742)

Although she was born into a Lutheran family, Wilhelmina received a Roman Catholic education from her great-aunt Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate who had converted to Roman Catholicism and became a nun and abbess at the Maubuisson Abbey in France. Wilhelmina was sought as a bride for the future Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, the heir of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The couple married and had two daughters and one son, who died before his first birthday. While they were trying to produce a new heir, Joseph gave Wilhelmine a sexually transmittable disease, probably syphilis, which made her unable to have any more children. Joseph died at the age of 32 during a smallpox epidemic. Despite suffering from a sexually transmitted disease, Wilhelmina outlived her husband by 31 years.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg and King Frederik III of Denmark

King Christian V of Denmark (1646 – 1699)

As King of Denmark, Christian V tried unsuccessfully to regain territory that had been annexed by Sweden during his father’s reign. He was more successful in establishing colonies in Africa and the Caribbean as part of the Danish triangle trade. One of the Danish colonies in the Caribbean was the Virgin Islands which were held by Denmark until 1917 when Denmark and the United States ratified a treaty in which Denmark sold the Danish Virgin Islands to the United States for $25 million in gold. In 1691, the capital of the Danish Virgin Islands on the island of St. Thomas was renamed to Charlotte Amalie after Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, wife of Christian V. Today, Charlotte Amalie remains the capital of the United States territory of the Virgin Islands. Christian V and his wife Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, daughter of Wilhelm VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg, had five sons and two daughters including King Frederik IV of Denmark.

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Anna Sophia of Denmark, Electress of Saxony (1647 – 1717)

Anna Sophia was very well educated and spoke six languages. She married Johann Georg III, Elector of Saxony. They had two sons: Johann Georg IV who succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony and Friedrich August I who succeeded his brother as Elector of Saxony and later became King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.

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Frederika Amalia of Denmark, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp (1649 – 1704)

Frederika Amalia married Christian Albrecht, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and had two sons and two daughters. Through her son Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin she was the great-grandmother of Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, better known as Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia and the maternal grandmother of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden. Through her son Friedrich IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, she was the great-grandmother of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia, the ill-fated husband of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia.

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Wilhelmina Ernestina of Denmark, Electress of the Palatinate (1650 – 1706)

Wilhelmina Ernestina married Karl II, Elector of the Palatinate in a marriage arranged by their mutual aunt Sophia, Electress of Hanover. The marriage was very unhappy. Karl had been forced by his father to marry against his will and disliked the marriage from the beginning. The couple had no children. After she was widowed, Wilhelmina Ernestina lived with her sister Anna Sophia, Electress of Saxony.

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Frederik of Denmark (1651 – 1652), died in infancy

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George and his wife Queen Anne of the United Kingdom

George of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland (1653 – 1708)

Ironically, George of Denmark was the first cousin of King George I of Great Britain, the person who succeeded his wife Queen Anne of Great Britain on the British throne. Queen Anne’s unfortunate childbearing history was one of the reasons the House of Stuart was replaced by the House of Hanover. Anne became pregnant a few months after her marriage but she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. She had 17 pregnancies with only five children being born alive. Two died on the day of their birth, two died at less than two years old within six days of each from smallpox, and one died at age 11. Anne suffered from what was diagnosed as gout and had pain in her limbs, stomach, and head. Based upon these symptoms and her obstetrical history, Anne may have had systemic lupus erythematosus which causes an increased rate of fetal death.

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Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, Queen of Sweden (1656 – 1693)

Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark married King Carl XI of Sweden in the hopes that the marriage would bring peace to their two countries which had recently been at war with each other. Ulrika Eleonora and Carl had two daughters and five sons including King Carl XII of Sweden, Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, and Hedwig Sophia, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp who was the grandmother of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. Weakened by giving birth to seven children in as many years, Ulrike Eleonora died at the age of 36.

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Dorothea of Denmark (1657 – 1658), died in infancy

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Karl I Ludwig, Elector of the Palatinate and his first wife Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel

Karl II, Elector of the Palatinate (1651 – 1685)

Karl II married Wilhelmina Ernestina of Denmark, also George I’s first cousin, in a marriage arranged by their mutual aunt Sophia, Electress of Hanover. The marriage was very unhappy. Karl had been forced by his father to marry against his will and disliked the marriage from the beginning. The couple had no children. Karl’s reign as Elector of the Palatinate lasted only five years as he died at the age of 34.

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Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Duchess of Orléans (1652 – 1722)

Known as Liselotte, she grew up in the court of her aunt Sophia, Electress of Hanover. Liselotte wanted to marry her second cousin Willem III, Prince of Orange, who would later become King of England. However, her family felt a better marriage for her would be to become the second wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger brother of King Louis XIV of France. The recently widowed Philippe had been married to his first cousin Henrietta of England, Liselotte’s father’s first cousin. Liselotte converted to Roman Catholicism and married Philippe. She acted as a mother to Philippe’s children by Henrietta and maintained correspondence with them throughout their lives. Despite Philippe having homosexual affairs, he had been intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children with his first wife and also did so with Liselotte. Philippe and Liselotte had three children of their own. Through their daughter Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans, they are the paternal grandparents of Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, better known as Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.

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Friedrich (born and died 1653), died in infancy

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Karl I Ludwig, Elector of the Palatinate and his morganatic second wife Marie Luise von Degenfeld

  • Karl Ludwig of the Palatinate (1658 – 1688), killed in battle
  • Caroline Elisabeth of the Palatinate, Duchess of Schomberg (1659 – 1696), married Meinhardt von Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, had one son and three daughters
  • Louise of the Palatinate (1661 – 1733)
  • Ludwig of the Palatinate (born and died 1662)
  • Amalia Elisabeth of the Palatinate (1663 – 1709)
  • Georg Ludwig of the Palatinate (1664 – 1665), died in infancy
  • Frederica of the Palatinate (1665 – 1674), died in childhood
  • Friedrich Wilhelm of the Palatinate (1666 – 1667), died in infancy
  • Karl Eduard of the Palatinate (1668 – 1690), killed in battle
  • Sophie of the Palatinate (born and died 1669), died in infancy
  • Karl Moritz of the Palatinate (1671 – 1702)
  • Karl August of the Palatinate (1672 – 1691), killed in battle
  • Karl Casimir of the Palatinate (1675 – 1691), killed in a duel

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Maternal First Cousins: Child of Karl I Ludwig, Elector of the Palatinate and his morganatic third wife Elisabeth Hollander von Bernau

Karl Ludwig of the Palatinate( 1681 – ?)

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Edward, Count Palatinate of Simmern and Anna Gonzaga

Luise Marie of the Palatinate, Princess of Salm-Salm (1647 – 1679)

Luise Marie married Karl Theodor, Prince of Salm-Salm and had three daughters and one son.

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Anne Henriette of the Palatinate, Princess of Condé (1648 – 1723)

Anne Henriette’s father Edward, Count Palatinate of Simmern was the son of Elizabeth Stuart, eldest daughter of King James I of England. Edward converted to Roman Catholicism and his three children were raised as Catholics. The Bill of Rights 1689 barred Catholics from the thrones of England and Scotland and the Act of Settlement 1701 gave the thrones of England and Scotland to “the most excellent princess Sophia, electress and duchess-dowager of Hanover” and “the heirs of her body, being Protestant”. Sophia, Electress of Hanover was the aunt of Anne Henriette and her surviving sister Benedicta Henrietta and the younger sister of their deceased father. Therefore, the surviving children of Edward, Count Palatinate of Simmern and his other Catholic descendants were barred from the thrones of England and Scotland.

Anne Henriette married Henri Jules de Bourbon, Prince of Condé at the Palais du Louvre in Paris with King Louis XIV of France and the rest of the French royal family attending the wedding. The couple had six daughters and four sons.

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Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1652 – 1730)

Benedicta Henrietta married Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Johann Friedrich was 27 years older than Benedicta Henrietta and was the only member of his family to convert to Roman Catholicism. As reigning Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, he needed a male heir but he had four daughters with Benedicta Henrietta. Their four daughters are also first cousins of King George I of Great Britain through their father. When Johann Friedrich died without a male heir, his younger brother Ernst August became Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Ernst August’s succeeded to the British throne as King George I. After her husband died, Benedicta Henrietta returned to her native France and lived with her sister Anne Henriette of the Palatinate, Princess of Condé.

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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

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

First Cousins: King George II of Great Britain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King George II of Great Britain (1683 – 1759)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King George II was born at Schloss Herrenhausen in Hanover, now in Germany on November 10, 1683. He was the elder of the two children of first cousins Georg Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg (later King George I of Great Britain), and Sophia Dorothea of Celle. George II’s paternal grandparents were Ernst August, Elector of Hanover and Princess Sophia of the Palatinate who is more commonly known as Sophia, Electress of Hanover. His maternal grandparents were Georg Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his mistress Éléonore d’Esmier d’Olbreuse who later married morganatically.

George II’s parents both committed adultery and their marriage was dissolved when George was eleven-years-old. His mother was considered the guilty party and was confined in the Castle of Ahlden in Celle, now in Germany, for the rest of her life, 32 years. George and his sister Sophia Dorothea never saw their mother again. George II married Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, usually known as Caroline of Ansbach, and the couple had eight children.

At the time of George II’s birth, the House of Stuart occupied the British throne but the Stuarts failed to produce a legitimate Protestant heir. George II’s grandmother Sophia, Electress of Hanover was the closest Protestant heir and was named the heiress presumptive to the British throne. Sophia’s mother was Elizabeth Stuart, the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, and Ireland. However, Sophia of Hanover died two months before Queen Anne of Great Britain died and George I’s father succeeded to the British throne as King George I upon the death of Queen Anne. George II followed his father on the British throne, however, his eldest son and heir Frederick, Prince of Wales predeceased him. Frederick’s eldest son became the heir apparent and succeeded his grandfather as King George III.

King George II shared his two first cousins with his only sibling Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Queen of Prussia. He had no maternal aunts, maternal uncles, or maternal first cousins because Sophia Dorothea of Celle, King George II’s mother, was an only child.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles of King George II: Children of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover and Princess Sophia of the Palatinate

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Sophia Charlotte of Hanover and Friedrich I, King in Prussia

Prince Friedrich August of Prussia (1685 – 1686), died in childhood

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Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia (1688 – 1740)

King Friedrich Wilhelm I was known as the “Soldier King” and did much to improve Prussia economically and militarily. He married his first cousin Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, George II’s sister, and the couple had seven sons and seven daughters including King Friedrich II of Prussia, known as Frederick the Great, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, Queen of Sweden who married King Adolf Frederick of Sweden, and Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia whose son succeeded the childless King Friedrich II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) as King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia.

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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

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)