Karl Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (26 November 1678 – 28 November 1747) was Duke of

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hous ...

from 1713 to 1747. He was the second son of

Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Grabow Frederick I of Mecklenburg-Grabow, Duke of Mecklenburg-Grabow (13 February 1638, Schwerin – 28 April 1688, Grabow) Life He was the son of Adolf Frederick I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and his second wife Marie Katharina (1616-1665), dau ...

, and his wife Christine von Hessen-Homburg (1653–1722). He succeeded his brother

Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick William I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (28 March 1675 – 31 July 1713) was the reigning Duke of Mecklenburg in the Mecklenburg-Schwerin portion of the duchy of Mecklenburg from 1692 until 1713. Frederick William was the eldest so ...

, in 1713. Mecklenburg-Schwerin began its existence during a series of constitutional struggles between the duke and the nobles. The heavy debt incurred by

Charles Leopold Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

, who had joined

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in a war against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, brought matters to a head; Charles VI interfered, and in 1728 the imperial court of justice declared the duke incapable of governing. His brother, Christian Ludwig II, was appointed administrator of the duchy. Karl Leopold married three times. His first wife was Sophia Hedwig of Nassau-Dietz (1690–1734), daughter of

Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz Henry Casimir II of Nassau-Dietz (18 January 1657 – 25 March 1696) was Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen from 1664 till 1696. Life Henry Casimir II of Nassau-Dietz was born in The Hague, the eldest son of Willem Frederik of Nassau-Dietz ...

, and his wife

Henriëtte Amalia van Anhalt-Dessau Henriëtte is a Dutch version of the feminine given name Henrietta. The diaeresis is sometimes omitted in foreign texts. People with the name include: *Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau (1666–1726), mother of John William Friso, Prince of Orang ...

. They married on 27 May 1709 in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

and divorced in 1710. There were no children from this marriage. His second wife was Christine von Lepel (1692–1728), daughter of Nicolaus Friedrich von Lepel and his wife Leveka von Plessen. They married on 7 June 1710 at Doberau and divorced on 2 October 1711. There were no children from this marriage, either. His third wife was the Grand Duchess

Catherine Ivanovna Tsarevna Catherine Ivanovna of Russia (20 October 1691 – 14 June 1733) was a daughter of Tsar Ivan V and Praskovia Saltykova, eldest sister of Empress Anna of Russia and niece of Peter the Great. By her marriage, she was a Duchess of Mecklenbu ...

of Russia, daughter of Tsar

Ivan V of Russia Ivan V Alekseyevich (russian: Иван V Алексеевич; – ) was Tsar of Russia between 1682 and 1696, jointly ruling with his younger half-brother Peter I. Ivan was the youngest son of Alexis I of Russia by his first wife, Maria M ...

and his wife

Praskovia Saltykova Praskovia Fyodorovna Saltykova (russian: Прасковья Фёдоровна Салтыкова; 12 October 1664 – 13 October 1723) was the tsaritsa of Russia as the only wife of joint-Tsar Ivan V of Russia. She was the mother of Empress Anna ...

. They married on 19 April 1716 in Danzig. There was one daughter born of this marriage, the

Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna of Russia Anna Leopoldovna (russian: А́нна Леопо́льдовна; 18 December 1718 – 19 March 1746), born Elisabeth Katharina Christine von Mecklenburg-Schwerin and also known as Anna Carlovna (А́нна Ка́рловна), was regent of R ...

. She married

Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick Anthony Ulrich (; 28 August 1714, Bevern – 4 May 1774 (O.S.), Kholmogory), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was Generalissimo of the Army of Russia, and the husband of Anna Leopoldovna, who reigned as regent of Russia for one year. Biograph ...

and had 5 children. She served as Regent of Russia for her son

Ivan VI Ivan VI,; – (Julian calendar should be used in this article) Iván or Ioánn Antónovich (12 August 1740 5 July 1764) was an infant emperor of Russia who was overthrown by his cousin Elizabeth Petrovna in 1741. He was only two months old whe ...

from 1740 to 1741.

Ancestry

References

* * Gerhard Heitz (1991) (in German). ''Herzog Carl Leopold von Mecklenburg-Schwerin.'' In ''Kaiser. König. Kardinal – Deutsche Fürsten 1500–1800'', edited by Rolf Straubel and Ulman Weiss. Leipzig-Jena-Berlin: Urania-Verlag. . * Valentina Grijorian (1987) (in German). ''Zarenschicksale – Glanz und Skandale am Hofe der Zarendynastie Romanow/Holstein-Gottorp'', 1st edition. Leipzig: LeiV Buchhandels- und Verlagsanstalt GmbH. . * Henry Vallotton (1978) (in German). ''Peter der Große – Russlands Aufstieg zur Großmacht'', 2nd edition. Munich: Callwey Verlag. . 1678 births 1747 deaths People from Grabow House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin German landowners {{Germany-noble-stub