Christine von Hessen (30 October 1648 - 18 March 1702) was a German noblewoman, belonging to the Hessen-Eschwege branch of the Hessen-Rotenburg line of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...

. Through her marriage on 25 November 1667 in

Eschwege Eschwege (), the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. In 1971, the town hosted the eleventh ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Wer ...

Ferdinand Albert I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

(1636-1687), she became Duchess-Consort of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern.

Life

She was born in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

as the second of six children of

Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege Landgrave Frederick of Hesse-Eschwege (9 May 1617 – 24 September 1655) was from 1632 until his death Landgrave of the apanage of Hesse-Eschwege, which stood under the suzerainty of Hesse-Kassel. Background Frederick was born in Kassel. As ...

and his wife Eleonore Katharina von Pfalz-Zweibrücken-Kleeburg, sister of the future

Charles X Gustav of Sweden Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. Afte ...

. Little is known of her childhood. She spent her early years in

with her mother but after her father's death fighting for Sweden in the

Second Northern War The Second Northern War (1655–60), (also First or Little Northern War) was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1655–60), the Tsardom of Russia (Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658), 1656–58), Brande ...

, his younger brother

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman ...

took over Frederick's share in the 'Rotenburger Quart'. Christine's mother thus moved her children into dowager accommodation in the former Osterholz Convent in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

. Christine's family pledged Schloss Eschwege as a dowry to her husband's family, who then held it until 1713. The marriage produced nine children but was marked by Ferdinand's morbid jealousy, strange behaviour and violence. After their marriage the couple moved into the castle in the small town of Bevern. Ferdinand showed a marked interest in culture - for example, he celebrated his wife's thirtieth birthday by commissioning a play to open a new "Comödien-Saal". Christine worked on arts and crafts (an embroidered

vanitas A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-known are ''van ...

by her survives today in the

Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum The Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum (HAUM) is an art museum in the German city of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. History Founded in 1754, the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum is one of the oldest museums in Europe. The museum has its origins in the art and nat ...

) and collected a small library. Ferdinand also travelled, sometimes accompanied by his wife and mother-in-law. These trips included ones to Sweden in 1667 and 1670–71, the Imperial Court in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1674-75 and frequent journeys to Eschwege. Christine and Ferdinand both moved into the former Osterholz Convent in 1681, then in the

Domshof The Domshof (''Cathedral Court'') is a town square in Bremen, north of the cathedral and the Marktplatz. The Domshof is used for markets as well as larger outdoor events, particularly May Day demonstrations. The Domshof is a trapezoid in width, ...

and finally from 1686 back in Bevern, where Christine remained until 1702, fifteen years after her husband's death.Gräf, S. 108.

Issue

* Leopold Karl (*/† 1670) * Friedrich Albert (1672–1673) * Sophie Eleonore (1674–1711), canoness in Gandersheim * Claudia Eleonore (1675–1676) * August Ferdinand (1677–1704), major general * Ferdinand Albrecht II. (1680–1735) * Ernst Ferdinand (1682–1746) * Ferdinand Christian (1682–1706), canon at

Brunswick Cathedral Brunswick Cathedral (german: Dom St. Blasii (et Johannis), lit. in en, Collegiate Church of Ss. St. Blaise, Blaise and John the Baptist) is a large Lutheran Church (building), church in the City of Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany. The church ...

* Heinrich Ferdinand (1684–1706), Imperial Oberstleutnant, killed in the

Battle of Turin The siege of Turin took place from June to September 1706, during the War of the Spanish Succession, when a French army led by Louis de la Feuillade besieged the Savoyard capital of Turin. The campaign by Prince Eugene of Savoy that led to i ...

Bibliography (in German)

* Eckhart G. Franz: ''Das Haus Hessen.'' Stuttgart 2005, . * Holger Th. Gräf: ''Christina Landgräfin von Hessen-Kassel, verh. Herzogin von Braunschweig-Bevern K 26'. In: Eckhart G. Franz (Hrsg.); u.a.: ''Haus Hessen. Biografisches Lexikon'', Darmstadt 2012, S. 108–109, . * Hans-Günter Kittelmann: ''Kleiner Führer durch die Rotenburger Quart 1627–1834 und das Fürstenhaus Hessen-Rotenburg.'' Rotenburg an der Fulda 2002, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christine, Princess of Hesse-Eschwege 1648 births 1702 deaths House of Brunswick-Bevern House of Hesse-Kassel Burials at Brunswick Cathedral Daughters of monarchs