Louise Elisabeth of Courland (12 August 1646 in

Jelgava Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duch ...

– 16 December 1690 in

Weferlingen Weferlingen is a village and a former municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it has been part of the town of Oebisfelde-Weferlingen. Weferlingen was featured in thGlobal Mobilization Creator DLCfor ...

) was Landgravine of

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt; it was to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and ...

by marriage to

Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg Frederick II of Hesse-Homburg (german: Friedrich II. von Hessen-Homburg), also known as the Prince of Homburg (30 March 1633 – 24 January 1708) was Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. He was also a successful and experienced general for the crowns of ...

Life

Louise Elisabeth was a daughter of Duke

Jacob of Courland Jacob Kettler (german: link=no, Jakob von Kettler) (Latvian: Hercogs Jēkabs Ketlers) (28 October 1610 – 1 January 1682) was one of the greatest Baltic German Dukes of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1642–1682). He was intelligent, spo ...

(1610-1662) from his marriage to Charlotte Louise (1617-1676), eldest daughter of Elector George William of Brandenburg. On 23 October 1670 in

Cölln Cölln () was the twin city of Old Berlin (Altberlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River Spree, until the cities we ...

, she married the later Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse-Homburg, the famous ''Prince of Homburg''. Frederick had converted to the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

faith for the sake of their marriage. This conversion brought him into closer relations with the princely houses in Brandenburg and

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

, who were also Calvinist. Louise Elisabeth's sister Maria Amalia married Landgrave

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

of Hesse-Kassel in 1673. Louise Elizabeth was a niece of Elector

Frederick William of Brandenburg Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...

. This relationship allowed Frederick to join the Prussian army and become commander of all the troops of the Electorate only two years later, in 1672. The Calvinist Louise Elisabeth played a significant role in the settlement of displaced

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s and

Waldenses The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" i ...

Friedrichsdorf Friedrichsdorf () is a town of the Hochtaunuskreis, some north of Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inh ...

and Dornholzhausen in as well as in the formation of Calvinist congregations in

and

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's offic ...

Issue

* Charlotte Dorothea Sophia (1672–1738) :married 1694

Johann Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Johann Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (Weimar, 22 June 1664 – Weimar, 10 May 1707), was a duke of Saxe-Weimar. Life He was the second son of Johann Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Christine Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. ...

(1664–1707) * Frederick III Jacob (1673–1746), Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg :married 1. 1700 Princess Elisabeth Dorothea of Hesse-Darmstadt (1676–1721) :married 2. 1728 Princess

Christiane Charlotte of Nassau-Ottweiler Christiane Charlotte of Nassau-Ottweiler (2 September 1685 – 6 November 1761) was a Countess of Nassau-Ottweiler by birth and by marriage successively Countess of Nassau-Saarbrücken and countess of Hesse-Homburg. Life Christiane Charlotte w ...

(1685–1761) * Karl Christian (1674–1695), fell at the Siege of Namur * Hedwig Luise (1675–1760) :married 1718 Count Adam Friedrich von Schlieben (1677–1752) * Philipp (1676–1706), fell at the

Battle of Speyerbach The Battle of Speyerbach took place on 15 November 1703 in the War of the Spanish Succession. A French army besieging Landau surprised and defeated a German relief army near Speyer. Prelude In mid October 1703, the allied armies prepared to ...

in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

* Wilhelmine Maria (1678–1770) :married 1711 Count Anton II of Aldenburg (1681–1738) * Eleonore Margarete (1679–1763) * Elisabeth Juliana Francisca (1681–1707) :married 1702 Prince

Frederick William Adolf, Prince of Nassau-Siegen Prince Frederick William Adolf of Nassau-Siegen (20 February 1680 – 13 February 1722), german: link=no, Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf Fürst von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: ''Fürst zu Nassau, Graf zu Katzenelnbogen, Vianden, Diez, Limb ...

(1680–1722) * Johanna Ernestine (1682–1698) * Ferdinand (born and died 1683) * Karl Ferdinand (1684–1688) * Casimir William (1690–1726)

References

* Hugo Aust ''et al.''
''Fontane, Kleist und Hölderlin'' p. 12 ff
* Konstanze Grutschnig-Kieser
''Der Geistliche Würtz'', p. 224
* Jürgen Rainer Wolf: ''Die kurländische Erbschaft. Landgräfin Louise Elisabeth und die gescheiterten Hoffnungen des Hauses Hessen-Homburg'', Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, 1988 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Louise Elisabeth Of Courland Landgravines of Hesse 1646 births 1690 deaths 17th-century German people