Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'' Duchess of Kendal and Duchess of Munster (25 December 166710 May 1743) was a longtime mistress to

King George I of Great Britain King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

Early life

She was born at

Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...

in the Duchy of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

. She was a daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, Baron von der Schulenburg, Privy Councillor to the

Elector of Brandenburg This article lists the Margraves and Prince-elector, Electors of Margraviate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg during the time when Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the prima ...

, by his wife Petronella Ottilie von Schwencken. Her brothers were Marshal Johann Matthias Imperial Count (''Reichsgraf'') von der Schulenburg and General Daniel Bodo Count von der Schulenburg and her sisters were Margarethe ''Gertrud'' von der Schulenburg (married to kinsman Friedrich Achaz von der Schulenburg und Hehlen), Sophia Juliane von der Schulenburg (married to Rabe Christoph von Oeynhausen), and Anna Elisabeth von der Schulenburg (married to Georg Friedrich von Spörcken). Her middle name was probably given in reference to the

Melusine Mélusine () or Melusine or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a nixie (folklore), female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a Serpent symbolism, serpent or Fish in culture, fish fr ...

legends.

Royal mistress

Once a

Maid of Honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Tudors and Stuarts Traditi ...

to Electress Sophia, she became a mistress of the Electoral Prince, George Louis. George Louis succeeded as

Elector of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover ( or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire located in northwestern Germany that arose from the Principality of Calenberg. Although formally known as the Electorate of Brunswick-Lünebur ...

in 1698 and

King of Great Britain There have been 13 British monarchs since the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707. England and Scotland had been in personal union since 24 March 1603; while the style, "King of Great Britain" fi ...

(as George I) in 1714. Melusine moved with him to England, and on 18 July 1716 was created for life Duchess of

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

, Marchioness of Dungannon, Countess of Dungannon and Baroness Dundalk, in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

. On 19 March 1719 she was further created Duchess of Kendal, Countess of Feversham and Baroness Glastonbury, in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself repla ...

. In 1723

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI (; ; 1 October 1685 – 20 October 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully War of ...

, created her Princess of Eberstein. This last creation in particular tended to support the theory that she had married the King in secret.

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

said of her that she was "as much the queen of England as anyone was". George's wife Sophia had been kept in imprisonment since their divorce in 1694. The Duchess of Kendal was a very thin woman, being known in Germany as "the Scarecrow" () and in England as "the Maypole". The Jacobites called her "the Goose", most famously in the taunting Scots ballad '' Cam Ye O'er Frae France''. When in England, she lived principally at Kendal House in

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hounslow, West London, England. It lies immediately east of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's original area of ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. She obtained large sums of money by selling public offices and titles; she also sold patent rights, including the privilege of supplying Ireland with a new copper

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

age. This she sold to William Wood, a

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

merchant, who flooded the country with inferior coins, leading

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

to write his ''

Drapier's Letters ''Drapier's Letters'' is the collective name for a series of seven pamphlets written between 1724 and 1725 by the Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Jonathan Swift, to arouse public opinion in Ireland against the imposition of a priv ...

''. In political matters, she had much influence with the king, and she received £10,000 (£ in ) for procuring the recall of

Viscount Bolingbroke Viscount Bolingbroke is a current title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1712 for Henry St John. He was simultaneously made Baron St John, of Lydiard Tregoze in the County of Wilts. Since 1751, the titles are merged with the titles ...

from exile. Melusine bore George three illegitimate children: *Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg, Countess of Dölitz (1 January 1692– 2 November 1773), who married Ernest August Philipp von dem Bussche-Ippenburg. *Petronilla ''Melusina'' von der Schulenburg (1 April 1693–16 September 1778), who married

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (22 September 169424 March 1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. Early life He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Chesterfie ...

, a leading Whig politician. * Margarethe Gertrud von Oeynhausen (10 January 1701–8 April 1726), who married Albrecht Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe. Anna Luise Sophie and Petronilla Melusina were officially acknowledged as the children of Melusine's sister Gertrud (1659–1697) and her husband Friedrich Achaz von der Schulenburg (1647–1701), a kinsman of the sisters who shared their surname. Margarethe Gertrud was officially named von Oeynhausen because she was recognised as the daughter of Melusine's other sister, Sophia Juliane (1668–1755) and her husband Rabe Christoph von Oeynhausen (1655–1748).

Later life and death

After George's death, she kept a raven she believed to be the dead king. Deary, Terry. ''Cruel Kings and Mean Queens''. London: Scholastic, 1995. p. 42. She died, unmarried (unless George I had wedded her), on 10 May 1743.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendal, Melusine Von Der Schulenburg, Duchess Of 1667 births 1743 deaths People from Börde (district)

Mistresses of British royalty German baronesses British duchesses Life peeresses created by George I 17th-century German people 18th-century German people 17th-century German women 18th-century German women 18th-century English women 18th-century English people

Dukes in the Peerage of Great Britain British maids of honour Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire Immigrants to the Kingdom of Great Britain

Early life

Royal mistress

Later life and death

See also

References