Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal, Duchess of Munster (25 December 166710 May 1743) was a longtime mistress to

King George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...

Early life

She was born at

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

in the Duchy of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

. She was a daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, Baron von der Schulenburg,

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

to the

Elector of Brandenburg This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the primary constituent states of the Hol ...

, by his wife Petronella Ottilie von Schwencken and a sister to Federic Achatius, Count von der Schulenburg and Hehlen. Her brother was Marshal

Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg Marshal Johann Matthias Reichsgraf von der Schulenburg (8 August 1661 – 14 March 1747) was a German aristocrat and general of Brandenburg-Prussian background who served in the Saxon and Venetian armies in the early 18th century and found a seco ...

. Her middle name was probably given in reference to the

Melusine Mélusine () or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a lamia or a mermaid). She is also s ...

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. Role Traditionally, a queen r ...

Electress Sophia Sophia of Hanover (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the Electress of Hanover by marriage to Elector Ernest Augustus and later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Grea ...

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

Elector of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover (german: Kurfürstentum Hannover or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, located in northwestern Germany and taking its name from the capital city of Hanover. It was formally known as ...

in 1698 and

King of Great Britain The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

(as George I) in 1714. Melusine moved with him to England, and on 18 July 1716 was created for life Duchess of Munster, Marchioness of Dungannon, Countess of Dungannon and Baroness Dundalk, in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

. 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 r ...

. In 1723

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor , house = Habsburg , spouse = , issue = , issue-link = #Children , issue-pipe = , father = Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor , mother = Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg , birth_date ...

, 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 statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

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 Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

called her "the Goose", most famously in the taunting Scots ballad ''

Cam Ye O'er Frae France Cam ye o'er frae France? is a Scots folk song from the time of the Jacobite rebellions of the 18th century. It satirises the marital problems of the Hanoverian George I. Background After the death of Queen Anne the British crown passed on to G ...

''. When in England, she lived principally at

Kendal House Kendal House was a historic property located near the River Thames in Isleworth, then to the west of London. It was constructed for the use of Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal, who had been the long-standing mistress of George I. Af ...

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

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. 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, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic 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 t ...

age. This she sold to

William Wood William Wood may refer to: Politicians * William Wood (MP for Berkshire), Member of Parliament (MP) for Berkshire, 1395 * William Wood (15th century MP), MP for Winchester, 1413 * William Wood, 1st Baron Hatherley (1801–1881), British state ...

, a

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

merchant, who flooded the country with inferior coins, leading

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

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 of ...

from exile. Melusine bore George three illegitimate children: *Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg, Countess of Dölitz (1692–1773), who married Ernest August Philipp von dem Bussche-Ippenburg. *Petronilla Melusina von der Schulenburg (1693–1778), 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, and man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. Early life He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Ches ...

, a leading Whig politician. * Margarethe Gertrud von Oeynhausen (1701–1726), who married

Albrecht Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe Albrecht Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe (27 April 1699 – 24 September 1748) was a ruler of the County of Schaumburg-Lippe. Biography He was born in Bückeburg the son of Friedrich Christian, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe and his first wife ...

. 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 von Oeynhausen (1668–1755).

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

External links

* {{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

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

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

Early life

Royal mistress

Later life and death

See also

References

External links