Moritz_Wilhelm,_Herzog_von_Sachsen-Merseburg_2

Maurice Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg (5 February 1688 – 21 April 1731) was a duke of

Saxe-Merseburg The Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and con ...

and member of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...

. He was born in

Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...

, the fifth (but second surviving) son of

Christian II, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg Christian II of Saxe-Merseburg (19 November 1653 – 20 October 1694), was a duke of Saxe-Merseburg and member of the House of Wettin. He was the second (but eldest surviving) son of Christian I, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg, and Christiana of S ...

, and

Erdmuthe Dorothea of Saxe-Zeitz Erdmuthe Dorothea of Saxe-Zeitz (13 November 1661 – 29 April 1720) was the wife of Duke Christian II of Saxe-Merseburg, whom she married on 14 October 1679 at Moritzburg Palace in Zeitz. Regent of the duchy of Saxe-Merseburg After her husban ...

Life

Maurice Wilhelm succeeded his older brother Christian III Maurice, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg, when he died on 14 November 1694 after only twenty-five days of rule. As he was only six years of age at the time, his mother, the dowager duchess Erdmuthe Dorothea, acted as regent until he reached his majority in 1712. Until then, the administration of the duchy was supervised by the Elector

Frederick Augustus I of Saxony pl, Fryderyk August Józef Maria Antoni Jan Nepomucen Alojzy Ksawery , image = Frederick Augustus I of Saxony by Marcello Bacciarelli (ca 1808-1809).png , caption = Portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli (1809) , succession = King of Saxony , coron ...

. The custody of the young duke, whoever, was actually in the hands of the dowager duchess Erdmuthe Dorothea, who took an interest in the government of the duchy until 1709, and his uncle

August, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Zörbig August, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Zörbig (Merseburg, 15 February 1655 – Zörbig, 27 March 1715), was a German prince and member of the House of Wettin. He was the third but second surviving son of Christian I, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg and Chris ...

. An enthusiastic

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist, he was known as the "Geigenherzog" (the violinist duke).

Marriage and issue

Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'' ...

on 4 November 1711, Maurice Wilhelm married

Henriette Charlotte of Nassau-Idstein Henriette Charlotte of Nassau-Idstein (9 November 1693 – 8 April 1734), was a German noblewoman member of the House of Nassau and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Merseburg. Born in Idstein Castle, Idstein, she was the fourth of twelve children born ...

. They only had one daughter: #Fredericka Ulrike (b. and d. Merseburg, 23 June 1720).Officially recognized as his daughter, but in all probability she was fathered by Friedrich Carl von Pöllnitz, Henriette's lover. After his death at

, without male issue, he was succeeded by his uncle

Heinrich Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

Notes

References

* Christoph Henzel: ''Zur Merseburger Hofmusik unter Herzog Moritz Wilhelm.'' In: ''Mitteldeutschland im musikalischen Glanz seiner Residenzen – Sachsen, Böhmen und Schlesien als Musiklandschaften im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert'',

Peter Wollny Peter Wollny (born 29 June 1961) is a German musicologist, a Bach scholar who has served the Bach Archive Leipzig beginning in 1993, and as its director from 2014. Wollny has contributed to the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, and has been an editor of '' Car ...

(ed.), Beeskow, 2005, pp. 95–105 {{DEFAULTSORT:Maurice Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg 1688 births 1731 deaths House of Saxe-Merseburg Dukes of Saxe-Merseburg People from Merseburg Albertine branch Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)