Princess Maria Anna Amalia of Courland (12 June 1653 – 16 June 1711) was

Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel This is a list of the Landgravine, Electress and Grand Duchess of Hesse, the consorts of the Landgrave of Hesse and its successor states; and finally of the Electors and Grand Dukes of Hesse. Hesse Upper Hesse (Marburg) The only Landgrav ...

through her marriage to

Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Charles of Hesse-Kassel (german: Karl von Hessen-Kassel; 3 August 1654 – 23 March 1730), of the House of Hesse, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1670 to 1730. Childhood Charles was the second son of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kass ...

. She was the child of Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia and

Margravine Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg (13 September 1617 – 28 August 1676), was a Duchess consort of Courland by marriage to Duke Jacob Kettler of Courland. She was born to George William, Elector of Brandenburg and Elizabeth Charlotte of the ...

. Her eldest son was King

Frederick I of Sweden Frederick I ( sv, Fredrik I; 28 April 1676 – 5 April 1751) was prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and King of Sweden from 1720 until his death and (as ''Frederick I'') also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730. He ascended the throne f ...

. One of her daughters was the

most recent common ancestor In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...

of all currently reigning monarchs in Europe from 1939 to 1941 and 1943 to 2022.

Life

Maria Amalia was the daughter of

Jacob Kettler 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, sp ...

Duke of Courland and Semigallia The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia ( la, Ducatus Curlandiæ et Semigalliæ; german: Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen; lv, Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; lt, Kuršo ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštystė; pl, Księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii) was ...

(1610–1681) and his wife, Princess Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg (1617–1676). During the Northern Wars, from 1658 to 1660 Maria Amalia and her family were kept as prisoners by the invading

Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

and later in

Ivangorod Ivangorod ( rus, Иванго́род, p=ɪvɐnˈɡorət; et, Jaanilinn; vot, Jaanilidna) is a town in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the east bank of the Narva river which flows along the Estonia–Russia inte ...

. She was first engaged to her first cousin William VII,

Landgrave of 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 ...

(1651–1670), but he died during his

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

. She was then engaged to William's younger brother and heir,

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1654–1730), whom she married on 21 May 1673 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 landgravine, she participated in the creation of the Karlsaue Park in Kassel. The marmor fountain in the park contains a medallion by the Roman sculptor Pierre Etienne Monnot depicting Maria Amalia. In 1699, together with her son Maximilian, she bought Sensenstein Castle. She was described as modest, affable and pious. Maria Amalia died in 1711 and was buried in the Martinskirche of Kassel. The village of Mariendorf in Hesse, Germany was named in her memory.

Issue

Maria Amalia and her husband Charles had seventeen children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. Their eldest surviving son,

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoller ...

succeeded his father as

, while also becoming King of Sweden; their second-eldest surviving son William VIII also became landgrave after his brother's death * William (1674–1676) * Charles (1675–1677) *

(1676–1751),

Landgrave Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...

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 ...

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument o ...

, married firstly Princess Louise Dorothea of Prussia (1680–1705) in 1700 and had no issue; married secondly Queen

Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden Ulrika Eleonora or Ulrica Eleanor (23 January 1688 – 24 November 1741), known as Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, was Queen of Sweden, reigning in her own right from 5 December 1718 until her abdication on 29 February 1720 in favour of her husband ...

(1688–1741) in 1715 and had no issue * Christian (1677–1677) * Sophie Charlotte (1678–1749), married Duke Frederick William of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1675–1713) in 1704 and had no issue * Stillborn son (1679) * Charles (1680–1702) * William VIII (1682–1760),

, married Princess Dorothea Wilhelmina of Saxe-Zeitz (1691–1743) in 1717 and had issue * Leopold (1684–1704) * Louis (1686–1706) * Marie Luise (1688–1765), married Prince

John William Friso of Nassau-Dietz John William Friso ( nl, Johan Willem Friso; 14 August 1687 – 14 July 1711) became the (titular) Prince of Orange in 1702. He was the Stadtholder of Lordship of Frisia, Friesland and Groningen (province), Groningen in the Dutch Republic until ...

(1687–1711) in 1709 and had issue; together with her husband, were the most recent common ancestors of all currently reigning monarchs in Europe from 1939 to 1941 and from 1943 to 2022 *

Maximilian Maximilian, Maximillian or Maximiliaan (Maximilien in French) is a male given name. The name " Max" is considered a shortening of "Maximilian" as well as of several other names. List of people Monarchs *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459� ...

(1689–1753), married

Friederike Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt Friederike Charlotte of Hessen-Darmstadt (8 September 1698 Darmstadt – 22 March 1777, Darmstadt) was a princess of Hesse-Darmstadt and through her marriage a princess of Hesse-Kassel. Life She was a daughter of Ernest Louis, Landgrave of H ...

in 1720, and had issue * Daughter (1690) * George Charles (1691–1755) * Eleonore (1694) * Wilhelmine Charlotte (1695–1722) * Child (1696)

Ancestors

References and sources

* Christian Röth
''Geschichte von Hessen'' p. 305
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Amalia of Courland 1653 births 1711 deaths People from Jelgava House of Hesse-Kassel People from the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia Landgravines of Hesse-Kassel 17th-century German people 18th-century German people