Maria of Saxony (german: Maria von Sachsen; 15 December 1515 in
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
– 7 January 1583 in
Wolgast
Wolgast (; csb, Wòłogòszcz) is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait) Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast that can be ...
) was a member of the Ernestine line of the house
Wettin and a Princess of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Pomerania.
Life
Mary was the eldest daughter of the Elector
John "the Steadfast" of Saxony (1468–1532) from his second marriage to
Margaret of Anhalt-Köthen
Margaret of Anhalt (12 November 1494, Köthen – 7 October 1521, Weimar) was a member of the House of Ascania and was a princess of Anhalt by birth and by marriage Duchess of Saxony.
Life
Margaret was a daughter of Prince Waldemar VI from ...
(1494–1521), daughter Prince of
Waldemar VI of Anhalt-Zerbst.
She married on 27 February 1536 in
Torgau
Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.
Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies forces first ...
Duke
Philip I Philip(p) I may refer to:
* Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC)
* Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC)
* Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor
* Philip I of France (1052–1108)
* Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) (1 ...
of Pomerania (1515–1560). The marriage of the couple is depicted on the so-called
Croÿ Carpet, which shows, in addition to the bridal couple and their families, the Reformers
Johannes Bugenhagen
Johannes Bugenhagen (24 June 1485 – 20 April 1558), also called ''Doctor Pomeranus'' by Martin Luther, was a German theologian and Lutheran priest who introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th ce ...
,
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
and
Philipp Melanchthon
Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...
. The carpet comes from Cranach's workshop and is now in the
Pomerania State Museum
The Pomeranian State Museum (german: Pommersches Landesmuseum) in Greifswald, Western Pomerania, is a public museum primarily dedicated to Pomeranian history and arts. The largest exhibitions show archeological findings and artefacts from the ...
in Greifswald. During the ceremony, Martin Luther is reported to have dropped one of the rings, whereupon and he said: "Hey, devils this is none of your business!''.
The marriage of Philip with Maria was meant to ally Pomerania with Saxony, which was leading the
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
faction in the
Diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
. The marriage had been mediated by the Reformer Johannes Bugenhagen. Later that year, Pomerania joined the
Schmalkaldic League
The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century.
Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...
.
After her husband's death Mary, who had been promised the district of the
Pudagla
Pudagla is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Geography and Transport
Pudagla is located between the Achterwasser lagoon about 1500 metres to the west, the Schmollensee lake directly to t ...
as her
Wittum Wittum (), Widum or Witthum is a medieval Latin legal term, known in marital and ecclesiastical law.
Provide for a widow at the wedding
The term referred initially to steps taken by a husband to provide for his wife if she became a widow. The wi ...
, initially continued living at
Wolgast Castle
Wolgast Castle was a castle in the city of Wolgast in the northeast of today's Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It was located on a small barrier island in the Peenestrom, the strait which separates Usedom island from the mainland. The island is still ca ...
. In 1569, her son
Ernest Louis, took over the business of government in the Duchy and granted her the income from the land of the former monastery Pudagla as
jointure
Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the dea ...
and in 1574, he built her
Pudagla Castle
Pudagla is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Geography and Transport
Pudagla is located between the Achterwasser lagoon about 1500 metres to the west, the Schmollensee lake directly to t ...
using materials from the demolished monastery buildings.
[Dirk Schleinert: ''Die Geschichte der Insel Usedom'', Hinstorff, Rostock, 2005, , p. 67f]
Issue
From her marriage with Philip, Maria had the following children:
* George (1540–1544)
*
John Frederick I
John Frederick I (30 June 1503 in Torgau – 3 March 1554 in Weimar), called the Magnanimous, was the Elector of Saxony (1532–1547) and head of the Schmalkaldic League.
Early years
John Frederick was the eldest son of Elector John by his firs ...
(1542–1600), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast
: married in 1577 Princess
Erdmuthe of Brandenburg
Erdmuthe of Brandenburg (26 June 1561 – 13 November 1623) was a Princess of Brandenburg and by marriage Duchess of Pomerania.
Life
Erdmuthe was born in Berlin, the eldest daughter of the Elector of Brandenburg John George (1525–1598) from ...
(1561–1623)
*
Bogislaw XIII
Bogislaw XIII (Bogusław XIII) of Pomerania (9 August 1544 – 7 March 1606, Stettin; ''Polish'': Szczecin), son of Philip I and Maria of Saxony, was a prince of Stettin and Wolgast, and a member of the Griffins.
Bogislaw studied at the Univer ...
(1544–1606), Duke of Pomerania-Barth
: married firstly, in 1572 Princess Claire of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1550–1598)
: married secondly, in 1601 Princess Anne of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (1577–1616)
*
Ernest Louis (1545–1592)
: married in 1577 Princess Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1561–1631)
* Amalie (1547–1580)
*
Barnim X (1549–1603), Duke of Pomerania-Rügenwalde
: married in
Anna Maria of Brandenburg
Anna Maria of Brandenburg (3 February 1567 in Zechlin Palace, Rheinberg – 14 November 1618 in Wolin (town), Wolin) was a Electorate of Brandenburg, Princess of Brandenburg by birth and marriage Duchess of Duchy of Pomerania, Pomerania.
Life
An ...
(1567–1618)
* Eric (1551–1551)
* Margaret (1553–1581)
: married in 1574 Duke
Francis II of Saxe-Lauenburg
Francis II of Saxe-Lauenburg ( Ratzeburg, 10 August 1547 – 2 July 1619, Lauenburg upon Elbe), was the third son of Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Sybille of Saxe-Freiberg (Freiberg, 2 May 1515 – 18 July 1592, Buxtehude), daughter of Duke ...
(1547–1619)
* Anna (1554–1626)
: married in 1588 Duke
Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1528–1603)
*
Casimir VI (1557–1605), bishop of Cammin
Ancestry
References
Bibliography
* Horst Robert Balz, Gerhard Krause, Gerhard Müller: ''Theologische Realenzyklopädie'', vol. 27, de Gruyter, Berlin, 1997, p. 44
Digitized
* Carola Jäggi,
Jörn Staecker: ''Archäologie der Reformation'', de Gruyter, Berlin, 2007, p. 355 ff
Digitized
* Heinrich Karl Wilhelm Berghaus: ''Landbuch des Herzogthums Pommern und des Fürstenthums Rügen'', vol. 1, Anklam, 1865, p. 544
Digitized
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria of Saxony, Duchess Of Pomerania
House of Griffins
House of Wettin
1515 births
1583 deaths
16th-century German people