Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1395 – 28 December 1442,

Grimma Grimma (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, southeast of Leipzig. Founded in 1170, it is part of the Leipzig district. Location The town is in northern Saxony, southeast of Leipzig and south of Wurz ...

) was a member of the

House of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse-Mo ...

, a princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and by marriage, the Electress of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

Life

Catherine was the only daughter and second child of the Duke Henry I of Brunswick-Lüneburg († 1416) from his first marriage to Sophie († June 1400), daughter of Duke Wartislaw VI of Pomerania. As a 7-year-old she married on 7 February 1402 Margrave Frederick IV "the Warlike" of Meissen (1370–1428), who in 1425 became the first Elector of Saxony, as Frederick I. The elector lost a large part of his army in the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, a ...

in 1421 in the

Battle of Brüx The Battle of Brüx was fought on 5 August 1421 in North Bohemia during the Hussite Wars. The Hussite troops, led by Jan Želivský, were defeated by the Catholic Imperial forces of Frederick I of Saxony. Battle On 16 March 1421, the Hussite tro ...

. During Frederick's absence, Electress Catherine organized another army of 20,000 men, which rushed to Frederick's aid, but was defeated devastatingly in the

Battle of Aussig The Battle of Aussig () was fought on 16 June 1426, between Roman Catholic crusaders and the Hussites during the Fourth Crusade of the Hussite Wars. It was fought near Aussig ( Ústí nad Labem) in northern Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the ...

in 1426. Catherine spent time with her husband, but more frequently alone, at Mildenstein Castle in

Leisnig Leisnig (, ) is a small town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the free state of Saxony in Germany, 50 kilometers southeast of Leipzig. History A settlement in this location was first mentioned in 1046. The town features Mildenstein Castle ...

, which thereby developed into a private residence of the Saxon Electors. She is buried in the Princely Chapel in

Meissen Cathedral Meissen Cathedral or the Church of St John and St Donatus () is a Gothic church in Meissen in Saxony. It is situated on the castle hill of Meissen, adjacent to the Albrechtsburg castle and forms a critical centrepiece of the iconic Meissen skyli ...

Offspring

From her marriage Catherine had the following children: # Catherine, died young; #

Frederick II, Elector of Saxony Frederick II, The Gentle (''Friedrich, der Sanftmütige''; Frederick the Gentle; 22 August 1412 – 7 September 1464) was Elector of Saxony (1428–1464) and was Landgrave of Thuringia (1440–1445). Biography Frederick was born in Leipzig, th ...

(1412 – 1464); # Sigismund, Bishop of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

, (3 March 1416 – 24 December 1471); #

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

, (5 June 1420 – 17 September 1462), married to

Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse Louis I (; 6 February 140217 January 1458), nicknamed the Peaceful (), was Landgraviate of Hesse, Landgrave of Hesse from 1413 to 1458. Following Louis' death, his sons, Henry III and Louis II, divided Hesse into Upper Hesse, Upper and Lower Hes ...

; #

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

, (1421 – 23 August 1476,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

), married to Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg; #

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, (21 May 1422 – 22 July 1435); # William III, Duke of Luxemburg (1425 – 1482), Landgrave of Thuringia, Duke of Luxemburg; married ## in 1446,

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

(1432–1462) ## in 1463, Catherine of Brandenstein († 1492)

References

* Jens Kunze
The Leisnig district in the 15th Century, p. 191

General German Real-Encyclopaedia for the educated classes, Volume 5 by FA Brockhaus Verlag Leipzig, p. 633
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunswick-Luneburg, Catherine of 1395 births 1442 deaths

Daughters of dukes Mothers of Saxon monarchs