Princess Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł ( lt, Liudvika Karolina Radvilaitė; 27 February 1667 – 25 March 1695) was a

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

Princess of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...

and an active

reformer A reformer is someone who works for reform. Reformer may also refer to: *Catalytic reformer, in an oil refinery *Methane reformer, producing hydrogen * Steam reformer *Hydrogen reformer, extracting hydrogen *Methanol reformer, producing hydrogen ...

Life

Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...

in the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...

. A member of the Radziwiłł family, she was the last agnatic-line member of the most prominent

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

s of Lithuania, and a descendant of the

Gediminids The House of Gediminid or simply the Gediminids ( lt, Gediminaičiai, sgs, Gedėmėnātē, be, Гедзімінавічы, pl, Giedyminowicze, uk, Гедиміновичі;) were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reig ...

and

Jagiellons The Jagiellonian dynasty (, pl, dynastia jagiellońska), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty ( pl, dynastia Jagiellonów), the House of Jagiellon ( pl, Dom Jagiellonów), or simply the Jagiellons ( pl, Jagiellonowie), was the name assumed by a cad ...

. Radziwiłł inherited Dubingiai,

Slutsk Slutsk ( officially transliterated as Sluck, be, Слуцк; russian: Слуцк; pl, Słuck, lt, Sluckas, Yiddish/Hebrew: סלוצק ''Slutsk'') is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2022, its population is ...

and many other lands from her father Prince

Bogusław Radziwiłł Bogusław Radziwiłł ( lt, Boguslavas Radvila; 3 May 1620 – 31 December 1669) was a Polish princely magnate and a member of the Polish-Lithuanian ''szlachta'', or nobility. He was of the Radziwiłł magnate family. By birth he was an I ...

. Her mother was an heiress in her own right and brought much wealth including the duchies of

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23,667. Its old town dates to ...

and

Biržai Biržai (, known also by several alternative names) is a town in northern Lithuania. Biržai is famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, and the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries. Names The name of ...

. Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł's death in Brieg in 1695 marks the end of the Biržai-Dubingiai Radziwiłł family line. She was the last Radziwiłł to own

Biržai Castle Biržai Castle is a castle in Biržai, Lithuania. Construction of the earth bastion-type castle started in 1586 by the order of Krzysztof Mikołaj "the Lightning" Radziwiłł. In 1575, preparing for this construction, a dam was built on the Ag ...

and Dubingiai Castle with their lands. Her father, Prince Bogusław Radziwiłł was the son of

Janusz Radziwill (1579–1620) Janusz () is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People *Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter *Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician *Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic priest ...

and Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg, and along with his cousin (and future father-in-law)

Janusz Radziwiłł (1612–55) Janusz Radziwiłł is the name of several Polish–Lithuanian nobles: * Janusz Radziwiłł (1579–1620) Janusz Radziwiłł ( lt, Jonušas Radvila; 2 July 1579 – 3 December 1620) was a noble and magnate of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealt ...

played a dramatic and treacherous role in

The Deluge The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is the Hebrew version of the universal flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the micro ...

, or Swedish invasion of Poland. Following the Swedish retreat and Polish resurgence, Bogusław Radziwiłł chose exile in Brandenburg-Prussia, with his mother's family. His wife and Ludwika Karolina's mother, Anna Maria Radziwiłł, the only child and heiress of Janusz Radziwiłł died shortly after giving birth to Ludwika Karolina. Bogusław followed less than two years later, leaving the infant Radziwiłł orphaned and very wealthy. Her guardianship was entrusted to her father's cousin and host (and her future father-in-law)

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...

. Radziwiłł spent most of her life in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

and Königsberg, but paid much attention to her lands in the grand duchy. Like her father, she funded the printing of books in the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 milli ...

, and supported education and

parishes. She established scholarships for Lithuanian students of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

in the universities of Königsberg,

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

, and Berlin. Radziwiłł financed the issue of the catechism and primer in the

, ''Pradzia pamoksla del mazu Weykialu…'', which was printed in Königsberg in 1680. It was the second primer intended for schools following the Catechism by Martynas Mažvydas. Radziwiłł was sued by King

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...

for the alleged breach of the

prenuptial agreement A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple prior to marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the leg ...

with his son, Jakub Ludwik Sobieski, with the intention to seize her estates. The case was lost, since it was proven that the agreement was falsified; its conclusion date was later than Radziwiłł's actual marriage date.Barbora Radvilaitė. Kas ji?
Voruta Radziwiłł first married Margrave Louis of Brandenburg (1666-1687), the youngest son of Frederick William the Great Elector and Princess Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau, at

Königsberg Castle The Königsberg Castle (german: Königsberger Schloss, russian: Кёнигсбергский замок, Konigsbergskiy zamok) was a castle in Königsberg, Germany (since 1946 Kaliningrad, Russia), and was one of the landmarks of the East Prussian ...

on 7 January 1681 at the age of thirteen. She gave the lordships of

Serrey Seirijai is a small town in Alytus County in southern Lithuania. In 2011 it had a population of 788. Etymology Seirijai toponym came from the lake ''Seirijis'', which got its name from the creek ''Seira'' name of which is of Dainavian dielect o ...

and Tauroggen in Lithuania to the margrave shortly before his death in 1687. The properties passed to the Brandenburg electors of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...

despite the protests of John Sobieski as king of Poland. Following her second marriage into the Sulzbach branch of the House of Wittelsbach, the

Elector Palatine The counts palatine of Lotharingia /counts palatine of the Rhine /electors of the Palatinate (german: Kurfürst von der Pfalz) ruled some part of Rhine area in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire from 915 to 1803. The title was a kind ...

also claimed the two properties in right of his wife. The dispute was not resolved until a compromise was signed in 1741 between the Sulzbachs and the King of Prussia in 1741, by which the Hohenzollerns kept the lands in question but recognized the rights of Count Palatine Charles Theodore of Sulzbach to succeed to the throne of the Palatinate when its line of Wittelsbachs died out. After Louis's untimely early death, Radziwiłł married

Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine Charles III Philip (4 November 1661 – 31 December 1742) was Elector Palatine, Count of Palatinate-Neuburg, and Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1716 to 1742. Until 1728 he was also Count of Megen. Biography Born in Neuburg an der Donau, Charles ...

. Her heirs were born of this second marriage. Of their four children, only the youngest daughter,

Countess Palatine Elizabeth Augusta Sophie of Neuburg Elisabeth Auguste of Neuburg (Elisabeth Auguste Sofie; 1693–1728) was the only surviving child of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine. The Palatinate-Neuburg line became extinct with her father and was succeeded by the Palatinate-Sulzbach lin ...

survived childhood. Her descendants include Kings of Bavaria and a number of other royal and princely families, including Duchess Amalie in Bavaria, who married Duke Wilhelm Karl of Urach, who, after Lithuania was declared independent in 1918, would be invited by the

Council of Lithuania The Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Taryba, german: Litauischer Staatsrat, pl, Rada Litewska), after July 11, 1918 the State Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Valstybės Taryba) was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place betwe ...

to be King Mindaugas II of Lithuania, and was mother of the latter's children and descendants.

Marriages and issue

On 7 January 1681, Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł married Margrave Louis of Brandenburg. He died suddenly the morning of 7 April 1687 amid rumors of poison. This marriage was childless. Radziwiłł remarried in Berlin on 10 August 1688 to the future

, brother-in-law of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. The couple had four children, of whom only one survived childhood: * Countess Palatine Leopoldine Eleonore Josephine of Neuburg (27 December 1689, Brieg – 8 March 1693). * Countess Palatine Maria Anna of Neuburg (7 December 1690 – 1692). * Countess Palatine Elisabeth Auguste Sofie of Neuburg (17 March 1693, Brieg – 30 January 1728, Mannheim); married on 1717 to her kinsman Joseph Charles, Hereditary Prince of Sulzbach. * a son (born and died 22 March 1695, Brieg).

Ancestry

References

*Bogusław Radziwiłł (1979) ''Autobiografia''. Warsaw. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Radziwill, Liudvika Karolina 1667 births 1695 deaths Nobility from Königsberg People from the Duchy of Prussia Lithuanian Calvinist and Reformed Christians Polish Calvinist and Reformed Christians Liudvika Karolina Radvilaite Countesses Palatine of Neuburg House of Wittelsbach Lithuanian princesses House of Hohenzollern Electresses of the Palatinate Margravines of Brandenburg Duchesses of Jülich Duchesses of Berg German royalty 17th-century Prussian people 17th-century Polish landowners 17th-century Lithuanian people 17th-century Lithuanian women 17th-century Polish women 17th-century Prussian women Deaths in childbirth Burials at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Heidelberg