Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg (6 April 1573 7 August 1643), was a German 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 ...

and the Duchess of

Saxe-Coburg Saxe-Coburg () was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany. History Ernestine Line When Henry IV, Count of Henneberg – Schleusingen, died in 1347, the possessions of the House of Henneberg ...

by marriage. Born in

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...

, she was the ninth of fifteen children born from the marriage of

William the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg William (4 July 1535 – 20 August 1592), called William the Younger ('), was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Prince of Lüneburg from 1559 until his death. Until 1569 he ruled together with his brother, Henry of Dannenberg. William was ...

and Dorothea, Princess of Denmark.

Life

Margaret married John Casamir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg in

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

on 16 September 1599, becoming his second wife. Most of the wedding guests stayed before and during the marriage festivities at Heldburg Castle. Gilded state coaches, which were originally part of her mother's dowry, were used for the occasion; they are one of the oldest still functioning coaches in the world and currently displayed at the

Veste Coburg The Veste Coburg (Coburg Fortress) is one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses of Germany. It is situated on a hill above the town of Coburg, in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria. Geography Location Veste Coburg dominates the town of C ...

. John Casimir celebrated his marriage with the famous ''Coburg Taler'': on the obverse showed a kissing couple with the inscription WIE KVSSEN SICH DIE ZWEY SO FEIN (''A well kiss between two''), while on the reverse, showed a nun with the inscription: WER KVST MICH - ARMES NVNNELIN (''who kiss you now, poor nun?''). This nun was

Anna of Saxony Anna of Saxony (23 December 1544 – 18 December 1577) was the heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes, eldest daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. Maurice's only son, Albert, died in infancy. Anna was the second wife of Willia ...

, his first wife, whom he repudiated and imprisoned for adultery. John Casimir and Margaret had a happy marriage, but they had no children. After John Casimir's death in 1633 Saxe-Coburg was inherited by his brother

John Ernest John Ernest (May 6, 1922 – July 21, 1994) was an American-born constructivist abstract artist. He was born in Philadelphia, in 1922. After living and working in Sweden and Paris from 1946 to 1951, he moved to London, England, where he lived and w ...

. Margaret returned to her homeland,

, where she died ten years later, aged 70. She was buried in the ''Stadtkirche'', Celle.

Notes

References

*Thomas Nicklas: ''Das Haus Sachsen-Coburg – Europas späte Dynastie''. ed. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2003. *Carl Kiesewetter: ''Faust in der Geschichte und Tradition'', Georg Olms ed., 1978. *Sigismund Librowicz: ''Der Kuss und das küssen'', LIT ed. Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, 2004. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunswick-Luneburg, Margaret of Duchesses in the Holy Roman Empire

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

1573 births 1643 deaths People from Celle

Daughters of dukes Duchesses of Saxe-Coburg