Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg (5 April 1674 – 22 November 1748), was a Duchess consort of

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

by marriage to Duke

Frederick Casimir Kettler Frederick Casimir Kettler (German: ''Friedrich Casimir Kettler''; 6 July 1650 – 22 January 1698) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1682 to 1698. Frederick Casimir was the son of Jacob Kettler and Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg. In his ...

of Courland, a Margravine consort of

Brandenburg-Bayreuth The Principality of Bayreuth () or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (''Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth'') was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Since Burgrave Frederi ...

by marriage to

Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth Christian Ernst of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (6 August 1644 in Bayreuth – 20 May 1712 in Erlangen) was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. He was the only son of Erdmann August, Hereditary Margrave (''E ...

, and a Duchess consort of

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen ( ; ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine line of the House of Wettin, located in the southwest of the present-day Germany, German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ern ...

by marriage to Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. She was joint regent in Courland during the minority of her son

Frederick William, Duke of Courland Frederick William (; 19 July 1692 – 21 January 1711) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1698 to 1711. Frederick Wilhelm was the son of Friedrich Kasimir Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia and Princess Elisabeth Sophie of Brande ...

from 1698 until 1701.Andrea Schödl: Frauen und dynastische Politik (1703–1723) – Die Markgräfinnen Elisabeth Sophie von Brandenburg und Christiane Charlotte von Ansbach . Kulmbach 2007.

Biography

Elisabeth Sophie was born to

Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg Frederick William (; 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 popularly known as "th ...

and his second wife, Duchess

Sophia Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Sophia most commonly refers to: * Sophia (wisdom), a central idea in Hellenistic philosophy and religion * Sophia (Gnosticism), a feminine figure in Gnosticism * Sophia (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters named Sophia ...

Courland

She married (29 April 1691) her cousin, Duke

of Courland (1650–1698). The marriage was arranged as an alliance between the two families; in 1703 her brother

Albert Frederick Albert Frederick (; ; 7 May 1553 – 27 August 1618) was the Duke of Prussia, from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch ...

was to marry her first husband's daughter, Mary Dorothea. When her husband died in 1698, Elisabeth Sophie became joint guardian-regent along with her former brother-in-law Ferdinand. In January 1701, Elisabeth Sophie left Courland, her son and stepdaughter for her brother's court in Berlin. In 1703, she was formally deprived of the custody of her son and the regency. She was later given a Russian allowance from

Anna of Russia Anna Ioannovna (; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much of her administratio ...

Brandenburg-Bayreuth

She married

(6 August 1644 – 20 May 1712) on 30 March 1703 in Potsdam. She is said to have dominated him completely and directed his policy in a pro-Prussian direction. He gave her the palace Markgräfliches Schloss Erlangen, which was named after her. She was described as proud and a great lover of pomp and ceremony. Her expenses had a bad effect on the finances of the state.

Saxe-Meiningen

She married on 3 June 1714 on

Schloss Ehrenburg Ehrenburg Palace (German: ''Schloss Ehrenburg'') is a palace in Coburg, Franconia, Germany. It served as the main Coburg residence for the ruling princes from the 1540s until 1918. The palace's exterior today mostly reflects Gothic Revival style. ...

to Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (1672–1724).

Issue

* Frederick William Kettler, Duke of Courland (19 July 1692 – 21 January 1711). * Leopold Charles Kettler (14 December 1693 – 21 July 1697).

Ancestry

References

1674 births 1748 deaths 17th-century Latvian people 17th-century Latvian women 17th-century women regents 17th-century regents Duchesses of Courland Margravines of Brandenburg-Bayreuth Duchesses of Saxe-Meiningen 18th-century women regents 18th-century regents Daughters of dukes Remarried duchesses consort Daughters of prince-electors {{Germany-duchess-stub