January 27, 1859: Birth of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia

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Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, Dr. August Wegner, Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia, House of Hohenzollern, Physician Sir James Clark, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, The Princess Royal, Wilhelm II

Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; January 27, 1859 – June 4, 1941) was the last German Emperor (German: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from June 15, 1888 until his abdication on November 9, 1918.

Wilhelm was born in Berlin on January 27, 1859—at the Crown Prince’s Palace—to Victoria, Princess Royal “Vicky”, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. His father was Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (“Fritz” – the future Emperor Friedrich III).

At the time of his birth, his granduncle, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, was king of Prussia. Friedrich Wilhelm IV had been left permanently incapacitated by a series of strokes, and his younger brother Prince Wilhelm was acting as regent.

Upon the death of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV in January 1861, Wilhelm’s paternal grandfather (the elder Wilhelm) became King of Prussia, and the two-year-old Wilhelm became second in the line of succession to Prussia.

After 1871, Wilhelm also became second in the line to the newly created German Empire, which, according to the constitution of the German Empire, was ruled by the Prussian King. At the time of his birth, he was also sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, after his maternal uncles and his mother.

Traumatic birth

Shortly before midnight on January 26, 1859, Wilhelm’s mother experienced labour pains, followed by her water breaking, after which Dr. August Wegner, the family’s personal physician, was summoned. Upon examining Victoria, Wegner realised the infant was in the breech position; gynaecologist Eduard Arnold Martin was then sent for, arriving at the palace at 10 am on January 27.

After administering ipecac and prescribing a mild dose of chloroform, which was administered by Victoria’s personal physician Sir James Clark, Martin advised Fritz the unborn child’s life was endangered. As mild anaesthesia did not alleviate her extreme labour pains, resulting in her “horrible screams and wails”, Clark finally administered full anaesthesia.

Observing her contractions to be insufficiently strong, Martin administered a dose of ergot extract, and at 2:45 pm saw the infant’s buttocks emerging from the birth canal, but noticed the pulse in the umbilical cord was weak and intermittent.

Despite this dangerous sign, Martin ordered a further heavy dose of chloroform so he could better manipulate the infant. Observing the infant’s legs to be raised upwards and his left arm likewise raised upwards and behind his head, Martin “carefully eased out the Prince’s legs”.

Due to the “narrowness of the birth canal”, he then forcibly pulled the left arm downwards, tearing the brachial plexus, then continued to grasp the left arm to rotate the infant’s trunk and free the right arm, likely exacerbating the injury. After completing the delivery, and despite realising the newborn prince was hypoxic, Martin turned his attention to the unconscious Victoria.

Noticing after some minutes that the newborn remained silent, Martin and the midwife Fräulein Stahl worked frantically to revive the prince; finally, despite the disapproval of those present, Stahl spanked the newborn vigorously until “a weak cry escaped his pale lips”.

History of the Kingdom of East Francia: The Treaty of Verdun and the Formation of the Kingdom.

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Charlemagne, Charles the Bald, Emperor of the Romans, Holy Roman Empire, King of Middle Francia, King of West Francia, Kingdom of East Francia, Lothair I, Louis the Pious, Pepin of Aquitaine, Treaty of Verdun

Ludwig the Pious (April 16, 778 – June 20, 840) was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only surviving son of Charlemagne and Hildegard, he became the sole ruler of the Kingdom of the Franks and the Carolingian Empire after his father’s death in 814, a position that he held until his death except from 833 to 834, when he was deposed.

As emperor, he included his adult sons, Lothair, Pepin and Ludwig, in the government and sought to establish a suitable division of the realm among them. The first decade of his reign was characterised by several tragedies and embarrassments, notably the brutal treatment of his nephew Bernard of Italy for which Ludwig atoned in a public act of self-debasement.

In the 830s his empire was torn by civil war between his sons that was only exacerbated by Ludwig’s attempts to include his son Charles by his second wife in the succession plans.

Pepin I or Pepin I of Aquitaine was King of Aquitaine and Duke of Maine. He had rebelled against his brother Lothair and lost but was later restored to his throne shortly before his death on December 13, 838.

Ludwig the Pious, Emperor of the Romans, King of the Franks

Emperor Ludwig the Pious fell ill soon after his final victorious campaigns and retreated to his summer hunting lodge on an island in the Rhine near his palace at Ingelheim. He died on June 20, 840 in the presence of many bishops and clerics and in the arms of his half-brother Drogo as he pardoned his son Ludwig the German proclaimed Lothair Emperor and commended the absent Charles and Judith to his protection.

Though his reign ended on a high note, with order largely restored to his empire, shortly after his death dispute plunged the surviving brothers into yet another civil war. It lasted until 843 with the signing of the Treaty of Verdun.

The Treaty of Verdun agreed on in August 843, divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the Emperor Ludwig the Pious, the son and successor of Charlemagne.

Charles the Bald, King of West Francia

The treaty was the first of the four partition treaties of the Carolingian Empire, followed by the Treaties of Prüm (855), Meerssen (870), and Ribemont (880).

Prior to the death of Emperor Ludwig the Pious, each of the three brothers was already established in one kingdom: Lothair in the Kingdom of Italy; Ludwig the German in the Kingdom of Bavaria; and Charles the Bald in the Kingdom of Aquitaine, (succeeding his half-brother Pepin) a large province in the west of the Frankish realm.

As mentioned above, Lothair I was given the title of Emperor after the death of Ludwig the Pious but because of several re-divisions by his father and the resulting revolts, he became much less powerful.

Lothair I, Emperor of the Romans, King of Middle Francia

In an attempt to reclaim the power his father had at the beginning of his reign as emperor, Lothair I, claimed overlordship over the entirety of his father’s kingdom and Empire.

Lothair also supported his nephew, Pepin II’s claim to the Kingdom of Aquitaine over his half-brother Charles the Bald. Lothair’s brother, Ludwig the German and his half-brother Charles the Bald refused to acknowledge Lothair’s suzerainty over them and declared war against him.

After a bloody civil war, the two brothers, Ludwig the German and Charles the Bald, defeated Lothair at the Battle of Fontenoy in 841 and sealed their alliance in 842 with the Oaths of Strasbourg which declared Lothair unfit for the imperial throne, after which he became willing to negotiate a settlement.

Peace negotiations began, and in June 842 the brothers met on an island in the Saône. They agreed to an arrangement which developed, after much difficulty and delay, into the Treaty of Verdun, signed in August 843.

Provisions

Emperor Lothair I received Middle Francia (the Middle Frankish kingdom). In the settlement, Lothair retained his title and position of Emperor, but it conferred only nominal overlordship of his brothers’ lands.

His domain later became the Low Countries, the Rhineland west of the Rhine, Lorraine, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence, and the Kingdom of Italy (which only covered the northern half of the Italian Peninsula). He also received the two imperial cities, Aachen and Rome.

Charles II the Bald received West Francia; all lands west of the Rhône. It eventually became the Kingdom of France.

King Ludwig II the German received East Francia. He was guaranteed the kingship of all lands to the east of the Rhine (although not the Netherlands to the north of the Rhine) and to the north and east of Italy, altogether called East Francia. It eventually became the High Medieval Kingdom of Germany, the largest component of the Holy Roman Empire.

The brothers nephew, Pepin II, was granted the Kingdom of Aquitaine, but only under the authority of Charles the Bald.

Ludwig II the German, King of East Francia

After Lothair’s death in 855, his eldest son, Ludwig II the Younger inherited Italy and his father’s claim to the Imperial throne. Upper Burgundy and Lower Burgundy (Arles and Provence) passed to Lothair’s third son, Charles of Provence. The remaining territory north of the Alps, which did not previously have a name, was inherited by Lothair’s second son, Lothair II, and was then named Lotharingia (present day Lorraine) after him.

Ludwig II the Younger’s usual title was imperator augustus (“august emperor”), but he used imperator Romanorum (“emperor of the Romans”) after his conquest of Bari in 871, which led to poor relations with the Eastern Roman Empire. He was called imperator Italiae (“emperor of Italy”) in West Francia while the Byzantines called him Basileus Phrangias (“Emperor of Francia”).

With Ludwig II the German now established as King of East Francia, the new Kingdom consisted of a district around Speyer, Worms, and Mainz, on the left bank of the river (see also Oaths of Strasbourg 842). His territories included Bavaria (where he made Regensburg the centre of his government), Thuringia, Franconia, and Saxony.

In the next post I will continue the examination of how the Kingdom of East Francia became the Holy Roman Empire and the usage of the titles, King of East Francia, King of Germany and King of the Romans.

January 27, 1892: Birth of Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

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Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria, Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies

From the Emperor’s Desk: I could not find a lot of information on Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska so I supplemented information on her parents marriage.

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria (January 27, 1892 – January 29, 1930) was the eldest daughter of Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria and Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria. Through her mother, she was a granddaughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and through her father she was a descendant of King George II of Great Britain.

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

Her mother was Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria (April 22, 1868 – September 6, 1924) was the youngest child of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She was usually called Valerie.

In Bad Ischl on July 31, 1890, Archduchess Marie Valerie married her third cousin Archduke Franz Salvator.

Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies

Her father, Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria 21 August 21, 1866 – April 20, 1939) was a son of Archduke Charles Salvator, Prince of Tuscany and Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, the fifth child and second-eldest daughter of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria.

Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria

He became a cavalry general in the Imperial and Royal (k.u.k.) Austro-Hungarian Army. He received an honorary doctorate in medicine from the University of Innsbruck for his work with the Red Cross during World War I and was a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and Order of the White Eagle.

Archduke Franz Salvator had met Archduchess Marie Valerie in 1886 at a ball, but Marie Valerie waited several years to be sure that her feelings toward Franz Salvator were strong enough for a successful marriage.

It was hoped by many at court that she would marry someone like the Crown Prince of Saxony (King Friedrich August III of Saxony); the Prince Royal of Portugal (King Carlos I of Portugal); or Prince Alfons of Bavaria as she courted with him.

Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany

Nonetheless, Empress Elisabeth declared that Marie Valerie would be allowed to marry even a chimney sweep if she so desired (in contrast to her other children, who both had to make dynastic marriages).

Marie Valerie chose Franz Salvator, a relatively minor prince from the Tuscan branch of the Austrian imperial family who had no great wealth to offer, and Elisabeth, as promised, supported her favorite daughter.

This caused a deep rift between Marie Valerie and her siblings for a time, but eventually Crown Prince Rudolf reconciled with her when Marie Valerie and Franz Salvator became engaged on Christmas 1888. However, the relationship between Marie Valerie and Crown Prince Rudolph’s wife, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, remained cold even after Rudolf’s death.

Archduchess Marie Valerie and Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria

Marie Valerie’s solemn renunciation of her rights to the Austrian throne, which was necessary for the marriage to proceed, took place on July 16, 1890 at the Hermesvilla.

The young couple’s festive wedding followed in the parish church of Bad Ischl on July 31. The ceremony was conducted by the Bishop of Linz, Franz Maria Doppelbauer. Afterwards, Valerie and Franz honeymooned in Italy, Switzerland and Bavaria.

Thier daughter, Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria, married at Niederwallsee on September 19, 1912 Georg Count von Waldburg zu Zeil und Hohenems (1878–1955). The marriage was one of love and not a political marriage. Georg von Waldburg had no money or property, and had been hired as a tutor for her brothers.

Archduchess Hedwig (left) and Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

They had four children, three daughters and a son:

1. Countess Marie Valerie von Waldburg-Zeil (1913–2011), married Archduke Georg of Austria, Prince of Tuscany (1905–1952) in 1936. He was the younger son of Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

2. Countess Klementine von Waldburg-Zeil (1914–1941), unmarried and without issue.

3. Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg-Zeil (1917–1979), unmarried and without issue.

4. Count Franz Josef von Waldburg-Zeil (1927 – 2022), married Countess Priscilla of Schönborn-Wiesentheid in 1956. They had seven children.

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska was a painter for some time. She died, aged 38, of pneumonia on January 29, 1930. Her widower remarried nearly two years later, on December 29, 1931, to his wife’s younger sister Archduchess Gertrud of Austria.

January 26, 1873: Death of Amélie of Leuchtenberg, Empress of Brazil

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Amélie of Leuchtenberg, Emperor of the French, Emperor Pedro of Brazil, Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, House of Leuchtenberg, House of Wittelsbach, Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon Bonaparte

From the Emperor’s Desk: In addressing the death of Amélie of Leuchtenberg I will focus on the arrangement of her marriage to Emperor Pedro of Brazil.

Amélie of Leuchtenberg (July 31, 1812 – January 26, 1873) was Empress of Brazil as the wife of Pedro I of Brazil. Amélie was the fourth child of General Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg and his wife Princess Augusta of Bavaria.

Her father was the son of Joséphine de Beauharnais and her first husband, Viscount Alexandre de Beauharnais. When Joséphine remarried, to Napoleon Bonaparte, Eugène was adopted by the latter and made viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy.

Amélie of Leuchtenberg

Amélie’s mother was the daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his first consort, Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Among Amélie’s siblings were Josephine of Leuchtenberg, Queen Consort of King Oscar I of Sweden, and Auguste de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg, prince consort of Queen Maria II of Portugal (stepdaughter of Amélie). French Emperor Napoleon III was Amélie’s first cousin.

After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, Eugène de Beauharnais, having been granted the title Duke of Leuchtenberg by his father-in-law, settled in Munich. The possibility occurred to Amélie’s mother, Augusta, of marrying Amélie to the Emperor of Brazil, to guarantee the pretensions of the House of Leuchtenberg to royal status.

Marriage

After the death of his first wife, the Austrian Archduchess Maria Leopoldina, in December 1826, Emperor Pedro I of Brazil (former King Pedro IV of Portugal) sent the Marquis of Barbacena to Europe to find him a second wife.

Emperor Pedro ‘s Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria was the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, and his second wife, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. Among her many siblings were Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria and Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Amélie of Leuchtenberg

Marquis of Barbacena’s task was not easy; several factors complicated the search. First, Emperor Pedro had stipulated four conditions: a good family background, beauty, virtue and culture. Conversely, the Emperor of Brazil did not have a particularly good image in Europe: his relationship with the Marchioness of Santos was notorious, and few eligible princesses were expected to be eager to leave the courts of Europe to marry a widower who had a tarnished reputation as a husband, becoming step-mother to his five children.

To make matters worse, the former father-in-law of Emperor Dom Pedro, Holy Roman Emperor Franz II had a low opinion of his son-in-law’s political views, and apparently acted to prevent a new marriage to ensure that his grandchildren would inherit the throne of Brazil if they survived infancy.

After refusals by eight princesses turned the ambassador into an object of scorn in the courts of Europe, the Marquis of Barbacena, in agreement with the Emperor, lowered his requirements, seeking for Dom Pedro a wife merely “good and virtuous.”

Amélie now became a good possibility, but their encounter was brought about not by the Marquis of Barbacena, but by Domingos Borges de Barros, Viscount of Pedra Branca, minister in Paris, to whom she had been pointed out.

Emperor Pedro I of Brazil

She came from a distinguished and ancient line on her mother’s side, the Wittelsbachs of Bavaria, but her father, an exile who shared in the disgrace of Napoleon Bonaparte’s deposition as Emperor, was not an optimal marital match. However, that was her sole “defect”. The princess was tall, very beautiful, well proportioned, with a delicate face.

She had blue eyes and brownish-golden hair. António Teles da Silva Caminha e Meneses, Marquis of Resende, sent to verify the beauty of the young lady, praised her highly, saying that she had “a physical air that like that the painter Correggio gave us in his paintings of the Queen of Sheba”. She was also cultured and sensitive.

A contemporary piece in The Times of London affirms that she was one of the best educated and best prepared princesses in the German world.

Amélie of Leuchtenberg

The marriage contract was signed on May 29, 1829 in England, and ratified on June 30 in Munich by Amélie’s mother, the Duchess of Leuchtenberg, who had tutored her daughter personally. On July 30 of that year, in Brazil, a treaty of marriage between Pedro I and Amélie of Leuchtenberg was promulgated.

Upon confirming the marriage, Emperor Pedro definitively broke his links to the Marchioness of Santos and, as evidence of his good intentions, instituted the Order of the Rose, with the motto “Amor e Fidelidade” (“Love and Fidelity”).

Marriage of Amélie of Leuchtenberg and Emperor Pedro I of Brazil

A proxy marriage ceremony on August 2 in the chapel of the Palais Leuchtenberg in Munich was a simple affair with few in attendance, as Amélie insisted on donating to a Munich orphanage the appreciable amount Dom Pedro had sent for a ceremony with full pomp. Dom Pedro was represented by the Marquis of Barbacena. Amélie was barely seventeen years old; Dom Pedro was thirty.

The Life of Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg

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Count Christian VII of Oldenburg, Count Dietrich of Oldenburg, Count Otto IV of Delmenhorst, Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa, Holy Roman Empire, Kalmar Union, King Christian I of Denmark, King Christopher III of Denmark, King Eric IV of Denmark, King Eric V of Denmark, King Haakon V of Norway, King Magnus I of Sweden, Queen Margrethe I of Denmark and Norway and Sweden

Dietrich or Theoderic of Oldenburg (c. 1398 – February 14, 1440) was a feudal lord in Northern Germany, holding the counties of Delmenherst and Oldenburg. He was called “Fortunatus”, as he was able to secure Delmenhorst for his branch of the Oldenburgs.

The town of Oldenburg was first mentioned in 1108, at that time known under the name of Aldenburg. It became important due to its location at a ford of the navigable Hunte river. Oldenburg became a small county in the shadow of the much more powerful Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.

The earliest recorded inhabitants of the region now called Oldenburg were a Teutonic people- the Chauci. The genealogy of the counts of Oldenburg can be traced to the Saxon hero Widukind (opponent of Charlemagne) but their first historical representative was Huno of Rustringen (died 1088, founded the monastery of Rastede in 1059).

In the Holy Roman Empire Oldenburg was a county that developed around the settlement of Oldenburg, (first attested in 1108) and in the course of history gained control of a wider area. The Counts of Oldenburg stemmed from a Frisian princely house.

Huno’s descendants appear as vassals of the Welf Saxon Duke Heinrich III-XII the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Duke of Bavaria, they took advantage of his deposition by Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa to make themselves autonomous. They were given the title of princes of the Empire when Friedrich I Barbarossa dismembered the Saxon duchy in 1189.

The first Oldenburgs belonged to the line of the Rüstringen Frisians.

In 1234 the county was acquired by the also Frisian Stedingens, later by other Frisian territories (Butjadingen, Rüstringen, Wurden) and finally in 1575 came into the possession of the Lordship of Jever.

At this time the county of Delmenhorst formed part of the dominions of the counts of Oldenburg, but afterwards it was on several occasions separated from them to form an appanage for younger branches of the family, namely in ca. 1266-1436, 1463-1547 and 1577-1617.

The northern and western parts of what would become the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg were in the hands of independent, or semi-independent, Frisian princes, who were usually pagan, and the counts of Oldenburg seized much of these lands in a series of wars during the early part of the 13th century. The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and the bishop of Münster also frequently warred with the counts of Oldenburg.

Lineage

Dietrich of Oldenburg was the son of Christian V of Oldenburg, who became the Count circa 1398 and died in 1403. His mother was the Countess Agnes of Honstein. His grandfather, Conrad I of Oldenburg, who died circa 1368, left his lands divided between Dietrich’s father and uncle, Conrad II.

Dietrich’s father, Christian V, managed to gain the upper hand when Conrad II’s son Maurice II died in 1420. After this, most of the Oldenburg family patrimony was under the rule of Dietrich’s branch. However, the house had several minor branches with estates and claims, as was usual in any medieval fief.

Dietrich of Oldenburg was the grandson of Ingeborg of Itzehoe, a Holstein princess who had married Count Conrad I of Oldenburg. After the death of her only brother, Count Gerhard V of Holstein-Itzehoe-Plön in 1350, Ingeborg and her issue were the heirs of her grandmother Ingeborg of Sweden (d. ca. 1290, the first wife of Gerhard II of Holstein-Plön), the eldest daughter of King Valdemar of Sweden and Queen Sophia, who herself was the eldest daughter of King Eric IV of Denmark and his wife Jutta of Saxony who had no male descendants. Since there were no other living legitimate descendants of King Valdemar by this time, Dietrich was considered the heir general of Kings Valdemar I of Sweden and Eric IV of Denmark.

Dietrich succeeded his father as head of the House of Oldenburg in 1403.

Oldenburg gained importance when Count Dietrich of Oldenburg († 1440) married Helvig of Schauenburg, daughter of Gerhard VI of Schleswig-Holstein-Rendsburg. Dietrich’s younger son carried on the line of Oldenburg counts, which died out in 1667. The elder son, Christian, was elected King Christian I of Denmark in 1448 and Lord of Schleswig and Holstein in 1460. In 1667 this line acquired Oldenburg as well, which thereby was joined in personal union with the Danish crown.

Marriages and children

During his childhood, Dietrich married a distant cousin, the Countess Adelheid of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst, daughter of Oldenburg Count Otto IV of Delmenhorst, for reasons of succession and uniting the hereditary fiefs. Countess Adelheid is presumed to have died in 1404.

In 1423, Dietrich married again, to Helvig of Schauenburg (born between 1398–1400 and died in 1436), widow of Prince Balthasar of Mecklenburg and daughter of the murdered Duke Gerhard VI of Schleswig and Holstein and his wife Elisabeth of Brunswick and, thus, sister of the reigning Duke Adolf VIII. All his legitimate children were born by his second wife.

His second marriage strengthened this interest in the Scandinavian monarchies since Helvig was a descendant of King Eric V of Denmark, King Haakon V of Norway and King Magnus I of Sweden.

At this time, Scandinavia was ruled by the Kalmar Union, established by Queen Margarethe I of Denmark. In 1387, she had lost her heir Olav IV of Norway, who was succeeded as heir by Eric of Pomerania and his sister Catherine, who was married to a Prince of the Palatinate and Bavaria.

Dietrich of Oldenburg is said to have been a rival claimant to the crowns of Sweden and Denmark during the reign of Eric VII-XIII, whose succession was through Christopher I of Denmark, the younger brother of the murdered Eric IV, and through Magnus I of Sweden, younger brother of the deposed King Valdemar.

Count Theodoric had three surviving sons and one daughter:

Christian (1426–1481); who succeeded him as Count Christian VII of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, and later became King Christian I of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (following the deposition of Carl VII of Sweden), as well as Duke of Schleswig and Holstein. He would found the House of Oldenburg Dynasty in Denmark that still rules to this day.

Maurice V of Delmenhorst (1428–1464); when his elder brother became king, he was given the County of Delmenhorst.

Gerhard VI, Count of Oldenburg (1430–1500); two years after his eldest brother had become king, he was given the county of Oldenburg, and from his other brother’s heirs, he also inherited Delmenhorst in about 1483. The third son got his name from usages of the mother’s Holstein clan.

Adelheid (1425–1475), first married Ernest III, the Count of Hohnstein (d. 1454) and then, in 1474, Gerhard VI, Count of Mansfeld (d. 1492).

Male line of descendants

Dietrich of Oldenburg is a direct ancestor of the Danish royal family having given birth to the first House of Oldenburg King of Denmark, Christian I. He is also a direct ancestor of the British Royal Family, the pretenders to the Kingdom of the Hellenes, the Norwegian royal family, and the last Russian Emperors of Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp.

January 19, 1927: Death of Princess Charlotte of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria, Empress of Mexico. Part II.

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Archduchess of Austria, Benito Juárez, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, Emperor Napoleon III of the French, Empress Carlota, Empress of Mexico, Execution, Pope Pious IX, Princess Charlotte of Belgium

As the wife of Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia, Princess Charlotte became an Archduchess of Austria (in 1857)

Since the beginning of her marriage, she feuded with Empress Elisabeth in Vienna, and was glad when her husband was posted to Italy as Viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia.

At this time, he was selected by the Emperor Napoleon III as a figurehead for his proposed French Empire in Mexico, and Charlotte overcame her husband’s doubts about the plan. Maximilian and Charlotte (known by the Spanish Carlota) duly arrived to Mexico City in 1864, but their reign lasted a little over three years.

On April 10, 1864, in a state apartment of Miramare Castle, Maximilian and Charlotte were informally proclaimed as Emperor and Empress of Mexico. He affirmed that the wishes of the Mexican people allowed him to consider himself as the legitimate elected representative of the people.

In reality, the Archduke was persuaded by a few Mexican conservatives who incorrectly assured him of massive popular support. For supporting documents, the Mexican deputation produced “acts of adhesion” containing population numbers for localities within Mexico that were purportedly surveyed. Maximilian instructed the delegation “to ensure by all means the well-being, prosperity, independence and integrity of this nation”.

Despite the idyllic descriptions of Mexico that Maximilian and Charlotte wrote to their relatives in Europe, it did not take long for them to realize the insecurity and disorder which plagued their Empire. Their residences were perpetually monitored by a large armed guard intended to push back the rebel bands which roamed nearby.

French intervention, supported by the Belgian and Austrian contingents and local Mexican Imperial troops, was followed by a long civil war which disrupted every aspect of Mexican life. The approximately 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers of the French expeditionary force, led by Marshal Bazaine, had to counter multiple skirmishes led by the guerrillas over a territory four times larger than that of France.

A conservative minority of the Mexican people supported the Second Mexican Empire, along with the Mexican nobility, clergy, and some native groups. The Emperor tried in vain to reconcile the liberal and conservative parties.

He decided to pursue a liberal policy by approving the secularization of ecclesiastical property for the benefit of the national domain, which alienated the conservatives and the clergy. When he was absent from Mexico City, sometimes for several months, Maximilian appointed Charlotte as Regent: she presided over the Council of Ministers and gave public audiences on Sundays. The popularity of the sovereigns was already dwindling before the end of the first year of their reign.

She assisted her husband, who let her rule as regent during his absences from Mexico, for which reason she is considered the first woman to rule in the Americas. When Emperor Napoleon III ordered the withdrawal of French military aid intended to support Maximilian, the situation of the Mexican imperial couple became untenable.

On her own initiative, Charlotte decided to go personally to Europe in order to attempt a final approach to Paris and the Vatican. She landed in France in August 1866, but suffered the successive refusals of both Emperor Napoleon III and Pope Pius IX.

In Rome, the failure of her mission appeared to compromise her mental health to the point that an alienist doctor advocated the confinement of Charlotte in Miramare Castle. It was during her stay under house arrest that Emperor Maximilian was deposed and executed by Benito Juárez in June 1867.

Unaware that she was now a widow, Charlotte was brought back to Belgium and confined successively in the Pavilion de Tervueren (in 1867 and again during 1869–1879), the Palace of Laeken (during 1867–1869) and finally at Bouchout Castle in Meise (from 1879), where she remained for the next 48 years in a deleterious mental state, giving rise to much speculation ever since, before dying in 1927 aged 86.

January 19, 1927: Death of Princess Charlotte of Belgium, Empress of Mexico. Part I.

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Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, King Leopold I of the Belgians, King Louis Philippe of the French, King Pedro V of Portugal, Kingdom of the Belgians, Princess Charlotte of Belgium, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Charlotte of Belgium (Marie Charlotte Amélie Augustine Victoire Clémentine Léopoldine of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; June 7, 1840 – January 19, 1927), better known under the name Charlotte, was the daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium and Princess Louise of Orléans. Her first name pays homage to the late Princess Charlotte of Wales, her father’s first wife.

Princess Charlotte of Belgium

She was also later known by the Spanish version of her name, Carlota, was by birth a Princess of Belgium and member of the House of Wettin in the branch of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (as such she was also styled Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duchess in Saxony).

Her mother was was the eldest daughter of the future Louis-Philippe I, King of the French, and of his wife Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies.

Princess Charlotte of Belgium

Through her mother, Charlotte was a granddaughter of King Louis Philippe I of the French and Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies, and through her father, she was a first-cousin of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; thanks to these relations, and in addition to regular stays in the city of Ostend in the summer, Charlotte spent long holidays with her maternal grandparents in the French royal residences and at her cousin’s in Windsor Castle.

As a child, she had a religious and bourgeoisie education thanks to the part played by her mother and her aunt, Princess Adélaïde of Orléans, to whom she was very close.

Princess Charlotte of Belgium

In her youth, Charlotte resembled her mother, and was noted as being a beauty possessing delicate features. This, combined with her status as the only daughter of the King of the Belgians, made her a desirable match.

In 1856, as she was preparing to celebrate her sixteenth birthday, two suitors sought her hand: Prince Georg of Saxony (who was quickly rejected) and King Pedro V of Portugal. The latter was the favorite candidate of both Queen Victoria and King Leopold I.

By personal choice, and under the influence of Madame d’Hulst (who affirmed that at the Portuguese court no priest would understand her), Charlotte declined the offer of marriage with King Pedro V. She explained: “As for Pedro, it is a throne, it is true, I would be Queen and Majesty but what is that, the crowns nowadays are heavy burdens and how one regrets later to have yielded to such crazy considerations”.

In the month of May 1856, Charlotte met in Brussels with Archduke Maximilian of Austria, younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. She was immediately charmed by this prince who was eight years her senior. Reportedly she stated: “it will be him that I will marry”.

Archduke Maximilian of Austria

Her father left Charlotte the choice of her future husband; as she testified in a letter addressed to her grandmother Maria Amalia: “He wrote me the most impartial letter, putting before my eyes the advantages of one and the other without wanting to influence me in any way”.

As for Leopold I, he wrote to his future son-in-law: “You won in May […] all my confidence and my benevolence. I also noticed that my little girl shared these dispositions; however it was my duty to proceed with precaution”. Charlotte declared: “If, as it is in question, the Archduke was invested with the Viceroyalty of Italy, that would be charming, that’s all I want”. The official engagement was celebrated on December 23, 1856.

Archduke Maximilian of Austria was born on July 6, 1832 in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire. He was baptized the following day as Ferdinand Maximilian Josef Maria. The first name honored his godfather and paternal uncle, Emperor Ferdinand I, and the second honored his maternal grandfather, Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria.

Princess Charlotte of Belgium and Archduke Maximilian of Austria

His father was Archduke Franz Charles, the second surviving son of Emperor Franz I, during whose reign he was born. Maximilian was thus a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, a female-line cadet branch of the House of Habsburg. His mother was Princess Sophie of Bavaria, a member of the House of Wittelsbach.

Charlotte appeared elated by the prospect of her marriage to Maximilian, praising a fiancé for whom she envisioned an exceptional destiny. Maximilian appeared less enthusiastic when negotiating the dowry of his bride. The Archduke said of his fiancée: “She’s short, I’m tall, which must be.

She’s brunette, I’m blonde, which is good too. She is very intelligent, which is a bit annoying, but I will undoubtedly get over it”. The marriage ceremony was celebrated on July 27, 1857 at the Royal Palace of Brussels. This alliance with the House of Habsburg-Lorraine enhanced the legitimacy of the recently established Kingdom of the Belgians.

The Kingdom of East Francia: Formation of the Carolingian Empire

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Carloman, Carolingian Empire, Charlemagne, Charles Martel, Charles the Great, Emperor of the Romans, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, Kingdom of East Francia, Pepin III the Short, Pope Leo III, Pope Stephen II, Pope Zachary

Before we can discuss the Kingdom of East Francia I would like to discuss the Carolingian Empire and how the Kingdom of East Francia became part of that great empire.

The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lombards in Italy from 774. In 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in an effort to transfer the Roman Empire from the Byzantine Empire to western Europe. The Carolingian Empire is considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

Nomenclature

The term “Carolingian Empire” is a modern convention and was not used by its contemporaries. The language of official acts in the empire was Latin. The empire was referred to variously as universum regnum (“the whole kingdom”, as opposed to the regional kingdoms), Romanorum sive Francorum imperium (“empire of the Romans and Franks”), Romanum imperium (“Roman empire”), or even imperium christianum (“Christian empire”).

Charles Martel (c. 688 – October 22, 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesman Pepin of Herstal and Pepin’s mistress, a noblewoman named Alpaida.

Charles, also known as “The Hammer” (in Old French, Martel), successfully asserted his claims to power as successor to his father as the power behind the throne in Frankish politics. Continuing and building on his father’s work, he restored centralized government in Francia and began the series of military campaigns that re-established the Franks as the undisputed masters of all Gaul.

His son and successor Pepin III the Short (c. 714 – September 24, 768), also called the Younger was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.

The younger was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude, Pepin’s upbringing was distinguished by the ecclesiastical education he had received from the monks of St. Denis. Succeeding his father as the Mayor of the Palace in 741, Pepin reigned over Francia jointly with his elder brother Carloman. Pepin ruled in Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence, while his older brother Carloman established himself in Austrasia, Alemannia, and Thuringia.

The brothers were active in suppressing revolts led by the Bavarians, Aquitanians, Saxons, and the Alemanni in the early years of their reign. In 743, they ended the Frankish interregnum by choosing Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian monarch, as figurehead King of the Franks.

Being well disposed towards the church and papacy on account of their ecclesiastical upbringing, Pepin and Carloman continued their father’s work in supporting Saint Boniface in reforming the Frankish church, and evangelizing the Saxons.

After Carloman, who was an intensely pious man, retired to religious life in 747, Pepin became the sole ruler of the Franks. He suppressed a revolt led by his half-brother Grifo, and succeeded in becoming the undisputed master of all Francia.

Giving up pretense, Pepin then forced King Childeric III into a monastery and had himself proclaimed King of the Franks with support of Pope Zachary in 751. The decision was not supported by all members of the Carolingian family and Pepin had to put down a revolt led by Carloman’s son, Drogo and again by Grifo.

As king, Pepin embarked on an ambitious program to expand his power. He reformed the legislation of the Franks and continued the ecclesiastical reforms of Boniface. Pepin also intervened in favour of the papacy of Pope Stephen II against the Lombards in Italy. In the midsummer of 754, Stephen II anointed Pepin afresh, together with his two sons, Charles and Carloman.

The ceremony took place in the Abbey Church of St. Denis, near Paris, and the Pope formally forbade the Franks ever to elect as king anyone who was not of the sacred race of Pepin. He also bestowed upon Pepin and his sons the title of ‘Patrician of Rome’.

Pepin died during a campaign, in 768 at the age of 54. He was interred in the Basilica of Saint Denis in modern-day Metropolitan Paris. His wife Bertrada was also interred there in 783. Charlemagne rebuilt the Basilica in honor of his parents and placed markers at the entrance.

The Frankish realm was divided according to the Salic law between his two sons: Charlemagne and Carloman I.

Charlemagne: or Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus Magnus; German: Karl der Große; April 2, 747 – January 28, 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the Emperor of the Romans from 800.

Charlemagne, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, Emperor of the Romans

Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of western and central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was the Carolingian Empire. He was canonized by Antipope Paschal III—an act later treated as invalid—and he is now regarded by some as beatified (which is a step on the path to sainthood) in the Catholic Church.

Charlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. He was born before their canonical marriage. He became King of the Franks in 768 following his father’s death, and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I until the latter’s death in 771.

As sole ruler, he continued his father’s policy towards protection of the papacy and became its sole defender, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain. He also campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianizing them (upon penalty of death) which led to events such as the Massacre of Verden.

He reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Charlemagne has been called the “Father of Europe” (Pater Europae), as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the classical era of the Roman Empire, as well as uniting parts of Europe that had never been under Frankish or Roman rule.

His reign spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Western Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church viewed Charlemagne less favourably, due to his support of the filioque and the Pope’s preference of him as emperor over the Byzantine Empire’s first female monarch, Irene of Athens. These and other disputes led to the eventual split of Rome and Constantinople in the Great Schism of 1054.

Charlemagne died in 814 after contracting an infectious lung disease. He was laid to rest in the Aachen Cathedral, in his imperial capital city of Aachen.

He married at least four times, and had three legitimate sons who lived to adulthood. Only the youngest of them, Louis the Pious, survived to succeed him. Charlemagne is the direct ancestor of many of Europe’s royal houses, including the Capetian dynasty, the Ottonian dynasty, the House of Luxembourg, the House of Ivrea and the House of Habsburg.

The Life of Princess Adelaide “Adi” of Saxe-Meiningen

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Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen, German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Empire, House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, House of Hohenzollern, Prince Adalbert of Prussia, Princess Adelaide "Adi" of Saxe-Meiningen, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Adelaide “Adi” of Saxe-Meiningen (August 16, 1891 – April 25, 1971), later Princess Adalbert of Prussia, was a daughter of Prince Friedrich Johann of Saxe-Meiningen and his wife Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld.

Family

Adelaide (original German: Adelheid). Adelaide’s father, Prince Friedrich Johann was a younger son of Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen by his second wife Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. She had five siblings, including Prince Georg a prisoner of war killed during World War II, and Prince Bernard.

Adelaide’s mother, also named Adelaide, was the eldest child of Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld, who was the Regent of the principality of Lippe for seven years (1897–1904).

Princess Adelaide had family connections with both the British Royal Family and the Prussian Royal Family. Princess Adelaide and her husband Prince Aldalbert of Prussia were third cousins.

Adelaide and her husband Adalbert were both descendants of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

I will address Princess Adelaide’s descent first. She was a great-great granddaughter of Princess Victoria through Princess Victoria’s first marriage to Prince Emich Charles of Leiningen.

Princess Victoria and Prince Emich Charles had a daughter, Princess Feodora, who married Prince Ernst I of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and they in turn had a daughter, also named Princess Feodora, who married Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen. Thier son, Prince Friedrich Johann, was the father of Princess Adelaide.

Now I will address Prince Adalbert’s descent from Princess Victoria.

Prince Adalbert of Prussia was also a great-great grandson of Princess Victoria Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld through both her first and second marriages.

Through Victoria’s first marriage to Prince Emich Charles of Leiningen they had a daughter Princess Feodora as mentioned above. And as previously mentioned Princess Feodora married Prince Ernst I of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and they in turn had a daughter, also named Princess Feodora.

Princess Feodora also had a sister, Princess Adelaide, who married Duke Friedrich VIII of Schleswig-Holstein and they in turn had a daughter Princess Augusta Victoria who married Emperor Wilhelm II; who are Prince Aldalbert’s parents.

Empress Augusta Victoria was not only Princess Adelaide’s mother-in-law, she was her father’s first cousin… therefore she was Adelaide’s first cousin once removed.

Prince Aldalbert was a descendant of Princess Victoria through her second marriage with, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent; and from this union came Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal, was married to Emperor Friedrich III and they were the parents of Aldalbert’s father, Emperor Wilhelm II.

Marriage

On August 3, 1914, at the beginning of World War I, Adelaide married Prince Adalbert of Prussia at Wilhelmshaven, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He was the third son of German Emperor William II. Adelaide’s father would die within a month, on August 23, 1914. Less than a month after their marriage, Prince Adalbert was reported to have been killed in battle in Brussels. This was only a rumor however, and the prince had been unharmed. In March 1915, he was promoted to Captain in the navy and Major in the army.

She and Prince Adalbert had three children:

1. Princess Victoria Marina of Prussia (stillborn, September 4, 1915) she died soon after birth, although Adelaide was reported to have been in “satisfactory condition”.
2. Princess Victoria Marina of Prussia (September 11, 1917 – January 21, 1981) she married Kirby Patterson (July 24, 1907– June 4, 1984) on September 26, 1947.
3. Prince Wilhelm Victor of Prussia (February 15, 1919 – February 7, 1989), he married at Donaueschingen on July 20, 1944 Marie Antoinette, Countess of Hoyos (June 27, 1920 – March 1, 2004). They had two children, five grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Later life

After Emperor William II abdicated in 1918 at the end of World War I, Prince Adalbert sought refuge on his yacht, which had been maintained by a loyal crew. Princess Adelaide and their children soon attempted to follow, travelling by train from Kiel. They were delayed however, and eventually came to be staying in southern Bavaria with Prince Henry of Bavaria (a grandson of Ludwig III of Bavaria) and his wife. She and Prince Adalbert were later reunited.

Princess Adelaide died on April 25, 1971 in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland. Her husband had died 23 years earlier, on September 22, 1948 at the same location.

The Life of Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg. Part II

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Baron von Plettenberg, Bellevue Castle, Berlin, Eitel Friedrich of Prussia, Empress Augusta Victoria, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Grand Duke Friedrich August II in Oldenburg, Harald von Hedemann, Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg, World War I

On February 27, 1906, Sophia Charlotte married Prince Eitel in Berlin. The wedding fell on the anniversary of Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Victoria Augusta’s silver wedding anniversary, which amplified the event considerably. The wedding had 1,500 guests, which included many members of Germany’s royal families. Sophia Charlotte wore a four-yard long dress that was made of pearl white silk and embroidered with silver roses.

The wedding had three ceremonies – the signing of the marriage contract under the statutes of the House of Hohenzollern on the first day, the administering of the civil law oaths on the second, and lastly the religious rites in the chapel of the castle later that day. She was warmly welcomed in Berlin.

Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia in military uniform

They had an unhappy marriage. Despite her warm Berlin welcome, Sophia Charlotte failed to make friends there. Eitel Friedrich was also continually unfaithful. One source states that upon realizing what type of person she had married, Sophia Charlotte “withdrew into a kind of haughty reserve, from which she never emerged”.

They rarely saw each other during his time fighting in World War I. It was a lonely time for Sophia Charlotte, and she resided mostly in Bellevue Castle in Berlin, where she spent her time mainly reading, painting, and socializing with a small number of friends.

Plettenberg case testimony

In 1922, Prince Eitel Friedrich sued four German newspapers over what he considered libelous allegations that his wife had committed adultery. These events began when Sophia Charlotte was summoned as a witness in a divorce case, and apparently admitted to having an affair with the male defendant.

In the case, she stated that she had known the defendant for a number of years before her marriage when he served her father Grand Duke Friedrich August II in Oldenburg. When asked by the judge, she said “our intimate relations continued even after my marriage with the Emperor’s son”.

She also added that her husband was aware of the affair the entire time, and that her and Plettenberg’s intimate relationship only ceased once he married. Sophia Charlotte later announced however, “I emphatically deny that either before or after have I had any unpermitted relations whatever with the plaintiff. I not only never committed adultery with the plaintiff nor did we ever kiss each other, nor did I maintain any relations whatsoever with him which overstepped the limits permitted by good society”.

The case was heavily suppressed in German newspapers, so that most reports were published in foreign newspapers.

Divorce

Sophia Charlotte and Eitel Friedrich were divorced October 20, 1926. The couple had no children. It is believed that the couple had wanted to divorce before the war, but were prevented by Eitel Friedrich’s father. Eitel Friedrich reportedly began divorce proceedings against Sophia Charlotte on March 15, 1919, citing infidelities before the war. In the end, a verdict given out by the court merely stated that Eitel Friedrich was the guilty party.

Later life

After many rumors of potential husbands circulated after her divorce (including the aforementioned Baron von Plettenberg), Sophia Charlotte married in 1927 Harald von Hedemann, a former Potsdam police officer. He was forty and she was forty-eight.

Despite his low status, the wedding was held at the Grand Ducal palace at Rastede Castle, and was attended by her father the former Grand Duke as well as a small number of both their relations. Sophia Charlotte was considered one of the richest women in the country, and the couple took up residence at the same castle where they were married.

Sophia Charlotte died on March 29, 1964 in Westerstede.

Personal traits and looks

Sophia Charlotte was well-educated and was brought up with a quiet and unworldly upbringing. She was a good linguist and musician. She was also a talented water-colour painter.

There were concerns of her well-being in Sophia Charlotte’s youth, as her mother had suffered from ill health. By traveling to spa resorts and residing in warm weather however, she was able to overcome any signs of sickness. Once source stated right before her marriage that Sophia Charlotte had “developed into a thoroughly healthy and happy woman, whose fair hair and blue eyes, so entirely German, are somewhat piquantly associated with a delicacy of feature that suggests the Latin rather than the Teutonic origin”.

According to another account, Sophia Charlotte was considered slim and graceful with pale, regular features. Contemporaries state she inherited some of the good looks and charm of her mother. As she was the only child of the Grand Duke by his first wife, she was a great heiress. Her wealth was often stressed when mentioned in articles and newspapers. One book called her “pretty, rich, and supposed to be very clever”. Another contemporary source however calls her plain and uninteresting.