Elisabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel explained

Consort:yes
Elisabeth Henriëtte of Hesse-Kassel
Electoral Princess of Brandenburg
Hereditary Princess of Prussia
Issue:Luise, Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Kassel
House:Hesse-Kassel
Birth Date:18 November 1661
Birth Place:Kassel, Germany
Death Place:Cölln, Germany

Landgravine Elisabeth Henriëtte von Hessen-Kassel (18 November 1661 – 7 July 1683) was the daughter of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg (1623–1683) and electoral princess of Brandenburg through her marriage to Frederick I of Prussia.

Biography

Elisabeth Henriëtte was born in Kassel, Germany on 18 November 1661 to William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.[1] She was the youngest of seven; siblings included Queen Charlotte Amalie, William VII, Luise, Charles I, Philip, and George. She suffered from an unknown illness in 1677 that her mother treated with the milk cure, wherein a teenage Elisabeth suckled from a wet nurse for three weeks and eventually recovered.[2] Years later, on 13 August 1679, she married her cousin, Frederick, Prince Elector of Brandenburg, in Potsdam[1] after his plan to marry a sister of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I fell through. They held court in Köpenick Palace in a district of Berlin.[1] On 29 September 1680, Luise Dorothea Sophie, the couple's only child, was born.[1] Luise Dorothea later married Frederick I of Sweden, her first cousin, and became the electoral princess of Hesse-Kassel before dying in childbirth in 1705 at age 25[3]

Elisabeth Henriëtte died on 7 July 1683 at age 21 from smallpox.[1] [4] Frederick accused his stepmother Dorothea of poisoning her but this was found to be untrue via investigation.[1] She is buried at Berlin Cathedral with Frederick and his second wife Sophia Charlotte.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Elisabeth Henriette von Hessen-Kassel. n.d.. Preussen Chronik. 2022-01-03. de.
  2. Book: Sperling. Jutta Gisela. [{{Google books|diNTDQAAQBAJ|page=275|plainurl=yes}} Roman Charity: Queer Lactations in Early Modern Visual Culture]. 275.
  3. PhD . Matthews . Crawford Antony Roxburgh. 2019 . Anglo-Prussian Relations and the Reciprocal Production of Status: Ceremonial and Diplomacy between London and Berlin, 1701- 1714. University of Hull.
  4. Book: Noack. Lothar. Splett. Jürgen. [{{Google books|oZFdDwAAQBAJ|page=541|plainurl=yes}} Berlin-Cölln 1688–1713]. 541.
  5. Web site: BURIAL PLACES OF BRANDENBURG AND PRUSSIAN SOVEREIGNS. n.d.. royaltombs.dk. 2022-01-29.