Raugravine Caroline Elisabeth Explained

Raugravine Caroline Elisabeth
Full Name:Karoline Elisabeth Raugräfin zu Pfalz
Birth Date:19 November 1659
Birth Place:Heidelberg
Death Date:7 July
Death Place:London
Father:Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
Mother:Marie Luise von Degenfeld
Spouse:Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg
Issue:Charles Schomberg, Marquess of Harwich
Lady Caroline Schomberg
Frederica Mildmay, Countess of Mértola
Lady Mary Schomberg

Raugravine Caroline Elisabeth (19 November 1659, Heidelberg – 7 July 1696, London) was a German noblewoman and daughter of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine.

Life

Caroline was born in Heidelberg as a daughter of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine from his morganatic marriage with Marie Luise von Degenfeld.

On 4th June 1683 she married Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg and moved to London.[1]

Like her siblings, she kept in touch with her aunt Electress Sophie of Hanover, whose son George I became King of Great Britain and Ireland, and her half-sister Elisabeth Charlotte (Liselotte), Duchess of Orléans, who married a brother of King Louis XIV of France.

She and her husband had four children: Charles Schomberg, Marquess of Harwich, Frederica Mildmay, Countess of Mértola, Lady Caroline Schomberg, and Lady Mary Schomberg. However, Liselotte in one of her letters to Caroline's sister, Raugravine Louise, mentions that the couple had at least eight children. On 3 July 1694, she wrote: "I shudder to think that Caroline [...] already has eight children; [...]."[2]

She is buried with her husband in Westminster Abbey.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Böth, Mareike . Erzählweisen des Selbst . 2015-08-02 . Böhlau Verlag . 978-3-412-22459-2 . Köln. 10.7788/9783412218737 .
  2. Holland, Wilhelm Ludwig (Hrsg.): Briefe der Herzogin Elisabeth Charlotte von Orléans. Aus den Jahren 1721 bis 1722. Bd. 6, Stuttgart 1881. Nachträge Brief Nr. 20, Saint-Cloud, 3. Juli 1694.
  3. Web site: Westminster Abbey . Meinhard, 3rd Duke of Schomberg . 21 September 2022 . Westminster Abbey Commemorations.