Maria of Saxony, Duchess of Pomerania
Encyclopedia
Wettin
Wettin is:*House of Wettin, a German Royal House*Wettin Castle, near Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, ancestral seat of the House of Wettin*Asteroid 90709 Wettin, named in the castle's and House's honour...
and a Princess of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Pomerania.
Life
Mary was the eldest daughter of the Elector John "the Steadfast"John, Elector of Saxony
John of Saxony , known as John the Steadfast or John the Constant, was Elector of Saxony from 1525 until 1532...
of Saxony (1468–1532) from his second marriage to Margaret of Anhalt-Köthen
Margaret of Anhalt-Köthen
Margaret of Anhalt was a member of the House of Ascania and was a princess of Anhalt by birth and by marriage Duchess of Saxony.- Life :...
(1494–1521), daughter Prince of Waldemar VI of Anhalt-Zerbst
Waldemar VI, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen
Waldemar VI, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen , was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen....
.
She married on 27 February 1536 in Torgau
Torgau
Torgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.Outside Germany, the town is most well known as the place where during the Second World War, United States Army forces coming from the west met with forces of the Soviet Union...
Duke Philip I
Philip I, Duke of Pomerania
Philip I of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast.- Life :Philip was the only surviving son of Duke George, from his first marriage to Amalie of the Palatinate. After his mother died, on 6 January 1525, he received his education at the court of his maternal grandfather in Heidelberg...
of Pomerania (1515–1560). The marriage of the couple is depicted on the so-called Croÿ Carpet, which shows, in addition to the bridal couple and their families, the Reformers Johannes Bugenhagen
Johannes Bugenhagen
Johannes Bugenhagen , also called Doctor Pomeranus by Martin Luther, introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th century. Among his major accomplishments was organization of Lutheran churches in Northern Germany and Scandinavia...
, Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
and Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon , born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems...
. The carpet comes from Cranach's workshop and is now in the Pomerania State Museum
Pomerania State Museum
The Pomerania State Museum in Greifswald, Western Pomerania, is a public museum primarily dedicated to Pomeranian history and arts. The largest exhibitions show archeological findings and artefacts from the Pomerania region and paintings, e.g. of Caspar David Friedrich, who was a Greifswald local...
in Greifswald. During the ceremony, Martin Luther is reproted to have dropped one of the rings, whereupen and he said: "Hey, devils this is none none of your business!.
The marriage of Philip with Maria was meant to ally to Pomerania with Saxony, which was leading the evangelical
Evangelical Lutheran Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church can refer to many different Lutheran churches in the world. Among them are the following:*Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church in Andhra Pradesh*Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kisač*Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...
faction in the Diet
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
. The marriage had been mediated by the Reformer Johannes Bugenhagen. Later that year, Pomerania joined the Schmalkaldic League
Schmalkaldic League
The Schmalkaldic League was a defensive alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. Although originally started for religious motives soon after the start of the Protestant Reformation, its members eventually intended for the League to replace the Holy...
.
After her husband's death Mary lived, who had been promised the district of the Pudagla
Pudagla
Pudagla is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. From 1307/09 until the Protestant Reformation, it was the site of Pudagla or Usedom Abbey, which moved there from Usedom . After the abbey's secularization into a ducal domain, it at times served...
as her Wittum
Wittum
Wittum , Widum or Witthum is a medieval Latin legal term, known in marital and ecclesiastical law.- Provide for a widow at the wedding :...
, initially continued living at Wolgast Castle. In 1569, her son Ernest Louis, took over the business of government in the Duchy and granted her the income from the land of the former monastery Pudagla as jointure
Jointure
Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the death of her husband for the life of the wife at...
and in 1574, he built her Pudagla Castle using materials from the demolished monastery buildings.
Issue
From her marriage with Philip, Maria had the following children:- George (1540–1544)
- John Frederick I (1542–1600), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast
- married in 1577 Princess Erdmuthe of BrandenburgErdmuthe of BrandenburgErdmuthe of Brandenburg was a Princess of Brandenburg and by marriage Duchess of Pomerania.- Life :...
(1561-1623)- Bogislaw XIIIBogislaw XIII, Duke of PomeraniaBogislaw XIII of Pomerania , son of Philip I and Maria of Saxony, was a princes of Stettin and Wolgast, and a member of the Griffins ....
(1544–1606), Duke of Pomerania-Barth
- Bogislaw XIII
- married firstly, in 1572 Princess Claire of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1550-1598)
- married secondly, in 1601 Princess Anne of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (1577-1616)
- Ernest Louis (1545–1592)
- married in 1577 Princess Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1561-1631)
- Amalie (1547–1580)
- Barnim XBarnim X, Duke of PomeraniaBarnim X, or according to another count Barnim XII was a duke of Pomerania and a member of the House of Griffins. He administered from 1569, the Rügenwalde district...
(1549–1603), Duke of Pomerania-Rügenwalde
- married in Anna Maria of BrandenburgAnna Maria of BrandenburgAnna Maria of Brandenburg was an Princess of Brandenburg by birth and marriage Duchess of Pomerania.- Life :...
(1567-1618)- Eric (1551-1551)
- Margaret (1553–1581)
- married in 1574 Duke Francis II of Saxe-LauenburgFrancis II, Duke of Saxe-LauenburgFrancis II of Saxe-Lauenburg , was the third son of Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Sybille of Saxe-Freiberg , daughter of Duke Henry IV the Pious of Saxony...
(1547-1619)- Anna (1554–1626)
- married in 1588 Duke Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1528-1603)
- Casimir VICasimir VI, Duke of PomeraniaDuke Casimir VI of Pomerania was a non-reigning duke of Pomerania from the House of Griffins and a Protestant Bishop of Cammin .- Life :...
(1557–1605), bishop of Cammin
- Casimir VI