Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld: Difference between revisions
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==Grand Duchess of Russia== |
==Grand Duchess of Russia== |
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===Marriage Plans=== |
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After the marriage of his eldest grandson, [[Alexander I of Russia|Grand Duke Alexander]], with [[Elizabeth Alexeievna (Louise of Baden)|Louise of Baden]] in 1793, [[Catherine the Great|Empress Catherine II of Russia]] began to search a suitable wife for his second grandson, Grand Duke Constantine. Soon arrived from the court of Naples a marriage offer: King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria Carolina expressed the idea of arranged the union between the Grand Duke and one of his many daughters. The Empress rejected the proposal inmediately. |
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In 1795 General [[Andrei Budberg]] was sent in a secret mission to the ruling European courts: find a bride for Constantine. He had a huge list of candidates, but during his trip became ill and was forced to stay in Coburg, where was attended by the Ducal court doctor, Baron Stockmar, who, once knew the real intention of his trip, drew the General's atention to the daughters of Duke Franz. Budberg didn't go to any other court and wrote to Saint Petersburg that he found the perfect candidates. |
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After a little consideration, Empress Catherine II consented. Duchess Augusta, once she knew that one of her daughters would be a Grand Duchess of Russia, was delighted with the idea: a marriage with the Imperial Russian dynasty could bring huge benefits for the relative small German Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. However, in Europe were another views; for example, Charles-François-Philibert Masson, in his ''Secrets Memoirs of the court of Saint-Petersburg'' wrote about the unenviable role of German brides in the Russian court: |
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:::''Young touching victim, which Germany sends as a tribute to Russia, as did Greece who sent their maids to the Minotaur...'' |
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===Life in Russia=== |
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Juliane, along with her two elder sisters, [[Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Sophie]] and [[Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Antoinette]], traveled to [[Saint Petersburg]] at the request of [[Catherine the Great|Empress Catherine II of Russia]], who wanted a bride for her second grandson, [[Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia|Grand Duke Constantine]]. The young Grand Duke chose Juliane.<ref>Alexander Jordis-Lohausen: ''Mitteleuropa 1658-2008- die Chronik einer Familie'', GRIN Verlag, 2009, p. 58.</ref> This union, in connection with the wedding of her brother Leopold with Princess [[Charlotte Augusta of Wales]], made the little Duchy of Saxe-Coburg the dynastic heart of Europe. In addition, thanks to relations with the Russian Empire, Saxe-Coburg was relatively safe during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. |
Juliane, along with her two elder sisters, [[Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Sophie]] and [[Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Antoinette]], traveled to [[Saint Petersburg]] at the request of [[Catherine the Great|Empress Catherine II of Russia]], who wanted a bride for her second grandson, [[Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia|Grand Duke Constantine]]. The young Grand Duke chose Juliane.<ref>Alexander Jordis-Lohausen: ''Mitteleuropa 1658-2008- die Chronik einer Familie'', GRIN Verlag, 2009, p. 58.</ref> This union, in connection with the wedding of her brother Leopold with Princess [[Charlotte Augusta of Wales]], made the little Duchy of Saxe-Coburg the dynastic heart of Europe. In addition, thanks to relations with the Russian Empire, Saxe-Coburg was relatively safe during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. |
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Revision as of 23:31, 8 September 2012
| Princess Juliane | |
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| Tsesarevna of Russia Grand Duchess Anna Fyodorovna of Russia | |
 La Grande Duchesse Anna Feodorovna", Portrait by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun, painted shortly after her wedding (ca.1795-1796). This portrait was destroyed by bombs during World War II | |
| Born | 23 July 1781 Coburg |
| Died | 15 August 1860 (aged 79) Elfenau, near Bern, Switzerland |
| Spouse | Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia |
| House | House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov House of Wettin |
| Father | Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld |
| Mother | Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf |
Princess Juliane Henriette Ulrike of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Coburg, 23 September 1781 – Elfenau, near Bern, Switzerland, 15 August 1860), also known as Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia, was a German princess of the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (after 1826, the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) who became the wife of Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia of Russia.
Family
She was the third daughter of Franz Frederick Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Countess Augusta Caroline Reuss of Ebersdorf. King Leopold I of the Belgians was her younger brother, while Queen Victoria of United Kingdom was her niece and King Ferdinand II of Portugal was her nephew.
Grand Duchess of Russia
Marriage Plans
After the marriage of his eldest grandson, Grand Duke Alexander, with Louise of Baden in 1793, Empress Catherine II of Russia began to search a suitable wife for his second grandson, Grand Duke Constantine. Soon arrived from the court of Naples a marriage offer: King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria Carolina expressed the idea of arranged the union between the Grand Duke and one of his many daughters. The Empress rejected the proposal inmediately.
In 1795 General Andrei Budberg was sent in a secret mission to the ruling European courts: find a bride for Constantine. He had a huge list of candidates, but during his trip became ill and was forced to stay in Coburg, where was attended by the Ducal court doctor, Baron Stockmar, who, once knew the real intention of his trip, drew the General's atention to the daughters of Duke Franz. Budberg didn't go to any other court and wrote to Saint Petersburg that he found the perfect candidates.
After a little consideration, Empress Catherine II consented. Duchess Augusta, once she knew that one of her daughters would be a Grand Duchess of Russia, was delighted with the idea: a marriage with the Imperial Russian dynasty could bring huge benefits for the relative small German Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. However, in Europe were another views; for example, Charles-François-Philibert Masson, in his Secrets Memoirs of the court of Saint-Petersburg wrote about the unenviable role of German brides in the Russian court:
- Young touching victim, which Germany sends as a tribute to Russia, as did Greece who sent their maids to the Minotaur...
Life in Russia
Juliane, along with her two elder sisters, Sophie and Antoinette, traveled to Saint Petersburg at the request of Empress Catherine II of Russia, who wanted a bride for her second grandson, Grand Duke Constantine. The young Grand Duke chose Juliane.[1] This union, in connection with the wedding of her brother Leopold with Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, made the little Duchy of Saxe-Coburg the dynastic heart of Europe. In addition, thanks to relations with the Russian Empire, Saxe-Coburg was relatively safe during the Napoleonic Wars.
Juliane, who was not yet fifteen years of age, took the name of Anna Feodorovna in a Russian Orthodox baptismal ceremony and married Constantine (who was only seventeen years old at the time) in St.Petersburg on 26 February 1796. The Empress died nine months later, on 6 November. By virtue of her wedding, she was awarded with the Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Saint Catherine and the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem.[2]
The marriage was deeply unhappy. Constantine, known to be a violent boy,[3] made his young wife intensely miserable.[4] After three years, in 1799, Anna left her husband and returned to Coburg.
Shortly thereafter, however, she returned to Russia in an unsuccessful attempt at reconciliation. In 1801, Anna, who had become involved in several frivolous intrigues, was sent home permanently to Coburg.
Life after separation
On 28 October 1808 Anna gave birth to an illegitimate son, named Eduard Edgar Schmidt-Löwe. The father of this child may have been Jules Gabriel Emile de Seigneux, a minor French nobleman. Eduard was ennobled by his mother's younger brother, Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and assumed the surname von Löwenfels by decree on 10 January 1818.
Later, Anna moved to Bern, Switzerland, and gave birth to a second illegitimate child in 1812, a daughter, named Louise Hilda Agnes d'Aubert. The father was Rodolphe Abraham de Schiferli, a Swiss surgeon, professor and chamberlain (French:Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, German:Oberhofmeister) of Anna's household from 1812 to 1837. In order to cover another scandal in Anna's life, the baby was adopted by Jean François Joseph d'Aubert, a French refugee.
Two years later, in 1814, Constantine, accompanied by her brother Leopold, tried to get Anna to return to him but her firm opposition prevented this attempt from succeeding. That year, Anna acquired an estate on the banks of Aare River and gave it the name of Elfenau.[5] She spent the rest of her life there, and, as a lover of music, made her home a center for domestic and foreign musical society of the era.
Finally, on 20 March 1820, after nineteen years of separation, her marriage with the Grand Duke Constantine was formally annulled. He remarried two months later and died on 27 June 1831. Anna survived her former husband by twenty-nine years.
Later, her son Eduard married his cousin Bertha von Schauenstein, an illegitimate daughter of the Duke Ernst I, and descendants of that marriage are still alive today. Her daughter Louise married Jean Samuel Edouard Dapples in 1834, but died three years later in 1837 at the age of twenty-five.
Ancestry
| Family of Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld |
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Bibliography
- Alville (Alix von Wattenwyl), Elfenau. Die Geschichte eines bernischen Landsitzes und seiner Bewohner, Bern 1959.
- Alville, Des cours princières aux demeures helvétiques, Lausanne 1962
- Erika Bestenreiner,Die Frauen aus dem Hause Coburg. Munich: Piper 2008, ISBN 3-492-04905-2
References
- ^ Alexander Jordis-Lohausen: Mitteleuropa 1658-2008- die Chronik einer Familie, GRIN Verlag, 2009, p. 58.
- ^ AdreßHandbuch des Herzogthums Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha, Meusel, 1854, p. 13.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Neuer Plutarch: oder, Bildnisse und Biographien der berühmtesten Männer und Frauen aller Nationen und Stände; von den ältern bis auf unsere Zeiten. According to reliable sources, edited by a scholar societies, CA Hartleben, 1853, vol. V, p. 128.
- ^ Karl Viktor von Bonstetten, Doris Walser-Wilhelm, Antje Kolde: Bonstettiana, Band 10; Band 1805-1811, Wallstein Verlag, 2003, p. 629.