Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth was the Electress of Saxony and Queen Consort of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Let’s read further about this Queen, her royal life, her husband, and much more.
Short Bio
Christiane was born on 29 December 1671 in Bayreuth, Germany. She was the daughter of Christian Ernst and Sofie Louise of Württemberg. Her father was Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and her mother was Princess of Wurttemberg. She had five siblings but only two of them survived infancy. She was named after her father and mother’s father. She died on 4 September 1727 in Pretzsch, Bad Schmiedeberg, Germany.
Christiane’s Marriage With Augustus
Christiane married Frederick Augustus on 21 January 1693. He was the Duke of Saxony. He was the brother of the elector, John George IV. When she married Augustus she was 21 years old. This marriage was solemnized with political intention and both were unhappy due to this marriage. She was hurt due to the infidel behavior of Augustus and Augustus found her boring. They had only one son in the whole 34 years of marriage. Her husband converted to Catholicism to be sworn as the King of Poland but Christiane remained faithful to Protestant beliefs. She was not present at the coronation of her husband and due to that, she was not sworn as the Queen of Poland.
Being Electress and Wife of A King
Christiane became the electress of Poland when her husband succeeded as the elector after his brother John in 1694. When Augustus became the King he neither told about his conversion nor his candidacy of the king to Christiane. He got converted to Catholicism and wanted to convert her to be sworn as the Queen which she rejected. He persuaded her to come with him to his coronation but she refused. Moreover, she never was sworn in as the Queen of Poland.
Christiane’s Husband Augustus
Christiane’s husband Augustus was born on 12 May 1670 in Dresden, Germany. He was the son of John George III and Princess Anna Sophie. His father was an Elector of Saxony and his mother was Princess of Denmark. He fought against France. He used to stay in his residence named Wettin which was for German electorates, kings, and dukes.
He was honored with the following Royal Titles: Augustus II, by the grace of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Livonia, Kyiv, Volhynia, Podolia, Podlachia, Smolensk, Severia and Chernihiv, and Hereditary Duke and Elector of Saxony.
He had a keen interest in arts and architecture. He established the first public museums in 1723. He initiated a major development in architecture. He made plans to transform Dresden with urban development plans and regulations.
In 1936, Augustus appeared in the film Augustus the Strong which was directed by Paul Wegener. He had many illegitimate issues with many mistresses in his mansion. He never missed his wife who refused to stay with him after his conversion to Catholicism. According to sources which include Wilhelmine of Bayreuth, Augustus had almost 380 to 400 illegitimate children from concubines and other mistresses.
Conclusion
Christiane was the electress and queen consort. She never had a sense of belongingness with her husband Augustus and they were not happy with their marriage and that was the reason she never lived with him after he got sworn in as King.
