Margarethe von der Saale

Margarethe von der Saale, also known as Margaret of the Sahla (* 1522 in Schoenfeld (Landkreis Meißen), † July 6, 1566 in Spangenberg ) was the second wife of Landgrave Philip of Hesse.

Life

Margaret was the daughter of Anna Miltitz and Hans von der Saale. The already married Landgrave Philipp she learned at the age of 17 years know. His marriage to Christina of Saxony he described as disorganized from the beginning: He had the other hand, they had at least nine between 1527 " NIHE love or had brunstlichkeit to ir, as wol they sust from, but verily sust unfreindtlich, heslich, even evil Geroch. " 1547 children born, so that the quoted statement is probably to be regarded rather as a justification attempt during his second bigamous marriage.

His intention to marry Margaret morganatic, stemmed from the fact that he held one hand out of the sacrament, as long as he lived " in sin " with another than his wife. However, a divorce he did not want to, be it religious, be it for political concerns. He sought the reformer Martin Luther according to judgment, who wrote on 10 December 1539 that between the two evils of divorce and bigamy latter is the lower well. The wedding ceremony was held in Rotenburg Castle in the presence of Martin Bucer and Philipp Melanchthon by Dionysius Melander on March 4, 1540. After the ceremony, Margaret inhabited first the moated castle Wolkersdorf in today Bottendorf ( Castle Forest) in Frankenberg. 1540 half-timbered house on the market square in Spangenberg (corner of Castle Road Convent Road ) became their residence. In 1565 they acquired the castle seat Spangenberg and had built the mansion. A year after her death sold her son Ernst von Diez the Castle became the seat of the city Spangenberg.

At court in Kassel, she was - never admitted - even after the death of the Countess Christine.

Children

The marriage produced nine children were born, the later " Counts of Diez from the house of Hesse ":

  • Philip (1541-1569)
  • Hermann (1542-1568)
  • Christoph Ernst (1543-1603)
  • Margaret (1544-1608)
  • Albrecht (1546-1569)
  • Philip Conrad (1547-1569)
  • Moritz (1553-1575)
  • Ernst (1554-1570)
  • Anna (1557-1558)

Policy Implications

The marriage of Philip with Margarethe von der Saale led to a significant weakening of the Reformation. In order to escape an indictment for bigamy, Philip had to make political concessions to the emperor in Regensburg contract. The 1546 account of the conquest of the Duchy of Braunschweig with outlawry took Landgraf was beaten with the other Protestant princes of the Smalcald War and imprisoned for five years.

Protestant Reformation Schmalkaldic War Integrated Authority File
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