Electress
An Electress (German: Kurfürstin, Latin: electrix) was the consort of a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, one of the Empire's greatest princes.[1] The Golden Bull of 1356 established by Emperor Charles IV settled the number of Electors at seven. However, three of these were Roman Catholic archbishops, and so had no consorts; while of the four secular Electors, one was King of Bohemia, and his consort was always known by the more prestigious title of "Queen of Bohemia". The consorts usually referred to as Electresses, therefore, were:
- The Electress of the Palatinate;
- The Electress of Saxony;
- The Electress of Brandenburg.
To these were added, in 1623 and 1692 respectively:
In the final years of the Empire, several Electors were added, who only held their offices for less than three years before the Empire's final dissolution. The consorts of these last Electors were:
- The Electress of Württemberg;
- The Electress of Hesse-Kassel.
There was also an Elector of Baden, but the only ruler to use this title was married morganatically and so his spouse did not share his title. The rulers of Hesse-Kassel continued to use the title of "Elector" until the annexation of the principality by Prussia in 1866. Persons using or entitled to use the title of "Electress" are listed below. Spouses of Electors in morganatic or unequal marriages are given in a separate table at the bottom of the page.
Electresses
Electresses of the Palatinate
| Name | Image | Father | Born | Married | Became Electress |
Ceased to be Electress |
Died | Husband | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wittelsbach Dynasty | |||||||||
| Elizabeth | John I, Marquis of Namur | 1340 | 1350 | 1356 | 1382 | Rupert I | |||
| Beatrice | William I, Duke of Berg | 1360 | 1385 | 16 Feb 1390 | 1395 | ||||
| Elizabeth | Frederick V, Burggrave of Nuremberg | 1358 | 27 Jun 1374 | 6 Jan 1398 | 18 May 1410 | 26 Jul 1411 | Rupert III | ||
| Matilda | Amadeo, Prince of Achaea | 1390 | 30 Nov 1417 | 30 Dec 1436 | 14 May 1438 | Louis III | |||
| Margaret | Amadeus VIII of Savoy | 7 Aug 1420 | 18 Oct 1445 | 13 Aug 1449 | 30 Sep 1479 | Louis IV | |||
| Margaret | Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut | 7 Nov 1456 | 21 Feb 1474 | 12 Dec 1476 | 25 Feb 1501 | Philip | |||
| Sibylle | Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria | 16 Jun 1489 | 23 Feb 1511 | 18 Apr 1519 | Louis V | ||||
| Dorothea | File:ChristinavonDaenemarkCoxcie.jpg | Christian II of Denmark | 10 Nov 1520 | 26 Sep 1535 | 16 Mar 1544 | 26 Feb 1556 | 20 Sep 1580 | Frederick II | |
| Line of Simmern | |||||||||
| Marie | File:MarieBrandKulmPfalz.JPG | Casimir, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth | 13 Oct 1519 | 12 Jun 1537 | 12 Feb 1559 | 31 Oct 1567 | Frederick III | ||
| Amalia | Gumprecht IV, Count of Neuenahr | c. 1540 | 25 Apr 1569 | 26 Oct 1576 | 10 Apr 1602 | ||||
| Elisabeth | Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse | 13 Feb 1539 | 8 Jul 1560 | 26 Oct 1576 | 14 Mar 1582 | Louis VI | |||
| Anne | Edzard II, Count of East Frisia | 26 June 1562 | 12 Jul 1583 | 22 Oct 1583 | 21 Apr 1621 | ||||
| Louise Juliana | William I of Orange | 31 Mar 1576 | 12 Jun 1593 | 19 Sep 1610 | 15 Mar 1644 | Frederick IV | |||
| Elizabeth Queen of Bohemia |
File:Gerard van Honthorst 007.jpeg | James I of England | 19 Aug 1596 | 14 Feb 1613 | 23 Feb 1623 deposition |
14 Feb 1662 | Frederick V | ||
| House of Wittelsbach – Bavaria | |||||||||
| Elisabeth Renata | Charles III of Lorraine | 9 Oct 1574 | 6 Feb 1595 | 23 Feb 1623 | 4 Jan 1635 | Maximilan I | |||
| Maria Anna | File:Joachim von Sandrart - Erzherzogin Maria Anna (1610-1665), Kurfürstin von Bayern.jpg | Emperor Ferdinand II | 13 Jan 1610 | 15 Jul 1635 | 1648 | 25 Sep 1665 | |||
| Name | Image | Father | Born | Married | Became Electress |
Ceased to be Electress |
Died | Husband | |
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Electresses of Saxony
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Electresses of Brandenburg
Electresses Palatine (junior line)
Electresses of Bavaria
Electresses of Hanover
| Name | Image | Father | Born | Married | Became Electress |
Ceased to be Electress |
Died | Husband |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanover | ||||||||
| Sophia | File:Sophia of Hanover.jpg | Frederick V, Elector Palatine | 14 Oct 1630 | 30 Sep 1658 | 1692 | 23 Jan 1698 | 8 Jun 1714 | Ernest Augustus |
| Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline Queen of Great Britain |
File:Caroline Wilhelmina of Brandenburg-Ansbach by Charles Jervas cropped.jpg | John Frederick, Margrave of Ansbach | 1 Mar 1683 | 22 Aug 1705 | 11 Jun 1727 | 20 Nov 1737 | George II | |
| Sophia Charlotte Queen of Great Britain |
File:Charlotte gainsborough.jpg | Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | 19 May 1744 | 8 Sep 1761 | 12 Oct 1814 became Queen of Hanover |
17 Nov 1818 | George III | |
Electresses of Württemberg and Hesse
| Name | Image | Father | Born | Married | Became Electress |
Ceased to be Electress |
Died | Husband |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Württemberg | ||||||||
| Charlotte Augusta Matilda | File:Von Hetsch - Charlotte of Great Britain, Queen of Wurttemberg.jpg | George III of the United Kingdom | 29 Sep 1766 | 18 May 1797 | 25 February 1803 | 1 Jan 1806 became Queen of Württemberg |
5 Oct 1828 | Frederick I |
| Hesse | ||||||||
| Wilhelmina Caroline | File:Wilhelmine Carolina of Denmark, electress of Hesse-Kassel.jpg | Frederick V of Denmark | 10 July 1747 | 1 Sep 1764 | 1803 | 14 Jan 1820 | William I | |
| Augusta Christina Frederica | File:Augustevonpreussen.jpg | Frederick William II of Prussia | 1 May 1780 | 13 Feb 1797 | 27 Feb 1821 | 19 Feb 1841 | William II | |
Morganatic spouses of Electors
| Name | Father | Born | Married | Died | Husband |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clara Tott | ? | ? | 1471 | 29 Apr 1520 | Frederick I, Elector Palatine |
| Maria Susanna Loysa, Raugravine | Christoph Martin von Degenfeld | 28 Nov 1634 | 6 Jan 1658 | 18 Mar 1677 | Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine |
| Elizabeth Höllander von Bernau | ? | 1659 | 11 Dec 1679 | 8 Mar 1702 | |
| Violante Maria Theresa, Countess of Thurn and Taxis | Count Philipp-Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis | 1 Apr 1683 | 1729 | 2 Nov 1734 | Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine |
| Louise Caroline, Countess of Hochberg | Ludwig Heinrich Philipp Geyer von Geyersberg | 26 May 1768 | 24 Nov 1787 | 23 Jun 1820 | Charles Frederick of Baden |
| Emilie Ortlöpp, Countess of Reichenbach | Johann Christian Ortlöpp | 13 May 1791 | 8 July 1841 | 12 Feb 1843 | William II, Elector of Hesse |
| Caroline of Berlepsch, Baroness of Bergen | Hermann Ludwig von Berlepsch | 1820 | 28 Aug 1843 | 1877 | |
| Gertrude, Princess of Hanau | Johann Gottfried Falkenstein | 1805 | 26 June 1831 | 1882 | Frederick William, Elector of Hesse |