Marie Eleonore of Cleves

Duchess Marie Eleonore of Cleves (16 June 1550 – 1 June 1608) was a Duchess consort of Prussia by marriage to Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia. She was the eldest child of William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and Maria of Austria.

Duchess Marie Eleonore
Duchess consort of Prussia
Born(1550-06-16)16 June 1550
Cleves
Died1 June 1608(1608-06-01) (aged 57)
Königsberg
SpouseAlbert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
IssueAnna, Duchess of Prussia, Electress of Brandenburg
Marie, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
Albert Frederick of Prussia
Sophie, Duchess of Courland and Semigallia
Eleonore, Electress of Brandenburg
Wilhelm Frederick of Prussia
Magdalene Sibylle, Electress of Saxony
HouseLa Marck
FatherWilliam, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg
MotherArchduchess Maria of Austria

Life

She was the maternal granddaughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, and sister of John William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg.

Marie and her mother

While her father was a Reform Catholic, Marie Eleonore, who was of a strong willed character, displayed firm Lutheran sympathies early on. Her father was afraid that she would influence her younger sisters with her religious views, and therefore wished to have her married to someone of her own religious convictions as soon as possible in order to remove her from his domains, and thus considered grooms for his daughter that he would not otherwise have considered.[1] Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, the son of Albert of Prussia, was thus accepted as a suitor, despite showing mental disorders.[2] The wedding was conducted in 1573, and Marie Eleonore departed to Lutheran Prussia.

In 1577, her mentally ill spouse was placed under the regency of his cousin George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, which made the position of Marie Eleonore more difficult at the Ducal court of Köningsberg.[3] In 1591, she returned with her daughters to Jülich, where she remained until 1592. She arranged the marriage of her daughters to German princes to avoid them being married by the regency council to Polish suitors, and by the marriage alliances she arranged, she ensured that the Duchy of Jülich would come to the Brandenburg after the death of her brother.[4]

Issue

Ancestors
gollark: Packing it with stupid amounts of moderators, then?
gollark: Oh wow.
gollark: Oh, you have a cool ridiculously oversized design? I'm looking for one of those.
gollark: I use Compact Machines myself, though the reactor's not in one.
gollark: Weird. I don't have radiation on (I hope) and the recipes seem to show in JEI at least.

References
  1. R. Scheller, Die Frau am preuß. Herzogshof (1550–1625), 1966 (L, P); Land im Mittelpunkt d. Mächte, Die Herzogtümer Jülich-Kleve-Berg, 1984 (zugleich Ausst.kat. Kleve 1984, Düsseldorf 1985, dort bes. H. Preuß, Pol. Heiraten in Jülich-Kleve-Berg, S. 133-46, P).
  2. R. Scheller, Die Frau am preuß. Herzogshof (1550–1625), 1966 (L, P); Land im Mittelpunkt d. Mächte, Die Herzogtümer Jülich-Kleve-Berg, 1984 (zugleich Ausst.kat. Kleve 1984, Düsseldorf 1985, dort bes. H. Preuß, Pol. Heiraten in Jülich-Kleve-Berg, S. 133-46, P).
  3. R. Scheller, Die Frau am preuß. Herzogshof (1550–1625), 1966 (L, P); Land im Mittelpunkt d. Mächte, Die Herzogtümer Jülich-Kleve-Berg, 1984 (zugleich Ausst.kat. Kleve 1984, Düsseldorf 1985, dort bes. H. Preuß, Pol. Heiraten in Jülich-Kleve-Berg, S. 133-46, P).
  4. R. Scheller, Die Frau am preuß. Herzogshof (1550–1625), 1966 (L, P); Land im Mittelpunkt d. Mächte, Die Herzogtümer Jülich-Kleve-Berg, 1984 (zugleich Ausst.kat. Kleve 1984, Düsseldorf 1985, dort bes. H. Preuß, Pol. Heiraten in Jülich-Kleve-Berg, S. 133-46, P).
Marie Eleonore of Cleves
House of La Marck
Born: 16 June 1550 Died: 1 June 1608
Vacant
Title last held by
Anna Maria of Brunswick-Lüneburg		 Duchess consort of Prussia
1573–1608		 Succeeded by
Duchess Anna of Prussia

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