Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Infobox German Royalty|majesty|consort
name = Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick
title = Holy Roman Empress; Queen consort of the Romans, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Sardinia, Naples, and Sicily; Archduchess consort of Austria


imgw=250
caption=
reign= 1711 - 1740
reign-type=Consort
spouse = Charles VI
spouse-type=Consort to
issue=Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress
Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria
royal house= House of Habsburg
father=Louis Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
mother=Princess Christine Louise of Oettingen-Oettingen
date of birth= August 28 1691
place of birth=
date of death= December 21 1750
place of death= Vienna, Austria
place of burial= Imperial Crypt, Vienna

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (August 28 1691, Brunswick, Germany ; December 21 1750, Vienna, Austria) Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Holy Roman Empress by her marriage to Emperor Charles VI. She was renowned for her delicate beauty and also for being the mother of Empress Maria Theresa.

Elisabeth Christine was the eldest daughter of Louis Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his wife Princess Christine Louise of Oettingen-Oettingen.

At age 13 Elisabeth Christine became engaged to the future Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor through negotiations between her ambitious grandfather, Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Charles' sister-in-law, Empress Wilhelmina Amalia, whose father was John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and thus belonged to another branch of the Guelph dynasty.

However, the Protestant bride opposed the marriage at first, since it involved her switching to Catholicism, but finally she gave in and on 1 May 1707, was converted in Bamberg.

At the time of the wedding, Charles was fighting for his rights to the Spanish throne against the French-born King Philip V of Spain, so he was living in Barcelona. Elisabeth Christine arrived in Spain on July 1708 and married Charles on 1 August 1708 in Barcelona. Later, they had two children who survived infancy, Empress Maria Teresa and Archduchess Maria Anna. Elisabeth Christine died in Vienna.

Children

* Leopold Johann (April 13 1716 - November 4 1716), Archduke of Austria
* Maria Teresa (May 13 1717 - November 29 1780), Archduchess of Austria, married Francis III Stephen, Duke of Lorraine (later Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor)
* Maria Anna (September 26 1718 - December 16 1744), Archduchess of Austria, married Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
* Maria Amalia (April 5 1724 - April 19 1730), Archduchess of Austria

Ancestry

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boxstyle_1=background-color: #999;
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boxstyle_3=background-color: #ddd;
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1= Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
2= Louis Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
3= Princess Christine Louise of Oettingen-Oettingen
4= Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
5= Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderborg-Norburg
6= Albert Ernest I, Prince of Oettingen
7= Christine Friederike of Württemberg
8= Augustus the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
9= Dorothea of Anhalt-Zerbst
10=Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderborg-Norburg
11=Eleonore of Anhalt-Zerbst
12=Joachim Ernst, Prince Oettingen-Oettingen
13=Anna Dorothea of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein-Gleichen
14=Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg
15=Anna Katharina, Wild- and Rheingraefin of Salm-Kyrburg

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External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21932 Biographical sketch at findagrave.com]