Adolf Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Infobox Monarch
name =Adolf Friedrich II
title =Duke of Mecklenburg [-Strelitz]


reign =1701 - 12 May 1708
predecessor =Friedrich Wilhelm
successor =Adolf Friedrich III
consort =Maria of Mecklenburg-Gustrow
Johanna of Saxe-Gotha
Christiane Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
royal house =Mecklenburg
father =Adolf Frederick
mother =Maria Katharina of Brunswick-Dannenberg
date of birth =Birth date|1658|10|19
place of birth =Grabow
date of death =Death date and age|1708|5|12|1658|10|19
place of death =|

Adolf Friedrich II (19 October 1658 - 12 May 1708) was the first Duke of Mecklenburg [-Strelitz] reigning from 1701 to his death. His state was part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Biography

He was born in Grabow as the posthumous son of Duke Adolf Frederick I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1588-1658) and his second wife Maria Katharina of Brunswick-Dannenberg (1616-1665).

In 1695 the Mecklenburg-Güstrow branch of the House of Mecklenburg became extinct and Adolf Friedrich's nephew Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Schwerin laid claim to the inheritance a move which Adolf Friedrich opposed. [cite book |last= Moore|first= John| title = View of Society and Manners in France, Switzerland and Germany | publisher =A. Strahanand T. Cadell| date =1803| pages =191]

The dispute was settled in 1701 when Adolf Friedrich reached an agreement with his nephew Duke Friedrich Wilhelm to take as his inheritance the Principality of Ratzeburg and the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. [cite book |last= Ungewitter|first= Franz Heinrich | title =Europe, Past and Present | publisher =Putnam| date =1850| pages =411]

Following his death he was succeeded as Duke by his son Adolf Friedrich.

Marriages and children

Adolf Friedrich II was first married to Princess Maria of Mecklenburg-Gustrow (19 July 1659 - 16 January 1701). They were parents to five children: [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/meckl/meckl3.html House of Mecklenburg genealogy] ]

*Adolf Friedrich III (1686-1752)
*Magdalena (1689-1689)
*Maria (1690-1690)
*Eleonore (1691-1691)
*Gustave (1694-1748) she married Christian Ludwig II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

On 20 June 1702, Adolf Friedrich II married secondly to Princess Johanna of Saxe-Gotha (1680-1704). Johanna was a daughter of Friedrich I, Prince of Saxe-Gotha (1646-1691) and Princess Magdalen Sybille of Saxe-Weissenfels (1648-1681). There were no children from this marriage.

Adolf Friedrich was married on 10 June 1705 at Strelitz for a third and last time to Princess Christiane Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1681-1751] . She was a daughter of Christian Wilhelm , Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1647-1721) and Countess Antonie Sybille of Barby-Muhlingen (1641-1684). They were parents to two children:

*Sophia (1706-1708)
*Charles Louis Frederick, (1707-1752). He was the father of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen consort of George III of the United Kingdom.

Ancestry

Adolf Friedrich was a fourth-generation descendant of Gustav Vasa, King of Sweden and his second Queen consort Margareta Leijonhufvud through their second child and first daughter Katharina of Sweden (1539 - 1610). Katharina was consort to Edzard II, Count of East Frisia (1532 - 1599). East Frisia played a prominent role at the spreading of Protestant Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire of the 16th century and was thus a natural ally for Protestant Sweden.

Their daughter Maria, Princess of East Frisia (1582 - 1616) became consort to Julius-Ernst, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1571 - 1636). They were the maternal grandparents of Adolf Friedrich II.

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1= 1. Adolf Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
2= 2. Adolf Frederick I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
3= 3. Maria Katharina of Brunswick-Dannenberg
4= 4. Johann V-VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
5= 5. Sophia of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp
6= 6. Julius Ernst, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Dannenberg
7= 7. Maria of East Frisia
8= 8. Johann Albrecht, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and Schwerin
9= 9. Anna Sophie of Prussia
10= 10. Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
11= 11. Christine of Hesse
12= 12. Heinrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Dannenberg
13= 13. Ursula of Saxe-Lauenburg-Ratzeburg
14= 14. Edzard II, Count of East Frisia
15= 15. Katharina Vasa
16= 16. Albert VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
17= 17. Anna of Brandenburg
18= 18. Albert, Duke of Prussia
19= 19. Dorothea of Denmark
20= 20. Frederick I of Denmark
21= 21. Sophie of Pomerania
22= 22. Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse
23= 23. Christine of Saxony
24= 24. Ernst I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle
25= 25. Sophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
26= 26. Franz I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg-Ratzeburg
27= 27. Sibylla of Saxony
28= 28. Enno II, Count of East Frisia
29= 29. Anna of Oldenburg
30= 30. Gustav I of Sweden
31= 31. Margaret Leijonhufvud

References