Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf (; 19 January 1757 – 16 November 1831), was by marriage the Duchess of

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld () was one of the Ernestine duchies, Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin. Established in 1699, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of the Ernestine territories that occurred f ...

. She was the grandmother and godmother of both

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than th ...

and her husband and cousin,

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria. As such, he was consort of the British monarch from Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, th ...

Family

Augusta was born on 19 January 1757, the second child of

Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf (22 January 1724, in Ebersdorf – 13 May 1779, in Ebersdorf), was ruler of the German county Reuss-Ebersdorf from 1747 until his death in 1779. He succeeded his father as Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf. Family ...

and Countess

Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg Karoline is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Karoline Amaral (born 1984), model * Karoline Bjørnson (1835–1934), Norwegian actress * Karoline Bruch-Sinn (1853–1911), Austrian writer *Karoline Dyhre Breivang (born 1980), ...

. Her birthplace, Ebersdorf, was a center of

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

in Thuringia and Augusta's grandparents were ardent admirers of this religious movement. Augusta's grandaunt, Countess

Erdmuthe Dorothea of Reuss-Ebersdorf Erdmuthe Dorothea, Countess of Zinzendorf and Pottendorf (née Countess of Reuss-Ebersdorf; 7 November 1700 19 June 1756) was a German Pietist and hymn writer. Early life Countess Erdmuthe Dorothea von Reuss-Ebersdorf was born on 7 November 1 ...

, was married to Count Nicholas Louis von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, leader of the revivalist

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

. This background explains the deep religious feelings of Duchess Augusta in later years.

Marriage

Her father commissioned a portrait of Augusta as '' Artemisia'' by the painter

Johann Heinrich Tischbein Johann Heinrich Tischbein (3 October 1722 – 22 August 1789) was a German painter. He was one of the most respected European painters in the 18th century and an important member of the Tischbein family of German painters, which spanned three ge ...

. Count Heinrich XXIV showed this painting during the

Perpetual Diet The Perpetual Diet of Regensburg or the Eternal Diet of Regensburg, () also commonly called in English the Perpetual Diet of Ratisbon,Jean Berenger, C.A. Simpson, ''The Habsburg Empire 1700-1918'' (2014), p. 134 from the city's Latin name, was a ...

so potential marriage candidates were aware of his beautiful daughter. In Ebersdorf on 13 June 1777, Augusta married Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who previously acquired the ''Artemisia'' painting for four times the original price because he was deeply in love with Augusta, but he was already obliged to marry his relative

Princess Sophie of Saxe-Hildburghausen Princess Sophie of Saxe-Hildburghausen (Ernestine Friederike Sophie; 22 February 1760, Hildburghausen – 28 October 1776, Coburg), was a Princess of Saxe-Hildburghausen by birth, and by marriage she became the Hereditary Duchess of Saxe-Cobu ...

. Princess Sophie died 7 months after the wedding, so the young Duke was free to wed again. During her marriage, Augusta bore her husband 10 children, though only seven of them survived to adulthood; some of their children played important roles in European history:

Victoria, Duchess of Kent Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Marie Louise Victoire; 17 August 1786 – 16 March 1861), later Princess of Leiningen and subsequently Duchess of Kent and Strathearn, was a German princess and the mother of Queen Victoria of the ...

, and King Leopold I of Belgium.

Issue

Notable descendants

Countess Augusta was the grandmother of many notable monarchs of Europe, including both

(through her mother

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

) and her husband,

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

(through his father

Ernst Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (born ...

), King Consort of Portugal Ferdinand II (through his father

Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Ferdinand Georg August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (28 March 1785 – 27 August 1851) was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and a general of cavalry in the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Initia ...

), and also Empress Carlota of Mexico and her brother

Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...

(through their father Leopold I who was elected King of the Belgians on 26 June 1831).

Ancestry

References

* Gertraude Bachmann: ''Natur und Kunst in den Reisetagebüchern der Herzogin Auguste Caroline Sophie von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld'' (text of the lecture from the 175th anniversary of Duchess Augusta's death on 16 November 2006 at the Naturkunde-Museum Coburg), Coburg 2006. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Augusta, Countess Reuss Of Ebersdorf 1757 births 1831 deaths People from Saalburg-Ebersdorf Duchesses of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld House of Wettin Princesses of Reuss Daughters of counts Mothers of Belgian monarchs Mothers of Saxon monarchs