Gertrud von Plettenberg-Seckenrode (died 26 October 1608) was a German noblewoman, administrator of several castles of the

Electorate of Cologne The Electorate of Cologne (), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift—the temporal posses ...

and royal mistress of Prince

Ernest of Bavaria Wittelsbach- Hapsburg aristocrat Ernest of Bavaria () (17 December 1554 – 17 February 1612) was Prince-Elector-Archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne and, as such, Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Westphalia, from 158 ...

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

Biography

Gertrud von Plettenberg was a member of the Seckenrode branch of the

House of Plettenberg The House of Plettenberg is the name of the Westphalian noble family of the ''Uradel''. It dates back at least to 1187, when ''Heidolphus de Plettenbrath'' was mentioned in a document by Philip I, the archbishop of Cologne. Plettenberg-Wittem bran ...

. She was born as a daughter of Ulrich II von Plettenberg-Seckenrode (1530-1584) and his wife, Catharina Margaretha von Luggenhausen (b. 1535). As her family was poor, but noble and well connected, she was given a position at the court of

in Arnsberg, Hirschberg and Höllinghofen. Because of her, Ernest primarily resided at Arnsberg from 1595 onward. Gertrud and Ernest were lovers from 1595, and reportedly married secretly and

morganatically Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spouse ...

in 1605. They had one son, legitimized in 1600, Wilhelm von Bayern,

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

von Höllinghofen,

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Stablo and Malmedy (d. 1657) and one daughter. From 1598, she is mentioned by contemporaries as his hostess. There were rumors at her death that she had been poisoned by the

Duchess of Cleves Countess of Cleves House of Cleves, 1020/25–1368 House of La Marck, 1368–1417 Duchess of Cleves House of La Marck, 1417–1609 Grand Duchess of Berg and Cleves House of Bonaparte, 1806–1813 Notes Sources

*{{ ...

References

* Magdalena Padberg: Jungfer Gertrud und ihre Familie. In: Jahrbuch Hochsauerlandkreis 1990. Brilon 1989 1608 deaths Year of birth unknown House of Plettenberg Mistresses of Bavarian royalty Morganatic spouses of German royalty {{Germany-noble-stub