Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (27 October 1612 – 20 March 1687) was

Electress An Electress (, ) was the consort of a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, one of the Empire's greatest princes. The Golden Bull of 1356 established by Emperor Charles IV settled the number of Electors at seven. However, three of these wer ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

from 1656 to 1680 as the wife of John George II. The daughter of Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and Marie of Prussia, she was by birth a '' Markgräfin'', or Margravine, and a member of the

Brandenburg-Bayreuth The Principality of Bayreuth () or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (''Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth'') was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Since Burgrave Frederi ...

branch of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...

Life

Born in

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

, she was her parents' fifth child. Her maternal grandparents were

Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia Albert Frederick (; ; 7 May 1553 – 27 August 1618) was the Duke of Prussia, from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach bran ...

, and Marie Eleonore of Cleves. One of her maternal aunts was

Duchess Anna of Prussia Duchess Anna of Prussia and Jülich-Cleves-Berg (3 July 1576 – 30 August 1625) was Electress consort of Brandenburg and Duchess consort of Prussia by marriage to John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg. She was the daughter of Albert Frederic ...

. She had three surviving siblings: Anna Maria (1609–1680), wife of Prince Johann Anton I von Eggenberg, Duke of Krumlov; Erdmann August (1615–1651); and George Albert (1619–1666). She was married to John George,

Prince Elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

of Saxony, on 13 November 1638 in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

.European Heraldry website
/ref> He was her first cousin, being the son of her maternal aunt and namesake,

Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia (31 December 1586 – 12 February 1659) was an Electress of Saxony as the wife of John George I, Elector of Saxony. Life Magdalene Sibylle was born in Königsberg, the daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia an ...

. Her sister-in-law and cousin was Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony. Magdalene Sibylle had a good relationship with the Swedish royal family (the Queen consort from 1620 to 1632,

Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (11 November 1599 – 28 March 1655) was Queen of Sweden from 1620 to 1632 as the wife of King Gustav II Adolph (''Gustavus Adolphus''). She was born a German princess as the daughter of John Sigismund, Elector of ...

, was her first cousin) and was able to save the city of

Pirna Pirna (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a ''Große ...

from attack by a letter to the Swedish commander in 1639, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. In 1680 she was widowed and retired to Freiberg-Colditz. She died in

in 1687.

Issue

She had three children: #Sibylle Marie (Dresden, 16 September 1642 – Dresden, 27 February 1643), died young; #Erdmuthe Sophie (Dresden, 25 February 1644 – Schloss Bayreuth, 22 June 1670), married her cousin,

Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth Christian Ernst of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (6 August 1644 in Bayreuth – 20 May 1712 in Erlangen) was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. He was the only son of Erdmann August, Hereditary Margrave (''E ...

, on 29 October 1662; died without issue; #

John George III Johann George III (20 June 1647 – 12 September 1691) was Elector of Saxony from 1680 to 1691. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin. Early life Johann Georg III was born in Dresden, the only son of Johann George II and M ...

(Dresden, 20 June 1647 – Tübingen, 12 September 1691), his father's successor as John George III, Elector of Saxony.

Ancestry

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth 1612 births 1687 deaths Electoral Princesses of Saxony German people of the Thirty Years' War House of Hohenzollern People from Bayreuth Electresses of Saxony ⚭Margravine Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburgbayreuth Burials at Freiberg Cathedral Daughters of monarchs Mothers of Saxon monarchs