Princess Maria Amalia of Courland (Maria Anna Amalia Kettler; 12 June 1653 – 16 June 1711) was a Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel by her marriage to

Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Charles of Hesse-Kassel (; 3 August 1654 – 23 March 1730), member of the House of Hesse, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1670 to 1730. Childhood Charles was the second son of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and Hedwig Sophi ...

. She was a daughter of Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia and Margravine Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg. Her eldest son was King

Frederick I of Sweden Frederick I (; 28 April 1676 – 5 April 1751) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1720 until his death, having been prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and was also Landgrave of Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Kassel fr ...

. One of her daughters was the

most recent common ancestor A most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as a last common ancestor (LCA), is the most recent individual from which all organisms of a set are inferred to have descended. The most recent common ancestor of a higher taxon is generally assu ...

of all the currently reigning monarchs of Europe from 1939 to 1941 and 1943 to 2022.

Life

Maria Amalia was a daughter of

Jacob Kettler Jacob Kettler (; ; 28 October 1610 – 1 January 1682) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1642 to 1682. Under his rule, Courland and Semigallia became more independent of its Polish suzerain, reached its peak in wealth, and even engage ...

, Duke of Courland and Semigallia (1610–1681) and his wife, Princess Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg (1617–1676). From 1658 to 1660, during the

Northern Wars "Northern Wars" is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern Europe, northern and northeastern Europe from the 16th to the 18th century, primarily between the territorial rivals of the Swedish Empire, Tsardom of Russia, Poland–Lithuani ...

, Maria Amalia and her family were kept as prisoners by the invading

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

and later in Ivangorod. She was first engaged to her first cousin William VII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1651–1670), but he died during his Grand Tour. She was then engaged to William's younger brother and heir, Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1654–1730), whom she married on 21 May 1673 in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

. As landgravine, she participated in the creation of the Karlsaue Park in Kassel. The Marmor fountain in the park contains a medallion by the French sculptor Pierre Etienne Monnot depicting Maria Amalia. In 1699, together with her son Maximilian, she bought Sensenstein Castle. She was described as modest, affable and pious. Maria Amalia died in 1711 and was buried in the Martinskirche of Kassel. The village of Mariendorf in Hesse, Germany was named in her memory.

Issue

Maria Amalia and her husband Charles had fourteen children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. Their eldest surviving son, Frederick I succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, while also becoming King of Sweden; their second-eldest surviving son William VIII also became landgrave after his brother's death. * William (1674–1676), died in childhood * Charles (1675–1677), died in childhood * Frederick I (1676–1751),

Landgrave Landgrave (, , , ; , ', ', ', ', ') was a rank of nobility used in the Holy Roman Empire, and its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), and ' ("count palatine") are of roughly equal rank, subordinate to ' ("duke"), and su ...

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon t ...

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

, married firstly Princess Louise Dorothea of Prussia (1680–1705) in 1700 and had no issue; married secondly Queen

Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden Ulrika Eleonora or Ulrica Eleanor (23 January 1688 – 24 November 1741), also known as Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, was Queen of Sweden from 5 December 1718 until her abdication on 29 February 1720 in favour of Frederick, her husband. Upon h ...

(1688–1741) in 1715 and had no issue. * Christian (1677–1677), died in infancy * Sophie Charlotte (1678–1749), married Duke Frederick William of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1675–1713) in 1704 and had no issue. * Charles (1680–1702) * William VIII (1682–1760), Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, married Princess Dorothea Wilhelmina of Saxe-Zeitz (1691–1743) in 1717 and had issue. * Leopold (1684–1704) * Louis (1686–1706) * Marie Luise (1688–1765), married Prince John William Friso of Nassau-Dietz (1687–1711) in 1709 and had issue; together with her husband, they were the most recent common ancestors of all the currently reigning monarchs of Europe from 1939 to 1941 and from 1943 to 2022. * Maximilian (1689–1753), married Friederike Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1720, and had issue. * George Charles (1691–1755) * Eleonore (1694), died in infancy * Wilhelmine Charlotte (1695–1722)

Ancestors

References and sources

* Christian Röth
''Geschichte von Hessen'' p. 305
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Amalia of Courland 1653 births 1711 deaths People from Jelgava House of Hesse-Kassel People from the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia Landgravines of Hesse-Kassel 17th-century German people 18th-century German people Mothers of Swedish monarchs