Mechthild of the Palatinate (1418–1482) was a princess and major patroness of the literary arts in the 15th century. Born to Ludwig III, Elector Palatine and

Matilda of Savoy Matilda (or Mechtilde) of Savoy (1390–1438) was Electress Palatine as the second wife of the Elector Palatine Louis III, whom she married on 30 November 1417. She was a daughter of Amadeo, Prince of Achaea and Catherine of Geneva. Children M ...

, she was married by the age of 15 to

Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg-Urach Ludwig I (before 31 October 141223/24 September 1450) was Count of Württemberg from 1419 and then count of Württemberg-Urach until his death in 1450. Life Ludwig was born before 31 October 1412, the eldest son of Count Eberhard IV and his ...

. Five children came out of the marriage, but by age 31 she became a widow. She was remarried two years later to the Archduke Albert VI of Austria. After he died in 1463, she retired to her court at

Rottenburg am Neckar Rottenburg am Neckar (; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; Swabian: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) s ...

. This court became a center of flourishing literary culture up until her death. Some of the literary artists who she supported showed their appreciation for her through the dedication of literary works. After their initial meeting in 1460, Niklas van Wyle dedicated four of his translations to her. Amongst many things, she was also known as a bibliophile. Jakob Püterich von Reichertshausen wrote a poem for her called ''Letter of Honor''. In the poem, he lists and compares all the books that he and she had collected in their individual libraries. She had sent him a list of 94 of her books in advance of this poems creation for his use. Many of those in her possession, he had not even heard of before. In collaboration with her son, Count Eberhard the Bearded of Württemberg, who was married to an Italian princess of the

Gonzaga family The House of Gonzaga (, ) is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708 (first as a captaincy-general, then Margraviate of Mantua, margraviate, and finally Duchy of Mantua, duchy). They also ruled M ...

Barbara Gonzaga Barbara of Brandenburg (30 September 1422 – 7 November 1481) was a Marchioness consort of Mantua, married in 1433 to Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua. She was referred to as a virago because of her strong character and forceful natur ...

, she founded the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

, in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, in 1457. She later co-founded the humanistic

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

in 1477. She died on 22 August 1482 and was buried at the Charterhouse of Güterstein. Mathilde of the Palatinate

Issue

Ludwig I and Mechthild of the Palatinate had the following children: *Mechthild (after 1436 – 6 June 1495), married in 1454 to

Louis II, Landgrave of Hesse Louis II of Hesse () (7 September 1438 – 8 November 1471), called Louis the Frank, was the Landgrave oLower Hessefrom 1458 - 1471. He was the son of Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse and Anna of Saxony. He married Mechthild, daughter of Ludwig ...

(1438–1471) *

Ludwig II Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duk ...

(3 April 1439 – 3 November 1457), from 1450 count of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

- Urach *Andreas (11 April – 19 May 1443) * Eberhard V (11 December 1445 – 24 February 1496), from 1457 count of Württemberg-Urach, from 1495 Duke Eberhard I. of Württemberg *Elisabeth (4 October 1447 – 3 June 1505), married in 1470 to

Johann II of Nassau-Saarbrücken Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

(1423–1472), and in 1474 to Heinrich the Elder, Count of Stolberg (1436–1511)

References

External links

{{Authority control 1418 births 1482 deaths Princesses in the Holy Roman Empire German bibliophiles University of Tübingen University of Freiburg House of Wittelsbach Daughters of counts Daughters of prince-electors Remarried royal consorts Mothers of monarchs of Württemberg