Sibylle of Saxony (2 May 1515 in

Freiberg Freiberg () is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the Elster and ...

– 18 July 1592 in

Buxtehude Buxtehude (; , ), officially the Hanseatic City of Buxtehude (), is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany, belonging to the district of Stade in Lower Saxony. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and attached to the city's S-Ba ...

) was a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

princess of the Albertine line of

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

and by marriage Duchess of

Saxe-Lauenburg The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (, ), was a ''reichsfrei'' duchy that existed from 1296 to 1803 and again from 1814 to 1876 in the extreme southeast region of what is now Schleswig-Holstein. Its territorial centre was in the modern district of Herz ...

Life

Sibylle was the eldest child of the Duke Henry IV of Saxony (1473–1541) from his marriage to Catherine of Mecklenburg (1487–1561), daughter of the Duke Magnus II of Mecklenburg. She married on 8 February 1540 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 ...

Duke Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg (1510–1581). This relationship turned out to be important for Sibylle's brother Maurice during the

Schmalkaldic War The Schmalkaldic War (; July 1546May 1547) was fought within the territories of the Holy Roman Empire between the allied forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Maurice, Duke of Saxony against the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League, with the forc ...

. The marriage proved unhappy and Francis accused Sibylle of ''vindictive and unloving acts''. In later years, Sibylle and Francis reconciled again. In 1552, Sibylle asked her brother Maurice to financially assist her husband, so he could redeem some goods and villages from

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

.Johannes Herrmann, Günther Wartenberg, Christian Winte
Political correspondence of the Duke and Elector Maurice of Saxony, Volume 5, p. 778
/ref> In 1588, the Duchess played a prominent role in the affair of her son Maurice, who lived in Buxtehude in the Abbot's House since 1585/86, with Adam von Tschammer's wife Gisela against whom she initiated a trial of

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

. Sibylle died in 1592 in Buxtehude and was buried in the Cathedral of

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by Ratzeburger See, four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the distri ...

Children

From her marriage to Francis, Sibylle had the following children: * Albert (*1542 – 1544*) * Dorothea (

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

, *11 March 1543 – 5 April 1586*,

Herzberg am Harz Herzberg am Harz (Esperanto: ) is a town in the Göttingen (district), Göttingen district of Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Herzberg is situated on the southwestern rim of the Harz mountain range and the Harz National Park. Natural monument ...

), ∞ Wolfgang, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (*1531 – 1595*) * Magnus II (*1543 – 14 May 1603*,

) * Ursula (*1545 – 22 October 1620*, Schernebeck), married in 1569 Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Dannenberg * Francis II (*1547 – 1619*) *

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

(*1 November 1550 – 22 April 1585*, Vörde), as Henry III Prince-Archbishop of Bremen (1567–1585), as well as Prince-Bishop of

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

(Henry II, 1574–1585) and

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

(Henry I, 1577–1585), married Anna von Broich * Maurice (*1551 – 1612*), married in 1581 Katharina von Spörck, divorced in 1582 * Sidonia Catharina (*?– 1594*), married in 1567 (1)

Wenceslaus III Adam, Duke of Cieszyn Wenceslaus III Adam of Cieszyn (, , ; December 1524 – 4 November 1579) was a Duke of Cieszyn from 1528 until his death. He was the second but only surviving son of Wenceslaus II, co-Duke of Cieszyn, by his wife Anna, daughter of Frederick I, Ma ...

and in 1586 (2) Emmerich III Forgach, Upper Gespan of the

Duchy of Teschen The Duchy of Teschen (), also Duchy of Cieszyn () or Duchy of Těšín (), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split off the Silesian Duchy of Opole and Racibórz in 1281 during the feudal divisio ...

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

(*1554 – 1586*,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

at the

and

Bremen Cathedral Bremen Cathedral (), named after St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the umbrella organization Evangelical Church in Germany. It ...

Ancestors

References

* Edward Machatschek
''History of the Kingdom of Saxony: According to credible sources: deeds, documents, annals, chronicles, memorial books, memoirs, reports of the nuncius, commentaries, bullaria, private and public letters, speeches, state papers and collections of laws, as proven by careful comparison of older and newer histories'', p. 301
* Peter von Kobbe
History and regional description of the Duchy of Lauenberg, Volume 1, p. 295, p. 336 ff.

External links

* http://www.pkgodzik.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Geschichte_und_Politik/Fortgang_der_Reformation_im_Lauenburger_Land.pdf

Footnotes

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sibylle of Saxony House of Wettin Duchesses of Saxe-Lauenburg 1515 births 1592 deaths Albertine branch Daughters of dukes Mothers of Saxon monarchs