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Caroline Brandenburg-AnsbachNée Princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach, wife of George II
Date of Birth: 01.03.1683
Country:  Germany |
Content:
Childhood
Caroline was born on March 1, 1683, in Ansbach, to Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach. When Caroline was three, her father died from smallpox, and the regency of the principality passed to Johann Friedrich's underage son by his first marriage, Christian Albrecht. Relations between Eleonore and her stepson were strained from the outset, and she moved with Caroline and her brother Wilhelm Friedrich first to Crailsheim, where they lived in reduced circumstances, and then she returned alone to her native Eisenach. Eleonore's children were sent to Berlin, where they were briefly raised with the Crown Prince of Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm.
In April 1692, Caroline's mother married the Elector of Saxony, Johann Georg IV, and moved with her children to Dresden, where the Saxon court was located. The marriage had been arranged by the head of the House of Hohenzollern, Frederick III, as a way to secure an alliance with Saxony. The marriage was an unhappy one: Johann Georg IV had a long-standing mistress, Magdalena Sibylla von Neitschütz, with whom he continued to have an affair after his wedding to Eleonore; moreover, Eleonore suffered two miscarriages, in August 1692 and February 1693, and a false pregnancy in December 1693. In March 1693, rumors spread through the court that Eleonore was not Johann Georg's legal wife because he had already been married to Magdalena Sibylla when he entered into matrimony with her; a document was even produced that seemed to confirm the existence of a marriage contract between the Elector of Saxony and Magdalena Sibylla, but Johann Georg himself declared that he did not consider this pact as a formal marriage and that it had only been intended to legitimize his mistress's descendants. Nevertheless, Johann Georg spent the rest of his marriage desperately trying to legalize his relationship with his mistress and to rid himself of his wife and her children; fearing for her life and that of Caroline and Wilhelm Friedrich, Eleonore fled the court and took up residence at Pretzsch.
In 1694, Johann Georg IV died, supposedly from smallpox contracted from Magdalena Sibylla; his brother, Frederick Augustus, succeeded him as Elector of Saxony. He allowed Eleonore and her children to remain in Saxony, where she lived for two more years until her death in 1696. The orphaned Caroline and Wilhelm Friedrich planned to return to Ansbach to the court of their eldest half-brother, Georg Friedrich II, who had become Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach upon Christian Albrecht's death in 1692. Georg Friedrich, like his predecessor, was underage, and the principality was ruled by a regent who took little interest in the upbringing of the young girl. Caroline was sent to Charlottenburg in Berlin, to the tutelage of Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, and his wife, Sophia Charlotte, who had been a friend of Caroline's mother.
Education
Frederick and Sophia Charlotte became King and Queen of Prussia in 1701. The Queen, who was a daughter of the Dowager Electress of Hanover, Sophia, and a sister of the Elector of Hanover, George, was known for her intelligence and strong character, and her liberal court attracted a host of intellectuals, including the philosopher Leibniz. Caroline found herself in a lively intellectual environment, unlike anything she had experienced before. Before she came under the care of Sophia Charlotte, Caroline had received only a smattering of formal education, which was reflected in her poor handwriting, which remained so throughout her life. At Sophia Charlotte's insistence, the girl was instructed in several languages, including English, although Caroline would prefer to conduct her correspondence in French for the rest of her life. Thanks to her natural intelligence, Caroline eventually became an accomplished scholar. She inherited her father's enthusiasm for learning and his love of reading. Such a close relationship developed between Caroline and her guardian that Sophia Charlotte, who had only sons, came to regard the princess more like a daughter than a ward; when Caroline went to visit her brother in Ansbach on occasion, the queen declared that Charlottenburg had become a "desert" without her.
Marriage
Caroline's intelligence and beauty made her a much sought-after bride. The Dowager Electress of Hanover, Sophia, considered her to be "the most agreeable princess in Germany." Among Caroline's early suitors were Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, whose daughter, Augusta, would later marry Caroline's eldest son; Emperor Joseph I of the Holy Roman Empire and his younger brother Archduke Charles; and King Charles XII of Sweden. Archduke Charles made her a formal proposal in 1703, and he was supported by the Prussian king. The following year, after some deliberation, Caroline refused Charles, citing her unwillingness to convert from Lutheranism to Catholicism. The other suitors were rejected for the same reason. Sophia Charlotte briefly considered marrying Caroline to her son, Frederick William, but she quickly dismissed the idea, believing that her uncouth son was no match for the refined Caroline.
In early 1705, Queen Sophia Charlotte died while visiting her native Hanover. Caroline was devastated and wrote to Leibniz: "Misfortune has struck me down with grief and illness, and only the hope that I may soon follow her can comfort me." In June 1705, Sophia Charlotte's nephew, George Augustus, visited Ansbach, where Caroline had taken up residence after Sophia Charlotte's death, incognito; the purpose of the visit was to meet the princess in person, as George Augustus's father was loath to arrange a marriage for his son based on hearsay and without affection, as had been done with himself. George Augustus's three uncles had all died childless, and the Crown Prince himself was therefore under pressure from his father, who worried about the future of the dynasty. George had also heard rumors of the princess's "unparalleled beauty and wit." He was charmed by Caroline's "good character," and the British envoy reported that George Augustus "can think of no one but her." For her part, Caroline recognized the disguised prince as George at once and found him very attractive. George was by then the heir to the Electorate of Hanover and third in line to the British throne after his grandmother and father.
On August 22, 1705, Caroline traveled to Hanover, where she was married to George Augustus that same evening in the palace chapel at Herrenhausen. By the following May, the princess was pregnant: the couple's first child, Frederick Louis, was born on January 20, 1707. In July of that year, Caroline fell seriously ill, first contracting smallpox and then developing pneumonia. Frederick was kept away from his mother, but George Augustus stayed with his wife, nursing her, and, as a result, he himself contracted smallpox. Over the next seven years, Caroline gave birth to three more children—Anne, Amelia, and Caroline—all of whom were born in Hanover.
Caroline and George Augustus's marriage was a happy one and was based on love; despite this, the prince continued to keep mistresses, as was the custom of the time. Caroline was aware of her husband's affairs, as his favorites were invariably known at court, and George himself made no attempt to keep them secret from his wife. George Augustus's two most famous mistresses were
