Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern

Maria of the Palatinate
Maria as depicted in 1598
Spouse(s)	Charles IX of Sweden
Noble family	House of Wittelsbach
Father	Louis VI, Elector Palatine
Mother	Elisabeth of Hesse
Born	(1561-07-24)24 July 1561 Heidelberg
Died	Eskilstuna

Princess Maria and her branch of the Vasa Dynasty were interred in Strängnäs Cathedral.

Maria of the Palatinate, (24 July 1561 in Heidelberg – 29 July 1589 in Eskilstuna), was a German Princess and a Swedish Princess and Duchess of Södermanland by marriage, the first spouse of the future King Charles IX of Sweden. She died before he became King, and was therefore never Queen.

Biography

Maria was born to Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse. In April 1578, the Swedish Prince Charles, Duke of Södermanland, visited her home town Heidelberg and proposed. Maria was brought up to a convinced Lutheran, and her religion and upbringing according to the Augsburg Confession was one reason to why she was chosen by the sternly Protestant Charles. She also spoke Latin. Her father accepted on the condition that she be secured the right to practice her faith in Sweden which was then ruled by Charles brother John III, who was known for his Catholic sympathies. The wedding took place in Heidelberg 11 May 1579. Afterwards, she followed him to Sweden, where they resided in his Duchy in Södermanland. They left Germany in July, and in September 1579, Maria received the oath of loyalty from the subjects in her dower lands Gripsholm, Tynnelsö and Rävsnäs estates, Strängnäs city with the parishes Åkers, Selebo and Daga as well as Överenhörna and Ytterenhörna.

No portrait exists of Maria. She is described as beautiful, gentle and diplomatic, but also sickly. Her marriage to Charles IX of Sweden is described as happy. Her calmness was said to be the opposite of the fierce temperament of her consort. Maria is said to have influenced the rule of Charles in the Duchy, intervening on behalf of supplicants and to ask him to show mercy. Because her reputation of being able to control the feared temperament of Charles, she was often approach by supplicants. She accompanied him around the Duchy as long as her pregnancies made it possible. Maria remained a convinced Lutheran: in letters to her father, she expressed her discontent with the spread of Calvinism in Simmern, and in 1585 asked him to send her a Lutheran preacher. Charles described her as more educated in religion than anyone to be found, and she is believed to have supported and affected Charles to an even stronger pro-Lutheran political view.

Maria bore six children, but only one survived for more than a few years. She herself died in Eskilstuna Palace after a long term illness in 1589, and was buried in the Strängnäs Cathedral. Later examinations of her remains showed her to have been a small, fragile brunette.

Duke Charles was said to have mourned her greatly. The town Mariestad, founded in 1583, and the royal estate sv are named after her.

Children:

1. Margareta Elisabet (1580–1585)
2. Elisabet Sabina (1582–1585)
3. Ludvig (1583)
4. Catharina (1584–1638)
5. Gustav (1587)
6. Maria (1588–1589)

Ancestors

Family of Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern

16. John I, Count Palatine of Simmern               8. John II, Count Palatine of Simmern                       17. Joanna of Nassau-Saarbrücken               4. Frederick III, Elector Palatine                             18. Christopher I of Baden-Baden               9. Beatrix of Baden                       19. Ottilie of Katzenelnbogen               2. Louis VI, Elector Palatine                                   20. Frederick I of Brandenburg-Ansbach               10. Casimir, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                       21. Sophia Jagiellon               5. Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach                             22. Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria               11. Susanna of Bavaria                       23. Kunigunde of Austria               1. Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern                                         24. Louis II, Landgrave of Hesse               12. William II, Landgrave of Hesse                       25. Mathilde of Württemberg-Urach               6. Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse                             26. Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg               13. Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin                       27. Sophie of Pomerania-Stettin               3. Elisabeth of Hesse                                   28. Albert, Duke of Saxony               14. George, Duke of Saxony                       29. Sidonie of Poděbrady               7. Christine of Saxony                             30. Casimir IV Jagiellon               15. Barbara Jagiellon                       31. Elizabeth of Austria

References

• http://www.historiesajten.se/visainfo.asp?id=382
• http://runeberg.org/sqvinnor/0290.html
• Maria Riksarkivet (SBL)
• Karin Tegenborg Falkdalen (2010). Vasadöttrarna (utgåva 2). Falun: Historiska Media. ISBN 978-91-85873-87-6

Swedish royalty
Preceded by Ingeborg of Norway	Duchess of Södermanland 1579–1589	Succeeded by Christina of Holstein-Gottorp