Sophie Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt
Sophie Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt (7 May 1661 – 22 August 1712) was a member of the House of Hesse and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Eisenberg.
| Sophie Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 7 May 1661 Darmstadt |
| Died | 22 August 1712 (aged 51) Gotha |
| Spouse | Christian, Duke of Saxe-Eisenberg |
| Father | Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt |
| Mother | Maria Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp |
Life
Sophie Marie was born in Darmstadt, a daughter of Count Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt (1630–1678) from his marriage to Maria Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp (1634–1665), a daughter of Duke Frederick III of Holstein-Gottorp.
On 9 February 1681 in Darmstadt, she married Duke Christian of Saxe-Eisenberg. At the time, he was a widower and father of a daughter. He had become the first Duke of Saxe-Eisenberg when Saxe-Gotha had been divided by Christian and his six brothers the year before. They had no children and Christian died without leaving an heir. A dispute erupted among the remaining brothers and their descendants about he inheritance of Saxe-Eisenberg.
The Duchess was described as a very hard-working housewife,[1] with a particular fondness for spinning. Disguised as an ordinary woman, she supplied local merchants with wool and yarn. She died in Gotha.
Notes
- Klemm, Gustav Friedrich (1859). Die Frauen: Culturgeschichtliche Schilderungen des Zustandes und Einflusses der Frauen in den verschiedenen Zonen und Zeitaltern, Band 3 (The Women). Arnoldische Buchhandlung. p. 308.
References
- Johann Georg Theodor Grässe: The lore of the Kingdom of Saxony, Volume 2, Dresden 1874, p. 323-325.