Elisabeth Christine (1691-1750) Princess of Brunswick - Wolfenbüttel Archduchess of Austria (from 1708) Holy Roman Empress (from 1711)

Elisabeth Christine was the daughter of Ludwig Rudolf (1671-1735), duke of Brunswick - Wolfenbüttel and younger son of duke Anton Ulrich (1633-1714).  As the result of her grandfather's political maneuvering, she was married to Archduke Karl of Austria (1711-1740) in 1708.  Archduke Karl had previously tried to the win the hand of Caroline of Ansbach (1683-1737), the future queen of Great Britain.  But Caroline refused to convert to Catholicism, which was a necessary precondition of any union with the Catholic prince from the House of Habsburg.  Anton Ulrich was so impressed with Caroline's stand in defense of the Protestant cause that he wrote to Leibniz telling him that he wished to make Caroline a heroine in one of his romantic novels.¹ The irony here is that, as we have seen,  duke Anton Ulrich later helped to arrange the marriage between Archduke Karl and his granddaughter, Elisabeth Christine. Elisabeth Christine, unlike Caroline, would apparently be persuaded to accept Catholicism on the assurance of Leibniz, among others, that she could always give an Evangelical meaning to Catholic ceremonies. It was through this marriage connection with the later emperor that Anton Ulrich was able to secure for Leibniz the position of imperial privy counselor in 1712.  Elisabeth Christine's daughter, Maria Theresa (1717-1780), became the archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia (1740-80) upon the death of her father.  In 1745 she became empress when her husband, Francis I. (1708-1765) was elected Holy Roman emperor after the death of the emperor Karl VII. (1697-1745).

Notes

     ¹It is thought that Caroline was the model for the heroine in Anton Ulrich's novel Octavia.

Sources

• The Encyclopædia Britannica, 13th edition.  New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1926.
• Aiton, E. J. Leibniz: A Biography.  Boston: Adam Hilger, 1985.
• Arkell, R. L.  Caroline of Ansbach:  George the Second's Queen.  New York:  Oxford University Press, 1939.
• Hatton, Ragnhild Marie.  George I: Elector and King.  Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1978.
• Wilkins, W. H. Caroline the Illustrious.   2 vols.   New York:  Longman's, 1901).

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