Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal

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Melusine von der Schulenburg
File:Melusina 1.jpg
Born (1667-12-25)25 December 1667
Emden, Magdeburg
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Title Duchess of Kendal and Munster
Children Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg
Melusina von der Schulenburg
Margarethe Gertrud von Oeynhausen
Parent(s) Gustavus Adolphus Baron von der Schulenberg
Petronelle Oddie de Schwenken

Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal, Duchess of Munster (25 December 1667 – 10 May 1743) was a long-time mistress to King George I of Great Britain.

Early life

She was born at Emden in the Duchy of Magdeburg. Her father was Gustavus Adolphus, Baron von der Schulenburg,[1] Privy Councillor to the Elector of Brandenburg, by his wife Petronelle Oddie de Schwenken and a sister to Federic Achatius, Count von der Schulenburg and Hehlen.[2] Her brother was Marshal Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, and the early feminist Dorothea von Velen was her first cousin. Her middle name was probably given in reference to the Melusine legends.

Royal mistress

When a Maid of Honour to the Electress Sophia of Hanover, she became a royal mistress of the Electoral Prince, George Louis. George Louis succeeded as Elector of Hanover in 1698 and King of Great Britain (as George I) in 1714.

Melusine moved with him to England, and on 18 July 1716 was created for life Duchess of Munster, Marchioness of Dungannon, Countess of Dungannon and Baroness Dundalk, in the Peerage of Ireland. On 19 March 1719 she was further created Duchess of Kendal, Countess of Feversham and Baroness Glastonbury, in the Peerage of Great Britain.[3] In 1723, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, created her Princess of Eberstein. This last creation in particular tended to support the theory that she had married the King in secret.[4] Robert Walpole said of her that she was "as much the queen of England as anyone was"[5] (George's wife Sophia had been kept in imprisonment since their divorce in 1694).

The Duchess of Kendal was a very thin woman, being known in Germany as "the Scarecrow" and in England as "the Maypole". The Jacobites referred to her as "the Goose," most famously in the taunting Scots ballad Cam Ye O'er Frae France. When in England, she lived principally at Kendal House in Isleworth, Middlesex.[6]

She bore him three illegitimate children:[7][8]

Luise Sophie and Petronilla Melusina were officially acknowledged as the children of Melusine's sister Gertrud (1659–1697) and her husband Friedrich Achaz von der Schulenburg (1647–1701), who was a kinsman of the sisters and thus shared the same surname. Margarethe Gertrud was officially named von Oeynhausen because she was recognised as the daughter of Melusine's other sister, Sophia Juliane von Oeynhausen (1668–1755).[9]

Later life and death

Arms of the Duchess of Kendal and Munster

After George's death, she kept a raven she believed to be the dead king.[10] She died, unmarried (unless George I had wedded her), on 10 May 1743.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?] Retrieved 3 August 2010
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Kilburn, Matthew (2004; online edition January 2008) "Schulenburg, (Ehrengard) Melusine von der, suo jure duchess of Kendal and suo jure duchess of Munster (1667–1743)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24834 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  10. ↑ Deary, Terry. Cruel Kings and Mean Queens. London: Scholastic, 1995. p. 42.

External links

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