Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
| Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth | |
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Queen consort of Poland Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania |
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| Tenure | 1697–1727 |
| Born |
19 December 1671 Bayreuth |
| Died | 4 September 1727 (aged 55) Pretzsch an der Elbe |
| Burial | St. Nicholas Evangelical Church, Pretzsch an der Elbe |
| Spouse | Augustus II of Poland |
| Issue | Augustus III of Poland |
| House | Hohenzollern |
| Father | Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth |
| Mother | Sofie Luise of Württemberg |
Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (19 December 1671 – 4 September 1727) was Electress of Saxony from 1694 to 1727 (her death) and titular Queen of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1697 to 1727 as the wife of Augustus II the Strong. Not once throughout the whole of her thirty-year queenship did she set foot in Poland, instead living in Saxony in self-imposed exile. Born a German margravine, she was called Sachsens Betsäule, "Saxony's pillar of prayer", by her Protestant subjects for her refusal to convert to Catholicism and her loyalty to the Protestant faith. Despite the allegiance of Christiane Eberhardine and her mother-in-law, Anna Sophie of Denmark, to Lutheranism, her husband and son, later Augustus III, both became Catholics.
She was the firstborn child of Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and his second wife, Sophie Louise, daughter of Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg. She was named for her father, Christian, and her mother's father, Eberhard. As the daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, she was margravine by birth. She had five younger siblings, only two of whom survived infancy. She remained close to her relatives in Bayreuth and continued to visit them after her marriage.
She married Frederick Augustus, Duke of Saxony, the younger brother of the elector, John George IV, on 20 January 1693 at age 21. The marriage was purely political and highly unhappy. Augustus considered her boring, while she was shocked and hurt by his constant infidelity.
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