Ernestine of Sayn-Wittgenstein

Ernestine of Sayn-Wittgenstein (Ernestine Salentine; 23 April 1626 – 13 October 1661), was a German noblewoman member of the House of Sponheim, Sovereign Countess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Hachenburg and by marriage Countess of Manderscheid-Blankenheim.

Born in Hachenburg, she was the eldest child of Ernest, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and Countess Louise Juliane of Erbach. She was probably named after her father.

In his will, Count Ernest left his domains to his only son Louis, under the regency of his mother Louise Juliane during his minority. In case he would die prematurely, his two surviving daughters (Ernestine and Johannetta) would inherited the County.

When Count Louis died four years later (16 July 1636), the male line of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn died out. A violent dispute over his inheritance erupted between the Dowager Countess and the three half-brothers of her late husband (sons of Count William III and his second wife Anna Ottilie of Nassau-Weilburg), who claimed the succession of the whole County. After two months, one of them, Count Louis Albert of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Neumagen, finally forced Louise Juliane to surrender the County to him and his brothers. In the meanwhile, Count Christian, Louis Albert's youngest brother besieged Altenkirchen and the Electorate of Mainz besieged Hachenburg, who was forced to surrender when the food ran out; without options, Louise Juliane and her daughters fled to Freusburg. When the Electorate of Trier prepared to besiege Freusburg, they fled to Friedewald, where they found safety. Louise Juliane sued her in-laws before the Reichskammergericht and the Emperor. She sent her councillors to Münster and Osnabrück where the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 was being negotiated. The rights of Ernestine and Johannetta were recognized and, with Swedish assistance, one part of the county after the other was returned to her.

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