Marriage and Issue
In Halle on 23 July 1687, John Louis married Christine Eleonore of Zeutsch (b. Hedersleben near Eisleben, 5 June 1666 – d. Dornburg, 17 May 1699), of an old Thuringian noble family. The circumstances of their courtship are not known. However, it is certain that it was not a political marriage, since it was clearly morganatic. They had seven children:
- John Louis II, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg, later Anhalt-Zerbst (b. Dornburg, 23 June 1688 – d. Zerbst, 5 November 1746).
- John Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg (b. Dornburg, 31 December 1689 – d. Exiles, Dauphiné, 22 August 1709).
- Christian Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg, later Anhalt-Zerbst (b. Dornburg, 29 November 1690 – d. Zerbst, 16 March 1747).
- Christian Louis, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg (b. Dornburg, 5 November 1691 – killed in action at Aire, Flanders, 20 October 1710)
- Sophie Christiane (b. Dornburg, 16 December 1692 – d. Zerbst, 3 May 1747).
- Eleonore Auguste (b. Dornburg, 13 May 1694 – d. Dornburg, 11 June 1704).
- John Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg (b. Dornburg, 14 July 1695 – d. Schaffhausen, 11 May 1742), married to Cajetana of Sperling (d. Schaffhausen, 17 December 1742), a childless union.
When a family compact was submitted to the Emperor for confirmation in 1689, John Louis obtained from the Emperor the insertion of a clause protecting the rights of his children as born of a legitimate and lawful marriage. In 1693 Karl Frederick, the younger son of John Louis's eldest brother, died, leaving only one sibling, the later Prince John Augustus; John Louis's next two older brothers were either unmarried or without male heirs, which made the possibility that the Zerbst inheritance would pass to his line more likely. Consequently, he took further steps to insure the succession for his children, and on 7 January 1698 secured an Imperial Decree making the children of his marriage princes and princesses of Anhalt. Indeed, they were considered dynastic, and at the death without heirs of Prince John Augustus in 1742, the surviving sons of John Louis succeeded him.
| John Louis I, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg House of Ascania Born: 4 May 1656 Died: 1 November 1704 | ||
| Preceded by John VI |
Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg 1667–1704 |
Succeeded by John Louis II John Augustus Christian Augustus Christian Louis John Frederick |
Read more about this topic: John Louis I, Prince Of Anhalt-Dornburg
Famous quotes containing the words marriage and, marriage and/or issue:
“I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage and a career.”
—Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)
“Every relationship that does not raise us up pulls us down, and vice versa; this is why men usually sink down somewhat when they take wives while women are usually somewhat raised up. Overly spiritual men require marriage every bit as much as they resist it as bitter medicine.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“If someone does something we disapprove of, we regard him as bad if we believe we can deter him from persisting in his conduct, but we regard him as mad if we believe we cannot. In either case, the crucial issue is our control of the other: the more we lose control over him, and the more he assumes control over himself, the more, in case of conflict, we are likely to consider him mad rather than just bad.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)