Ludwika Karolina Radziwill

Life

Ludwika Karolina Radziwill was born in Konigsberg in the Duchy of Prussia. A member of the Radziwill family, she was the last agnatic-line member of the most prominent Calvinists of Lithuania, and a descendant of the Gediminids and Jagiellons. Radziwill inherited Dubingiai, Slutsk and many other lands from her father Prince Boguslaw Radziwill. Her mother was an heiress in her own right and brought much wealth including the duchies of Kedainiai and Birzai. Ludwika Karolina Radziwill's death in Brieg in 1695 marks the end of the Birzai-Dubingiai Radziwill family line. She was the last Radziwill to own Birzai Castle and Dubingiai Castle with their lands.

Her father, Prince Boguslaw Radziwill was the son of Janusz Radziwill (1579–1620) and Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg, and along with his cousin (and future father-in-law) Janusz Radziwill (1612–55) played a dramatic and treacherous role in The Deluge, or Swedish invasion of Poland. Following the Swedish retreat and Polish resurgence, Boguslaw Radziwill chose exile in Brandenburg-Prussia, with his mother's family. His wife and Ludwika Karolina's mother, Anna Maria Radziwill, the only child and heiress of Janusz Radziwill died shortly after giving birth to Ludwika Karolina. Boguslaw followed less than two years later, leaving the infant Radziwill orphaned and very wealthy. Her guardianship was entrusted to her father's cousin and host (and her future father-in-law) Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg.

Radziwill spent most of her life in Berlin and Konigsberg, but paid much attention to her lands in the grand duchy. Like her father, she funded the printing of books in the Lithuanian language, and supported education and Calvinist parishes. She established scholarships for Lithuanian students of theology in the universities of Konigsberg, Frankfurt (Oder), and Berlin. Radziwill financed the issue of the catechism and primer in the Lithuanian language, Pradzia pamoksla del mazu Weykialu…, which was printed in Konigsberg in 1680. It was the second primer intended for schools following the Catechism by Martynas Mazvydas.

Radziwill was sued by King John III Sobieski for the alleged breach of the prenuptial agreement with his son, Jakub Ludwik Sobieski, with the intention to seize her estates. The case was lost, since it was proven that the agreement was falsified; its conclusion date was later than Radziwill's actual marriage date.

Radziwill first married Margrave Louis of Brandenburg, the youngest son of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Countess Louise Henriette of Nassau, at the age of thirteen. After Louis's untimely early death, Radziwill married Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine. Her heirs were born of this second marriage. Of their four children, only the youngest daughter, Countess Palatine Elizabeth Augusta Sophie of Neuburg survived childhood. Her descendants include Kings of Bavaria and a number of other royal and princely families, including Duchess Amalie in Bavaria, who married the would-be King Mindaugas II of Lithuania, and was mother of the latter's children and descendants.

Marriages and Issue

1. Leopoldine Eleonore Josephine (b. Brieg, 27 December 1689 - d. 8 March 1693).
2. Maria Anna (b. 7 December 1690 - d. 1692).
3. Elisabeth Auguste Sophie (b. Brieg, 17 March 1693 - d. Mannheim, 30 January 1728), married on 1717 to her kinsman, the Count Palatine Johann Karl of Sulzbach.
4. a son (b. and d. Brieg, 22 March 1695).

Ancestry