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Edward III Descent for Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels

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Brad Verity

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Aug 21, 2012, 5:43:40 PM8/21/12
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A 19th-century figure I've recently come across is Prince Carl of
Solms-Braunfels (1812-1875), who founded the town of New Braunfels,
Texas. A truly colorful character, his bio can be found on Wikipedia
and The Texas State Historical Association.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Carl_of_Solms-Braunfels

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fso03

Prince Carl's second wife refused to come to Texas, so he returned to
Germany, where he spent the remainder of his days. If he isn't
already in RD600, he would be a good candidate for a future edition.
He's interesting genealogically as he was the stepson of Ernest
Augustus, King of Hanover (the son of King George III who inherited
Hanover as heir male after the death of King William IV).

It took me the better part of the last 3 days to enter the ancestry of
Prince Carl into my database. I was surprised to find that for his
mother, Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (niece of George III's wife
Queen Charlotte), who would be crowned Queen of Hanover in 1837, you
have to go back 8 generations and almost two hundred years before her
birth to reach the most recent monarch in her own ancestry: Charles
IX, King of Sweden from 1604-1611. And though her first husband
Prince Ludwig of Prussia could claim descent from George I of England,
the most recent British monarch in the Queen of Hanover's ancestry was
Edward III. Here is Prince Carl's descent thru his mother from Edward
III (18 generations) & Charles IX of Sweden (9 generations):

Edward III (1312-1377) had
1) John of Gaunt (1340-1399) m. 1) Blanche of Lancaster (1342-1368),
and had
2) Philippa of Lancaster (1360-1415) m. John I, King of Portugal
(1357-1433), and had
3) Edward, King of Portugal (1391-1438) m. Eleanor of Aragon
(1402-1445), and had
4) Eleanor of Portugal (1434-1467) m. Frederick III, Holy Roman
Emperor (1415-1493), and had
5) Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459-1519) m. 1) Mary of Burgundy
(1457-1482, also descended from EdwIII thru Philippa of Lancaster),
and had
6) Philip I, King of Castile (1478-1506) m. Joanna, Queen of Castile
(1479-1555, descended from EdwIII), and had
7) Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (1503-1564) m. Anna of Hungary
(1503-1547, descended from EdwI), and had
8) Maria of Austria (1531-1581) m. William, 2nd Duke of Jülich-Cleves-
Berg (1516-1592, descended from EdwI), and had
9) Magdalene of Cleves (1553-1633) m. John I, 9th Duke of Zweibrücken
(1550-1604), and had
10) John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg (1589-1652)
m. Katherine of Sweden (see #1 below)

Charles IX (1550-1611), King of Sweden, had
1) Katherine of Sweden (1584-1638) m. John Casimir, Count Palatine of
Kleeburg (see #10 above), and had
2) Christina Magdalene of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg (1616-1662) m.
Frederick VI, 7th Margrave of Baden-Durlach (1617-1677), and had
3) Johanna Elisabeth of Baden-Durlach (1651-1680) m. John Frederick,
8th Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1654-1686), and had
4) Dorothea Frederica of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1676-1731) m. Johann
Reinhard III, 8th Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1665-1736, descended
from EdwIII thru #9 above), and had
5) Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1700-1726) m. Ludwig VIII, 7th
Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1691-1768, descended from EdwIII thru #8
above), and had
6) Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt (1722-1782) m. Luise of Leiningen-
Dagsburg-Heidesheim (1729-1818, descended from EdwIII thru #9 above),
and had
7) Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt (1752-1782) m. Karl, 1st Grand Duke
of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1741-1816, descended from EdwIII thru #8
above), and had
8) Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1778-1841) m. 2) Prince
Friedrich of Solms-Braunfels (1770-1814), and had
9) Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels (1812-1875), founder of New
Braunfels, Texas

Prince Carl's father, Prince Friedrich of Solms-Braunfels, was a rake
who married Frederica after she became pregnant. He became an
alcoholic, and though Friedrich's own brother the Prince of Solms-
Braunfels encouraged Frederica to divorce Friedrich, she never did.
Prince Friedrich has the same number of generations (8) as his wife,
but a longer period of time (over 200 years previous to his birth) to
the most recent monarch in his ancestry: Frederick II, King of Denmark
from 1559 to 1588. Edward III is the most recent British monarch in
Prince Carl's father's ancestry.

Edward III (1312-1377) had
[Generations 1 thru 7 as at first descent above]
8) Maria of Austria (1531-1581) m. William, 2nd Duke of Jülich-Cleves-
Berg (1516-1592, descended from EdwI), and had
9) Marie Eleonore of Cleves (1550-1608) m. Albert Frederick, 2nd Duke
of Prussia (1553-1618), and had
10) Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia (1587-1659) m. John George I, 5th
Elector of Saxony (1585-1656), and had
11) Marie Elizabeth of Saxony (1610-1684) m. Frederick III, 5th Duke
of Holstein-Gottorp (see #2 below)

Frederick II (1534-1588), King of Denmark & Norway, had
1) Augusta of Denmark (1580-1639) m. John Adolf, 4th Duke of Holstein-
Gottorp (1575-1616), and had
2) Frederick III, 5th Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (1597-1659) m. Marie
Elizabeth of Saxony (see #11 just above), and had
3) Magdalena Sibylla of Holstein-Gottorp (1631-1719) m. Gustav Adolf,
2nd Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1633-1695), and had
4) Christine of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1663-1749) m. Louis Christian,
1st Count of Stolberg-Gedern (1652-1710, descended from EdwI), and had
5) Frederica Charlotte of Stolberg-Gedern (1686-1739) m. Frederick
Ernest, 2nd Count of Solms-Laubach (1671-1723), and had
6) Christian August, 3rd Count of Solms-Laubach (1714-1784) m. 1)
Elisabeth of Isenburg-Birstein (1714-1748, descended from EdwIII thru
#8 above), and had
7) Sophie Christine of Solms-Laubach (1741-1772) m. Ferdinand, 2nd
Prince of Solms-Braunfels (1721-1783, descended from EdwIII thru #10
above), and had
8) Prince Friedrich of Solms-Braunfels (1770-1814) m. Frederica of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and had
9) Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels (1812-1875), founder of New
Braunfels, Texas

Cheers, ---------Brad

Steve Riggan

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Aug 21, 2012, 5:59:21 PM8/21/12
to royald...@hotmail.com, Medieval genealogy discussion group

This is interesting, Brad. I grew up in Texas and we had to study state history in high school. Prince Carl was responsible for the large German immigration into Texas, especially in the area around New Braunfels and San Antonio. There is still a significant German population in central Texas.
Steve Riggan
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John Higgins

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Aug 21, 2012, 6:40:14 PM8/21/12
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Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels is indeed an interesting character in
the history of Texas. He does appear in RD600 - perhaps fortunately
so, as I don't believe that Gary Boyd Roberts plans to publish another
edition of this. GBR shows his most recent royal ancestor to be
Frederick II, King of Denmark, who is 10 generations earlier. Go
figure....

I hadn't been aware of Carl's first (morganatic) marriage, which is
not mentioned in the Solms-Braunfels charts in Schwennicke's ESNF
(vol. 17).

You mention that, although his mother Frederica was encouraged to
divorce his father Friedrich, they never did. Schwennicke, however,
says that they were in fact divorced, on 20 Feb 1814 - less that two
months before Friedrich died.

Carl has quite a LOT of descents from Edward III - 52 by my count.
Not surprising for continental nobility of this time period.... (GBR
notes that he was a 1st cousin of Emperor William I of Germany and a
2nd cousin of Queen Victoria)

Brad Verity

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Aug 21, 2012, 9:12:08 PM8/21/12
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On Aug 21, 3:40 pm, John Higgins <jhiggins...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels is indeed an interesting character in
> the history of Texas.  He does appear in RD600 - perhaps fortunately
> so, as I don't believe that Gary Boyd Roberts plans to publish another
> edition of this.  GBR shows his most recent royal ancestor to be
> Frederick II, King of Denmark, who is 10 generations earlier.  Go
> figure....

Oh good - so at least my post isn't covering the exact same territory
as RD600. I'm surprised I found a more recent monarch in Prince
Carl's ancestry than GBR did. What is the line GBR has from Frederick
II of Denmark? Is it through Prince Carl's father or his mother?

> I hadn't been aware of Carl's first (morganatic) marriage, which is
> not mentioned in the Solms-Braunfels charts in Schwennicke's ESNF
> (vol. 17).

Leo doesn't have it in his database either. Wikipedia doesn't
enumerate the three children from it, just that they were ennobled
under the name 'von Schoenau'. There may be living descendants.

> You mention that, although his mother Frederica was encouraged to
> divorce his father Friedrich, they never did.  Schwennicke, however,
> says that they were in fact divorced, on 20 Feb 1814 - less that two
> months before Friedrich died.

This differs from Wikipedia's account, nor does Leo have a divorce for
the couple in his database.

> Carl has quite a LOT of descents from Edward III - 52 by my count.

Wow - that is quite a few more than what I have: 21 distinct descents
from Edward III, with an additional 18 from Edward I. I must have
quite a few errors in his ancestry as you have more than twice the
EdwIII descents that I have for him.

> Not surprising for continental nobility of this time period....  (GBR
> notes that he was a 1st cousin of Emperor William I of Germany and a
> 2nd cousin of Queen Victoria)

The Mecklenburg-Strelitz sisters (Prince Carl's mother Frederica and
her sisters, nieces of George III's Queen Charlotte) are an
interesting group. In addition to Louise, the beautiful Queen of
Prussia, there was Helene who married the Prince of Thurn and Taxis,
and also bore an illegitimate child. Frederica seems to have followed
more in sister Helene's footsteps.

Cheers, -------Brad

John Higgins

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Aug 21, 2012, 10:00:56 PM8/21/12
to
On Aug 21, 6:12 pm, Brad Verity <royaldesc...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 21, 3:40 pm, John Higgins <jhiggins...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels is indeed an interesting character in
> > the history of Texas.  He does appear in RD600 - perhaps fortunately
> > so, as I don't believe that Gary Boyd Roberts plans to publish another
> > edition of this.  GBR shows his most recent royal ancestor to be
> > Frederick II, King of Denmark, who is 10 generations earlier.  Go
> > figure....
>
> Oh good - so at least my post isn't covering the exact same territory
> as RD600.  I'm surprised I found a more recent monarch in Prince
> Carl's ancestry than GBR did.  What is the line GBR has from Frederick
> II of Denmark?  Is it through Prince Carl's father or his mother?
>

GBR shows lines from Frederick II of Denmark to Prince Carl through
both his mother and his father (one generation longer through his
mother). The line for his mother is as follows:

Elizabeth of Denmark, m. Heinrich Julius of Brunswick-Wolfembüttel
Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfembüttel, m. Johann Philipp of Saxe-
Altenburg
Elizabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg, m. Ernst I of Saxe-Gotha
Elizabeth Dorothea of Saxe-Gotha, m. Ludwig VI of Hesse-Darmstadt
Ernst Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, m. Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-
Ansbach
Ludwig VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt, m. Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg
[this couple is #5 in the descent you posted from Charles IX of
Sweden]

John Higgins

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Aug 21, 2012, 10:47:29 PM8/21/12
to
On Aug 21, 6:12 pm, Brad Verity <royaldesc...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 21, 3:40 pm, John Higgins <jhiggins...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> > Carl has quite a LOT of descents from Edward III - 52 by my count.
>
> Wow - that is quite a few more than what I have: 21 distinct descents
> from Edward III, with an additional 18 from Edward I.  I must have
> quite a few errors in his ancestry as you have more than twice the
> EdwIII descents that I have for him.
>

If you feel like trying to narrow down the missing Edward III descents
(not that I would necessarily recommend the exercise!), here are the
counts of Edward III descents for ancestors of Prince Carl through the
5th generation (for those who have such descents):

19 for Friedrich Wilhelm, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels (22.X.1770-13.IV.
1814)
33 for Friederike, Prinzessin von Mecklenburg-Strelitz (2.III.
1770-29.VI.1841)


6 for Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst, 2nd Fürst zu Solms-Braunfels (8.II.
1721-2.X.1783)
13 for Sophie Christine Wilhelmine, Gräfin zu Solms-Laubach (29.VIII.
1741-15.XI.1772)
7 for Karl II, Herzog [1815 Grossherzog] von Mecklenburg-Strelitz
(11.X.1741- 6.XI.1816)
26 for Friederike Caroline Luisa, Landgräfin von Hessen-Darmstadt
(20.VIII.1752-22.V.1782)


5 for Friedrich Wilhelm, 1st Fürst zu Solms-Braunfels (21.I.1696-24.II.
1761)
1 for Magdalena Henriette, Prinzessin von Nassau-Weilburg (11/21.IX.
1691-29.VIII.1725)
4 for Christian August, Graf zu Solms-Laubach (1.VIII.1714-20.II.1784)
9 for Elisabeth Amalie Friederike, Gräfin zu Isenburg und Büdingen in
Birstein (20.XI.1714-22.XI.1748)
7 for Elisabeth, Herzogin von Sachsen-Hildburghausen (3.VIII.
1713-29.VI.1761)
21 for Georg Wilhelm, Landgraf von Hessen-Darmstadt (11.VII.1722-21.VI.
1782)
5 for Luise, Gräfin von Leiningen-Dagsburg-Heidesheim (16.III.
1729-11.III.1818)


1 for Wilhelm Moritz, Graf zu Solms-Greifenstein und Braunfels (4,IV.
1651-9.II.1724)
4 for Magdalena Sophia, Landgräfin von Hessen-Homburg (24.IV.
1660-22.III.1720)
1 for Johann Ernst, Fürst von Nassau-[Saarbrücken in ]Weilburg (13.VI.
1664-27.II.1719)
4 for Friederike Charlotte, Gräfin zu Stolberg-Gedern (3.VI.1686-10.I.
1729)
9 for Friederike Elisabeth, Gräfin zu Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg
7 for Ernst Friedrich I, Herzog von Sachsen-Hildburghausen (21.VIII.
1681-9.III.1724)
11 for Ludwig VIII, Landgraf von Hessen-Darmstadt (5.IV.1691-17.X.
1763)
10 for Charlotte, Gräfin zu Hanau-Lichtenberg (2.V.1700-1.VII.1726)
5 for Christian Karl Reinhard, Graf zu Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg
in Heidesheim (7.VII.1695-17.XI.1766)


1 for Wilhelm II, Graf zu Solms-Greifenstein (9.VIII.1609-19.VII.1676)
4 for Sophia Eleonora, Landgräfin von Hessen-Darmstadt (7.I.1634-7.X.
1663)
1 for Friedrich, Graf von Nassau-[Saarbrücken in ]Weilburg (16.IV.
1640-19.IX.1675)
4 for Christina, Herzogin von Mecklenburg-Güstrow (14.VIII.1663-3.VIII.
1749)
9 for Elisabeth Christine, Pfalzgräfin von Zweibrücken in Landsberg
(27.X.1656-25.II or 29.VIII.1707)
7 for Ernst, Herzog von Sachsen-Hildburghausen (12.VII.1665-17.X.1715)
11 for Ernst Ludwig, Landgraf von Hessen-Darmstadt (15.XII.1667-12.IX.
1739)
5 for Johann Reinhard III, Graf zu Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 28.III.1736)
5 for Dorothea Friederike, Markgräfin von Brandenburg-Ansbach (22.VIII.
1676-13.III.1731)
5 for Johanna Magdalena, Gräfin zu Hanau-Lichtenberg (18.XII.
1660-21.VIII.1715)

Leo might be able to help with this, as his range of data on a problem
such as this is probably somewhere between yours and mine.

Brad Verity

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Aug 22, 2012, 2:20:22 AM8/22/12
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On Aug 21, 7:00 pm, John Higgins <jhiggins...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> GBR shows lines from Frederick II of Denmark to Prince Carl through
> both his mother and his father (one generation longer through his
> mother).  The line for his mother is as follows:
>
> Elizabeth of Denmark, m. Heinrich Julius of Brunswick-Wolfembüttel
> Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfembüttel, m. Johann Philipp of Saxe-
> Altenburg
> Elizabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg, m. Ernst I of Saxe-Gotha
> Elizabeth Dorothea of Saxe-Gotha, m. Ludwig VI of Hesse-Darmstadt
> Ernst Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, m. Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-
> Ansbach
> Ludwig VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt, m. Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg
> [this couple is #5 in the descent you posted from Charles IX of
> Sweden]

Thanks, John. I'm glad to see I had the above line correct in my
database. Thank you also for the 5-generation count of EdwIII
descents for Prince Carl - it will be a huge help in determining which
ones I'm missing. I'm hoping that I'm merely counting differently
than you & Leo (glad to hear you both match up in your count of 52),
but the continental lines were so involved & confusing over the past 3
days that I may have made quite a few errors.

I was rather surprised to find that Prince Carl descended from John of
Gaunt through all three of his wives - I wasn't expecting a Katherine
Swynford/Beaufort descent for him at all!

Cheers, ------Brad

Olivier

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Aug 22, 2012, 5:10:35 AM8/22/12
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Le mercredi 22 août 2012 04:47:29 UTC+2, John Higgins a écrit :
> On Aug 21, 6:12 pm, Brad Verity <royaldesc...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Aug 21, 3:40 pm, John Higgins <jhiggins...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> >
>
> > > Carl has quite a LOT of descents from Edward III - 52 by my count.
>
The Roglo database give also 52 links :

http://roglo.eu/roglo?lang=en;em=R;ei=1817318;et=A;color=;i=3123581

Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is an ancestor of the 15th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.

•1 branch.

Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is also an ancestor of the 16th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.

•6 branches: click here.
Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is also an ancestor of the 17th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.

•21 branches.

Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is also an ancestor of the 18th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.

•21 branches.

Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is also an ancestor of the 19th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.

•3 branches.

Total: 52 relationship links

John Higgins

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Aug 22, 2012, 11:17:17 AM8/22/12
to
And here are the specifics on the ancestors in these 52 lines from
Edward III to Prince Carl:

http://roglo.eu/roglo?lang=en;m=A;t=D;i=1817318;i1=3123581;l=19

Brad Verity

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Aug 22, 2012, 2:55:52 PM8/22/12
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> On Aug 22, 2:10 am, Olivier <OlivierGuionn...@gmail.com> wrote:

> > Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is an ancestor of the 15th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.
>
> > •1 branch.
>
> > Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is also an ancestor of the 16th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.
>
> > •6 branches: click here.
> > Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is also an ancestor of the 17th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.
>
> > •21 branches.
>
> > Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is also an ancestor of the 18th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.
>
> > •21 branches.
>
> > Edward III of Windsor Plantagenêt, King of England is also an ancestor of the 19th generation of Karl, Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels.
>
> > •3 branches.
>
> > Total: 52 relationship links

On Aug 22, 8:17 am, John Higgins <jhiggins...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> And here are the specifics on the ancestors in these 52 lines from
> Edward III to Prince Carl:
>
> http://roglo.eu/roglo?lang=en;m=A;t=D;i=1817318;i1=3123581;l=19

Dear Olivier & John,

Many thanks for the charts from the Roglo database - I checked my own
database against it & saw I had all of the descents back to EdwIII
except one. Ironically enough, it was the one for Maria of the
Palatinate, the first wife of Charles IX, King of Sweden (after making
a big fuss about him in my original post). I've now fixed her with
parents/ancestry. I had been counting wrong, which is why I was so
off before from the John/Leo total of 52.

Thanks & Cheers, -------Brad
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