Countess Claudine Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde

Countess Claudine Susanna Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde (Hungarian: Gróf kisrédei Rhédey Klaudina Zsuzsanna; 21 September 1812 – 1 October 1841) was the Hungarian wife of Duke Alexander of Württemberg. Her son, Francis, Duke of Teck, was the father of Mary of Teck, queen consort to George V of the United Kingdom. The current British monarch, Charles III, is Claudine's great-great-great-grandson.

Claudine Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde
Countess von Hohenstein
Born(1812-09-21)21 September 1812
Sankt Georgen auf der Heide, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (now Sângeorgiu de Pădure, Romania)
Died1 October 1841(1841-10-01) (aged 29)
Pettau, Austrian Empire (now Ptuj, Slovenia)
SpouseDuke Alexander of Württemberg
Issue
Names
  • German: Claudine Susanna Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde
  • Hungarian: kisrédei Rhédey Klaudia Zsuzsanna
HouseWürttemberg (by marriage)
FatherCount László Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde
MotherBaroness Ágnes Inczédy de Nagy-Várad

Life

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The Countess was born on her family estate,Rhédey castle in Sankt Georgen auf der Heide (Hungarian: Erdőszentgyörgy), Transylvania (then part of the Austrian Empire, today Sângeorgiu de Pădure, Romania) to Count László Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde (29 September 1775 – 22 November 1833) and his wife, Baroness Ágnes Inczédy de Nagy-Várad (ca. 1788 – ca. 1856). The most notable member of her family was Ferenc Rhédey, the reigning Prince of Transylvania who ruled Principality of Transylvania between 1657 and 1658. At birth, she was styled as Countess Klaudina (Claudine) Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde.

In 1835, she married Duke Alexander of Württemberg, youngest child and the only son of Duke Louis of Württemberg (younger brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg) and his wife, Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg. Due to the German laws relating to the line of succession, she was viewed as being of non-royal rank and the marriage was declared morganatic. She was denied the title of Duchess, but was created Countess von Hohenstein by Ferdinand I of Austria on 16 May 1835, shortly after her marriage.[1][2]

 
The crypt of the Rhédey family is in the Reformed Church of Sângeorgiu de Pădure in present-day Romania.

Claudine died in Austria in 1841 after being thrown from her horse. The remains of the Countess were originally interred in the Rhédey Mausoleum, but were subsequently removed and placed in the family crypt in the Reformed Church of Sângeorgiu de Pădure.[3]

Issue

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Countess Claudine Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde and Countess von Hohenstein had three children with Duke Alexander of Württemberg:

All children were initially styled as Counts or Countesses von Hohenstein, taking their titles from their mother. However, in 1863, the children were created Princes and Princesses of Teck by William I of Württemberg, with the style Serene Highness in the Kingdom of Württemberg.

Descendants

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Prince Francis of Teck was later created Duke of Teck. He married Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of George III and became a member of the British Royal Family. His only daughter, Mary of Teck, married Prince George, Duke of York in July 1893, becoming queen consort on her husband's accession to the throne in May 1910. The current British monarch, Charles III, is Mary's great-grandson and thus Claudine's great-great-great-grandson.

Ancestors

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The Rhédey family has been known from the 13th century. It is one of many Hungarian noble families descending from the House of Aba.[5] The most notable ancestor of the Aba noble house was Samuel Aba, the third king of Hungary between 1041 and 1044, married to a sister of St. Stephen I, the first Roman Catholic (or Eastern Orthodox depending on view from the Great Schism of 1054) king of Hungary.

On her mother's side, Countess Claudine Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde, she is descendant of Vlad the Monk, the brother of the infamous Vlad Dracula, the inspiration for the character Count Dracula.[6][7] On her father's side, Claudine is a descendant of Jovan Branković.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Genealogy of the Royal Family of Württemberg". 28 October 2009. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ The Book of Kings (1973). House of Württemberg. Internet Archive. ISBN 9780812902808. Retrieved 30 April 2022 – via archive.org.
  3. ^ Reformed Church of, Sângeorgiu de Pădure. "Sângeorgiu de Pădure". visitmures.com. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  4. ^ Weir, A. (1996) Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised edition (Pimlico, London)
  5. ^ Peter G. Glockner, Nora Varga Bagossy, Encyclopaedia Hungarica: English, Volume 1, Hungarian Ethnic Lexicon Foundation, 2007, p. 1, ISBN 978-1-55383-178-5
  6. ^ "Pedigree Chart for Countess Claudine Redei, Greäfin von Hohenstein, Gräfin Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde : Genealogics".
  7. ^ "Pedigree Chart for Adam Ratziu de Galgau (Or Rácz deGalgó): Genealogics".
  8. ^ "Family tree of Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde".

Sources

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  • Siebmachers Wappenbuch Die Wappen des Adels von Ungarn
  • Romániai Magyar Irodalmi Lexikon, Szépirodalom, Közírás, Tudományos Irodalom, Művelődés, III KH–M Kriterion Könyvkiadó, Bukarest 1994, ISBN 973-26-0369-0
  • MARY, 1867–1953, Queen Consort of George V of the United Kingdom, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press.
  • Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon főszerkesztő: Kristó, Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel, Pál és Makk, Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994)
  • Kristó, Gyula - Makk, Ferenc: Az Árpád-ház uralkodói (IPC Könyvek, 1996)
  • Das Haus Württemberg - Ein Biographisches Lexikon, Kohlhammer Verlag Stuttgart (1997) ISBN 3-17-013605-4