The Duchess of Kendal and Munster | |
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 Portrait of Melusine von der Schulenburg | |
| Born | 25 December 1667 Emden, Magdeburg, Germany |
| Died | 10 May 1743 (aged 75) |
| Issue | Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg Melusina von der Schulenburg Margarethe Gertrud von Oeynhausen |
| Father | Gustavus Adolphus Baron von der Schulenberg |
| Mother | Petronella Ottilie von Schwencken |
Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg,suo jureDuchess of Kendal andDuchess of Munster (25 December 1667 – 10 May 1743) was a longtime mistress to KingGeorge I of Great Britain.
She was born atEmden in the Duchy ofMagdeburg. She was a daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, Baron von derSchulenburg,Privy Councillor to theElector of Brandenburg, by his wife Petronella Ottilie von Schwencken.[1] Her brothers were MarshalJohann Matthias Imperial Count (Reichsgraf) von der Schulenburg and General Daniel Bodo Count von der Schulenburg and her sisters were MargaretheGertrud von der Schulenburg (married to kinsman Friedrich Achaz von der Schulenburg und Hehlen), Sophia Juliane von der Schulenburg (married to Rabe Christoph von Oeynhausen), and Anna Elisabeth von der Schulenburg (married to Georg Friedrich von Spörcken).[1] Her middle name was probably given in reference to theMelusine legends.
In 1690 she was appointedMaid of Honour toElectress Sophia, and the following year she became a mistress of the Electoral Prince,George Louis. George Louis succeeded asElector of Hanover in 1698 andKing of Great Britain (as George I) in 1714.
Melusine moved with him to England, and on 18 July 1716 was created for life Duchess ofMunster,Marchioness of Dungannon,Countess of Dungannon andBaroness Dundalk, in thePeerage of Ireland. On 19 March 1719 she was further createdDuchess of Kendal,Countess of Feversham andBaroness Glastonbury, in thePeerage of Great Britain.[2] In 1723Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, created her Princess of Eberstein. This last creation in particular tended to support the theory that she had married the King in secret.[3]Robert Walpole said of her that she was "as much the queen of England as anyone was".[4] George's wifeSophia had been kept in imprisonment since their divorce in 1694.
The Duchess of Kendal was a very thin woman, being known in Germany as "the Scarecrow" (German:Die Vogelscheuche) and in England as "the Maypole". TheJacobites called her "the Goose", most famously in the taunting Scots balladCam Ye O'er Frae France. When in England, she lived principally atKendal House inIsleworth,Middlesex.[5] She obtained large sums of money by selling public offices and titles; she also sold patent rights, including the privilege of supplying Ireland with a new coppercoinage. This she sold toWilliam Wood, aWolverhampton merchant, who flooded the country with inferior coins, leadingJonathan Swift to write hisDrapier's Letters. In political matters, she had much influence with the king, and she received £10,000 (£1.98 million in 2023)[6] for procuring the recall ofViscount Bolingbroke from exile.[7]
Melusine bore George three illegitimate children:[8][9]
Anna Luise Sophie and Petronilla Melusina were officially acknowledged as the children of Melusine's sister Gertrud (1659–1697) and her husband Friedrich Achaz von der Schulenburg (1647–1701), a kinsman of the sisters who shared their surname. Margarethe Gertrud was officially named von Oeynhausen because she was recognised as the daughter of Melusine's other sister, Sophia Juliane (1668–1755) and her husband Rabe Christoph von Oeynhausen (1655–1748).[10]
After George's death, she kept a raven she believed to be the dead king.[11] She died, unmarried (unless George I had wedded her), on 10 May 1743.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kendal, Dukedom of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 727.| International | |
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