Renata Lorraine

Renata Lorraine was the second child and eldest daughter of the Duke Francois of Lorraine and his wife, the Danish princess Christina .

Renata was a beauty and a welcome party for many rulers. In 1558, after the death of his first wife, Prince William of Orange expressed a desire to marry Renate. Her mother, Princess Christine, liked this opportunity, which became quite real after the Cato-Cambresian world . This alliance was prevented by the King of Spain, Philip II ^[3] . Cristina rejected the plan of Cardinal Lorraine to arrange a marriage between Renata and Prince of Joinville, as well as the candidate proposed by the Spanish king - Juan of Austria ^[3] .

In 1561, Renata's mother planned to marry her King of Denmark Frederick II . However, the start of the Scandinavian seven-year war between Denmark and Sweden in 1563 destroyed these plans. From 1565 to 1567, Christina negotiated with the Swedish king Eric XIV on the creation of an alliance between Sweden and Denmark through his marriage to Renata. Kristina wanted to conquer Denmark with the support of Sweden, and Eric supported this plan ^[3] .

However, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand opposed this plan because of the devastating effect that he could have on the balance of power among the German peoples if Saxony (Denmark's strong ally) opposed Christina’s claim to the throne. She also failed to secure the support of the King of Spain. The planned marriage union between Lorraine and Sweden was finally destroyed when Eric XIV married his noble mistress Karin Monsdotter in 1567 ^[3] .

Finally, on February 22, 1568, Renata married her paternal second cousin and maternal cousin Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Bavaria . The 18-day wedding festivities in Munich were very lush and intricate. About five thousand horsemen took part in it, and Orlando de Lasso composed the music.

Despite their luxurious wedding and status, Renata and her husband led a modest life, doing charity work. They left the Munich residence and lived in the Jesuit Kollegienbau west of Munich. Renata took care of the sick, poor and religious pilgrims, in which she was fully supported by her husband. After he inherited the duchy in 1579, Renata began spending most of her time at the Herzogspitalkirche in Munich, founded in 1555 by her father-in-law .

Renata died in Munich at the age of 58. Her grave is in the Church of St. Michael in Munich , the consecration of which was the most important event in the life of the spouses. People revered her as a saint, but she was never canonized. Her husband, abdicated in 1597, survived Renata for 24 years; he died in 1626.

All current monarchs of the three Scandinavian states (King of Norway Harald V , King of Sweden Charles XVI Gustav and Queen of Denmark Margrethe II ) are direct descendants of Renata.

1. Christophe (born and d. 1570)
2. Christina (1571-1580)
3. Maximillian I (1573-1651) - Duke of Bavaria since 1597, Elector of Bavaria since 1623.
4. Maria Anna (1574-1616) - the first wife of the German Emperor Ferdinand II .
5. Philip Wilhelm (September 22, 1576 - May 18, 1598) - Archbishop of Regensburg since 1595, Cardinal since 1597.
6. Ferdinand (October 6, 1577 - September 13, 1650) - Archbishop of Cologne.
7. Eleanor Magdalen (1578-1579)
8. Karl (1580-1587)
9. Albrecht VI (February 26, 1584 - July 5, 1666), Duke of Bavaria-Leuchtenberg
10. Magdalena (July 4, 1587 - September 25, 1628); husband: since 1613 Wolfgang Wilhelm (November 4, 1578 - March 20, 1653), the Palatine of Neuburg since 1614, the Duke of Julich and Berg since 1614.

• Anna de Crignis-Mentelberg: Herzogin Renata. Die Mutter Maximilians des Großen von Bayern . Freiburg im Breisgau 1912.
• Helmut Dotterweich: Der junge Maximilian. Jugend und Erziehung des bayerischen Herzogs und späteren Kurfürsten Maximilian I. von 1573 bis 1593 . München 1962.
• Andrea Rueth: Renata von Lothringen, Herzogin von Bayern . In: Wurst, Jürgen und Langheiter, Alexander (Hrsg.): Monachia. München: Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, 2005. p. 142.