On Jul 6, 12:24 am, "Graham" <graham.truesd
...@tiscali.nospam.co.uk>
wrote:
> I have a vague recollection of a case where two
> families wanted to cement an alliance with multiple marriages?
> Possibly involving a Duchess of Norfolk?
For complex (and often poorly recorded) family relationships you need
to go to ancient Egypt, where incest was obligatory. Towards the end
of the fabulous 18th Dynasty, Tutankhamen married Ankhesenamun,
granddaughter of Ay. On Tutankhamen’s death, Ay succeeded as king and
seems to have married the widow of his predecessor, his own
granddaughter Ankhesenamun. So Ay was probably his own grandfather-in-
law.
A more recent example of succession inspired marriage is the
Hohenzollern acquisition of Prussia. Albrecht Achilles, Elector of
Brandenburg, had several sons, and, on the division of his
territories, one younger son, Frederick, became Margrave of Ansbach.
Frederick also had several sons, but insufficient lands to provide for
all of them. So three entered the church, two becoming archbishops,
while another was Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. His name was
Albrecht, and he turned to Lutheranism and converted his territory
into the Duchy of Prussia. Albrecht was succeeded in Prussia by his
son Albrecht Friedrich, an imbecile who reigned under the regency of
his second cousin twice removed, Joachim Friedrich, Elector of
Brandenburg. Albrecht Frederick had no sons but two daughters, so to
ensure the possession of Prussia, Joachim Friedrich married the
younger daughter Eleonore, while the elder daughter Anna was married
off to Joachim Friedrich’s eldest son and successor, Johann Sigismund.
Thus, Johann Sigismund’s sister-in-law was his step-mother.
