Hello and welcome back to Tudor's Dynasty and Beyond. I'm your host Rebecca Larson, and this is

the Sunday episode where I tell you a story about one amazing woman in history. In today's episode,

we turn our attention to Caroline of Ansbach, intellectual, queen consort, and one of the most

politically astute women to sit behind a British throne.

Behind the magnificence of court life in the early 18th century, Caroline was a powerful figure,

a patron of the arts, a supporter of science and medicine, and a trusted advisor to King George

II. But her story also reveals the quiet burdens carried by women in power

of personal sacrifice, family tensions, and hidden pain. On the 1st of March, 1683, Caroline of Brandenburg

Ansbach was born to John Frederick Margrave of Brandenberg-Ansbach and his wife,

Princess Eleanor Erdmuth, of Saxeisnach.

Her father was the ruler of the margraveit of Brandenburg-Ansbach and would die when

Caroline was only three.

Her mother remarried in 1692 to the elector of Saxony, John George

the 6th. This loveless marriage produced one child. Friedrich August von Brandenberg-Ansbach von

Honzon. Her mother would die only 10 years later, leaving her and her full brother, Frederick William, orphans.

It would be in the Prussian court where she was surrounded by artists, architects, writers, and intellectuals,

who exposed her to many different forms of visual arts. This is also where she would find her love of science and where she would meet

Voltaire, who spoke highly of Caroline. She was educated in the ideals of enlightenment and a devout

Lutheran, which would shape her views as the Princess of Wales later on in life.

She would marry the elector of Hanover's son, the future King George II,

George Augustus, but not after turning down the Holy Roman Emperor's marriage proposal.

She refused to convert to Catholicism.

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