Catherine of Brandenburg

Catherine of Brandenburg (Königsberg, 28 May 1602 – 27 August 1649, Schöningen) was an elected Princess of Transylvania between 1629 and 1630. She was the daughter of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, and Anna of Prussia Life Catherine was raised in Brandenburg, but lived with her mother in Sweden for several years after the marriage of her sister Maria Eleonora to king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1620. She was educated to become an ideal consort of a ruler and was "richly decorated with virtues suitable to a princely woman". Princess consort of Transylvania On 2 March 1626, she married Gabriel Bethlen, prince of Transylvania. The marriage allied the Protestant Prince of Transylvania with the Protestant powers of Denmark, Sweden and the Palatinate. A proxy marriage was celebrated in Berlin, and a second marriage in person performed in Kosice in Transylvania (now in Slovakia) after the arrival of Catherine. The couple settled in Alba Iulia in Transylvania. The marriage is not described as happy. Gabriel Bethlen had numerous mistresses, and Catherine had lovers as well, most notably Istvan Csaky - because of the double standards of the time, however, only Catherine was given a bad reputation because of this.