Margareta Brahe

Margareta Abrahamsdotter Brahe (28 June 1603, Rydboholm – 15 May 1669, Weferlingen) was a Swedish aristocrat and court official, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg by marriage to Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. She aroused a lot of attention with her marriages, which were considered scandalous. Life First marriage Margareta Brahe was the daughter of riksråd Count Abraham Pedersson Brahe of Visingsborg (1569-1630) and Elsa Gyllenstierna of Lundholm, and as such the sister of Per Brahe the Younger and Nils Brahe, and the cousin of Ebba Brahe. She belonged to one of the most prestigious noble families in Sweden and was related to the royal family. Contemporaries does not describe her as intelligent, but as a moderate character with a good sense of tact and decorum and a cheerful temperament, lacking of any mind to plot and participate in intrigues at court. Physically, her health was somewhat delicate throughout her life. She belonged to a family used to court service, her paternal aunt being the lady-in-waiting Margareta Brahe (1559–1638), and prior to her first marriage, she served as Hovfröken (maid-of-honour) to Queen Maria Eleonora. She was reportedly well liked by the queen, and was a part of the retinue accompanying her to the Thirty Years' War in Germany after the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631.