Marriage
If royal males have gone down in history for their political and military decisions, women have played decisive roles in uniting through blood and marriage all European royal families. Elena's mother, Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg (by now known as Maria Fyodorovna following her baptism in the Orthodox faith), turned out to be an excellent matchmaker. Although one of her daughters died as an infant, the rest married members of Europe's most important and prestigious royal houses.
In the late 1790s Elena was betrothed to Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1778–1819). He was the eldest son of Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. At the same time her sister Alexandra, who was very like her in many ways, was engaged to Palatine Joseph of Hungary (1776–1847).
It was customary for European princesses to travel to their husband's homelands to wed; Russian Grand Duchesses were always the exception, as they were all married at home following tradition. On 23 October 1799 Elena Pavlovna and Friedrich Ludwig were married at the palace of Gatchina. (Her sister Alexandra followed her example and married her fiancé in the same place one week later).
Read more about this topic: Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna Of Russia
Famous quotes containing the word marriage:
“Some collaboration has to take place in the mind between the woman and the man before the art of creation can be accomplished. Some marriage of opposites has to be consummated. The whole of the mind must lie wide open if we are to get the sense that the writer is communicating his experience with perfect fullness.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“Women hope men will change after marriage but they don’t; men hope women won’t change but they do.”
—Bettina Arndt (20th century)
“A marriage based on full confidence, based on complete and unqualified frankness on both sides; they are not keeping anything back; there’s no deception underneath it all. If I might so put it, it’s an agreement for the mutual forgiveness of sin.”
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)