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Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1 March 1683 – 20 November 1737〔), commonly known as Caroline of Ansbach, was Queen of Great Britain as the wife of King George II. Her father, Margrave John Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach, belonged to a branch of the House of Hohenzollern and was the ruler of a small German state, the Principality of Ansbach. Caroline was orphaned at a young age and moved to the enlightened court of her guardians, King Frederick I and Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia. At the Prussian court, her previously limited education was widened, and she adopted the liberal outlook possessed by Sophia Charlotte, who became her good friend and whose views influenced Caroline all her life. As a young woman, Caroline was much sought-after as a bride. After rejecting the suit of the nominal King of Spain, Archduke Charles of Austria, she married George Augustus, the third-in-line to the British throne and heir apparent to the Electorate of Hanover. They had eight children, seven of whom grew to adulthood. Caroline moved permanently to Britain in 1714 when her husband became Prince of Wales. As Princess of Wales, she joined her husband in rallying political opposition to his father King George I. In 1717, her husband was expelled from court after a family row. Caroline came to be associated with Robert Walpole, an opposition politician who was a former government minister. Walpole rejoined the government in 1720, and Caroline's husband and King George I reconciled publicly, on Walpole's advice. Over the next few years, Walpole rose to become the leading minister. Caroline succeeded as queen and electress consort in 1727, when her husband became King George II. Her eldest son, Frederick, became Prince of Wales. He was a focus for the opposition, like his father before him, and Caroline's relationship with him was strained. As princess and as queen, Caroline was known for her political influence, which she exercised through and for Walpole. Her tenure included four regencies during her husband's stays in Hanover, and she is credited with strengthening the Hanoverian dynasty's place in Britain during a period of political instability. Caroline was widely mourned following her death in 1737, not only by the public but also by the King, who refused to remarry. ==Early life== Caroline was born on 1 March 1683 at Ansbach, the daughter of John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach.〔Weir, pp. 277–278.〕〔Taylor.〕 Her father was the ruler of one of the smallest German states; he died of smallpox at the age of 32, when Caroline was three years old. Caroline and her only full sibling, her younger brother Margrave William Frederick, left Ansbach with their mother, who returned to her native Eisenach.〔Arkell, p. 5.〕 In 1692, Caroline's widowed mother was pushed into an unhappy marriage with the Elector of Saxony, and she and her two children moved to the Saxon court at Dresden. Eleonore Erdmuthe was widowed again two years later, after her unfaithful husband contracted smallpox from his mistress.〔Arkell, p. 6; Van der Kiste, p. 12.〕 Eleonore remained in Saxony for another two years, until her death in 1696.〔〔Arkell, p. 6; Hichens, p. 19.〕 The orphaned Caroline and William Frederick returned to Ansbach to stay with their elder half-brother, Margrave George Frederick II. George Frederick was a youth with little interest in parenting a girl, and so Caroline soon moved to Lützenburg outside Berlin, where she entered into the care of her new guardians, Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, and his wife, Sophia Charlotte, who had been a friend of Eleonore Erdmuthe.〔Arkell, pp. 6–7.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Caroline of Ansbach」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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