institute

The count was killed in July 1694, and his body was then thrown into a river. The murder appears to have been committed by 4 of George’s courtiers, one of whom is mentioned to have been paid the massive sum of 150,000 thalers, which in that day was about one hundred instances the annual salary of the highest-paid minister. In 1682, George married his very first cousin, the Princess Sophia of Celle, who was the only youngster of his father’s elder brother. They had two children, George (b. 1683) and Sophia Dorothea (b. 1687). The couple have been nevertheless soon...