Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Wanfried

Since her parents had been married previously she had three half-siblings on her fathers side and from her mothers first marriage to George III, Landgrave of Hesse-Itter she had two half-sisters ,Eleanore and Magdalene Sibylle.

The mother-in-law of Charlotte, Ilona Zrinyi and her husband Imre Thököly had been involved in the Kuruc rebellions against the Habsburg army in Upper Hungary.

When Habsburg General Heisler was captured by Thököly, a prisoner exchange was arranged, and Ilona joined her husband in Transylvania.

Together with other Hungarian nobles who felt the same way, Francis II planned an uprising in 1701, but he and his allies werebetrayed and was arrested in at his castle at Gross-Scharosch on 18 April 1701; he did not flee, because he did not want to leave Charlotte Amalie, who was ill.

She furthermore succeeded in bribing the commandant of the prison , Gottfried von Lehnsfeld, with a large sum of money, allowing Rákóczi to escape on 24 November 1701, disguised in a dragoon uniform.

When Charlottes involvement in her husband's escape became known, she was placed under house arrest and by order of the Emperor her two sons were taken from her and educated at the Viennese court.