Dorothea of Denmark, Electress Palatine
Encyclopedia
Dorothea of Denmark and Norway (November 10, 1520 – May 31, 1580) was a Danish, Norwegian and Swedish princess and an Electress of the Palatinate as the wife of Elector Frederick II of the Palatinate. She was a claimant to the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish thrones.

Biography

Princess Dorothea was born on 10 November 1520 to King Christian II of Denmark
Christian II of Denmark
Christian II was King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union.-Background:...

 and Norway and Isabella of Austria. Dorothea had an elder brother, Johann "Hans", born 21 February 1518. Her elder twin brothers, Philip Ferdinand and Maximilian, born 4 July 1519, had both died before her birth, the latter in 1519 and the former in 1520. Her sister Christina
Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark was a Danish princess who became Duchess-consort of Milan, then Duchess-consort of Lorraine...

 was born two years later, in 1522, and was her only sibling to reach adulthood. Christina would marry twice, first to Francis II, Duke of Milan
Francesco II Sforza
Francesco II Sforza , also known as Francesco Maria Sforza, was the last Duke of Milan from 1521 until his death.He was the son of Ludovico Sforza and Beatrice d'Este...

, and secondly to Francis I, Duke of Lorraine
Francis I, Duke of Lorraine
Francis I was a member of the French nobility. He was briefly Duke of Lorraine from 1544–1545.-History:...

.

On 20 January 1523, disloyal nobles forced her father to abdicate and offered the throne to his uncle, Duke Frederick of Holstein
Frederick I of Denmark
Frederick I of Denmark and Norway was the King of Denmark and Norway. The name is also spelled Friedrich in German, Frederik in Danish, and Fredrik in Swedish and Norwegian...

. That month, her mother gave birth to a stillborn
Stillbirth
A stillbirth occurs when a fetus has died in the uterus. The Australian definition specifies that fetal death is termed a stillbirth after 20 weeks gestation or the fetus weighs more than . Once the fetus has died the mother still has contractions and remains undelivered. The term is often used in...

 son. Three-year-old Dorothea and her sister and brother followed their exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...

d parents to Veere
Veere
Veere is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands, on Walcheren island in the province of Zeeland.-Population centres :Aagtekerke , Biggekerke , Domburg , Gapinge , Grijpskerke , Koudekerke , Meliskerke , Oostkapelle , Serooskerke , Veere , Vrouwenpolder , Westkapelle...

 in Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...

, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, and were taken care of by the Dutch regents, their grandaunt and aunt, Margaret of Austria and Mary of Hungary. The Dutch court was an officially Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 environment, but influenced with a sympathy for Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

, and Dorothea herself acquired Protestant sympathies early on. Her mother died when she was five years old, on 19 January 1526.

Her brother Hans died in 1532 at about fourteen years old. As the eldest surviving child of the abdicated Christian II, Dorothea had a claim to the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish throne. The Habsburg family selected Frederick of the Palatinate to be her consort as they believed that he could successfully claim the Danish throne through marriage. She married Frederick in 1535 in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

. They had no children.

In 1536, her hope to succeed to the Danish and Norwegian thrones in reality was over. Her spouse, however, continued to claim it from their court in Neumarkt
Neumarkt
-Places:Austria*Neumarkt am Wallersee, in Salzburg*Neumarkt an der Raab, in Burgenland*Neumarkt an der Ybbs, in Lower Austria*Neumarkt im Hausruckkreis, in the Hausruckviertel, Upper Austria*Neumarkt im Mühlkreis, in the Mühlviertel, Upper Austria...

. The Habsburg dynasty officially continued to supported their claim, but no longer took any action to press the matter. In 1544, her spouse became Elector. The Habsburg family officially withdrew their support to their claim on the Danish and Norwegian throne the same year.

Dorothea and Frederick prevented the introduction of Protestantism that the Elector Palatine and Ottheinrich
Otto Henry, Elector Palatine
Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine, a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty was Count Palatine of Palatinate-Neuburg from 1505 to 1559 and prince elector of the Palatinate from 1556 to 1559...

 (Pfalz), his ward and successor, successfully pushed forward the Palatinate. Personally, Dorothea had Lutheran sympathies her entire life.

After the death of her husband in 1556, Dorothea lived modestly in Palatine castle in Neumarkt
Neumarkt
-Places:Austria*Neumarkt am Wallersee, in Salzburg*Neumarkt an der Raab, in Burgenland*Neumarkt an der Ybbs, in Lower Austria*Neumarkt im Hausruckkreis, in the Hausruckviertel, Upper Austria*Neumarkt im Mühlkreis, in the Mühlviertel, Upper Austria...

. As she had no children, Dorothea was no longer considered politically useful. She died childless and was buried in the Holy Ghost Church in Heidelberg.

Ancestry

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