Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel
Encyclopedia
Marie Sophie Frederikke of Hesse-Kassel was Queen Consort
of Denmark and Norway. She also served as Regent of Denmark in 1814–1815.
. Her paternal grandparents were Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Mary of Great Britain
, a daughter of King George II
and Caroline of Ansbach
. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick V of Denmark
and Louise of Great Britain
, another daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach. Her father was the second son of the ruler of Hesse-Kassel
, and as such, had no principality of his own. Thus he acted in such positions as were offered to cadet
members of royal houses by their reigning relatives. Denmark offered more and better positions than the small Hesse-Kassel.
Marie Sophie grew up largely in Denmark, where her father held notable positions, such as the governorships of provinces. Her mother was the third and youngest daughter of King Frederick V of Denmark and his consort, Louise of Great Britain. As such, she was the niece of King Christian VII and the Prince Regent
Frederik, as well as their first cousin.
On 31 July 1790 in Gottorp
, she married her first cousin, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (1768–1839), then Regent of the Realm, the future King Frederick VI of Denmark
. Her husband had been Regent since 1784 (when he was just 16 years old) on behalf of his insane father Christian VII of Denmark
, who died in 1808. The royal couple assumed the throne upon King Christian's death, having already acted as de facto monarchs for over two decades. In the aftermath of the defeat of Denmark's ally, Emperor Napoleon I of the French, Denmark
lost its dominion over Norway
; the royal couple ceased to be Norway's King and Queen in 1814. Queen Marie was Regent of Denmark in 1814–1815 during her husband's absence abroad.
Marie was selected by her cousin as his spouse mainly as a way for him to demonstrate his independence from his Court, who wanted a more political match. The marriage was greeted with great enthusiasm by the public when she arrived in Copenhagen
, as she was regarded as completely Danish and not as a foreigner. At the royal court, she was overshadowed by her husband's sister, who was the real First Lady of the court. She was pressed by the demand to produce a son, and when her last childbirth resulted in an injury which prevented further intercourse, she was forced to accept her spouse's adultery with Frederikke Dannemand
. She managed the affairs of state very well in 1814–15. She was interested in politics and genealogy, and wrote and published the Exposé de la situation politique du Danemarc in 1807–14. In 1822–24 she published the genealogy Supplement-Tafeln zu Joh, which inspired her spouse to take the later Christian IX of Denmark
into his family. She protected the charity organisation Det Kvindelige Velgørende Selskab from 1815. As a widow, she withdrew from public life, respected as a symbol of the old dynasty. She died at Amalienborg in 1852.
. The only surviving children of King Frederick VI and Queen Marie Sophie Frederikke were their two daughters:
Queen Marie Sophie Frederikke lamented her lack of sons and grandchildren. When her youngest sister, Duchess Louise Caroline of Lyksborg, became a widow when most of her large brood of children were as yet very young, Queen Marie accepted some of the younger ones into her tutelage in the royal household. They were much younger than the queen's two surviving daughters, and one may speculate that the queen felt like a grandmother in helping to raise them. One such foster child of hers was Prince Christian of Lyksborg, born 1818, the future Christian IX of Denmark
.
Christian of Lyksborg and his wife Louise of Hesse named their second daughter, Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Lyksborg (born 1847), in the queen's honor as her namesake. After her death in 1852, that girl became Tsarina Maria Fedorovna of Russia, preserving there the queen's first name (Maria/Marie).
She became the 292nd Dame
of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa on 17 April 1834.
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Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of Denmark and Norway. She also served as Regent of Denmark in 1814–1815.
Background
Maria Sophie was the eldest child of Landgrave Charles of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Louise of Denmark, born in HanauHanau
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...
. Her paternal grandparents were Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Mary of Great Britain
Princess Mary of Great Britain
The Princess Mary was a member of the British Royal Family, a daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach.-Early life:...
, a daughter of King George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
and Caroline of Ansbach
Caroline of Ansbach
Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain.Her father, John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was the ruler of a small German state...
. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick V of Denmark
Frederick V of Denmark
Frederick V was king of Denmark and Norway from 1746, son of Christian VI of Denmark and Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.-Early life:...
and Louise of Great Britain
Louise of Great Britain
Louise of Great Britain was the youngest surviving daughter of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach, and became queen consort of Denmark and Norway.-Early life:...
, another daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach. Her father was the second son of the ruler of Hesse-Kassel
Hesse-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a state in the Holy Roman Empire under Imperial immediacy that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the...
, and as such, had no principality of his own. Thus he acted in such positions as were offered to cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
members of royal houses by their reigning relatives. Denmark offered more and better positions than the small Hesse-Kassel.
Marie Sophie grew up largely in Denmark, where her father held notable positions, such as the governorships of provinces. Her mother was the third and youngest daughter of King Frederick V of Denmark and his consort, Louise of Great Britain. As such, she was the niece of King Christian VII and the Prince Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
Frederik, as well as their first cousin.
Marriage
Gottorp
Gottorf Castle is a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the ancestral home of the Holstein-Gottorp branch of the House of Oldenburg...
, she married her first cousin, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (1768–1839), then Regent of the Realm, the future King Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI reigned as King of Denmark , and as king of Norway .-Regent of Denmark:Frederick's parents were King Christian VII and Caroline Matilda of Wales...
. Her husband had been Regent since 1784 (when he was just 16 years old) on behalf of his insane father Christian VII of Denmark
Christian VII of Denmark
Christian VII was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death. He was the son of Danish King Frederick V and his first consort Louisa, daughter of King George II of Great Britain....
, who died in 1808. The royal couple assumed the throne upon King Christian's death, having already acted as de facto monarchs for over two decades. In the aftermath of the defeat of Denmark's ally, Emperor Napoleon I of the French, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
lost its dominion over Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
; the royal couple ceased to be Norway's King and Queen in 1814. Queen Marie was Regent of Denmark in 1814–1815 during her husband's absence abroad.
Marie was selected by her cousin as his spouse mainly as a way for him to demonstrate his independence from his Court, who wanted a more political match. The marriage was greeted with great enthusiasm by the public when she arrived in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, as she was regarded as completely Danish and not as a foreigner. At the royal court, she was overshadowed by her husband's sister, who was the real First Lady of the court. She was pressed by the demand to produce a son, and when her last childbirth resulted in an injury which prevented further intercourse, she was forced to accept her spouse's adultery with Frederikke Dannemand
Frederikke Dannemand
Frederikke Benedichte Dannemand, born as Bente Frederikke Mortensdatter Andersen Rafsted is known in history as the royal mistress of King Frederick VI of Denmark.- Biography :...
. She managed the affairs of state very well in 1814–15. She was interested in politics and genealogy, and wrote and published the Exposé de la situation politique du Danemarc in 1807–14. In 1822–24 she published the genealogy Supplement-Tafeln zu Joh, which inspired her spouse to take the later Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...
into his family. She protected the charity organisation Det Kvindelige Velgørende Selskab from 1815. As a widow, she withdrew from public life, respected as a symbol of the old dynasty. She died at Amalienborg in 1852.
Children
Marie Sophie and Frederick VI had eight children. None of Frederick VI's sons survived infancy, however, and when he died in 1839, he was succeeded by his cousin, Christian VIII of DenmarkChristian VIII of Denmark
Christian VIII , was king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, king of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...
. The only surviving children of King Frederick VI and Queen Marie Sophie Frederikke were their two daughters:
- Christian (CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 22 September 1791 – CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 23 September 1791) - Marie Louise (CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 19 November 1792 – FrederiksborgFrederiksborgFrederiksborg is a Danish placename that can refer to:* Frederiksborg Palace* Frederiksborg County* Frederiksborg horse...
, 12 October 1793) - Caroline (CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 28 October 1793 – CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 31 March 1881), married to her father's first cousin Frederick Ferdinand of DenmarkFerdinand of Denmarkalign=right|Ferdinand of Denmark, Prince Frederik Ferdinand, was a member of the Danish Royal Family, a grandson of King Frederick V....
, (d. 1863) some months before his nephew Frederick VII of Denmark, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, son of Christian VIII of DenmarkChristian VIII of DenmarkChristian VIII , was king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, king of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...
. Childless. - Louise (CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 21 August 1795 – CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 7 December 1795) - Christian (CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 1 September 1797 – CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 5 September 1797) - Juliana Louise (CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 12 February 1802 – CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 23 February 1802) - Frederikke Marie (CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 3 June 1805 – CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 14 July 1805) - Vilhelmine Marie (KielKielKiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, 18 January 1808 – GlücksburgGlücksburgGlücksburg is a small town in the district Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.It is situated on the south side of the Flensburg Fjord, an inlet of the Baltic Sea, approx. 10 km northeast of Flensburg...
, 30 May 1891), firstly married to her second cousin Prince Frederik of Denmark, the future Frederick VII of DenmarkFrederick VII of DenmarkFrederick VII was a King of Denmark. He reigned from 1848 until his death. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg and also the last king of Denmark to rule as an absolute monarch...
, but they divorced, and she married secondly Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-GlücksburgKarl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-GlücksburgKarl of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was the second Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
, who was eldest brother of the future Christian IX of DenmarkChristian IX of DenmarkChristian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...
. Both her marriages were childless.
Queen Marie Sophie Frederikke lamented her lack of sons and grandchildren. When her youngest sister, Duchess Louise Caroline of Lyksborg, became a widow when most of her large brood of children were as yet very young, Queen Marie accepted some of the younger ones into her tutelage in the royal household. They were much younger than the queen's two surviving daughters, and one may speculate that the queen felt like a grandmother in helping to raise them. One such foster child of hers was Prince Christian of Lyksborg, born 1818, the future Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...
.
Christian of Lyksborg and his wife Louise of Hesse named their second daughter, Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Lyksborg (born 1847), in the queen's honor as her namesake. After her death in 1852, that girl became Tsarina Maria Fedorovna of Russia, preserving there the queen's first name (Maria/Marie).
She became the 292nd Dame
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa on 17 April 1834.
Titles
Her titles were:- 1767–90 Her Serene Highness Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel
- 1790–1808 Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Denmark and Norway
- 1808–14 Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark and Norway
- 1814–39 Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark
- 1839–52 Her Majesty The Queen Dowager of Denmark
Ancestry
External links
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