Sophie of Pomerania
Encyclopedia
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...
and 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...
as the spouse of King Frederick I of Denmark
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...
. She is known for her independent rule over her fiefs Lolland
Lolland
Lolland is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of 1,243 square kilometers . Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland...
and Falster
Falster
Falster is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of 514 km² and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010. Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland and is administered by Guldborgsund Municipality...
, the castles in Kiel and Plön, and several villages in Holsten
Holsten
Holsten Brewery is a brewing company founded in 1879 in what is now Hamburg's Altona-Nord quarter. The group now has seven breweries in Germany. Its nationally distributed premium brand is the pale lager Holsten Pilsener...
during her tenure as queen and queen dowager.
Biography
Born in Stettin (Szczecin)Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
into the House of Pomerania
House of Pomerania
The House of Griffins or House of Pomerania, , also known as House of Greifen; House of Gryf, was a dynasty of Royal dukes that ruled the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637, after their power was temporarily derivated to Prussian Royal House...
, she was the daughter of Duke Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast
Dukes of Pomerania
- 10th and 11th century – Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes :* 1046 mention of Zemuzil * 1113 Gallus Anonymus mentions several dukes of Pomerania: Swantibor, Gniewomir, and an unnamed duke besieged in Kołobrzeg.-Duchy of Pomerania:*1121–1135 Wartislaw I*1135–1155 Ratibor I, ancestor of the...
and Anna Jagiellon of Poland (a daughter of Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV KG of the House of Jagiellon was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440, and King of Poland from 1447, until his death.Casimir was the second son of King Władysław II Jagiełło , and the younger brother of Władysław III of Varna....
and Elisabeth of Austria
Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1505)
Elisabeth of Austria , , was a Polish-Lithuanian queen...
).
After the death of his first spouse Anna of Brandenburg
Anna of Brandenburg
Anna of Brandenburg was a German noblewoman.Anna was the daughter of Johann Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg and Margarethe of Saxony. She was born in Berlin, Brandenburg, and died in Kiel, Holstein.- Marriage :...
in 1514, she married Prince Frederick of Denmark, the later Frederick I of Denmark
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...
. Not much is known about her personality. She is not known to have played any political role. She is thought to have been interested in religion: a German psalm, «Gott ist mein Heil, mein Hülf und Trost», is believed to have been written by her.
Sophie became queen consort of Denmark and Norway upon the ascension of her spouse to the throne in 1523. She was crowned 13 August 1525. At her coronation, she was granted Lolland
Lolland
Lolland is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of 1,243 square kilometers . Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland...
and Falster
Falster
Falster is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of 514 km² and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010. Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland and is administered by Guldborgsund Municipality...
, the castles in Kiel
Kiel Castle
Kiel Castle in Kiel in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein was one of the secondary residences of the Gottorf dukes. The castle exhibited a very varied architectural history and in the more recent architectural period became one of the most important secular buildings in Schleswig-Holstein...
and Plön
Plön Castle
Plön Castle in Plön is one of the largest castles in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein and the only one located on a hill. The former Residenz of the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Plön was built in the 17th century during the Thirty Years War and has had a colourful history in which it...
, and several villages in Holsten
Holsten
Holsten Brewery is a brewing company founded in 1879 in what is now Hamburg's Altona-Nord quarter. The group now has seven breweries in Germany. Its nationally distributed premium brand is the pale lager Holsten Pilsener...
for her income. In 1526, Anne Meinstrup
Anne Meinstrup
Anne Meinstrup was a politically active Danish noble, lady-in-waiting and county administrator.Daughter of noble riksråd Henrik Meinstrup and Margrethe Christiansdatter Daa , she was married to nobleriksråd Holger Eriksen Rosenkrantz til Boller in 1491 and the noble Jørgen Ahlefeldt til Søgaard...
was appointed head lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
for her court. Queen Sophie did not live at the Danish court as queen, but resided separated from her spouse on her property in Kiel, and treated her estates as her private independent fiefs, which caused disagreements with her spouse during his reign. The conflicts continued during the reign of his successors and until her death.
In 1533, she became a widow and moved to the castle of Gottorp with her children, avaiting the outcome of the election of the new king. During the Count's Feud
Count's Feud
The Count's Feud , also called the Count's War, was a civil war that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark...
1533–36, her estates was occupated. In 1538, the new king asked her to leave Gottorp because of the costs and reside in Kiel. She demanded the right to rule independently over her fiefs, but was in 1540 forced to accept the superiority of the king.
Issue
She had six children:- Duke John of Holstein (28 June 1521 – 2 October 1580)
- Elizabeth (14 October 1524 – 15 October 1586), married:
- on 26 August 1543 to Duke Magnus of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- on 14 February 1556 to Duke Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-GüstrowUlrich III of Mecklenburg-GüstrowUlrich, Duke of Mecklenburg was Duke of Mecklenburg from 1555-56 to 1603.-Early life:Ulrich was the third son of Duke Albrecht VII and Anna of Brandenburg. Ulrich was educated in the Bavarian court. Later, he studied theology and law in Ingolstadt...
- Duke Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp (25 January 1526 – 1 October 1586)
- Anne (1527 – 4 June 1535)
- Dorothea (1528 – 11 November 1575), married on 27 October 1573 to Duke Christof of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
- Frederick, Bishop of HildesheimHildesheimHildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...
and Schleswig (13 April 1532 – 27 October 1556).
Ancestry
Literature
- Politikens bog om Danske monarker, af Benito Scocozza, 1997
- Danske dronninger i tusind år, af Steffen Heiberg, 2000