Justine Cathrine Rosenkrantz (1659 – 1 August 1746) was a Dano–Norwegian noblewoman,

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...

and

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

. Rosenkrantz was the daughter of

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Ludvig Rosenkrantz Ludvig Rosenkrantz (18 April 1628 – 23 August 1685) was a Danish-born noble, military officer, civil servant, and land owner who settled in Norway. He was a member of the noble Rosenkrantz family and the first Baron of Norway. Biography Lu ...

and

Karen Mowat Karen Mowat (c. 16301675) was a Norwegian noblewoman, an heiress, and landowner of Scottish origins. Biography Probably born in Tysnes in present-day Hordaland, Karen Mowat was the daughter of Admiral Axel Mowat (15921661) and Karen Knudsda ...

. Between 1680 and 1699, she was

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

Christian V Christian V (15 April 1646 25 August 1699) was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the decree ...

's queen consort,

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (27 April 1650 – 27 March 1714) was Queen of Denmark and Norway by marriage to King Christian V. Although she did not have much political influence, she was a successful businesswoman in her many estates and pro ...

. She was placed in her position by the queen's enemies to spy on the queen; officially to place a Lutheran in the queen's circle, which was otherwise dominated by people of the reformed faith. Rosenkrantz was described as unattractive but very skillful in the art of handling the plots of the royal court and an excellent informer and held a powerful position at court—it was also noted that she was rude and a torment to the queen. She fell from her position after a great scandal in 1699, when she poisoned the soup of her colleague Anna Emilie von Dalwig, who was her rival over her love interest Emanuel Friedrich von Kötzschau: :de:Emanuel Friedrich von Kötzschau Dalwig survived the poisoning, but Rosenkrantz was sentenced to death for attempted murder on 17 April 1699, which was commuted to exile in

Rønne Rønne ( sv, Rönne) is the largest town on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,807 (1 January 2022). It was a municipality in its own right from 1970 until 2002, when Bornholm was a county (Danish: ''Bornh ...

References

Rosenkrantz, Justine Cathrine
i Carl Frederik Bricka, Dansk biografisk Lexikon (första utgåvan, 1900) 1659 births 1746 deaths 17th-century spies Danish ladies-in-waiting 17th-century Danish nobility 18th-century Danish nobility 17th-century Norwegian nobility 18th-century Norwegian nobility Poisoners Rosenkrantz family {{Denmark-bio-stub