Sophie of Pomerania (1498–1568) was Queen of Denmark and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

as the spouse of

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zol ...

. She is known for her independent rule over her

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitan ...

and

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

, the castles in Kiel and Plön, and several villages in

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label= Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germ ...

as queen.

Life

Born in Stettin (Szczecin) into the

House of Pomerania The House of Griffin or Griffin dynasty (german: Greifen; pl, Gryfici, da, Grif) was a dynasty ruling the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637. The name "Griffins" was used by the dynasty after the 15th century and had been take ...

, she was the daughter of

Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania Bogislaw X of Pomerania, ''the Great'', (3 June 1454 – 5 October 1523) was Duke of Pomerania from 1474 until his death in 1523. Biography Bogislaw was born in Rügenwalde (now Darłowo, Poland). His parents were Eric II, Duke of Pomerania-Wo ...

and the Polish princess

Anna Jagiellon Anna Jagiellon ( pl, Anna Jagiellonka, lt, Ona Jogailaitė; 18 October 1523 – 9 September 1596) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania from 1575 to 1587. Daughter of Polish King Sigismund I the Old and Italian duchess B ...

. After the death of his first spouse

Anna of Brandenburg Margravine Anna of Brandenburg (27 August 1487 – 3 May 1514) was a German noblewoman. Margravine Anna was the daughter of John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg and Margaret of Thuringia. She was born in Berlin, Brandenburg, and died in Kie ...

in 1514, she married the future

Frederick I of Denmark Frederick I ( Danish and ; ; ; 7 October 1471 – 10 April 1533) was King of Denmark and Norway. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over Denmark and Norway, when subsequent monarchs embraced Lutheranism after the Protestant Refor ...

. 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 of Denmark in 1523 and Norway in 1524. She was crowned Queen of Denmark on 13 August 1525 (but never crowned Queen of Norway). At her coronation, she was granted

and

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

, the castles in Kiel and

Plön Plön (; Holsatian: ''Plöön'') is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 8,700 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on ...

, and several villages in

for her income. In 1526, Anne Meinstrup was appointed head

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 ...

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

Gottorp Castle Gottorf Castle (german: Schloss Gottorf, da, Gottorp Slot, Low German: ''Gottorp'') is a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is one of the most important secular buildings in Schleswig-Holstein, and has ...

with her children, awaiting the outcome of the election of the new king. During the Count's Feud 1533–36, her estates was occupied. In 1538, the new king,

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

, 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-Haderslev (28 June 1521 – 2 October 1580) # Elizabeth (14 October 1524 – 15 October 1586), married: ## on 26 August 1543 to Duke Magnus III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin ## on 14 February 1556 to

Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg Ulrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg or Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (5 March 1527 – 14 March 1603) was Duke of Mecklenburg ( -Güstrow) from 1555-56 to 1603. Early life Ulrich was the third son of Duke Albrecht VII and Anna of Brandenburg. ...

# Adolf, Duke 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

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

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

References

Dansk biografisk Lexikon / XVI. Bind. Skarpenberg - Sveistrup
(in Danish)

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sophie of Pomerania 1498 births 1568 deaths 16th-century Danish people 16th-century Norwegian people Danish royal consorts House of Griffins Norwegian royal consorts People from Szczecin People from the Duchy of Pomerania 16th-century Danish women Danish Roman Catholic hymnwriters