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Sophie of Pomerania (1498–1568) was
Queen of Denmark
The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was a ...
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 Zoll ...
. 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 Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
s
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 inhabitant ...
and
Falster, 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 German ...
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 ...
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 Bon ...
.
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 Kiel ...
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
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 inhabitant ...
and
Falster, 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 o ...
, 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 German ...
for her income. In 1526,
Anne Meinstrup
Anne Meinstrup (1475–1535) was a politically active Danish noblewoman, lady-in-waiting and county administrator.
Daughter of noble riksråd Henrik Meinstrup (d.1496) and Margrethe Christiansdatter Daa (d. 1497), she was married to nobleriksråd ...
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 sh ...
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 ha ...
with her children, awaiting the outcome of the election of the new king. During the
Count's Feud
The Count's Feud ( da, Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a war of succession that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. In the international context, it was part of the European wars of relig ...
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
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
(14 October 1524 – 15 October 1586), married:
## on 26 August 1543 to Duke
Magnus III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Magnus III of Mecklenburg (July 4, 1509 in Stargard – January 28, 1550 in Bützow) was a member of the House of Mecklenburg who was the first Lutheran administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin, nevertheless referred to as Prince-Bishop. H ...
## 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. U ...
#
Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
Adolf of Denmark or Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp (25 January 1526 –1 October 1586) was the first Duke of Holstein-Gottorp from the line of Holstein-Gottorp of the House of Oldenburg.
He was the third son of King Frederick I of Denmark and hi ...
(25 January 1526 – 1 October 1586)
# Anne (1527 – 4 June 1535)
#
Dorothea
Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to:
People
* Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cr ...
(1528 – 11 November 1575), married on 27 October 1573 to Duke
Christof of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
#
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* 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 Lei ...
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
16th-century Norwegian women
Danish royal consorts
House of Griffins
Norwegian royal consorts
People from Szczecin
People from the Duchy of Pomerania
16th-century Danish women landowners
Danish Roman Catholic hymnwriters
Mothers of monarchs