Sophie of Brandenburg (6 June 1568 – 7 December 1622) was Electress of Saxony by marriage to

Christian I, Elector of Saxony Christian I of Saxony (29 October 1560 in Dresden – 25 September 1591 in Dresden) was Elector of Saxony from 1586 to 1591. He belonged to the Albertine line of the House of Wettin. He was the sixth but second surviving son of Elector Augu ...

. She was

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

from 1591 to 1601 during the minority of their son

Christian II Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke ...

Biography

Sophie was born at Zechlin castle,

Rheinsberg Rheinsberg () is a town and a municipality in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on lake and the river Rhin, approximately 20 km north-east of Neuruppin and 75 km north-west of Berlin. History Fre ...

, a daughter of the Elector of Brandenburg John George (1525–1598) by his second marriage with

Sabina of Brandenburg-Ansbach Sabina of Brandenburg-Ansbach (12 May 1529 – 2 November 1575) was a princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Electress of Brandenburg by marriage. Life Sabina was the daughter of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1484–1543) from his ...

(1548–1575), daughter of Margrave

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

of Brandenburg-Ansbach. On 25 April 1582 in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, Sophie married Elector

Christian I Christian I (February 1426 – 21 May 1481) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464). From 1460 to 1481, he was also duke of Schleswig (within ...

of Saxony (1560–1591). Sophie was 14 years old at her wedding, and after a year she had her first child.

Regency

After the death of her husband, who died at age 31, Sophie, together with Duke Frederick William I of Saxe Weimar, became Regent of the Electorate for her eldest son. Sophie was an orthodox Lutheran, and fought against

crypto-Calvinism Crypto-Calvinism is a pejorative term describing a segment of those members of the Lutheran Church in Germany who were accused of secretly subscribing to Calvinist doctrine of the Eucharist in the decades immediately after the death of Martin Luth ...

in Saxony. After Christian I's death in 1591, she had the Calvinist Chancellor Nikolaus Krell, an opponent of Lutheran orthodoxy, imprisoned at the

Königstein Fortress Königstein Fortress (german: Festung Königstein), the " Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one of the largest hilltop fo ...

, and in 1601 had him executed at the Dresden Neumarkt. In allusion to the pious widow Judith in the

Book of Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded from the Hebrew canon and assigned by Protestants to the apocrypha. It tells ...

, the orthodox Lutherans thereafter celebrated her as "Judith of Saxony". As a widow, Sophie lived in the so-called "Fraumutterhaus" in Dresden or in Castle Colditz. She had her own gold coins ("Sophie ducats", ''Sophiendukaten'') minted; she also had the old Franciscan church in Dresden again readied for divine service (1599–1610), which after her was called the

Sophienkirche The Sophienkirche (Saint Sophia's Church) was a church in Dresden. It was located on the northeast corner of the Postplatz (post office square) in the old town before it was severely damaged in the Dresden bombing in 1945 and subsequently destr ...

. The "Duchess's Garden" (''Der Herzogin Garten'') also takes its name from Duchess Sophie. She died at

Colditz Castle Castle Colditz (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the r ...

Issue

Sophie had the following children: #

(b. Dresden, 23 September 1583 – d. Dresden, 23 June 1611), successor of his father as elector. # John George I (b. Dresden, 5 March 1585 – d. Dresden, 8 October 1656), successor of his brother as elector. #Anna Sabine (b. Dresden, 25 January 1586 – d. Dresden, 24 March 1586). # Sophie (b. Dresden, 29 April 1587 – d. Stettin, 9 December 1635), married on 26 August 1610 to Duke Francis I of Pomerania. #Elisabeth (b. Dresden, 21 July 1588 – d. Dresden, 4 March 1589). #

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

(b. Dresden, 7 September 1589 – d. Naumburg, 26 December 1615), married on 1 January 1612 to

Elisabeth of Brünswick-Wolfenbüttel 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 ...

. This marriage was childless. #

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 ...

(b. Dresden, 7 January 1591 – d. Quedlinburg, 17 November 1617), Princess-Abbess of

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

(1610).

Biographical accounts

* Franz Blanckmeister: ''Kurfürstin Anna Sophie von Sachsen: eine evangelische Bekennerin'', Barmen m 1891* Franz Otto Stichart: ''Galerie der Sächsischen Fürstinnen; Biogr. Skizzen sämmtl. Ahnfrauen d. Königl. Hauses Sachsen. Quellengemäß dargest.'', Leipzig 1857 * Ute Essegern: ''Fürstinnen am kursächsischen Hof'', Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2007

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110719065438/http://www.neumarkt-dresden.de/nikolaus-krell.html * http://www.geneall.net/D/per_page.php?id=16340 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburg, Sophie von Sophie Sophie 1568 births 1622 deaths 16th-century women rulers Regents of Saxony Sophie Electresses of Saxony ⚭Sophie of Brandenburg German female regents Electoral Princesses of Brandenburg Burials at Freiberg Cathedral