Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
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Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (24 March 1628 – 20 February 1685) was queen-consort of Denmark and Norway as a wife of the King Frederick III of Denmark.
She was born in Herzberg am Harz. Her parents were George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his wife Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt. Sophie Amalie married to Prince Frederick in Castle Glücksburg on 1 October 1643 and became Queen of Denmark in 1648. They had 8 children, including King Christian V of Denmark and Ulrike Eleonora of Denmark who married King Charles XI of Sweden.
In the first part of Frederik III's reign and later during the reign of her son Christian V from 1670, Sophie Amalie had some influence on political decisions. In the early 1650s, she was active in the power struggle with Corfitz Ulfeldt and Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, who had become a humiliating threat to the position of the Royal Couple. She did not get along with her husbands halfsisters and her arguments with them are famous. Sophie Amalie probably took part in the decision to introduce the absolute monarchy. This happened while the popularity of the Royal Couple was at its highest after the Swedish siege of Copenhagen in 1658-1660.
Sophie Amalie loved hunting and, in spite of the dire financial situation of the Kingdom, she was the centre of a sumptuous Court life, with exclusive luxury items and grand parties, which shed glory on the royal power. The palace Sophie Amalienborg was built between 1669 and 1673 where Amalienborg Palace is situated presently. She mostly lived there after she was widowed.
She died in Copenhagen and was buried in the Roskilde Cathedral.
[edit] Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | 15 April 1646 | 25 August 1699 | succeeded as King of Denmark married, 1667, Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel; had issue |
| Anna Sophia | 1 September 1647 | 1 July 1717 | married, 1666, John George III, Elector of Saxony; had issue |
| Frederika Amalia | 11 April 1649 | 30 October 1704 | married, 1667, Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp; had issue |
| Wilhelmina Ernestina | 21 June 1650 | 22 April 1706 | married, 1671, Charles II, Elector Palatine; no issue |
| Frederick | 11 October 1651 | 14 March 1652 | died in infancy |
| George | 2 April 1653 | 28 October 1708 | married, 1683, Anne, Queen of Great Britain; had issue |
| Ulrika Eleonora | 11 September 1656 | 26 October 1693 | married, 1680, Charles XI, King of Sweden; had issue |
| Dorothea | 16 November 1657 | 15 May 1658 | died in infancy |
[edit] External links
- (English) History of the Rosenborg Castle
- (Danish) Article in the Dansk biografisk Lexikon
| Preceded by Anne Catherine of Brandenburg |
Queen Consort of Denmark 1648-1670 |
Succeeded by Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Cassel |
| Queen Consort of Norway 1648-1670 |
