Sofia Gyllenhielm

Gyllenhielm as painted in the 1580s.

Sofia Johansdotter Gyllenhielm (1556/59 – June 1583) in Reval, Estonia, was a Swedish noble. She was the illegitimate daughter of King John III of Sweden and Karin Hansdotter.

Life

Sofia spent her childhood with her mother in Finland. She became a lady-in-waiting of her aunt Princess Elizabeth of Sweden in 1576.[1] The same year, she was engaged by her father to her father's favourite, the French immigrant Baron Pontus De la Gardie, as a reward for his service toward her father. Sofia, her sister Lucretia and her brother Julius were ennobled in 1577 and given the name Gyllenhielm.[2]

The wedding was held in Vadstena on 14 January 1580. It was a grand ceremony with many guests, and during the ceremony a gallery broke under the weight of the spectators at church, resulting in the death of one person. This was interpreted by present Catholics as a divine verdict of over the heretics.[3]

In 1581, she accompanied her spouse to his command in Swedish Estonia. She died in childbirth in Reval in 1583.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Ericson Wolke, Lars, Johan III: en biografi, Historiska media, Lund, 2004
  2. ↑ Ericson Wolke, Lars, Johan III: en biografi, Historiska media, Lund, 2004
  3. ↑ Ericson Wolke, Lars, Johan III: en biografi, Historiska media, Lund, 2004
  4. ↑ Larsson, Lars-Olof, Arvet efter Gustav Vasa: berättelsen om fyra kungar och ett rike, Prisma, Stockholm, 2005
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